skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
The last 2 startups I was involved in had no formal business plan. Instead they both relied heavily on a solid marketing plan, a rough demo and the team. That's it. Back of the napkin discussions which raised over $1m each during the seed rounds.
I'm not sure how common it is, but I share the sentiment. I find it incredibly painful to use any browser besides Chrome because of how slowly they run (even with all extensions turned off).
I'm sure there's more, but the first name that came to mind was Stephen Fry.
INSPIRE HN: Looxcie
No sector has "replaced" manufacturing.

That's not true if you think structurally, as a percentage of the whole.

The analogy to skills is dubious. A closer parallel might be the time you spend at a given activity. If you become obsessed with your martial arts, and you quit your job without finding a way to make your kata profitable, then you would have need to worry about your finances, yes?
You're right. But only to a certain extent. If you are building medium to heavy based JS web apps (without using frameworks like JQuery) JS can throw some unexpected/questioning curve balls along the way, due to the design flaws of how it was built.
Any recommended resources on getting a good foundation for HTTP?
There are still many remote parts of North America that do not have Internet access, either.

I've had friends spend weeks on trips to rural Sierra Leone, and guess what? There's no running water, much less Internet access.

That's not the same as saying wherever you live in Africa has no modern facilities including the Internet.
I oft encounter Java, C++ programmers, etc. who don't understand the fragility of the client. This is difficult to deal with.
He brought in a capuchin monkey to the office on his birthday.

(I work in the same building)
"I agreed that what really matters is what you like, not what you are like... Books, records, films - these things matter."

--Rob (John Cusack) in High Fidelity
You're right, it is a nice concept. You're wrong, however, that there are "no girls on the site". I have gotten 9 results (at least) that appear to be completely different than yours.
Thanks for the feedback. I thought it was positive too, but I know that at this point they're responsible for getting me on board for as little as possible so I just need to be sure it's not some form trickery. I hope everything is being done in good faith. If not I don't see this relationship lasting very long.
I hate to live in a time where such pieces still need to be written. Maybe someday it truly won't matter.
Works pretty well, but doesn't seem to like my esc key...

/saves for later; thanks for the link!
aka "5 white guys talking about Wikileaks"
His example doesnt even find the sum of all the multiples, it just counts them.

s/sum += 1/sum += i/
What your core value offering? In other words, what is the primary benefit of using your service?
Hmmm, I would short this idea.

The trend will be away from wallets to phones. No need for a wallet to carry your credit card in, if your phone uses near field communication to be a credit card itself.

A widget on your phone that can display a picture of a full/empty wallet would be more in line with where the world is going, in my opinion, then an actual wallet that I have to charge batteries, bluetooth pair to my phone, etc.
Just found out mine came in today right after I left for work. My wife sent me a picture of it early this morning so the whole day has been dragging....
I'm curious to see, if when bandwidth for mobile catches up to something that is comparable to that of desktops/laptops today, we will see a move away from apps and to web apps just as we are seeing on desktops.
It's particularly amusing to see someone spout off on HN of all places, with the sheer number of CEOs, CTOs, and successful founders (http://samsnyder.com/2010/11/19/successful-people-on-hacker-... ). Not to forget successful authors (cstross) and someone like cperciva whose accomplishments would require pagination.

None of whom feel the need to reference their position or achievements unless providing clarification, context, or disclaimers.
It was funny to read this as I now find client side development ridiculously hard (I last did it frequently > 10 years ago) and difficult to get my head into, whereas even large scale Web development feels quite surmountable or even easy to me. I think it merely proves that what you keep doing, you eventually find natural.
you have ability but not skill. skill is the application of ability to a problem over time (with good feedback!)

you are 12 again at anything you haven't really dug into. for many people who have specialized, the frustration of being a total NOOB can give off the impression "wtf!? this SHOULD BE EASY. i am smart at other hard things, so why is this hard for me? maybe i just cant do this."

Well, sorry. Most people exhibit very low transfer of skill from one domain to another. That's totally fine!! It just means to have to take new things on like a total beginner.

As for getting ish done, try very, very small things so you can build momentum and self-confidence.
Only thing I'd change so far: stop being so anonymous! People will want to put a face and a name to a service.

You signed the announcement email "-The Dude Behind Deals for Hackers". Who are you?
Isolated community spontaneously invents language
My SO got his this morning.
Agreed. Very powerful piece.
Or read this comment! "neee"? That's what I get for typing on a mobile phone right when I wake up.
I don't like the word "hacker" at all [ * ]. Trying to get people to use it "correctly" circa 2010 is like trying to persuade everybody that "gay" should only be used to mean "happy". You'll just waste your breath and look stupid in the process.

[ * ] "Well why are you on Hacker News then, huh?" asks the inquisitive reader. Hey, when I started it was called Startup News. I never liked the new name at all.
I think the argument that a developer can access and write-to private methods bypassing setters so therefore encapsulation is broken is pretty weak IMO.

On one hand you have an option where you have to trust the developer will chain the appropriate method calls to build an unrelated data structure that gets passed-in to your target method.

On the other, you have the possibility that a developer will knowingly and willing subvert the encapsulation by writing directly to private variables while ignoring the business logic that's being enforced in the setters.

Do you mind me asking... what exactly are you arguing there? In the first example it's easier to do it wrong than it is to do it right. In the second example it's easier to do it right than it is to do it wrong -- in fact you have to specifically write to protected members to break it.

How are we still discussing this?
Babel-17 is out
At StackVM we use an IRC bot to tell us when the servers are down. In our case the bot is just a DNode service so all the backend needs to do is connect to the IRC service, post its message, and disconnect.

http://github.com/substack/rowbit

It's a pretty great fit since we already use IRC a ton to coordinate development so we see the notifications right away.
I still really don't understand what's so hard about a couple thousand views. I've had a couple posts hit the front page (even #1 on HN and #5 on prog.reddit), and my server was fine. I use Apache to serve the resources and Clojure to handle web requests. Nothing fancy.
I'm a relatively new user of this site, and I neither know, nor care who these 'high-karma users' are. I don't recognize the names and thankfully HN doesn't highlight their karma count next to their profile link here. I didn't even know there was a leader board and don't want to see it.

I don't scan the comments as much as others probably, but when I do, I prioritize by a few things: Those that include links, and when I have the time, those that are lengthy, since often those can be from people who had a lot to say and you can tell by the tone of the first paragraph if it's worth your time.

I love the egalitarian nature of the system that doesn't single out new users who might just as well have valid points to make.
Indeed, though those comparison pages tend to be very out of date and missing major players while including ones that existed for months at the most.
Looking at the data, it appears that the performance drops are related to the StackContext feature. This feature is a convenience and not about doing things correctly to work in the real world.

Because the very earliest versions of Tornado were used by real websites, it looks like the code that did 8 jillion requests per second worked well enough in the real world.
The Tornado framework is AMAZING for its simplicity. It gives you ONLY the things you'll need and a just a little bit extra. It's really great.
I can relate, though maybe he is being a tad sensationalist.

I expect (say) my bookmarks to be synced between all my computers. I'm sure plugins do this on other browsers, though.

The biggest reason I don't consider Opera or FF for daily use anymore: Non-chrome browsers drive me crazy due to the way they close tabs. It is very stressful compared to mouse-closing tabs in Chrome and its "smart positioning."
OOP practiced backwards is "POO"
I would be curious to see the usability of this when actually editing a buffer. Search-as-you-type would be a cool example.
I might agree re: Louis CK. I wouldn't agree re: James Cameron. Set/costume design is an entirely different art form from directing; I was actually very impressed when I read about his early work designing for films before he became a director. Saying the two are similar arts would be like saying that, I don't know, working with Photoshop and Illustrator is close to being a marble sculptor.

I'd also cite, say, Ricky Gervais as an instance of a person who is pushing the boundaries of multiple fields at once. His directorial style inspired a dozen other single-camera television comedies (including Arrested Development, which I think is the king sitcom); his acting style and his "theater of embarrassment" similarly begat actors like Michael Cera, and a wide stripe of other comic actors who play off deadpan silence. His writing style, meanwhile, especially for the original Office and for Extras which followed it, was incredibly bleak and devastating, and simultaneously very heartwarming. He had a sympathy for his characters which very few TV shows had. I think his particular blend really set a trend for a decade of television that followed.

I think the problem is how we define "expert". If you mean somebody who is definitively at the top of a field, then, yes, you're right, we don't have many people at the tops of multiple fields at once. That's because it's hard: We have more competitive fields now than we've ever had before. More experts in every single thing. But I'd argue that we probably have just as many people operating on that high a plain of expertise in multiple areas. It's just that when you've got so many, it becomes very, very hard to notice every single one, and so the bar for "exemplary" gets incredibly high. It's a bias in the data that returns more dismal-looking results.

Addendum 1: Unfortunately I can't name many people in the sciences, because I'm as far from a science person as you get. I'd be convinced they're there, though.

Addendum 2: I don't just mean a musician who plays multiple instruments. I mean a musician who plays multiple aesthetic styles with radically different philosophies. There are guitarists who can play funk music and flamenco and free jazz and modern classical. If you know anything about the cultures and styles of any of those four, you know that the difference between playing each isn't just technical ability. It literally requires playing the instrument in ways that are anathema to any of the others.

You might argue that just because all four styles are classified as "music", they are too tied together to count as diverse; I'd argue that you're wrong. They're about as similar to each other as physics are to linguistics, which is to say that while there are similarities, they're simply too far apart to be umbrella'd together without doing each a great disservice.
Send me your resume? I might be able to swing it. simon@meebo-inc.com
Was this from Music Hack Day 09 Julian
Yes, because they're actually talking about Exchange ActiveSync.
http://windowsteamblog.com/windows_live/b/windowslive/archiv...

EAS is a protocol specifically for mobile phones, and Android, iPhone, Palm all support it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Exchange_ActiveSy...
When I’m Mobile: Building Sustainable Mobile Restaurant Websites
I think that a relationship makes a difference in the lives of real people, at least for the two of you and those close to you. I would check it out. There is a reason that almost every human society ever has been focused on the idea of a relationship. Study the existing ancient cultures and see what they value most.
That clearly has not occurred, since (let me point this out one more time) we manufacture more now than ever before.

But lets run with your time analogy. We became more productive at manufacturing, and we now manufacture more stuff with less human input. Humans have been freed up to perform other useful work (services).

It's kind of like me becoming really good at my job, finishing all my work by Tuesday night, getting a pay raise, and then spending Wed-Fri at a second job (e.g., martial arts instructor). Oh noes! I hope this never happens to me!
Man, I really shouldn't be getting paid for this. Any idiot could [do X].

Another variation: what I do is not easy but every person practicing in my field can do this just as well as I can.

I worked very hard for many years to master my craft and always felt deficient along the way because the individual pieces seemed so daunting as I encountered and dealt with them. Not daunting in the sense of insurmountable. Just difficult. Long hours, Lots of sweating it out to get a given project done, one step at a time.

Nothing new here. Everyone who works hard to try to excel in his field goes through it.

It took me 10 years into my career to realize that many in my field (law) were not like me but contented themselves with cutting corners or otherwise coasting along while seeking to avoid the hard challenges.

Doing something right, and learning to do so consistently, is hard in any complex field. It does seem easy once you have mastered the difficulties but not that many are willing to do what it takes to get there. People are all too often content with mediocrity.
That's often true, but doesn't appear to be the case here. This was a simple case of making invasive changes without quantifying the performance effects.
Yii has Gii, which is a code generator that can be customized. Thus, the heaps of code can be created to your liking.
For web development, http://buildorpro.com/ is a newer option. It currently only works in Firfox, but seems to be coming together pretty nicely.
Kickstarter project: Desktop CNC Machine
Nobody is saying users like you don't exist; only that there are a lot of users who aren't like you.
Navy Sets World Record With Rail Gun
"Desktop GUI can easily be made cross-platform."

lol wut?
I have discovered a truly marvellous follow-up to your comment, which this box is too small to contain.

http://github.com/raganwald/homoiconic/blob/master/2010/12/o...
Could you link to these studies? I seem to recall reading the exact opposite a little while ago (similar people do better together), but I'm not sure where I read that either.

As a practical matter, it seems to me that an INTJ would have a hard time meeting an ESFP since they would not enjoy the same activities and would not cross paths too often.
I've thought long and hard about this. I really do want to do this, but I don't know if I can pull it off.

I'm afraid that I'll wind up like Antoine Roquentin from Sartre's Nausea -- a long world tour followed by disappointment and existential crisis.
> when are PHP's object destructors called ?

As soon as there are no more references to it. PHP is reference counted (with cycle detection). As soon as the variable containing an object goes out of scope, the destructor will be called.

The fact that Java/C# destructors aren't called immediately (and may not be called at all) is the primary reason that Java has the finally block (C++ doesn't) and why C# also has the using statement.
When I was eighteen I'd already published a novel, directed a play, written and co-performed a song, co-created said song's music video, performed and co-wrote a Harry Potter dub, wrote multiple essays, and designed a number of web sites

I hate to burst your bubble, but that does not make you a polymath. If your novel were published by a profit-minded company, sold well, and entered the public consciousness, if your essays were instead new mathematical proofs or chemistry research, if your song were a symphony which displayed a deep understanding of musical theory, and if your design of a number of web sites were instead the development of a new encryption algorithm, you'd qualify as a polymath.

As it is, your 18-year-old self and your present friends may well be precocious and intelligent, but your interests are not notably broad and your contributions to society have been standard. The friend who blogs and argues politics, or the other who acts - what is "poly" about their "math"? Those are narrow focuses.

Your efforts are broader, but you're in the beginning stages of creative production... and unless you allow others to determine when your works are satisfactory instead of engaging in self-publishing, you'll have a hard time progressing beyond those beginning stages. Self-publishing is fine for blogging, but there's a reason they're called "Vanity Presses."
Using Chrome is like driving a luxury car for the first time. I remember when I got in a '93 Mercedes SL 500 in the rain and when I slowed down so did the windshield wipers. I know others replicated the behavior in later models, but driving that car made me realize that every other car was designed by people who didn't, apparently, drive cars.

I love using the 'smart tab positioning' example: how many times have people moved the mouse to close 4 or 5 tabs? Sure, it's not an impossible headache. But most of us do it regularly enough that it's nice to have the button in the same place for each tab. It's almost as if the designers used a web browser before. And it's great.

And hard to imagine giving up.
Profitable YC W11 hiring marketing and bizdev
[Job posts don't allow comments. So, we added a separate thread from comments and questions @ http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1993194 ]

We are a profitable YC Winter 2011 company. We are hiring. Looking for our first marketing (great writer, smart, technical) and Bus Dev (can sell ice to Eskimos and have them pay recurring support) hires.

We are hoping to tap the smart and highly motivated pool of people who apply to YC. Experience is certainly helpful, but definitely not required. We look for the same things that YC looks for.

For marketing/online marketing we are looking for:

* proven great writing ability
* good technical skills (marketing is very technical these days,
and we have a reasonably technical product)
* strong interest in making money
* (PG would be a good hire here, but we can't afford him :-)

For Bus Dev we are looking for:

* very strong sales and negotiating skills
* good understanding of business in general
* strong interest in making money

This would be an opportunity to get a taste of YC with a different risk/reward tradeoff. You'll spend next three months doing nothing but work. You'll own as much responsibility and authority in the company as you can possibly handle. Going forward you will become the top management team of the company.

Compensation will be between an employee and founder: lots of equity and a livable salary. We do offer big-company style heath insurance and other benefits.

The company does Enterprise software SaaS. The founders are all technical. We are located on the Peninsula and may move to Mountain View proper for the duration of YC.

How to apply:

Email us @ ycw11company@gmail.com Please include your resume (if you have one, or some alternative) and tell us why you would be a good fit.
Actually it isn't. If you work 40hrs/wk, 50wks/year, that 0.2% salary increase is 4hrs worth. That isn't even including the cumulative benefits of subsequent years.

Spending 1hr negotiating 4hrs of income? It makes sense, no matter how much you make. Regardless, a 10% increase is composed of a number of 0.2% increases.
Most of that junk I'd sell, to be honest. :-|
My first AdSense payment arrived today
Besides everything people mentioned, I use www.collabedit.com
This one is really useful.
I blame the self-esteem generation thing, and Christopher Paolini's parents.
A more likely conspiracy theory is "wait, they KNEW and they didn't tell people to evacuate Haiti!? THOSE BASTERDS"

(completely missing the part where this was a test to see if ULF could indicate earthquakes at all)
One of their employees wrote a bit about it, some time ago, and that's been linked here at least once -- some months ago. He said Slang stands for "securities language". I don't recall too much, except that it didn't sound inherently all that "fancy"; rather, it was a matter of making the underlying systems architecture fast and pervasive.

Edit: I should clarify that I don't know, or even particularly think, that what Aleynikov was dealing with had that much, if anything, to do with Slang. (Based on my very vague impressions from a few news articles and blog entries.)
I'm very impressed by the implementation you've got here. Great work, very nice design and very frictionless sign up.
Wow, didn't expect this to make the front page of HN. There's more context in the groups thread (http://groups.google.com/group/python-tornado/browse_thread/...), but the short version is that a change to abstract away some error handling with the python 'with' statement had a surprising performance impact. When used with the @contextlib.contextmanager decorator, the with statement is more than 25 times as expensive as a try/except statement.
I guess I've never been interested in a framework building out classes based on my database tables so I'm not sure what the alternative approaches are. Is that what you meant?

If you prefer than then I do think the larger frameworks are a good fit. What I'm saying is that I don't prefer that :).
If you try it, you might succeed.

If you don't try it, you definitely won't succeed.
The editors I've seen for iOS all have issues with special characters so I had been really curious to see how the emac folks would deal with that. I was pretty disappointed when I found out they didn't.

The gestures were pretty cool anyway, though. From what I could tell, they seemed pretty intuitive, too.
While you're at it, tells us about your experience with your "Customer Development" approach. Clearly something you're doing is giving you at least internal momentum; giving us some insight as to your successes and failures will only make us root for you more.
Why I Decided to Charge for FeedDemon Again
You can do RAII in PHP via destructors as well. That's how I "get around" this problem.
Why can't you backup game app saves in iOS?
Great concept, and so far it looks like the execution is really good as well. However, I agree with rnernento about the gender icons. I see how they're based on the standard male and female symbols, but it's still a bit confusing, and not even slightly intuitive to someone who's never seen them before. I'm not sure what a better clever idea would be, but perhaps it would be best to switch to a basic M and F until another idea presents itself. Confusing symbols could potentially drive people away for no good reason.