skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
So here is one data point. I was very interested in electronics as a kid, and got a ham radio license at a very young age. I studied everything about radio that I could get my hands on, Fourier analysis, circuit design, propagation. I ended up at Northwestern (by some mechanism that is still not clear to me) in the EE program and took the 5 year (with co-op) program. I had studied enough that it wasn't until Control System Theory that I learned something totally new to me.

Meanwhile, in my freshman year, I got into computer programming and haven't looked back and have been making a living programming for all the decades since. I did finish my engineering degree, but during my senior year I was working pretty much full-time in my first startup.

So what I would say worked for me is the studying that I did outside of my actual coursework. This has continued to be my habit after college as well. While I was officially studying EE, I was learning everything I could about computers. While I was writing real-time data acquisition and pattern analysis software for that startup, I was studying how to build compilers. Then, once I started building compilers for a living, I started doing consulting.

So I am not a good data point for a connection between what school was about and what the career is about. But then again, the career has had a number of shifts in which study of a new field was key.

So while you are considering this decision, consider 1) how well you do is more a function of you than which, if any, school you go to and 2) you will learn things in a university (and college) that will serve you well later on 3) you might be the kind of person who can do well without school.

And to this day I am a bit ambivalent about CS degrees. My own narrow experience makes me suggest a good engineering program with a CS minor. I do wonder if one learns programming without gaining a few scars and adopting one dogma and another and have that go bad on you.

To give an example, I was once in a position to interview candidates for compiler positions. There were some schools whose CS masters grads were frightened of compilers, others who had a good grasp.

However, if you have done a "few apps" and consider yourself a Badass Developer, perhaps a good school will help you with that notion. I am reminded of stories I heard about folk going to places such as Cal Tech. Supposedly there was a week spent convincing all these very smart kids that they were not all that much more badass than the kids to their left or right.
If you are squeamish and like figs, this may comfort you.

According to a comment in the original post, majority of commercial ones do not contain insects:

"Only some kinds of figs (so called 'Smyrna' types) are pollenated by wasps. The vast majority of figs eaten come from varieties that produce fruit parthenocarpically. It is highly unlikely that the fig you ate at the supermarket was of a variety pollenated by wasps: most north american commercial figs are not."

http://scienceblogs.com/oscillator/2010/09/edible_symbiosis....

I chose to believe this explanation :)
framework/classes/pie.php
1082 lines long

Methods existing in the file: microtime, exceptionHandler, includeFile, autoload, var_dump, do_dump.

It's the first file I opened, and I see exactly what this guy saw immediately as well.
The rationale is that it makes searches faster, but turn it off if you don't like it.

http://www.google.com/preferences?hl=en and search for "Google Instant".

I haven't quite made up my mind yet. I don't mind it, but then again most of my searches come from the Chrome address bar.
The guy who said it is Andrew Lewis. Might I suggest "Lewis's Law"?
I turned it off in Firefox because it seems to capture EVERY key press and apply it to the search, obliterating assorted navigation shortcuts I have in place via some add-ons.

But, every without that, there's a noticeable lag in handling my typing, which is annoying, and I've yet to find a result I wanted before I was done entering all I intended into the search field.

It's an issue with many AJAXy UI items; they are so busy trying to second-guess my every keystroke that my every keystroke becomes a burden to enter.
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so what is your argument? I don't really see one in your post, so I was adding to the discussion.
Ask HN: anyone leave a high paying job to work at a startup?
And on a similar note, is a chance at a big payout an important factor for anyone going the startup route (founder or employee)?

maybe it's just me, but it seems like it's just taboo to talk about money - everyone says do it because you love it, job descriptions talking about passion this and passion that. not that I disagree with those ideas, I don't - but how do you all look at the financial element?

I make a significant amount of money now (not bragging, just providing some context), so leaving it behind for a startup is a difficult decision. yes, it could be an awesome working environment, and yes, it could be a stepping stone to other opportunities. but given startup success rates and typical equity I would expect as a non-founder, it's a big time loser, at least purely financially.

anyone have similar experiences, whether they decided to go with startups or not? what was your thought process? alternatively, how much would you have to make to stick with a day job, assuming it was at least somewhat stimulating?

(throwaway account since I didn't want to go into my finances with my main account)
I think the implication was that it is sexist to imply that women have better judgment than men, and that this causes them to stay out of tech. It's the first part that's sexist, not the second.
I don't like it either. I think it falls into the category of technically impressive, but real-world silly. The small decrease in search time is completely offset by feeling like I'm having a seizure.
What is the 'android vision'? Seems to me the problem outlined in the article was an issue well before Android was even available, and certainly well-known. If carriers adding crap and restricting stuff wasn't supposed to be part of Android's 'vision', Google could easily have created licensing terms to enforce that. They didn't.
Fine, I'll say it. Also why NYC rocks: tons of amazing women.
I personally look for a neat collection of tasks that I would be performing as well as a required skill set that I actually have. I used to really want to do telecommuting, but have since backed out of that desire since it tends to give your fellow employees license to frown at your ability to not have to be in the office. I also like posts that are not a generic list of incomprehensible gibberish. I will say that it seems even the most bland-sounding of companies have 11/12 these days on joelonsoftware. What's that all about? Has every company become "that company"? I joke of course. All tangents aside,
these are the kinds of things I look for.
The sanitize function in YQL looks like it would work. (I say "looks like" because I haven't tried it yet.)

http://developer.yahoo.com/yql/guide/sorting.html
I think it's much different for established companies vs. unestablished companies. As someone at a startup which hasn't launched yet, we have to be more descriptive. If you're YC company, or more established - maybe it's enough to say Acme Corp, PHP, email us.

We like to say:

Funded startup looking for a talented Ruby developer to be employee #1 (because that's true, and because there's something unique about being employee #1).
Great example. I delivered newspapers for a summer, and I realized that the cost of the newspaper was about the same as what I made for delivering it, as I got paid per subscriber. This doesn't factor in the fact that I was working for a third party company, whose goal was to made a profit on the operation.

So, it seemed the paper actually pays more just to get the paper delivered than the subscriber paid for it. Advertising pays for everything else.

(I'm curious how newsstands and other outlets work, but I'd have to guess that the papers/magazines are provided at very low cost as well, with most of the price on the sale going to the stand operator.)
I may be missing something here, but aren't you comparing a programming language with an OS?
I think the "android vision" is the mythical belief that certain consumers have that Google wanted to release an open phone platform for the benefit of the users.

I disagree about Google having much choice about how they set up the licensing terms however. In order for Android to become the defacto platform for handset manufacturers, they needed to license it in a way which was more attractive to the companies building and deploying the phones.

I don't think that carriers mucking with Android is some fatal flaw that will doom the platform, but I also absolutely don't believe that when Google was launching Android, that they envisioned carriers in China replacing all their services with Baidu.

If they did anticipate that, and still opted to release Android the way they did, then they are idiots; which I don't really believe.
I miss having another search bar at the bottom of the search results.. Turns out, now that its not there, I used it a lot
I find it very useful when searching for the answer to a programming question. If the MAN page for the language/framework/whatever doesn't provide me with enough information, and I"m looking for an implementation example, it's great. Sometimes it takes a certain keyword or multiple to find the specific result I'm looking for, and I love that I can just keep playing around with the search query until I find something that looks right.
Realism. Nothing is more bothersome than buzzwords and bulleted lists of cross-disciplinary requirements that no person you would actually want on your team could fill.

Speak Human.
I don't like the usability of this. There's too many items, and I need to read both horizontally and vertically.

You should have only 1 list with larger font, but with everything merged into that 1 list.
“You miss 100% of the shots you don't take."
-Wayne Gretzky

Just try it, if you suck, move on, or try to improve, but you'll never know otherwise.
I didn't do "screw you conformist career path"; in fact, I think that if your mindset is "screw you I won't conform", you especially don't want to skip school, because you don't know what you're talking about.

By the way, if you can code, and you're working at Geek Squad, you have problems school wasn't going to solve for you.
Sorry, not yet. That's a pretty tough one to do, from what I've read.

But given the stories I've heard about some angry partners... I hope it will be possible eventually. :S
New Instant Google Translate
The new google translate will translate as you type into a foreign language. we are so much closer to the universal translator.
I look for the language stack I'm prefer (because I chose it for a reason), and a business model that seems sane and interesting.

Phone interviews are pretty cheap, and a quicker way to see if cultures / values / etc. line up, imho.
I didn't leave a high paying job, but I did turn down a high paying job offer from Google. My consideration wasn't "will this make me rich"; rather, it was "can I make enough money in the long term doing this that I won't be dramatically worse off".

I suspect that for most people the calculation comes down to some version of "what's the most interesting work I can do while still having a reasonably comfortable income".
There are not 1000 guys putting in year 10 at the Geek Squad. There were only 50 guys working at the Geek Squad when they sold to Best Buy in 2002. Any 10 year veteran of the Geek Squad is now rich, so maybe not finishing college wasn't such a bad idea for them...
cracks knuckles

After a few minutes trying different strategies:

If I win the coin toss I'm winning the game, every time. If I lose the coin toss it always ends in a draw.

Transcript (of 7 wins): http://dl.dropbox.com/u/142733/tictactoe.txt

Assuming I win the coin toss, I always choose a corner for my first move. The CPU should then take the center but it never does. This ensures I always win.

That said, great job so far. It's very close to perfect IMO.
Vanilla 2.2 on a Nexus One here, no such warning. :-(
Some do. I've just done some quick tests and Ctrl-A, Ctrl-E, Ctrl-F, Ctrl-B work to move to start/end of lines and forward/backward a character. Ctrl-h acts as backspace. Ctrl-K kills a line. Ctrl-M and Ctrl-J are returns.

Not sure what else there should be - alt+keys enters unicode characters like ƒ∫.
I appreciate that on many searches, especially simple/common ones, Google Instant may save some seconds.

I think it helps me less than others because as a heavy, technical user, my queries tend to be longer and more unique -- less likely the autocompletes or top-predicted query are what I meant.

One negative for me is that it drops my displayed results to 10, from the 100 I normally prefer. I like to scan several screenfuls of snippets to pick just a few results that are most likely to be best.

The flickering display of interim results is a little distracting -- but not a major problem.

I mostly search from the Firefox search box, so only see it occasionally.

So, I haven't yet turned it off -- still giving it chance to see how it works with more experience.
Even if you are paying for it you might be the product being sold. Consider hip night club or a star trek convention, in both cases people pay to get in, but the crowd is really the main attraction. People spend hours getting ready for these things. I'm told.

Any crowd is going to be part of the product being sold and the market you sell into. Any crowd, online or off, is going to draw performers, whether for free or professional.

People like to be seen, they like to be noticed, they like to contribute. I don't see user-generated sites as some kind of slave mine. Most people are online of their own free will.
It sounds like you're having a lot of fun with it.

I think a C implementation would be better anyway. C is the common denominator between almost every language. Have you already done the foreign function interface to C?

When do you think we might see either source code or a live web demo to play with?

For a web demo, couldn't you just add a quick CGI interface to your C program?
I'd add, if you're morally OK with not telling them, it's to your personal advantage not to. But I wouldn't call it honest.
I was about to list my favorite Verizon phones until I hit the last sentence, d'oh. I'd check out the Samsung Android phones on AT&T. They're just about the only ones that aren't an awful experience.
Stunningly elegant concept. I wish I'd thought of it. Trying it now.
Thanks a ton! I will tighten it up! Hopefully, you will pull the next release and try to beat it again. I do hope it was not a complete pushover.....
The term "Russian Mafia" is just as general and shallow as "corruption". The reality is that "the mob" runs the gamut from petty thugs to sophisticated criminal corporate raiders.

The root of the issue is whether Russia's criminal tactics for corporate raiding apply to software startups. One can take over physical means of productions, but the same is close to impossible to do with software.

Arguably the most important factor stopping growth of startups in Russia is personal safety. Founders do startups to get rich. However in Russia financial success brings unwanted attention to founders. There are plenty of thugs salivating at an opportunity to go after a newly minted millionaire.

Most startup incubators in US & Europe offer help with networking, business & investment mentoring. Perhaps incubators in Russia need to help founders with personal security services.
I really liked the comment the author made about patents and the amount of opportunity in Russia today. One could literally grab something that has been proven to work well in the U.S. and do it there, making a lot of money in the process. Now that is the theory and I'm aware of increased risk of running business in Russia. However, it is definitely worth thinking about.
Former NFL player funds genetic testing company to predict athletic injuries
I've turned down very good offers to stay in startup-land. But you're right: given success rates and the upside exposed to non-founders, it's not a great move.

Start something small on the side. Fix your personal finances so you can build up a warchest (it's easy: just live the lifestyle you're considering living as a startup employee). Then, in a couple years, go work for yourself.
Is this a personal project or something for JackBe (I notice you work there).

Be mindful that many have tried to build this kind of system and there are a lot of pitfuls outside of just the technology - such as explicit ranking versis implicit/gestures (although I notice you are a UX designer, so you may be thinking of interface issues already).

I've got some experience in this area if you are interesting in connecting - my email is in my profile.
First, I look to see if the work interests me (not giving a description makes me unlikely to continue). Then I look to see whether it is a reasonable (not necessarily perfect) match with my skillset and availability. Any posting I see that meets the above will probably convince me to look into it further. Relocating, even temporarily, does not bother me, though it is nice to know the location in question.

Do job postings even matter beyond that fact that company X is hiring?

Yes. A single company probably has some (perhaps a lot of) variety in the positions for which they're hiring and the work they'd give to the new hires.

Does a posting with descriptions of the company culture, future plans, values, etc actually mean more than "PHP/Python hacker for YC startup"?

No. I've seen it in a couple postings and pretty much just skimmed over it and got frustrated that I couldn't find the information mentioned earlier, but "PHP/Python hacker for YC startup" doesn't really get my attention either.
It's very unlikely you'll get through 10 startups without having to spend your own money since a three time loser is not going to get investment very easily.

Your average net income over the period of time it takes you to get a $5M exit will probably exceed your earnings from that exit, which will likely be less than $1M.

The point is that startups are not an easy or guaranteed way to make killer money. That's gold rush thinking. Think about how many startups (thousands) are in Silicon Valley right now and how many have exited in the last 5 years (dozens).

Don't get me wrong. Live the dream. I'm working at my 6th startup, and I just started my first one. But don't do it for the money. Do it because you're creating something you believe should exist in the world.
They do inbreed very heavily--not exclusively, but more than any other animal of which I'm aware. The larva will mate with siblings, if that's who they happen to find.
Get a palm pre.
How else are they going to verify you're a "talented hacker"? When most resumes are available publicly on any personal website (I'm making an assumption), it doesn't seem like too much to send.
Ok!!! Round 2! Any challengers?
A good start: show that you pass as many Joel tests as possible

http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000043.html
What are you basing your decisions on?
I love this. I'm thinking about NYC for the future, and this will be awesome for it.

But...

Right now I'm focused on a startup in SF, so I can't apply.

I'd love for this to turn into some sort of community site - first and foremost so that I can follow/join and keep track of events and gatherings that will inevitably occur under its umbrella. But also because I think it'd be very cool to let hackers sign up, without a timetable, to indicate "hey, I'm interested in being a hacker in NYC [any city] if I find a cool project and like minded people."

It could be a city-centric talent-pool. When companies exhaust their local options for new blood, they can turn to AdoptAHacker and try to attract people who want to go to the city but aren't ready to go without something lined up in advance.
Britney Spears accused of sexual harassment | United States Post
Answer these questions:

- Who are you?

I need to research a company before I send you my work DNA (a.k.a. resume`). Are you a spammer? Are you some recruiting company building a resume`s database?

Be honest and avoid snake-oil salesmen terms like "Company in the bay area with a huge upside". If I work for you, I have to believe in your vision as much (if not more) as you do and I can't do that without doing due diligence and researching your company.

If you are not well established yet, then a brief description of what you do and what your vision is always helps (in your case, a link to your site should suffice).

- What do you need from me? / What does your technology stack look like?

Be very specific about must haves and "would be nice"es. You can discourage a lot of potential candidates by putting a laundry list of technologies that you're thinking about (or worse, toying with the idea of) implementing in the future but are in no way what you need from a candidate right now.

- What is your compensation package?

Not always feasible to write in detail, but putting a salary range is a huge plus. A phone interview + a couple of on-site interviews (taking time off of my current job) to be told that your maximum offer is worth $20k less than what I make right now is a waste of everyone's time.

Aside from that, everything else is just fluff in my opinion. Good luck!

Edit: Formatting. Where's the preview button?