skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
I know the traditional mantra is "launch early", but I wonder if this is an example of where the words "but not too early" should be added. I don't know anything about the internal workings at TipJoy, but from commentary here a bit over two months ago it sounds like there is more to come (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=137283) -- but at what point does "release early so that people can become aware that you exist" turn into "if you release early, you'll get a reputation for being a complete flop"?

Note: I don't know if TipJoy did launch too early; but I think it's at least a possibility worth considering.
It's a comment on the disgusting and sad state of politics in America that saying "Everyone who is sick should get care" is a political football rather than a noncontroversial statement of an obvious truth.

I think we should take rich people, steal large percentages of their money, with guns or threats of jail, if necessary, and use it to buy medicine for anyone who needs it.

Underneath all the bullshit (including the libertarian bullshit that will be presently downmodding me), the reason Americans don't have universal healthcare (which, despite the duckspeak from the media, is better at all measures except treating the very rich) is pure racism. The same racist fucks who put George Bush in office will go absolutely batshit at the idea of their money being used to help people that aren't as white as they are. These racist sentiments are then manipulated by the media for the benefit of a controlling elite. This is the real reason the US lacks a social safety net.

Look at what you're saying. I would be broke or dead in America, but let's not get political about it. No, lets get political about it.

Every option for self employed people suck. The entrepreneurial culture suffers because a person with a preexisting condition and a job can't quit to start up a company. This is very stupid and we should all be very pissed off about it.
How much do you exercise each day and what do you do?
I've been thinking a lot about this lately myself. Where does one go to read "really good" source code?
A word geek aside: The distinction between the verb forms of "flounder" and "founder" is kinda interesting, as the former implies you're struggling against the water, and the latter says you're already sunk. Not to mention the homonyms that make it possible for startup founders to founder.
Scoble gives more PR tips
I don't think TipJoy launched too early. They have a good product and it works.

I think they need to continue focusing on execution as they appear to be - and keep their burn rate low because they may be in for a long haul educating users and creating a new industry.
Congratulations to the Mars Phoenix team!
Ask News.YC: You have an idea for a start-up. Now what?
How do you bring an idea to conception when you have little technical expertise but a lot of interest in the idea? I've fleshed out my web application in mock-ups and hundreds of pages of notes, but won't be able to take the idea further unless I figure out where to go from here. I'm just curious about the right way to handle this situation.
it's the PR tips week!
Web 2.0 and the NZ Government
Don't Be Afraid of Special Cases
I sure wouldn't mind seeing these results...
The major difference between information and material goods is that material goods also serve as indicators of status. If we evolve toward some other way of indicating status, then one day stuff will be just as free as information is now. But if not, people will continue to spend money on ridiculously overpriced stuff that has no added utility over "regular" stuff, just to show that they're better than those who can't afford it.

And they are better, in a sense. This seemingly childish game of status shouldn't be discounted. It's evolutionarily very important.
you just made my day by posting that link - how did you find that post? (was a late night rant commenting on office politics). Very nice to see :) but maybe typical of hn's fall from grace from "how to be the best" to "how to compete with the best"
Apparently it isn't common knowledge, but I guess I should have guessed it: I've been using food (esp. high protien foods) to stay awake for all-nighters for years. I never would have guessed the opposite would work!
Perhaps, because it is focused on a single problem?
I wish them luck, but when I want to tip a blogger I click an ad and let nice Uncle Google pay.
Influence may be a goal of lying, but it may also be a motivation for honest communication.

If your intentions are self serving, or anyway if you are covertly selective in what you tell to others, if you use fallacies, or if you outright lie, you are probably doing wrong. There's a word for that, and it's manipulation. Influence doesn't have neutral connotations in English. Much on the contrary: when you say someone has influenced you, or is/was influential in general, you're praising, not condemning them.

Full neutrality is impossible. You should keep neutrality as a general aim, while recognizing you're more biased than you realise.

More specifically, arguing equally for and against both sides of any war is not neutral; it's a futile attempt guided by political correctness. My first impression on reading that is that you're overreacting to typical western (esp. American) good vs evil rhetoric.

You can teach about a war without making explicit moral judgements about either side. There are many reasons to study a war that don't require you to discuss ethics (for example, you may be studying socioeconomic motivations and impact.) Or, if you want to discuss morals in a non judgmental way, you can describe the system of values that was current in each side at the time of the war.

That said, using the narration of a war as an illustration of some point in ethics is no worse, per se, than making such point in first place. In general, one side of the war will conform better than the other to some system of values. As a parent who is transmitting your child a system of values anyway, making a taboo of stating explicit judgments on either side of a war is pointless.

Hiding your beliefs from your children just not to influence them is a form of lying, and it's futile IMO. Do you have to make up cover stories about where you're going when attending church? Do you have to tell your relatives to keep the secret? Ridiculous.

And anyway, where would a 4 year old get his first ideas about religion from? Will they discover the Truth by themselves from cogito ergo sum? Nope, they'll be marked by the next influential person they meet: a teacher, a friend, etc. How is that any better?

Just stating your beliefs, while acknowledging the possibility that you're wrong, is a very honest thing to do. The child will grow to make their own opinion before it matters for any practical purposes anyway. That's what my parents did with me, and I stopped believing in God at around the same time I stopped believing in Santa Claus. I never felt pressured either way, and I carry no trauma that I know of.
Crash by JG Ballard
Anything by Vonnegut that you haven't read. Almost all of his books would be readable in a week or so. ("Player Piano" may be most appropriate to suggest given the nature of this site.)
I would assume it better to compare and make predictions about me based on somebody unknown to me but with strikingly similar purchasing habits, than to compare me just to known associates.

Part of the problem with the social graph, particularly as it exists on broad networking sites like Facebook et al, is the lack of data about the nature of those relationships. (ie, "the more you know about them"). I've got however many dozen friends, but the social graph there doesn't distinguish between the guys I went to primary school with and the guys I see every weekend.

If I could better position my relationships, more accurate data could be created. Eg, if I declare Dave is my 'drinking buddy' and Dan is my 'film friend', the system could make reasonable predictions about what I might like to drink based on Dave and what films I might watch based on Dan, while ignoring the vice-versa.

In other words, the value of the social graph requires more meaningful information about relationships, not just more people. Without that, aggregated data wins out.

You're right - pure speculation is cool!
These guys launched less than 4 months ago... how can we possibly be talking about 'failure'?? It can take months, if not years, of iteration and course correction for a startup to find its groove. These guys are working hard.
It depends alot on the technical sophistication required to implement your idea.

If it requires a good deal of technical sophistication, you are going to have to locate a good technical co-founder and that's going to be relatively difficult. This is a good place to start and maybe craigslist when you get more serious.

If you really want someone to come on board, with no prior personal connection, you are going to need to be really open and up front with your idea, what you are offering, what would be required, and what works you've done, and plan to do. Such a technical co-founder would need to be convinced that you can handle any and all non-technical things completely.

And if you can pull off a sale like that, you'll probably make a great non-technical founder :P
Can't help but think Tipjoy and Disqus should do a deal.
Great!
Thanks very much - just what I was looking for.

I only want an editor to fiddle with (tidy up) some data, which is in JSON format becasue it was exported from the django dumpdata command.

As it's a one off task - I didn't really want to get into writing a script.

Cheers
I sign email for the same reason I say "hello" to people when I see them on the street--doing so fulfills social expectations regarding kindness and politeness, making communication seem more personal.

If you sign your email "Thanks, Brian" or "Regards, Brian" or "Cheers, Brian" then that is much better than "- Brian" or nothing at all. Similarly, I include "Dear XXX," or "Hi XXXX, " or at least "XXXX," at the beginning of the message.
I really hope they detect frozen water, and organic compounds trapped in that frozen water.

From that discovery I would hope a space colony race would develop. It is depressing how little space exploration has occurred since the first of mankind walked on the moon. A permanent moon base followed by a Mars colony would be possible in our lifetime I believe.
I'm not at all interested in nasa spam here. As per the YC guidelines (http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html):

"If they'd cover it on TV news, it's probably off-topic."
Just to clarify things, I've been involved over the past six months in designing a web application. I want desperately to bring the idea to conception, but the process of seeking out others with technical expertise seems fairly aimless.
No, using precise words enhances communication. There are different connotations between the words.
Possible, yes. Whether it would be desirable is an interesting discussion.

Having said that, I'm with you. 'Arms Races' and War often support great technological leaps that ultimately benefit humanity (think plane engines or superglue) - wouldn't it be nice to see a space colony race where nations and corporations invest in new technology to support life on the moon, on Mars, and ultimately here on Earth, without the motivation to kill people first.
let nice Uncle Google pay

Google makes money when you click on the ads. It's the company being advertised that pays.

..............

As for tipjoy, I wonder if they haven't tried to get a deal going with wordpress or similar to allow bloggers to automatically attach tip jars.
C'mon, give the guys a chance before you declare them dead.
Visualization of the awesome landing:
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap080525.html
Explicate, por favor?
Why Traditional Advertising Formats Fail On The Web
Congrats are certainly in order!

Sadly, I missed it. I had the video feed playing but, due to the Benadryl I took (our cats are shedding right now and I've been sneezing nonstop for a few days), ended up dozing. I woke to the cheering of the landing. :(
Summary: blah blah blah $2,519.01 since February.

TipJoy hasn't taken off because:

-A: can't withdraw money

-B: can't respond to payments with software (also, see A)

The founders probably haven't blogged because they are raising capital to solve A so that they can solve B.
See
http://www.ycombinator.search.xirium.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi?... and http://www.ycombinator.search.xirium.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi?...
Seesmic: Why it's so important to just frackin' start
"...ugly is when a program displays "1 files deleted" (or even "1 file(s) deleted")..."

This bugs me sometimes also... or when a timer is counting down - I know it's small but it just seems lazy to leave off the half-line or whatever it takes to conditionally add the "s" when != 1
How does rambly spreadsheet-dump have 34 points with no comments?

I don't get it. I understand friends bumping a submission one or two votes if the content is legitimately interesting, but why try to blast to the top of news.yc?

Have you tried World of Warcraft? You can get to level 70 gaming that system.
Turns out that "it depends"; a recent paper by Jon Kleinberg, Sid Suri and others suggests that for wikipedia edits, social networks are more important predictors, where as for Live Journal, "similarity networks" are better.

For hard data google the paper (it's a preprint so I'm not gonna link to it): Sid Suri site:cs.cornell.edu, and checkout the Papers link.
TG Video: Fusion io - the power of 1000 hard drives in the palm of your hand
This sort of thing comes up on here a lot and I'm sure there's plenty of answers if you search news.yc via www.searchyc.com
So, how much did he make in total?
The problem, of course, is if the "host" is actually a huge collection of machines that hide behind a single IP of a NAT.
This is Objectivism gone awry. A society of Ayn Randians will ultimately face challenges that leads to its collapse.
I admit it's odd, but there are no suspicious statistical patterns in the voting. If it's a ring, it's a new one.
Why do you take the time to comment?

For me, there has been an emotional response. Perhaps you moved me, taught me, or led me down the path to another discovery. Or maybe you're so wrong I've just got to give you the benefit of my wisdom!

Why leave a tip where there is no social imperative? I suspect for many of the same reasons you'd comment.

Tipjoy benefits from the reach of Disqus who in turn benefit from an product greater than the sum of it's parts. Revenue share opportunity here.

As an aside: Perhaps a tip is a more meaningful digg; you've got some skin in the game. I wonder what the front page of hacker news would look like if you had to tip to up vote a submission.
The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon

- I'm finishing it this weekend and it's a good fun read with lots to like: portrayal of early comics' culture, history, and impact, working long hours to produce a passionate product, leveraging your best qualities, and finding meaning when it appears bleak.
There are some threads on this in the Ask YC Wiki - http://www.gabrielweinberg.com/startupswiki/Ask_YC_Archive.

As lbrandy says, if its a very technical idea you'll probably have to look for a technical cofounder. If it seems manageable, start learning how to hack and get coding. Its not as hard as it seems, most web apps don't require advanced CS knowledge or anything, especially for a rough alpha release.

There are lots of threads about where to start with that (languages, frameworks, etc) in the Ask YC wiki linked above.

Even if you do go the route of finding someone technical to help you, I'd learn to code anyways. It will only help you in this startup and any more you end up doing. Any knowledge of it will help you choose a competent cofounder as well.

Good luck.
Now if only they could ship that huge backlog of orders.
Joel Spolsky covered some of this: http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000027.html
"For instance, one issue relating to copyright law is whether music sharing should be allowed. Patent law has nothing to do with this. Patent law raises issues such as whether poor countries should be allowed to produce life-saving drugs and sell them cheaply to save lives. Copyright law has nothing to do with such matters."

I don't know how that remotely refutes the umbrella term "intellectual property." Is there really such a huge difference between laws that make it illegal reproduce and sell music created by somebody else and laws that make it illegal to reproduce and sell drugs designed by somebody else that we can't put them in the same category? Perhaps he has a point with trademarks, but the differences between patents and copyrights don't seem to be much greater than the differences between burglary and embezzlement laws.
I wrote this on the blog post a good while ago, but it is still "awaiting moderation"

-------------

I’m co-Founder of Tipjoy. We’re very much alive and well, and about to release some very exciting new features. You will hear more about them soon. We’re hiring, raising money, getting new office space, and still working hard to make the service better.

The use of Tipjoy has been consistently growing, and we expect this to accelerate. Just as you said yourself, it takes more than a few months for a product to become huge. It’s an iterative process where we listen and learn from our users and continually add new features for them.

We too believe in the social side of tipping. We’ve made it easy to see who else has tipping something, and see everything they’ve tipped. This is all syndicated with RSS. You can see the tips I’ve given here: http://tipjoy.com/userstream/ivankirigin/

If you want to make your tipping public, change your settings here:
http://tipjoy.com/settings/

The social side of the site is going to become much more interesting, especially as we add plugins to social networks so you can track what your friends are tipping on the sites you’re using most.
The parent link is broken. Should point here: http://www.akitaonrails.com/2008/5/26/rolling-with-rails-2-1...
Human nature is human nature: people are lazy. Combine this with the norm that dense notation is evil ("file" + (n>1?'s':'')) and you're bound to lose special cases to apathy, here and there...
Withdrawing money is a very top priority of ours. You'll see more here about this very soon.
I don't think we launched too early at all. We launched with enough to get something that blogs could use to get support directly and easily from their readers. We've been building out features since then.
If only to have a ritual burning of the book ceremony...
Thank you! I'm actually a bit surprised the the main argument is about the amount we've earned from our very real and operational business model. Lots of companies don't even have that :)
Actually, a user can tip any site with our bookmarklet. The site doesn't need to have Tipjoy in order to get a tip. We contact the site owners to tell them about the tip, and show them how to sign up:
http://tipjoy.com/bookmarklet/

There have been around 2000 sites tipped this way.
PG: "I admit it's odd, but there are no suspicious statistical patterns in the voting. If it's a ring, it's a new one."

How odd now?

(for those of you following along:
http://www.userscape.com/blog/index.php/site/comments/a_look...
is also at the top of news.yc atm)

UPDATE: Oh sweet, now THIS version is number one! 62 votes and I am the only comment!
Wow, that is not very cool. I advertise on content networks online, and I'd love to pay for your click if you're interested in the ad, but not so much to "tip the blogger".

Also, If a site gets a lot of click-throughs but no sales, I stop advertising there. So you might be helping in the short run and hurting in the long run.
Harvard Negotiation Project: 5 Lasting Rules For Negotiating Anything
I think with a startup that launched only a few months ago the worst you can ask is "why hasn't it taken off?" not "why didn't it take off?" Any startup at this stage is still iterating.
Richard Stallman gives the example of a law professor who refers to patents and copyrights collectively as intellectual property when he knows that it doesn't apply to tramemarks. Others might not get the distinction. This isn't pedantry. Richard Stallman explains that the conflation is relatively recent and prior to this, case law set very distinct properties for each class.
Ha, that's a good point. How many startups exist without a revenue model at all? I think we can give your company, with a nice and clear revenue model, a bit more time before judging.
They simply cannot due to constraints.

OK, so you've identified a problem to solve. And Tipjoy doesn't help solve it. Oops.

It seems like Tipjoy are just reselling PayPal services, who are really trying to solve these problems. There are already too many hands in the transaction, your bank, your credit card, PayPal, their bank, fighting over a 10¢ charge. Back in the real world, people make $10 tips in cash, without any middle men.

From their FAQ: We encourage you to try and convince the people you've tipped to sign up with Tipjoy to claim their money.

Ugh, pain. "Please give us your bank details so we can forward you this 10¢ tip". I think the Nigerians make a better sounding offer than that.
The lander is powered by a 33MHz computer that costs $200-300k. I love how much gets done with so little power.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAD6000

I couldn't find what language they were working in, does anyone know? Ada?
Ask HN: Streaming stock market data?
I've got a pet project in mind and I would like access to stock, futures and options data. I'm willing to pay a small amount, maybe up to $30 per month (but free is also ok).

Are there any API friendly stock market data sources out there?
It's now May. I don't think a failure to find traction in 3 months is really a strong indicator of whether or not the product has long term potential. And whether or not that particular product has long term potential is not a solid indicator of whether or not the startup does.

And it's not very logical to assume that infrequent blogging means the founders have given up. It might mean just the opposite.

It's humorous how he chastises them for not having much traction so quickly, while also chastising them for giving up so quickly.
I think that's how you should write software in general. Write tiny prototypes that you can rip up and change on a whim, and aim for making something so fun/beautiful/useful that it would become a crime against creativity not to turn it into a "full" product.

If you stumble on a way to repeatably accomplish this, you'll consistently create hit software.
I think people are very interested in how much other people/businesses/lines of businesses make and this author was very forthcoming about it.
Yes, folks like breck are why we stopped advertising on the content network. It provided us with nothing but a way to indirectly fund bloggers or buy someone sushi at the Google cafeteria.

Behaviour like that is going to kill 'ad supported' sites.
The tip-for-tat idea for the front page of news.yc is a pretty cute one.

As to your general point, though, I think you should tip for provision of value. Sure, often the value provided is an argument which might merit discussion, but the thing that ties Disqus and Tipjoy together isn't actually the content itself but the blog format. If anything, Disqus is just a distribution channel that works well in the blogosphere, which I guess is reason that they should team up, but it doesn't add much value to Disqus, and Tipjoy would probably appreciate being thought of as more broad than a "tip your blogger" platform.
I've seen submissions be upvoted quickly before. This is exactly the type that would be upvoted quickly--nobody ever posts how much money they make with their app.