skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
Nice read, but please, let's give credit where credit is due:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Edwards_Deming

"Deming is widely credited with improving production in the United States during World War II, although he is perhaps best known for his work in Japan. There, from 1950 onward he taught top management how to improve design (and thus service), product quality, testing and sales (the last through global markets)[1] through various methods, including the application of statistical methods. Deming made a significant contribution to Japan's later renown for innovative high-quality products and its economic power.

It was the U.S. that spearheaded the rebuilding of Japan's heavy industries after WWII.

Kinda makes me wonder if 50 years from now, we'll be reading a similar article about the Middle East.
Shameless self promotion
Hey YC crowd,

I regularly troll YC news because I've got the entrepreneurial itch that so many share here. I've finally got something to stand up on a stump about, so I thought I'd write a post for once:

I just spent the past year working on a book called The Art of Rails [1] about web application design, coding style, and life cycle in Ruby on Rails. It is aimed for the intermediate Rails developer, but it is really useful for anyone interested in learning about modern thoughts in web application design and picking up a bit of Ruby along the way. The book really tries to appreciate the aesthetic of Ruby, Rails, and the development practices that have come to characterize modern web development.

That's all I have to say; I'll let the book say the rest!

[1] http://www.amazon.com/Art-Rails-Edward-Benson/dp/0470189487?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1209652925&sr=8-1

(Edited to fix link)
Be sure to make it non-editable.

Every editable EULA I've encountered has promised to buy me a pony!
Ask YC: what would be your hourly rate for programming Cobol?
Since I frequently have to put up with undesirable technology choices in consulting gigs, I became interested in this question (Cobol as a representative for undesirable technologies).
"I stare in people's apartment windows as I walk around too."

So that was you? That wasn't pr0n on my screen; it was a startup research project.
Actually, Toyota's innovation goes far beyond the necessary foundation that Deming laid out and many US companies ignored.
cool! congrats on the book

would you mind writing about how you came about getting a book deal?

were you active in the rails community? Did wrox approach you? did you write the book then approach publishers? etc etc

congrats again
I took a glance at the table of contents, but more efficient to ask you directly: What does this book add or teach that isn't out there already?

I hope that doesn't come across as snarky, I don't mean it to be.
Of course.

"many US companies ignored"

Kinda mind boggling, isn't it? Maybe that's another reason why startups have gained so much traction these days.
Search Engine Factors - Ways to optimize search engine results
Instead of "dumbest possible", I'd say "most constrained".

And, just to play devil's advocate: There may actually be some benefits to coding in a constrained, regimented manner. Sure, you need to write more code to do the same thing, so an individual programmer isn't able to tackle as large a project as he would be able to in a less-constrained language. But a more constrained language is more amenable to automated analysis and may make it easier for people to work together or maintain one another's code: Lisp may allow an individual programmer to express his thoughts in a manner that is clearest to him, but it might not be as clear to others. But if you use a language that forces everyone to think the same way, then you end up with a less-concise program that perhaps more people can understand.

And, for the vast majority of projects, a highly constrained language is all you need. For most workplaces, even a language like C++ is too powerful; they will add a host of self-imposed constraints like "RAII", "no global variables" or "don't overload operators", and they may use lint-like tools to enforce these constraints.

...Or, so the argument goes. Whether or not it bears weight depends on the relative value of having many people on a project versus having a few people who are more productive... or whether it is easier for other programmers to understand more concise code versus more constrained code. I'd argue that the lack of Lisp companies dominating their competitors favors constrained code, but there is a circularity in that argument that I don't like.
I was downvoted on this comment. That's so funny! I am giving this person an opportunity to downvote me again. Help yourself!
No, it's like saying 99% of the stuff on TV is crap, so I don't see the value in having a TV.

Like I said, we're talking personal preferences here, so don't get so emotional about it.
High. People who both understand cobol and care to work in it are a rare breed. :-)
I have always liked this ChangeThis document about Toyota:
http://changethis.com/29.01.ElegantSolutions
Often times, someone will write a comment stating a fact, regardless of the article, that may be completely untrue, completely idiotic, etc., that can warrant a reply without the need to read an article. Other than that, chiming in with criticisms and opinions without reading is stupid.

Oh, I didn't notice the second paragraph.
Ask YC: Startup crisis. Out of money and tech co-founder has bailed.
Looking for YC advice:

I am the non technical co founder of a startup, which has been in development mode for 12 months. I took a $30,000 loan and raised some $160,000 in funding from friends and an angel to develop an idea to the proof of concept stage. I found a Django technical developer 14 months ago, and initially have paid her $6900 a month and 6% of the company equity to build a decent prototytpe, with an expectation of ratching it up in the longer term. She quoted it would take her 6 months of full time work to do this.

4 months into development, she threatened to bail on the project and raise funding for her own startup idea unless I increased her equity stake to 35%. I was initially very upset by this change, as I had been up front and honest from the beginning and I didn't like the idea of switching terms midway through the project. I felt there was an asymmetry in our risk, as I quit my nursing job to do this and raised all the capital. She also refused to take a pay cut in return for the equity. I had limited alternative developer options to leverage in the situation.

I eventually agreed because without a proof of concept,I knew we wouldn't make it, and it seemed we were getting close to launch. I thought I would rather have a real partner than a long term contract developer, and adjusted to the concept if both being in it full time. I have taken a 55% pay cut to work on the startup, and have been paying myself $3000 a months, which comes to about $2400 incomes after taxes.

12 months later, we have a partially complete web app, have run out of money, and she has bolted back to her contract gigs. She hasn't finished the work to the point where I can do a beta, as the alpha feedback has not been incorporated into the software.

She refuses to invest any of her own money into the idea, I don't want to "get a real job" because I won't be able to work on the startup idea. I have very little money left in the bank. Raising more capital is really hard, because we haven't executed on our milestones. I refuse to give up on the idea, and I know that the window of opportunity is only a few months.

I am considering outsourcing the development to India, so I can get it to a releasable state. I have the source code and am also considering learning Django from scratch: How hard would that be?

Where should I go from here? Any thoughts gratefully received.

drinko
Is Sprint-Clearwire doomed from the start?
The game development company I worked for until a few months ago was bought out in early 2007, at a valuation that was far below the total value of the development contracts it was doing. I'd estimate the valuation to have been about a third or quarter of yearly revenue, although I had nothing to do with the financial side or the acquisition, so I might be somewhat off.

Basically, there seems to be very little confidence that most game companies will ever be sustainably profitable. It's the hit-drivenness and therefore riskiness of the business that's discouraging everyone from investing. There is a slow trend towards smaller development budgets, but it's certainly not coming from within the existing players, profitable or not. (let's face it, having ~70 people work on one project for 2½ years is pretty insane if you have no idea whether anyone will even like it)
Wow! I remember talking to one of their employees way back in 2000, that guy mentioned how cool Zaplet (the technology) was. Never thought about it till today.

Note to self: Revisit all the companies that went belly up including the ycombinator ones
SOLR vs Ferret as a Search Engine Indexer
I would rethink ad-supported. I cannot see you creating an eCPM greater than you advertising CPM in less than 6 months without an incredible viral model. And a lot of the successful viral apps are looking for revenue outside advertising, because they are not making enough on advertising alone.
I've heard comments in the past (though mainly in the direction of Time Warner) that these types of limits could be used to push forth a internet providers own distribution service. They could conceivably place hard-caps on everything except for services they provide and attempt to lock you into their own services so you can avoid the crazy overage fees.

I'm not saying there is any real evidence for something like this to happen, just that the opportunity is there, and I wouldn't put it past a business to leverage a position like that.
One BILLION dollars!
So... Where's the pdf link?
Sounds like a rough spot to be in. Where are you located? Depending on your location you may be able to meet someone that is fairly experienced and can work with the existing code.

It is hard to give any advice because we know very little about the actual application you are building. 12 months and no prototype sounds very long to me and maybe some of the more time consuming features should be cut and the rest buttoned up to have a working demo.

Could you explain the idea so that we could get a better idea of the difficulty?
Those Xobni guys are ballsy
The Stats Are In: You're Just Skimming This Article
Learning Django isn't difficult at all. If anything, learning Django will be a huge benefit even if you do find a Django coder. Not only will you be able to convey your ideas more efficiently by having an understanding of code, but I'm sure your coder won't feel as much of a slave. Learn Python first: http://openbookproject.net//thinkCSpy/ and for Django: http://www.djangobook.com/

If you're really dedicated to continue with the startup idea, and want to complete your first beta, I'm not sure waiting to learn Django, getting your feet wet, and developing proficient skills to actually continue the project would be the best idea, as it would hinder you from launching quickly, if that's your desire. So, although you may decide to do it on your own, you should be actively looking for coders.

If you're really out of cash, and you have no family/other sources to borrow or raise money from, and you need money, then maybe a part time job to start generating some sort of revenue may serve well.

Also, go to your local Django camps, check out djangogigs.com, get on listservs, find the Django Google group and post there. Not using Django should be an option as well, if you happen to come across that gem of a coder who's willing to take the load and doesn't code in Djnago. Also, applying to YC could be an option. If you do have some sort of prototype to show, and are willing to learn to program, you could be paired up with a group, of course that's all speculation.

Just don't get stuck in a rut of depression. Be rational, and exercise some damage control, because down the road, you'll probably find yourself in a more unforgiving storm.
It doesn't validate because breaking my preferences and opening a new window which I didn't ask for is (apart from being an obnoxious thing to do) a 'behaviour'.

The "Strict" standard, rightly, enforces a division between content (XHTML), design (CSS) and behaviour ({Java|ECMA}script).

If you want links to open in external windows, attach a behaviour to the link class with JS. Just make sure that behaviour is off by default, though, because otherwise people like me who know what we're doing won't use your site.
I wouldn't agree that patterns suck.

When they restrict the way people think, that's bad. I don't think that good programmers tend to fall into that trap, though. Instead, patterns are simply abstraction, and naming a pattern is simply giving a name to the function or macro or whatever that you're defining.

I guess the difference is that patterns tend to require humans to duplicate the abstraction manually, which does suck. But that's what you get for using a poor programming language. :)

In this case, the 'pattern' could be implemented by a function call, I think. I believe you should use a language where this is always possible. (Does such a language exist?)
There may be some legal action you could take - did you sign a contract with the developer? It won't solve your problem but it may get you some money back so you can divert it to some other development.

At the moment, I think you need to get an opinion from a real developer who can look at the code and the project design to see how long it would take to get it to the prototype stage. Depending on that I would try to get more funding in order to implement it while at the same time pursuing the legal route and trying to get your money back.

Also, learning Django may seem a little overwhelming at first but it's not too difficult - you can usually find the answers to any questions online.
Even more mind-boggling, if logic were the standard for judging these things, is how US auto makers have ignored Toyota's management innovations and continue on their merry way into decay. Porsche adopted lean fully, and the results for them have been also quite compelling. Audi is also going lean. On the service side, Rockwell Collins has had enormous success with adopting lean for their engineering.
Assuming downloadable HD movies become more prevalent in the future, that 250GB cap no longer seems as generous.
Office of the Future:

http://home.officesnapshots.com/2008/04/07/the-office-of-the...
I like the similarities between this story and "deliberate practice" ... makes a lot of sense to - move slow but move everyday in the right direction... I'm sure this relates to their quality also.
Doing the Troops Wrong
I think she made a "douche-move" by upping her equity forcefully while still taking $6,900/mo - To be honest no matter the turn out your better without her cause she is lacking integrity.
What legal action are you thinking he could take to force someone to work on a project? Even on consulting projects with defined statements of work and acceptance criteria, it is hard to recover up-front payments when projects go bad. This doesn't sound like a consulting gig; it sounds like an employment arrangement.

Also, bear in mind that if he structured the company as an LLC, there's no such thing as an equity-holding employee; she's a principal. He may not even be able to fire her or recover the equity, unless they're on good terms.
I think you need to find a new technical co-founder. Or, raise more investment. Neither of these are easy of course, but startups are tough.

You probably have to really love your idea in order to stick with it. Reading your post made me think about the most recent PG essay ("be good"):

http://paulgraham.com/good.html

Specifically, this quote:

The added confidence that comes from trying to help people can also help you with investors. One of the founders of Chatterous told me recently that he and his cofounder had decided that this service was something the world needed, so they were going to keep working on it no matter what, even if they had to move back to Canada and live in their parents' basements.

Once they realized this, they stopped caring so much what investors thought about them. They still met with them, but they weren't going to die if they didn't get their money. And you know what? The investors got a lot more interested. They could sense that the Chatterouses were going to do this startup with or without them.
Bill Gates Lied? Microsoft May Offer to Buy Out Facebook.
I've been looking for some part-time freelance income. Has anyone has ever used these contests to supplement income, or to make valuable contacts?

I've participated in TopCoder a couple times a while back, but didn't see much benefit in practicing up to become competitive. This article indicates that it may be different now. Is that true?

Specifically, the prizes awarded were not sufficient to compensate for the time investment required. Even bidding $10/hr for rent-a-coder gigs typically have a higher return on investment.
Why? Even at 35%, she's got much less equity than the original founder. If her market value is 80k, and they're taking salaries, what do you expect her to do?

Talent is a marketplace. It isn't owed to anybody.
Heh - I wish. As far as I know, Wiley (the publisher) doesn't have any plans to do an electronic version.

If it is e-books you're looking for, you should really check out Geoffrey Grosenbach's Peep Code (peepcode.com). It has a collection of screen casts and PDF books that are really great, and cost $9 bucks each, which is far worth the information they contain.
low 100k's ... for 10 patents and not to be sued later when your worth 50-90mm , sounds like a solid move.
There was a sentiment on the nnsquad [Network Neutrality Squad] mailing list that this could easily achieved using IP over ATM over optic fibre. You establish two ATM circuits: a public Internet connection that gets 1% of the bandwidth and a proprietary extranet that gets 99% of the bandwidth. Then, your ISP stalls and disregards network neutrality proposals. If you win equal access on the public bandwidth then it would only be a pyrrhic victory that obtains equal access to 1% of the avilable bandwidth. Meanwhile, your ISP could have a regional monopoly and have you beholden to any service which they choose to launch or not, at any price they choose, supporting any platform and DRM they choose.
i am near Tulsa, Oklahoma.

We have a prototype, but not one I would be able to release, as it needs a lot of user interface refining.

It is an online web app service for patients with chronic conditions that helps them manage their problems and has some social network features. (I am a nurse)
Ask YC: Launching gutmeet.com, need Critics. Thx in advance
hi,
gutmeet.com is my weekend project and can anyone tell me what do you think?
I understand that there are similar services out there but I am trying to make one that I personally would actually use, simple and clean. My objective is to create a one page form that lets me coordinate everything simple enough even my mom can use it for family gathering.

<a href="http://gutmeet.com">gutmeet.com</a>

I'd like to seek critics on:
is it complicated? or too simple? not helpful at all?
why you don't find it interesting?
what is not right?
What else would be nice to have and make you come back etc?
or I have just wasted my weekend?

I am seeking critics from web savvy users as well as grandmas. It doesn't hurt me if you find it 100% useless as it is just something I want myself.

Thanks for the time.
a lot (an exact number, of course, depends on so many things). cobol knowledge is a goose that lays golden eggs.
The front of the card is excellent (Guy Kawasaki), but I hate the back. In my mind, the most important part, after the name, is how to actually contact you. On Guy's card, that info just blends in with his three websites (seriously, he needs to put all three?). I like the simplicity, but my experience with all black business cards has been that it really sucks you can't write on them.
The operating agreement should handle the case of a founder leaving the project. If that has not been specified it should default back to the state's default case.

In any case, I am just considering that an option to at least try to get the partner to finish the job or at least get some of the costs back.

The development must go on so I wouldn't say pursuing the legal route is the primary goal.
because she agreed to 6% and $6,900/mo (a lot more than the founder) ... I think loyalty means something, be loyal to what you agree to; or quit... but don't hold the whole company hostage being selfish. I still stick with the "better off without her" mantra here.
I was in the process of writing a long post but here it is in a few points:

Ditch her. You don't need her and her screwy demands. That's pretty decent pay, I wouldn't have given her any equity. Do what you can to part ways as soon as you can.

Find another developer, on a contract no equity basis, if you can afford it somehow. If you can't you'll need to offer equity. Learning Python from scratch is an option but not a good one in my opinion. If you can afford to outsource, you can probably afford a semi-decent developer who is prepared to accept a decent sized share. Try and find someone who isn't going to screw you over, look worldwide and not just in your own backyard. As most of the work is done and you just need to get things refined to release an alpha or beta, it shouldn't take too much money in development costs. Then you can start whoring it out and getting some money to get things going.

I don't know what anyone else thinks but don't pay yourself. Invest all you can into the business. If it means you can only check on progress for an hour a day and you need to work part-time or full-time in Starbucks, then that's what you are going to have to do. Run it like you would a normal business. No one I know would have paid themselves that well before they've even started. If the idea and execution is good, it's a sacrifice worth making.

Good luck.
Learn to code.
no project contract was signed - I was naive and had met her through a mutual friend, so I thought I could trust her and we could save some money.

There is a contract for the company set and equity structure.
Free Scan to Scribd tool (scans, OCR's, then uploads doc to Scribd)
I'm not sure I can give any advice to help your situation specifically but I can say some stuff that might help other non-technically people in the future.

Make sure you have milestones setup in your development process. If she said it would take 6 months then make sure at 4 months your developer is at a reasonable place, hell make sure at 2 months that they are, if they aren't then it's time to reconsider the contract.

If they estimated it would take 6 months to do then by 4 months 90% of the site should be done, the other 90% is the smaller fixes, tweaks etc that always take a long time but a good developer will have learned to account for these in their estimate, but you should have a functioning(although not totally) site that far in.

I'm not one for micromanaging or the non-technical boss watching over the hackers shoulder every 2 minutes getting in the way, but it really shouldn't have been allowed to drag on for 12 months without a product. After missing the first estimate without a full application(even if it was a buggy one) you are going to have serious problems and should be looking for someone else because they are either too inexperienced to estimate their own work, too inexperienced to break their estimates down, or not doing their work.
Accidentally downed instead of upped you. Sorry. Will boost up another two of your posts.
My advice is to get a temporary e-mail address and put it in your HN profile. I'm sure you'll find some help.
Adam/Matt/Gabor: Who brought up the existence of Zaplet and the idea of buying their patents -- was it Vinod since he was at KPCB at that time or Jeff?

BTW: Good move.