skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
I'd put that slightly differently: if you bought heavily into the idea that money will make you happy and then find that it doesn't, then you can be truly lost. As long as you don't have money, it makes it that much easier to figure out what you ought to be doing day to day, which for many people is no small thing.
Travel to moon.
+1 for R.W. Emerson
> especially with women as soon as they graduate college and start nesting

Nesting? What are they, ducks? As a feminist I'd like to say that's some pretty idiotic stereotyping. Female college graduates overwhelmingly enter the workforce, not nests.
It's decent enough advice, but I have a hard time taking any scientific advice from someone who doesn't even believe in evolution.
Running long distance is a waste of time. You only burn calories while you run, not afterward. The best approach is a combination of building muscle, dieting to lose fat (many, low glycemic index meals per day) and performing HIIT training to continue burn fat after your exercise session is over (HIIT training only takes 15 minutes!).
Not just rejection, but failure. It's not how we succeed that defines us, but how we crash and burn. Those that get up, no matter how many times they are beaten down, are the ones that eventually succeed. Those who give up are the true failures.
That doesn't count desktop twitter clients.

It also doesn't count Facebook apps.
weightwatchers

It helps you figure out how much to eat, and let's you indulge occasionally so you don't go crazy. Their new online site is fairly geeky, and there are some great recipes as well.

No meetings or anything. Just online. It works!
While I've defended folks emulating YC in the last few threads, I do have to say that this is rather disingenuous -- not because I don't think that business-wise that it's fair game, but because since variations on the YC theme are so new there's a huge amount of space for differentiation.

For instance, the Seattle guys seem to be doing something pretty different and I think that's wonderful. They want people in Seattle and they want them to stay there. It seems that they're more interested in building a community than giving startups a jump-start.

YC, really is pretty narrow in scope. You could change the amount of money, the time, the industry focus (YC seems pretty media-ish-web focused), the country ... and I think you could still snap up a good chunk of smart startups with the core of the YC philosophy.

I recently read Blue Ocean Strategy -- the crux of the book is to find a way to redefine your market and dominate your segment, rather than ending up in a race to the bottom. In other words, don't play to win: change the rules.
Who are you? I'm not doubting your intentions, but it seems strange to solicit this information without mentioning at all who you are.
Cisco's Takeover Strategy
Being a child prodigy, and excelling in school, doesn't necessarily make her a good bet as an entrepreneur, however amazingly talented she might be. Or, YC might have missed the boat big-time on this one, and she's going to go off and found the next Google. No selection process is perfect, people make mistakes, and one data point does not a trend make.
Scribd largest corpus of user submitted documents:

http://www.scribd.com/groups/adult/7

;)
Yahoo Officially Responds to Google's Paid Search Data - Changing Pricing Algorithm
Here's a guy who advocates a daily 14-minute workout using a sledgehammer:

http://www.shovelglove.com/

His logical, noncommercial, do-it-yourself attitude reminds me a lot of the Hacker's Diet.
The Model-View-Controller Song
I've lost over 50-60 lbs since last year. Bulk of it (30-40 lbs) was within ~5 months. The way I did it was mostly through exercise: at the peak, I was doing an hour of cardio a day, 5-7 days a week.

I began (in December of 2006/January of 2007) with 15-35 minutes of cardio, three-four days a week (with intensive weight lifting). That got me back into the pace of exercise; weight lifting created muscles which consume fat when I do cardio. I also targeted the muscles closest to the biggest fat deposits (abdominals, legs) more. After I built up more strength and created a pace (roughly March 2007), I switched to nearly daily work outs with 30-45 minutes of cardio, which grew to an hour of cardio. At this pace I was doing at least 3500 calories a week.

In mid-to-early May, I've reached my initial goal, a normal BMI (for my height it's 174 lbs, down from 200+ lbs). Weight loss became even more rapid after that. 165 lbs by mid-to-late June, 155 lbs during the fall and (stably, since mid-December) 145 lbs. I've remained at that weight since. (The only way I know the dates is I've kept a private diary).

It's been the second greatest improvement I've made to my life (the first greatest improvement would be going to college): I've gained enough confidence to resume dating, I've found myself having more time, I've found myself having more energy to do work. I work 8-10 hour days followed - with occasional crunch time and hackathons - while doing a masters part-time: about equivalent, if not greater, work load than one would have as a startup founder (This brings me to another point, yes you do have time to work out).

As for diet, the only real changes were:
- As little white flour as possible (substituted with whole weat). There is minimal difference in taste/enjoyment, but there are less of the "bad" carbs.
- As little refined sugar as possible, no high fructose corn syrup at all. Splenda in it's place. In reality this means: make your own tea, drink water (and in the worst case, diet Coke). Dump the junk drinks (and that means dump Bawls and Jolt Cola too - diet Rockstar).
- Moderation: don't eat when not hungry, don't starve myself (starvation only puts your body into an energy conservation mode). Less eating at night, less snacking. Smaller portions.

In case you want proof:
http://rn86.net/~af/badge.jpg (April 2006, this wasn't even at my worst! Just as I began working full-time)
http://rn86.net/~af/photobooth.jpg (few weeks ago)

Hmm, perhaps this deserves a full fledge blog-post.
I think something like YC for films would be really cool, obviously it would have to be more than 20k but I bet some great work would come out of it. The hardest part would be finding a forward-looking person in that industry to start it.
sorry i didn't elaborate, it isn't a question of signing requests, kirubakaran posted a link below that explains the basics (unpickling can create objects and run potentially harmful methods)

depending on what you are sending there are several alternatives for serializing data. there are a handful of json libraries to take a look at and some good benchmarks if you google for them.
I am in no way saying 'don't bother exercising', but if the only reason someone exercises is to lose weight they will usually jump ship. I have never met anyone that has a serious exercise regiment (>3 years) that says they do it mainly for the weight loss.

The problem with exercise, like many endeavors, is that the results are from long hard work. Many times as soon as the initial results slow to a crawl people will lose pretty much all motivation. Its the same as anything else really, burnout is not caused by the work but by the months of seeing no results.

I mainly exercise with weight training (5-6 days a week) and cardio maybe 2-3 times a week. I have been exercising regularly for probably about 8 years now. I don't do it for muscle or weight loss anymore (but of course I enjoy those effects) I do it to get away from everything. Its the time when I can really clear my mind and do something is mentally very easy (although many times physically difficult).

I think exercise is the best thing for people that spend many hours doing mentally challenging but physically non-challenging work like programmers or engineers.
Ask YC: Feedback on startup: faviki.com
I believe he said he switched between CL and Scheme; not quit using CL entirely.
I share your sentiment. I like what Ben Stein says and he is definitely a very intelligent guy, but it's getting harder and harder to take him seriously in recent times.
I don't believe in dieting in the sense that it is a temporary fix. I try and change my habits as research comes out. I also don't believe in calorie restriction in the sense that although the physics work, other factors cause the approach to fail. To get an idea why I think this is so, try breathing "less air" sometime and see how long you keep it up.

-Don't eat reduced-fat or "diet" foods. Most of them reduce satiety. I have found, personally, that fats make me feel full, but I can eat an unlimited amount of carbs. Unsaturated fats are ideal. I avoid trans fats everywhere possible.

-smaller plate-size hack
http://fooddemocracy.wordpress.com/2008/02/29/mindless-eatin...

-eat breakfast (oatmeal or something with fiber)

-avoid white carbs in favor of whole grains (release energy slowly) and swap out white pasta for whole grain pasta and white breads for whole grain breads. View white bread as a rare treat.

-cut out soda and high fructose corn syrup as much as possible (corn syrup is a more recent addition to our diets that may mess up insulin/satiety)

-weight training--I had great return on exercise (ROE) with the four hour work week's 30 minute regimen from his blog and I seem to need to do this and run to stay slim.

-run (3x a week at least)

-get all required sleep, with naps (some research indicates that over-eating and sleep deprivation are linked)
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/030314.html
'Nesting' is a common term for the set of behaviors that makes a home more compatible with a family than a single person. Are you unfamiliar with it?

Is it really idiotic to suggest that women are more likely to do handmade crafts than men? I know many women who knit as adults, or make small crafts as kids.

However, there's an easy way to settle this. If etsy is going to underserve the vast market for men who knit adorable mittens and hats for their kids, you can certainly be successful with a startup that targets that market. Or we could just bet that the online craft market with a higher fraction of male sellers will be more successful than the one dominated by women.

Or we could concede that -- whether due to biology or the patriarchy -- gender correlates with some behaviors. That shouldn't be hard to admit.
Poll: Preferred medium for reading?
Can you read e-books or do you need paper? Especially for technical/work/hacking related reading.
totally jamie, i've been thinking about how to push business innovation into film. let's do it after xobni and snaptalent.
It's probably too idiosyncratic to meet your needs, but I really like Knuth's "Concrete Mathematics"
I want a demo.
It's definitely true, but most important is the last paragraph at the end. The best example is building enterprise vs. consumer applications.

If you'd like a safe way to get rich off a start-up, creating a consulting gig doing something "enterprisey" and then morph it into a start-up. In 5-7 years that could mean wealth. But this also means you'll be coding Java/.NET all of that time and are never going to build the next google.

What you would build is something like the next Siebel: worse than what the open source community provides, but some suit somewhere will justify spending $1 mill on it as a "business decision".
RIP HD-DVD; What about Xbox 360?
Blu-Ray wins; 360 owners blue they aren’t blu.
Many brilliant minds throughout history have been mistaken about things which today we take for granted; Einstein effectively waged war against probabilistic quantum theory for his entire academic career. Being passionately wrong about something doesn't make Einstein, or Ben Stein, any less brilliant.
First off, I wouldn't recommend a high-protein, low carb diet. It's very hard on your internal organs. Kidney problems abound from all the protein waste processing.

There are are some extremely effective substances you can use but they are a bit harder to get.

Clenbuterol will shed pounds like crazy but it's not something to stay on long-term. So plan to maintain your weight after you have help losing it.

Human Growth Hormone is a very effective fat-burner but it's also expensive from a reputable source. Most black market HGH is fake (usually HCG is substituted).

The diet industry doesn't want you to have these products because it would put them out of business. So you need a prescription, and most people are unaware of those options entirely.

Hormones are extremely influential when it comes to fat storage. If your stress level rises, your body will automatically store fat to compensate and burn muscle for fuel.

So getting rid of stress is critical.

If you are already tired but force yourself to work out, it may help your mental stress, but it does add MORE physical stress so your body may break down muscle and store fat. A lot of people have heard about overtraining but don't realize you don't already have to work out a lot in order to overtrain yourself. Simply being stressed/exhausted can cause overtraining with any vigorous exercise you perform in that state.

Avoid processed food. The more fresh whole foods you eat, the harder it is to overeat, and the vitamins and minerals will make your body stop feeling hungry in a way that doesn't happen when you eat something processed and devoid of nutrition..

Any kind of sugary drinks are a big problem. This includes fruit juice, which typically has all the sugar with none of the fiber. You can drink hundreds of calories of fruit juice in seconds, whereas if you eat whole oranges it takes a lot more work!

Exercise is key. You won't lose much weight because your appetite increases commensurately, but all sorts of things go wrong when you don't exercise. Exercise is a body regulation mechanism. If you don't do it you are guaranteed to have problems.
Great book, though it covers a somewhat different subset of topics than those typically considered "discrete mathematics"...

http://www.mhhe.com/math/advmath/rosen/ ..is what we used in college; I found it hard to read in spots, but haven't really found anything overall better.
*Ignore* the alpha geeks: Slashdot thought the iPod was "lame"
good data - presentation was hard to follow, though. would've been easier to understand if it were presented in a table/grid.
i have the body of a god (http://www.huongsengrand.com/images/fat_buddha.jpg) why would i want to change anything ?
veganism, go climbing/biking/hiking (take an active interest in a physical activity as it will give you a reason to train when you are not able to do what you love i.e. pull ups to get stronger for climbing).

kettle bells. http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/mahler56.htm Seriously makes so much sense compared to running. Covers both bases (cardio and strength). Only trick is getting them, hopefully you can find them somewhere locally. I managed to find some at sports authority at a mall of all places!
I would advocate against going against the 'Enterprise' route, unless you already have contacts that can feed you your first few clients. Getting contracts at the sorts of companies that buy 'enterprise' systems is much more a matter of being connected than software quality. This should not come as a surprise. Taking a million-dollar wager on an unknown is corporate suicide. A million-dollar contract with an established partner that goes tango-uniform is just a 'bad call'.
I don"t understand why this remark has been downvoted. This is key!

How to do it is a different question.

My way is to eat mostly fresh food, highest quality meat and fish and very moderate amounts of all.
The most important thing: no sugar, and when I say no I mean no! No yoghurt with sugar, no drinks with sugar and also no artificial sweeteners. They ruin the taste and you will always want sweet things. Better have two bad weeks without any sweet things. After that sweet tasts ugly. This is one really big step. If you don't like sweet any more, the whole diet will become more healty.

I do understand this is very hard to achieve in the US. But for me this is very important. Without sugar I can eat enough without high calorie intake. Similar things are true for alcohol. Especially in the evenings its billions of calories.

I run twice a week (10 miles) and swim twice a week (1 mile) . My weight is 145 lbs at 5ft 10. Running and swimming does not burn a lot, but the regeneration phase does (repair, build muscles, refill energy reservoirs etc.). Plus you 'll soon be in great shape and can take the stairs instead of the elevator ;o). Or the bike instead of a car.

Well, and it takes a lot of time and patience. But in the end it works.

Monks life? ;o). Not at all. Fresh milk with cereals and fresh fruits (strawberries, melons) in the morning taste absolutely great. Fresh salad with barbecued fish and a glass of chilly white wine is fantastic in the evenings.

Good luck.
Does anyone know if Drew is related to Chris Houston of Amp'd Mobile fame? Just curious... I used to work w/ Chris...
> doesn't necessarily make her a good bet as an entrepreneur, however amazingly talented she might be.

Yes, yes it does make her a good bet. If you are betting, bet on people with immense talent and drive.

Who else are you going to bet on, people with far less talent and drive? I think you're confusing "good bet" with "guaranteed to be more successful".

> No selection process is perfect

Yes, but there's a huge gulf between "almost perfect" and "woefully inadequate" when it comes to not being perfect. YC is closer to the latter just due to the lack of time they spend on the process.

> and one data point does not a trend make.

Correct -- but it's one more data point. There are multiple others from reports here. For example, YC not looking at demos; or asking questions that indicate they didn't bother to read or understand the application. Plus when you see some of the schlock they've funded it's clear something's broken.
I think this is an idea with a lot of potential. Rather than importing your blog, I'd focus on being the weebly.com of mobile.

A couple more notes, from using the product:

Deleting an element pops up an incredibly annoying confirm box. Offer undo instead; confirm boxes are almost never the right choice.

You have a captcha on signup. That will reduce the total number of accounts created. You're not big yet; add it when you're a valuable spam target.

I'm not sure what I can build that's useful with this.
Show me some examples of awesome mobile webpages I can copy.
Nightmare Playgrounds -- a veritable WTFBBQ of surreal sculptures at children's playgrounds
Agree!

Please submit a link to News.YC if and when you start doing this so I can add it to my RSS reader/Twitter/whatever you use to post updates.
Don't buy into the "genetic limit" line of thinking. The limit on the amount of muscle mass you can pack onto your body is much higher than most people have the will to achieve.

My issue is not length, but intensity. I understood "not doing too much in the gym" to mean "don't work too hard." If instead you meant use your time in the gym wisely, then that I agree with. But if you want to see continued improvement, then you need to increase the intensity over time. Despite being in the gym the same amount as some people, I'm in better shape because I work harder.

I agree with your summary, but I would stress "work hard." I've found that working hard and continually trying to improve actually makes workouts more fun.
Why there aren't more Flips (and why there'll always be startups)
"Imagine the product comparison grid on the back of the box: our product has to have more check marks against more features than Quicken. Even if they never get used…"
How do you reduce weight?
Reduce your intake or increase your metabolism.

How do you keep weight off?
Understand there is no short cuts. Basically, follow a steady diet that maintains your weight.

In short cut out manufactured foods e.g. chocolate, soda, cakes, breads, pasta, pizza, burgers etc. Eat simple foods for the most part with water.

Most fat people do not know how to eat/exercise.
This is pretty funny since I've said disparaging things about a lot of stuff that has become popular.

I think it's human nature to scoff at change.

And 3..2..1.. for "who needs more than 640k" LOL
here's another nerdy-dorky song

http://www.modlost.net/home/music/programming/lisp-song.html
Ruby was really slow prior to the latest version. It made Python look fast. It wasn't just Rails.
I highly recommend meditation. I have a steady practice of sitting for 20-30 minutes every day at around the same time, and find that it helps a lot with the various problems you've discussed. It feels great to have small period of time each day to work on steadying the mind and all its incessant thought loops.

Meditation is obviously not a panacea, and doesn't give much in the way of immediate results -- which unfortunately makes it easy to abandon. But after sticking with it for a while, I think you'll find that you'll have fewer emotional peaks and valleys, and will therefore be a bit more productive (amongst other things).

I'm glad you had some good luck with the Hacker's Diet. I too have been following the methods in that book for a couple years now, and have steadily lost a good amount of weight. I think the main thing that I took away from it was how important awareness is. Just recording my weight each day and plotting a moving average gave some insight that I never previously would have considered. And I think the same is true for meditation. You'd be surprised what new kinds of awareness about your own emotional state arises when you are just sitting with nothing but your mind.
I'm working on a rebuttal to this very article right now ;)
He switched back and forth between them on different sections but wrote about the initial motivation for that decision here:
http://eli.thegreenplace.net/2007/08/23/giving-plt-scheme-a-...
You need contacts, but you don't need to market your business (or hope your business becomes viral). You can get contacts by starting off doing consulting work. You'd only need to hire (or have as a co-founder) a business/sales person, you won't need to hire a marketing person.

Nor do you begin with million dollar deals, first customers can be cheaper, just to establish a clientèle base/relationships. The fact you said it's a matter of contacts vs. software quality is a point I forgot to mention: as Ben Stein said, you don't need to be great to do this. You just need to follow directions.

pg makes the same recommendation (go into enterprise) for those who do not think they are smart or driven enough to build consumer web applications.
shrug So, YC didn't pick her. It's their loss, because if she's going to succeed, she'll do it even without YC's help. If you have the means, which I certainly don't at present, contact her and offer her funding.
I can't read crap on the screen. Stuff over 5 pages long is impossible for me... And I can't put post-its pagemarks on an adobe PDF... I really wish I could read stuff electronically, but I don't see how you're gonna match the convenience of a book in an electronic device. Sadly.
I don't think that Ben Stein is not intelligent; he has shown to be a very smart guy.

What I take issue with is that he appears to be intellectually dishonest (n.b. the whole debacle with his pro-creationist movie).

I take issue with your comparison of Einstein to Ben Stein though; Einstein took issue with Quantum Mechanics because of lack of proof. Ben Stein's position appears to occur incongruous to the face of proof.