skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
This is an excellent point and to add to it I want to point out that Microsoft exacerbates this problem by not hiring the best web people to build their products.

They believe that they can put a bunch of smart people in a room and they'll come up with stuff people want to use, and this has largely been self fulfilling because of the dominance of Microsoft in the computing space.

Now that dominance is fading away, you are seeing the problem with the strategy. When Microsoft wanted to come up with a web Development framework for Web Developers they came up with .NET (built by a bunch of smart people for web developers), but it was a top notch web developer ... DHH who came up with Ruby on Rails. I remember using Rails for the first time and going "wow ... this just solves all the problems I have as a web developer" ... .NET never gave me that feeling, but to be fair ... it was a nice change from ASP spaghetti code days.

Why isn't Microsoft hiring the best Javascripters, CSS, html5, and backend web developers it can get its hands on?
This is something that Google did like crazy when it started growing, and it has allowed them build badass web products like Google Maps, Google Calendar, Gmail etc ... while Microsoft is stuck playing catch up.

Even in releasing new versions of IE you can see this problem rear its head. Instead of listening to Web developers who actually determine the direction the web moves in, the IE team tries to come up with new bullshit web standards and with no buy in from digerati, it fails.

Microsoft is no longer calling the shots, and by the time they realize this, it might be too late ... which is a shame, when you think of all the good that would come from Google having some serious competition.
I am actually studying financial mathematics, so my resume might be up your alley, www.ivanbercovich.com/resume. I have been working on this piece of paper for quite some time, so I hope you like it.
Can you write? I've been attempting to write tests and get into BDD but the documentation (if available) is not good.

I followed mhartls book, the railscasts, and the documentation of various projects but I still cannot grasp testing.

How does rspec, cucumber, factories, shoulda etc etc etc all fit together? What do I use each for and when? What does a good test consist of?
That was exactly what I thought about those commercials: "If you are the type who doesn't want a powerful smart phone, Windows Phone 7 is for you."

Then again, it will be interesting to see if that resonates with a less technical market segment.
The worst mistake they could make is to kill it the way they killed the Zune. They're never going to launch a day one, version one product which will displace the iPhone or Android, it's going to take time and investment.

The real target should be that they've got 25%+ market share in three years time. That should be what they're aiming for rather than a success this year.

People replace phones every 12 - 24 months and that's rapid even in tech (most people don't replace laptops that often). Every expired contract is a new potential customer for Microsoft and that churn means that no-one can take their position for granted so it's realistic for MS to make solid inroads over time.
"These Offer HN strings have made HN unlike any other place on the web".
There, fixed.
The biggest issue I see is that people are really very comfortable to emails. It's about changing their mental model. Email is something I notice people to use all the time and something which they check religiously. Convincing people to use a project management software X - entirely for all their project related communication is a great challenge.
The Best and Greatest Cartersville Locksmith Services
"like when there's 5 equal products and one is successful for no particular reason."

I don't think it's chance. If there are 5 equal products and 1 is successful, there is a reason. You may not be able to see it right away, but it's probably due to: UI, marketing (the right people saw it), benefits, or simplicity.

Look at twitter as an example of this. It's a simple idea and there were many other potential competitors, yet it's still #1. Why?

I read an article about how they targeted influential bloggers (people that had thousands of readers). This wasn't luck, it was an intelligent marketing move. Myspace did the same thing. They targeted musicians (which in turn got fans to get on board).

"i always think about how weird bars are. you can 2 equal bars but 1 is packed every night... even with zero distinguishing differences. society just says 'oh that bar usually has people, let's go there'."

If you can get women to want to come to your bar, the guys will follow and you will have a packed bar. Two bars also are never "equal". There will always be differences (ambiance, drinks, price, maybe the bathrooms are unclean, etc).
Some titles have. It doesn't work out as well as you might hope; those inputs aren't exactly precise, and tilting the screen can be a bit disorienting. The result is that level layouts have to be much simpler to maintain the same degree of challenge.
The bizarre lack of spell-check in IE has always been my personal indicator for when Microsoft stops holding onto the past and fighting the web.
The Internet is not the web. Native games with Internet multiplayer aren't the web, they are the Internet.

I don't know a single person using the online Office versions, because, well, they don't compare to the desktop ones.

Yesterday, I saw a graph showing Hotmail losing about 10% market share, mostly to Gmail.

Their new Xbox website broke every existing link on the domain.

Mocrosoft does not get the web, even if they might get the internet.
After seeing the variance by region, it makes me very curious about the % adjustment for telecommuting-only jobs. I'm at the low end of the scale (and about $30k underpaid if you adjust for location and skills), but I work from home on the opposite side of the country from my employer.
I got mine reviewed by Neil Rauch. I paid $75, and he must have spent about 3-4 hours on it to shrink it from seven pages to three! I did not accept all changes but most were helpful. Overall, I was happy that I got it reviewed.

Search for "Neil Rauch resume doctor" to find his contact information.
I'm sure 54% is available in HTML5 video, but that doesn't mean 100% of the browsers support playing HTML5 video.

For my application, I need to be able to embed the video in the page and support looping. Here's my experience with HTML5 video at this point:

- IE: don't bother until IE9 is stable. I anticipate some stupid bug/feature that requires pages for IE9 to be different

- Firefox: don't bother. I'm not supporting two codecs and h264 will work everywhere but ff soon.

- Chrome: there's still a bug in the looping code -- can't really us it.

- Safari: Works.

- Android: doesn't work reliably -- stick with flash.

- Mobile Safari: pops the video into the video player and not actually on the page. I fall back to animated gifs here.

So, for my application, about 4% of the browsers can actually use HTML5 video.
We've used all sorts of wearable baby things, and the most I can say is that they're all different. Every one of them will work for some parents and some babies. Long term, after 3 kids and 6 years of the things, the ones that we're using are a mayan style ring sling, an ergo, and a couple of fleece fitted slings that my wife made.
Not quite sure where the USB3 comes in.
Saying "Microsoft is a Dying Consumer Brand" is somewhat analogous to saying "Mitsubishi is a Dying Consumer Brand."

Though the structures are different, consumer products are only a part of their portfolio. Both have successful industrial lines, and both have flagship consumer lines that often draw flack. Importantly, both own highly successful consumer brands e.g Xbox and Nikon, respectively.

What the article misses is that Microsoft has an asset that it's competitors often don't: trust. Because of their B2B orientation, being trustworthy is a necessary strategy...that's not to say they don't make mistakes, but by and large they support they support their customers well beyond the typical three year upgrade cycle companies such as Apple enforce. Companies like Google and Facebook change their products in ways that are in conflict with the user's interests even more regularly.
Actually, if you read my assertion, you would know I didn't read Founders at Work.

"Actually, in the 'Founders at Work' interview, ..." would have been less aggressive in tone.
I think in this case anecdotes is a fine data point. While there may not be a statistically significant increase in deaths for babies sleeping in bed with their parents, accidentally killing your kid by rolling over on them would be horrible.
I don't feel guilty about what I have, but I do feel guilty when I take what I have for granted.
Moving from one helpful gem to another is not too bad. You can even pretty much rewrite an entire application in haml in a single day (we did it between two people in 6 hours) so it's not something to hold off starting a project over. With that being said, I would heartily recommend haml to anyone using rails (though if you don't know the pain of erb, you'll never fully appreciate haml). Same goes for formtastic - how many forms do you have where it's important enough to delay starting over a helpful but not necessary gem? I think, in general, don't overthink which gems you need to start your project. The answer really is no gems are needed to start your project, and if you just start using gems at the beginning of your project without understanding why they can come in handy, you are finding a problem to fit a solution.

As for authentication, I am a big fan of rolling my own auth. Once you have a nice functioning authentication system you worked out yourself, moving it from project to project is simple. The problem I have had with all the authentication plugins, is they insert too much automagic in something that should be simple to understand, and realistically, is a pretty easy concept. There are many guides on authentication, and playing with it is a great way to learn several fundamental rails security ideas that will be helpful in other areas (log filtering, attribute accessors on models).
It's like Google forgot to finish Google TV or something.
I'm going to call bullshit, on the basis on porn. I have yet to see a porn page that is using HTML5 instead of Flash for streaming their video. Unless in the past 2-3 years the percentage of porn to other videos online has changed significantly, or the entirety of the 46% is porn, that number seems really high.

I just googled 'html5 porn' and there was something about YouPorn switching to HTML5, but then I went and checked, no HTML5. In fact, not only was the video flash, but there were 3 flash-based ads on the page as well. Good way to eat processor and kill batteries.
Correct - thanks for picking up on that.

For Desktop/Laptop browsing, most sites still playback the Flash version. The capability to dynamically detect device and serve as HTML5 or Flash is the most significant change in the video space, with mobile playback via HTML5 being the market driver.
I built this system to keep all the users running our new web framework up-to-date with the latest release. It's made being a beta tester better for my clients because I'm able to send out patches at any moment and keep everyone entirely up to date. It also saves hours and hours of my time in trying to manage all the different app deployments I have across multiple client websites. It's like SAAS but done remotely.

So, I decided to built a better interface for it and open it up for the public. The public site didn't take long as all of the ecommerce/account management/subscriptions functionality is built into my flagship product.
Yes I understand that it is not easy. But I think that the consumer market is also very hard. The problem is that consumers don't really have too much important problems which can be solved by software. I mean they have some, but those fields are very saturated and/or hardly monetizable. Most of them are solved by really big companies like Google and Facebook. I think the b2b market is more diverse, there are more monetizable problems to be solved. On the other hand it is harder to know what companies want. Mostly you cannot just ask your friends.
yes i very much feel that way

but for now, client apps work better

not sure how much longer that will be the case
If you read Steve Blank's book, 4 Steps to the Epiphany, or come across any other "customer development" style methodology, you'll recognize this as the unique characteristics of a market you are creating (or in this case, re-segmenting).

The primary competition for an immature or re-segmented market is inaction, not actual competitors.
We use Flex. So, browser compatibility/testing is not an issue for us.
I have 8 month old triplets, so my case is a little different than others.

As Vivtek said below "Having a baby entirely eliminates your life and replaces it with a different one.". The old you will die off pretty quickly and a new you will be born, it sounds sad, and occasionally it may be, but your life is about to get better in a way that can't be described.

I'm trying to come up with something coherent on how I balance time and am able to work on projects. I'll post that, if I'm successful.

The short of it is: your current life is over, and you'll have a new one. This isn't meant to be dramatic; it's just how it is. You will adapt, grow, cry, laugh, sometimes get depressed, and many times be in awe.
I can appreciate your optimism but I don't think that's how its going to play out. I think you are so technical that you have lost touch with the everyman user.
The way I see it (would be good to hear other opinions):

Developer/Programmer Analyst = looks for bugs.
Software Engineer = Integrates the code into live environments
Lead Applications Developer = Primarily focused on developing the relevant code
Senior Web Developer = "I've been here the longest"
The problem with trying to force people out of email is that everyone

a) Knows how to use email

b) Has access to email

Don't underestimate these things. If I'm at home and I need to log into a company VPN just to update my status for my manager, that's a lot more effort than sending off a quick update via email or just picking up the phone.

Conversely, if someone asks me for some help on a project and then asks me to learn an entirely new system for an hour of my time (including new logins, new bookmarks, possibly installers, etc) it is often a net loss for me and for them - by the time I am up-to-speed I am done with what they needed anyway.

Basically, I am happy to use whatever system can help me do my job better, but too often I am forced to drop back into email anyway. Eventually I am trained to just use email first, because once your tool gets out of sync, its usefulness decreases.
Yes, YES! This was exactly what I needed. I won't join another group, but knowing that I'm not the only one on HN who's trying to juggle a kid (and even one is handful) and his entrepreneurial urges is great.

I know, statistically there is no chance that I could be the only one, but after reading the cool posts here about how people worked for N days straight to develop their ideas, how they meet in bars to discuss their ideas, etc., I was beginning to really lower my priors.
When you mentioned reddit, it got me thinking. When I first saw it, I didn't just think "I will use this".

I actually thought: "man, I want this to succeed, it would be awesome if they could pull it off, it is obvious that such a thing will work only if they have some initial users, so I'll use it for a week and hope that it gets enough momentum".

I can't really pin it down what prompted that initial reaction, but it was somehow more than it being useful. It could be the minimalist design or the way the developers sounded, I just wanted to help them.
Nor does it allow e-mail addresses from domains ending in ".name" (like mine).
via http://www.loopinsight.com/2010/10/27/54-of-web-video-is-now... (which wasn't submitted because they didn't have a source at the time).
Is this a good opportunity for identity theft?
No two kids are alike. And, things that work for nannys don't always work for parents.
This is amazing - I sent you an email about www.Jobdeals.com (http://www.Jobdeals.com) if you have some time.

We're a local services marketplace .. because we cover such a wide market, I'm not sure which keywords we should be focusing on..
I need help marketing and testing Foldertrack. www.foldertrack.com
Thanks for the reply. I asked about what you are using because I have recently tried doing some drawing with a Wacom graphics tablet and am having trouble (I have one of the cheap ones where you draw on the tablet whilst watching the screen - the disconnect between hand and eye makes it difficult).

I'll look at some of the things you mentioned and see about trying them.

(thanks again!)
"since everyone - including Microsoft - knows that a ubiquitous Web means fewer sales of Windows and Office"

I would think that the real problem is Microsoft's unwillingness to become something completely new, something other than Windows and Office. Apple was a computer company, then it became a cell phone company, a music company, a lot of other things.

Microsoft now sort of reminds me of Sun circa 1999: yes, they would sort of like to innovate and do something new, and they make the occasional try at it, but right now they have an insanely profitable product, so the easiest thing to do is to just keep milking it.
i too missed that option in linkedin!
Actually, Apple is the one taking the consumer market. 1 in every 5 retail computer sales is a Mac. Best Buy's CEO recently said that 50% of their laptop sales have been cannibalized by the iPad - a 6 month old product. Apple is the #1 technology company on the planet by market cap and recently attained the 3rd place in computers by market share. Their stock price has grown over 2000% in 10 years.

Apple is the one poised to take over in the consumer market ... although the consumer market will be less and less about computers in the future.
>> My kids are 16 and 11, they're both smarter and more capable than all the rest of humanity combined

Beautifully said. I envy you your parenthood!
Do (or did) you personally use the things you've created?

Testing & dev doesn't count. Are you passionate user #1?
In my experience, the first thing consumers ask once they turn on the computer is "Where's Word?" I think how well Chrome OS machines answer this question will make or break them.
As of October 2009, Microsoft Windows had a desktop market share of 91% (and that figure is probably still about 88% today).

Office makes that look a little weak with a market share of about 95%.

You are kidding that people think of them as a mouse and keyboard company aren't you?

Dell, one of your listed brands, by contrast have a market share of about 11.5%.
Tell HN: Buenos Aires Meetup on Friday
October 29 8pm

One Suggestion is at McNor Cafe and Bar.
http://www.buenosaires-argentina.com/restaurants/mcnor.html
Juncal 3599 (@ Scalabrini Ortiz)

If you have a better venue in mind, let me know.
But in many fields e.g. finance/banking/consulting, its all about the bonus, which can be several times your salary.

(and yes, this in many ways is the root cause of the current world financial problem, but just saying)
Im in!
After learning Smalltalk and then Actor, it took me years to find it bearable to learn C++. It didn't feel right, nor a step in the right direction.
Chrome OS defaults to opening Office files with Office Live, whch is a pretty good answer I think.
An Xbox 360 has a 3.2GHz Xenon (three cores) and 512Mbs of ram [1]. Saying that it has the power of a supercomputer is a bit of a stretch (by about three orders of magnitude, #500 on the top500 list has five thousand cores [2]).

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_360

[2] http://www.top500.org

* edit: formatting
Beyond attention spans and the like, the underlying premise of AngelGate was flawed. There are not 10 angel investors in the Valley that make 100% of deals which is what was asserted in the original post.

The supply of capital is incredibly fragmented.

All in all, great for pageviews on TC but not much else.
I've never heard a person with 4 or more kids say "I wish I didn't have so many kids. I wish I had more money/time/energy to spend on my startup/cottage/whatever."
> Was Microsoft ever such a big brand?

umm ... yeah. they kinda were a big deal.
There was a time where PC's used to be called 'Wintel' (Windows/Intel) machines because pretty much every PC made had Windows on it.

> I think the main things that people immediately associate with the actual word "Microsoft" might be mice and keyboards.

Wishful thinking ... although I think eventually this will happen. Between Microsoft Windows/Office/Exchange/Bing/Exchange/.NET/SQL Server ... Microsoft is still a big brand ... they're just a big brand going down the toilet.
I am myself a professional programmer that has some basic design skills, but I'll try to answer your question as well as I can.

A - I'm pretty sure most people design the UX/UI before they start coding (at least mock ups). If you have already coded all your backend, you might feel constrained when designing the UI or might realize too late that you oversaw some critical parts of your system. Let me illustrate:

Let's say you are building a "C.V. builder app". You might start coding with the assumption that the user has to be login to start building his C.V. However, if you imagine the UX first, you might realize that it would be nice to ask the user to register only once he wants to save his newly created C.V. That simple detail might have a huge impact on your code base.

B - Some resources & inspiration: http://uxmovement.com/, http://ui-patterns.com/, http://www.smashingmagazine.com/category/inspiration/, http://www.dribbble.com.

C - If you're good at UX/UI design but lack the Photoshop skills to bring your vision to life, it should be safe to outsource. In any case, make sure your designer really "gets" your vision.

D - I started learning to design and program at about the same time. Since then, I've put most my time into programming and although I consider myself pretty good at designing user interfaces, I lack the technical skill and experience to make them look beautiful. If you're the same as me, I would suggest spending some time trying to really master Photoshop or such tool. Also, some color/typography theory can't hurt.
BA attacks U.S. airport security demands
Observe Orient Decide Act
For a second there, I thought this was a Google Group for parents whose kids are or have participated in Y Combinator (replaced HN with YC in my head). That would be an interesting group.
Just to give some deeper understanding of why sales doesn't scale: here at The Ad Agency, we're responsible for spending our clients' large budgets buying media from people like Twitter (I don't think we ever buy from Twitter, but we theoretically could). That process involves having Twitter come into our offices to pitch their platform to us, justify an investment, provide us with the tools to sell the idea to our clients, then provide us with ongoing account management to coordinate, implement, track, and report on the campaign. Ad agencies rarely do self-serve media buying, so media sellers need to pound the pavement in NYC to get big brands on their platforms.
I need help modifying a python script. I no absolutely zero programming, and the few things I have tried to learn, simply break the script.
Yo también me sumo!(I'm in too)
A recruiter collecting a big pile of resumes? - Imagine that! Call me a cynic, but I hope the motivations here are pure or at least balanced.
No, you'll sleep fine and there's no more risk of SIDS in co-sleeping babies than those that sleep in cribs and some serious research to suggest that co-sleepers are actually safer.