skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
Not to cry sour grapes here but there is not one mention of Merb in that entire blog post. I personally wrote merb in order to show that rails internals could be much better, modular and faster. I did heavy duty politicking to get the two teams to come together and I think the rails merb merger is one of the coolest open source success stories vie heard of.

But not a single mention of merb in this entire post. I'm not complaining but it seems disingenuous not to mention it as the sole reason I wrote merb was to push rails forward. And when it looked like merb might possibly overtake rails I went ahead and gave merb to the rails project and got the two teams together so there wasn't wasted effort. After all to have ruby and rails itself win we needed to compete with java and python and php. Merb was starting to fragment the ruby community as it became a more and more viable option and I did some personal heavy politicking to get it merged back into rails so we could take on the world instead of infighting within the ruby community.

I think it's been a great success story and most of the ideas of merb's architecture have made it into rails.

So I'm incredibly happy to see rails 3 finally come out. And I'm incredibly happy that my little experiment in making rails architecture better has paid off and the two projects merged. But I do think it's a bit weak that merb was not mentioned once in the article.

(Edit) all this being said I don't want to come across as co plaining. My work on merb ended up exactly as I wanted it to, it made rails better.

So huge congratulations to the rails team for making this happen!

(Edit) http://rubyonrails.org/merb
The money in commercial real estate is in larger projects.

Govt gets more involved as the amount of money goes up.

The NYC govt doesn't much care about a small deli. It gets seriously involved if you're developing a whole block, or trying to build a wal mart.
After playing for a while, I think the best strategy is to simply not move.
I live in London and I frequently split a meal with someone. I have never had a restaurant complain.
I'd argue that engineers should only "design" so much as they feel comfortable. If you have a decent sense of laying things out, stick to a nice minimalist grid. If you feel you have a decent idea of what fonts look great together, contrast serif and sans-serif fonts, sizes, weights, etc... and there ya go.

If you're just throwing a gradient here, a border there, a glow there, etc... then you're just shooting blind.
I've been using Linux for a while now, and I never thought about how powerful those simple commands can be.
Sounds nice, but it's important to note that it's apocryphe, it was not written by JLB.

A note from Martin Hadis: http://www.internetaleph.com/detail/showdetail.asp?objtype=4...
My instinct is that one of the following two things is actually the problem:

1) There is a particular method of play that essentially trivializes the game (i.e. "If I walk into the corner and hold down this button, I win automatically.")

2) You're going for too broad a player base. Not everyone is going to be equally good at your game. From the perspective of the player, your game actually has different difficulty levels depending on the player. This is normal and expected. Nothing wrong with trying to tune the difficulty to where the most people are happy, but you're not going to make everyone happy.
Maybe it's the same as your (2), or maybe Facebook makes more than a small amount from it.

In any case, I think it's a mistake that you dismissed this as The only problem is, such unique, exclusive opportunities are rare. Big winning companies are always rare, and there are always a lot more ways for them to fail than them to succeed.

I think it would be a big mistake to ignore the opportunities here and shun the unfathomable risks and complexities. There are always risks and complexities, and any kind of partnership increases the complexity. That shouldn't be something people should run away from, though.

How big do I think it is over the next 5-10 years, from an investor's perspective?

I think it could be huge. Zynga seems to be doing pretty well, as do all the other social app vendors (Slide etc). But there are a lot more opportunities than Zynga have covered, both in the gaming as well as the non gaming market.
"Wrong" means "not correct". "Offensively wrong" means "not Politically Correct".
Doesn't offering the incentive get you biased results, by including participants who didn't care that much for your survey's subject in the first place?
When I was a kid I wouldn't feel obligated to finish everything on my plate. When I started buying my own food I almost always ate everything even if I was satisfied. I think subconciously I thought I should eat a little extra just in case I couldn't buy my next meal. Perhaps it's an evolutionary instinct.
I love how I have no idea what is going on or what to do, yet it still keeps telling me I win.
It does seem like a nice tool for that case. I think a lot of people, though, especially reading the discussion at places like reddit, are expecting that this means you can now just replace your sort() call with a drop-in replacement gpu_sort(), getting a 4x speedup in the process, which is not likely to be true.
Here's an article imparting Einstein's obsession with Mozart, along with the similarities between what Einstein said about Mozart's music and his own idea of the cosmos.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/31/science/31essa.html

More can be found in the Issacson biography of Einstein, which I don't presently have on hand. Mozart's music seems to have convinced Einstein that whatever theory ultimately successfully described the cosmos would have to have a grace, succinctness, and beauty that corresponded to the grace, succinctness, and beauty of Mozart. In the case of Einstein, as I am sure you are aware, this worked to his advantage and against it; for it when he discarded superfluous ad hoc physical constructions such as the luminiferous ether in favor of c's constancy, and of course against it when he constructed the cosmological constant to satisfy his intuition that the universe was eternally static. You can say that his interpretation of Mozart's music as perfect, succinct, and eternal could have simply been a matter of his subjective feelings on the matter, and of course I would agree with you. However, I'm not sure that music's subjective nature necessarily negates its usefulness as a model for mathematical aesthetics. If Beethoven pleases me, I'll look for solutions that satisfy me in a similar fashion. If those solutions work, they work, and nobody has grounds to gainsay my assertion that musical aesthetics informed my judgment.
Jackalope: real-time website stats
Another app created this weekend during Node Knockout.
Like the idea. Think you need to figure out a way to get people who are happy to submit data. Like Glassdoor, I'd guess that the unhappy are more likely to provide data. Especially true for folks in the city who feel they have a great deal - why would I advertise that and tell others about that?

Beyond that, didn't like the fact that I provided data and got a "no data available" page. I understand your building up the dbase, but it didn't leave me with a great feeling (not a biggie). Perhaps you could show me some data for close by areas so at least as a user, I feel like I benefited somewhat.

On amenities, would add -- Doorman building

At some point, you could perhaps mash up data you get about buildings with a lot of the data NYC has opened up about the city as part of its gov2.0 efforts. This way, you can provide a sense for the "value" of an apartment alongside stats like average income of neighborhood, crime rates, etc.

But of course, building up your dbase is priority one. Good luck.
I think smugness results from my brain getting too confused as the tie cuts its supply of blood flow and oxygen.
There's a handful of ML algorithms where sorting is a bottleneck, or where the algorithm could have some complex data-structures ripped out if sorting were an order of magnitude faster. They're often hard to implement entirely on the GPU, though, so you'd have to be careful with the transfer to/from the GPU if you were using it solely for the sorting.
Bad drivers selecting Volvos to compensate for their abilities would be an interesting thing to consider.

Or in general, the case where positive correlation is perceived, then it would be possible for a force towards negative correlation to be applied.
Here's my honest opinion of Beepl:
- The design of the site is fantastic. I can safely say I've never seen
a site that looks as well, both in terms of artwork, appearance,
navigation etc. I did spot one or two usability glitches and spelling
mistakes... I am a bit anal when it comes to that, but I'm sure you know
that already!
- The concept and ideas are also excellent: the semantic engine; a Q&A
market; seamless integration with other sites. This kind of research
tool/experts network should be in very high demand, if it catches on.
From what I can see, the biggest challenge will be attracting enough of
a user-base to get the ball rolling. I think you need to explain to
users exactly what differentiates beepl from your competitors, like
Yahoo answers... for example on the "About Beepl" page, or maybe by
putting an article up on Wikipedia about beepl before the launch.
- I can't comment on how viable it is in terms of revenue, but I'm sure
you have the business model worked out already!

That's all I can think of off the top of my head. Hope it's useful. I'd
better go to bed now.. early start tomorrow!
The Full-On Assault On Cable Is Underway
It might be possible to market directly to consumers in the retail market.

I assume you'd need a licence to give financial advice, but that should be easier to get than the rating agency license (I assume).

This is one example of how regulation is systemic risk.
Well it sounds more like bad regulation to me.
Sweet Talking Your Computer
You should learn first trusted technologies that are here for long time. Because they despite what people say they wont disappear - there just are no alternatives for them.

I would suggest you start with a good RDBMS system - like Postgresql, for programming language Python and Java are good picks - all purpose ones - it pays off to know something that has libs not only for webapps. Ruby is also not bad pick - but python has better more mature libraries for general work.

If you insist on nosql - i guess any key-value store would be good, I suggest Redis for memory based + couchdb/mongodb.
But seriously real world is not like "lets do something with new shiny tech". If you want a good job you need to know "standard" things well, you need to learn how to scale applications - and no scaling is not about using noSql, it's the architecture of whole thing that scales not like some magic formula that will solve everyones problems. What i'm trying to say there is no such thing as set of "recent technologies used by startups", every person you ask will have a different answer for you - but basics will always be necessary.
So am I the only one curious about the potential embodied in this experiment?

If you have accountability (via the credit card system) and challenge/reward (through a broader giving community), maybe you have the beginnings of a new and effective system for helping people.
Honest, self critical slobs, that are able to view themselves from others' point of view, and still make a conscious choice to be slobs are alright in my book.
There's really not much more to know; it's a weight maintenance technique, since cellulose is indigestible. Force = mass*gravity and all that. The lighter they weigh, the more height they can achieve. Gymnasts have to worry about their weight for the same reason; that's why child gymnasts actually have an advantage over adult gymnasts, hence the Chinese gymnast boondoggle. But they can be stockier as they're always moving under their own power. Ballerinas are under even greater pressure to be light because their partners have to lift them.
Wholesale Air Jordan Fusions
This Is Not a Recovery by Paul Krugman
I just realized this going through the API docs when I noticed the docs for 3.0.0 were now live on api.rubyonrails.org. Finally! (Of course, just two hours after converting one app from rc1 to rc2.)
PR firm settles with FTC over alleged App Store astroturfing
...just what kind of detectors do these things use!?

Perfectly dark with occasional single photons looks indistinguishable from bright with occasional brighter pulses, that seems odd.
I think there's a good connection to be made between Ali's comment that "the dynamics of a bubble can make it virtually impossible to eschew easy money and focus on building lasting value" and this recent post and discussion on cash or equity businesses - http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1589808

Essentially, if you find yourself in a bubble filled with easy money, it may be prudent to build a highly profitable cash business that won't last - make hay while the sun shines. And that's a legitimate choice over growing an equity-based, sustainable business that may not actually survive the bubble's bust anyway.

Of course, knowing whether you're in a bubble or not is much easier in hindsight. I'm reminded of the AA Serenity prayer requesting, above all else, "the wisdom to know the difference".
Thanks for all the feedback. This was my entry in the Node knockout competition, along with @ollerac and @steadicat. This app was built using the awesome sockets.io library which made it simple to send realtime messages without dealing with cross-browser compatibility issues. Really the server's only job is to pass messages back and forth between the clients, who do all the work of detecting the formations and updating the other players when they move.
My take is that the sunsets would be a replacement for the less-fruitful things one does in life - watch mindless TV, spend a lot of time on hygiene, [enter time-wasting task], etc. I don't think it's a replacement for actually accomplishing dreams.

It sounds like if you actually have passions to accomplish things, then by all means do whatever you can to bring yourself to act now. You're in the minority here and should be thankful. I say act before you become TOO comfortable.

My guess is that once you do start accomplishing your goals, that feeling of "there's not a lot to show for my life" will decrease immensely. At that point I'd be curious if you'd have the same outlook.
Add dishwasher to the list.
Much of the stuff necessary for life isn't fun or intrinsically satisfying, and money motivates people to do the mundane.
Hmm, "You must build off of words you've played yourself (the dark tiles on the board) after your first turn."

So if I put my first word cleverly in one of the denser places of the board, I am basically screwed (well, only until I start a new game)? Just disappointing after I searched the board for quite a while to place my second word, only to get that message. Also, I have no idea where to find my first word (I know it will appear darker, but I have no idea where in the 2D space.
Real-time charts that you can share as widgets for node knockout
Where on Earth: Multiplayer realtime geography knowledge game
Another Node Knockout entry created this weekend.
In Germany (Hamburg and Berlin) I have never had problems when asking for additional plates or silverware to share meals. Also, a lot of places can and will pack your leftovers if you ask them, but I believe it's not quite as accepted as the 'doggy bag' is in the US.
And at least one "WHOOPS!"
I found this to be the most useful point:

Don't take the keyboard. Let them do all the typing, even if it's slower that way, and even if you have to point them to every key they need to type. That's the only way they're going to learn from the interaction.

While there are certainly times when something needs to be accomplished in a hurry (in which cases I interject, "mind if I drive for a minute?"), 95% of the time I defer to letting the user explore and find the appropriate solution.

More often then not they ask me to take over and "fix it". I refuse politely and encourage them to try for themselves, along with some guidance from me. I am happy to walk them through, but I've found that long term, just fixing the problem without teaching leads to a lifetime of being on call any time a user encounters even the slightest error.
Offtopic: when are you announcing your next project? We're already feeling the lack of your presence at EY as we move to AppCloud. A cool new project would do much to offset that general disappointment (not that it's your problem).
Not only are the "tech" people being asked to help, they're being asked to help in only the way the questioner wants. Why doesn't the questioner (the person asking the favor of the others) read a book on how to interact with people with poor social skills?

This is a more constructive approach because it is easier to change yourself than to change others.
There are many points of difference in how males vs females perceive the world. Different drugs approximate different points of difference. For example, increasing serotonin makes colors brighter, closer to the way a woman would perceive them. Which is probably why women like flowers and brightly colored clothing more than men, and why they are more OCD about keeping the house clean. I'm not sure to what extent mainstream science recognizes this, but it seems pretty obvious to me.

Amusingly, about a third of my friends on SSRIs have become temporarily attracted to the 'wrong' gender. Which is why I suspect that sexual attraction is an emergent property of our sensory perception systems, rather than being a discrete switch that's unrelated to anything else.
A few rebuttals, from someone who taught basic computer usage at a community center for a few years:

> If it's not obvious to them, it's not obvious.

At first, yes. If, however, I explain it, I demonstrate it, I guide them to do it five times in various contexts, and they do it themselves for me in five more contexts—and then they call me back over because they still "can't" do it—then is is their fault, and they're just being helpless because they want attention.

> You are the voice of authority. Your words can wound.

I wish I was the voice of authority. 90% of the "guidance" I gave people was of the "X does not work like Y, you need to learn a new skill to do X" variety, with them not listening and going ahead and treating X like a Y, and then asking me why it doesn't work.

> Your primary goal is not to solve their problem. Your primary goal is to help them become one notch more capable of solving their problem on their own. So it's okay if they take notes.

Oh, I wish they saw it that way. They want "an answer, not a lecture." They want me to be a magic elf who comes, saves them from their mess, and lets them live in ignorant bliss, even though they came to be taught computing skills. It's quixotic.
Nice... I noticed that, unlike a number of other Node Knockout entries, it worked fine in Firefox. Will have to try that lib.
40-50% of marriages end in divorce.

50% of small businesses will be gone in five years. 80% in ten. That's across the board, not just high-risk tech startups.
I'm with the "never have any regrets" crowd. The biggest regret should be wasting your valuable time unproductively regretting stuff when you don't have long left to live and could, instead, be preparing yourself and enjoying the company of those close to you.
Fake iTunes reviews row settled
What a disgusting propaganda of corporate communism.
A person, that is completely lacking sense of his/her own achievements is either liar or stupid or some kind of manipulator.
It does not mean that narcissists are the best people, but the other extreme is not good either.
I'm not sure, where on Earth is Please Wait? It seems to be having some technical issues, I never got past there.
You do know that zedshaw himself has basically retracted that, right? http://zedshaw.com/rants/rails_is_a_ghetto.html
thank you, but i will pass.

I don't take binary blobs from ATI, apple, google, and certainly not from some random file sharing site.
It looks like this project is part of a goal similar to that. According to a blog post, Emscripten is an attempt to port a 3D game engine to the web:

http://syntensity.blogspot.com/2010/08/emscripten.html

The game engine's website is here:

http://www.syntensity.com/

Hopefully this experiment works out - both of these projects looks very interesting!
I'm working at Vmware now on a cloud operating system. That's about all I can say right now but it is what runs vmforce and vmware's partnership with google app engine to get spring running there very well. Multiple cloud multiple language paas.
"Ladies usually have guys over there, not data servers."

"Whenever I think of a group of women,
The only thing that comes to my mind is that they
are talking about how cool is desperate housewives,
or how great was Sara's date."

Men don't spend a lot of time having women in their bedrooms? They don't talk about football or getting laid? Your language seems to be angry and aggressive towards women. Yet both articles you are responding to were written by men. I think your aggression is misplaced.
"A website that will collect donations of used clothes and deliver them to people who really need them."

This makes it sound like a kind of charity but your description does not, who is the target audience here?
He did, indirectly: "So if you want to get in touch with me my new email address is ez@vmware.com ;)" (http://twitter.com/ezmobius/status/21954080229)
What I find amazing is how much fun people are having with it despite the fact that we had no idea what the game mechanics would be until the last minute.

We basically started with a board of pixels, and everything else just evolved through testing and laziness ("what's the simplest thing we can do to make the game slightly less pointless?").
It took me a few minutes to realize I was playing this game with other people, nice work.
Csíkszentmihályi puts difficulty (challenge) and skill on the axes to map mental state (encapsulating interest).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)#Conditions_fo...
I'm just starting my 4th year back studying math formally, 2nd year of PhD. I couldn't be having a better time. Who knows what the other end will look like, but I doubt I will ever work the "typical software job" again.
Frequent US traveller here from the UK.

as here they imply simply bringing leftovers home, although it has been a very long time since I've heard the term doggy bag and am more accustomed to people asking if anyone wants a box or their leftovers wrapped up.

It took a while for me to get used to the US phenomenon of asking for leftovers to be "boxed up" and I've noticed a similar level of surprise with less travelled Europeans I've taken to the US.

I'm used to it now (though I still wouldn't ever do it myself) but this is not even slightly common or acceptable practice in the UK. Such a request wouldn't be met with disgust or offense, though, merely confusion. I doubt many places except Chinese restuarants/takeouts would have anything to put the food in anyway.

So, yeah, this is a very American practice from the UK POV. I'd be surprised if it weren't common somewhere in Europe, though, but I've never seen it happen on my travels.

Splitting a meal or asking for more utensils to share a dish isn't exactly common here either but it is done, especially in pubs or similarly low-end places.
Value, explained
actually it is a kind of charity. the purpose is to establish an efficient channel of distribution of clothing to people in need. target audience is people who can not afford to buy new clothes at boutique stores but have to wear something and people who buy new clothing constantly and have clothing that they do not wear anymore.
btw, it is not a business idea, nobody is trying to get rich. it just stroke me and i wanted to check if the world really needs something like this.