skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
Things to fix on YC News
Did you know you can get "unknown or expired link" on a LOGIN link? If you're logged out, open a story, wait a while, then click login.

Also, replying really shouldn't expire at all, let alone within an hour or two of the post being opened.

Unicode in comments would be good.

Better markup options. Quoting especially should stand out. You can't add literal asterisks for the most part. Code should be less of a pain -- you can't start a comment with code because leading whitespace is eaten.

Better user history (not just the last X comments, but all of them, so we can find what we wrote again)

Notification of responses so we don't have to check our own threads constantly

Private messaging, instead of responding to someone and hoping they check their own threads and read it

The ability to vote stories down -- this can help separate out blog spam from useful new submissions that just haven't gotten attention.

Similarly, the ability to vote down direct replies. The current lack is probably to prevent mere gainsaying, but it doesn't work because there's currently a disparity where someone else can vote you down and then reply, while you can't vote down what they are saying. First move loses. In both of the above cases this doesn't preserve karma as you can always vote down their other, unrelated comments; it just stops you from expressing your opinion.

You should be able to kill your own posts at any time. Restricting editing is one thing so someone doesn't twist something around on you, but you should be able to delete anything you post just in case (maybe you messed up with an NDA or other confidential information; realized you made a mistake on something an hour later; other legitimate reasons will occur to you).

Reddit is a pretty good model for the basics like this.

Others?
I uploaded about ten shows in Ithaca, NY figuring it would help you guys out. I'm a little disappointed though that I can't actually see any of the shows I added. Is there some sort of approval process before they get added to the site, or did all of my entries just disappear?
Thoughtful essay. You fail to mention the divide and conquer strategy that good mathematicians and programmers use to manage the complexity. Using your "loading" analogy, it would be like carving a problem into pages that exhibit locality of reference.

When mentoring smart rookies, this is the bit some are last to grasp. Partitioning a problem means that there isn't as much to remember. This scales, fractal-like to the design of larger systems.

I find as I get older, this is more and more important and necessary.
What shows did you add? there is no approval process. When you add them they should just appear on the according artist or venue pages.

One problem I had before, was i added shows for january and feb of next year but i accidently had the year set for 2007 so they did not show up.
IMO comments shouldn't even be rated this way. Posts full of useful information score less than one-liners of opinion; controversy is an automatic point-killer. I'd just turn it off, or separate it into categories, like "agree with sentiment", "insightful", "funny","troll", etc., a bit like Slashdot. A score of 1 could mean anything from "nobody has read it" to "controversial"; it could be flamebait or very useful.

Voting stories up or down is also much less helpful than it could be. Some are a little bit useful, some are great, but you can only give them 1 point regardless.

Imagine IMDB: "103823 people liked this movie." "892 people liked this more obscure movie." A better rating system would make a lot more sense.
If I follow you toward that infinite expansion, I'm projecting outside my skull a representation only imagined within.
Content-aware image resizing algorithm (watch the linked video, too)
Nice response to the computational capacity of neurons post. Problem is: Whatever information the universe contains, it's only as good as the brains to process and store it.
As a person who often catches the "post at 1 after an hour of people battling to push me up and back down again," I echo the sentiment that just showing the number doesn't mean too much. Controversial generally => lost points, whereas I actually believe controversial commenting is the only thing that keeps discussion interesting. Showing how many upvotes/downvotes something has (in addition to the raw score) would be a nice way to indicate controversy at a glance.
The point was to make it like reddit-of-old, not reddit-of-now. This is nauseatingly reddit-of-now-like.
These go here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=363
If they weren't rated at all, all that would be needed to keep order would be a "spam" flag.
It also made boingboing (and wasn't even posted by Xeni). It's interesting and funny. It doesn't bother me. You should try not to let it bother you either.
Congrats on wasting no time, then. That's a great story, btw. Thanks for sharing.
Do you want bugs under Feature Requests too?
Why the obsession with YC? Are you making lists of everyone that's ever turned you down or told you your idea won't fly? If you have a good idea, that'll turn into a long list...

"We label ourselves as a rejected company to show perseverance..."

I think it shows more of either: a) taking rejection too personally, or b) mean spirited demonstration that YC made a mistake by not funding you.

Either way, I don't think it's in any way "unethical"... just unwise. If you think YC made a mistake, and you want them to correct it, explain so in your application for the next round. If you've changed your mind, and don't want their support anymore, don't dwell on it and go on with your life.
Who Wants to Buy a Virtual World?
It is a reject.
> There was a rash of startups doing this to get attention a few months ago.

That will kind of solve itself as most of them go nowhere and nobody ever hears about them again.
Acer to acquire Gateway, will become #3 in global PC market over Lenovo
Video: Interview with Jason Fried
[VIDEO] Neal Ford and Martin Fowler on domain-specific languages
A bullet in your programs head
> Do the HackerNews Readers have any constructive critism for us? anything is good.

I do. Don't put all the "The" bands under "T".
Ya Def. We are working to change that for sure.
Excellent points, except it's clear you've never spend much time pair programming in a small team. There, the rules are a little different, as the design is a collaborative process.

Although there's more inertia than working solo, I like team pair programming better. You get third-draft code in first-draft time when pairing, and having to continuously collaborate on the design sharpens your thinking a lot.
Reddit-of-old had this stuff. Just in manageable small quantities sprinkled over the smart stuff. As long as it stays close to this ratio, I think it's fine.
The original poster is the most entertaining troll I've ever read. It's depressing that so many people didn't realize he was trolling.
Wait, you marked it as "Dead" so now it's invisible on the NEW list to people other than myself? If I'm not logged in the submission text disappears and just says "dead".

That's pretty underhanded, pretending something is there for the user but killing it off for everyone else, for obvious non-spam. At least 3 people upmodded my comment before you deep-sixed the thread so nobody else would see it.
pg,

This type of moderation is a fracture to people's perception of y-combinator, fix it before it breaks. It's not in the spirit of your essays.

p.s. I like the dash, hopefully you won't moderate that too.
OK, the data is sort of there but it doesn't show up in the tag cloud.

edit: Apparently you need to check the "unsigned artists" box. My bad.
If by something you mean nothing, then yes you are right.
the fact that the average young person has neither taste nor technical ability is evidently quite a lucrative business opportunity.

unfortunately myspace has repeatedly shown that they are hostile to external business partners and don't want to turn myspace into an ecosystem. at any time they could capriciously shut you down. it's rupert murdoch and fox news you're dealing with.
I believe he means competitors like Tech Stars.
But you _can't_ apply the gains from one incident to buy additional insurance for the second, because the two incidents could happen simultaneously (before you had purchased additional insurance). And this is not merely a theoretical situation but a practical one, since there are delays between first incident and payout and between purchase of additional coverage and coverage applied.

IOW all purchases of insurance must be done beforehand at the same time. Purchases of insurance cannot be contingent, although the gains may be. So you can't wait and see if one incident occurs to decide whether to buy more insurance.
ClickFacts' homepage was corporate-looking from the day that they were announced.
Great startup opportunity with two former Intuit VP's - RoR
I'll be starting at Scribd next week (woohoo!), but I have been contracting for a great startup in Fremont that needs a replacement for me. The startup is TReX Global (dorky/awesome name I know) that is being self-funded by two former Intuit VP's. The founders are some of the nicest guys I've ever known and that's why I joined them. The product is like an online version of TurboTax, but geared specifically towards Real Estate investors. Both of the founders have been active real estate investors over the years and so are passionate about this market's pain-points they are solving. If you have any interest in that industry, this is an amazing opportunity.

They are a Ruby on Rails shop, and the skills they are particularly looking for are super-solid frontend skills (js, css, etc). RoR background is helpful but not required.

The pay and options are really great and you'll be working out of a garage, but with a very flexible schedule - telecommuting etc.

Let me know if you're interested - just contact me at matt.jaynes on gmail.

Thanks!
Matt

https://www.trexglobal.com/application (Product)

http://web.intuit.com/about_intuit/executives/pankaj_shukla.... (Founder - CEO)

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/0/881/b09 (Founder - President)
Crucial Steps to Getting Started
Entrepreneurs and startup experts weigh in on what they consider most important when launching a new business
Ok seriously. This is right under my nose! Detroit. I'm in Mt. Pleasant. Wow. Awesome that the googleplex ann arbor isn't the only successful tech development in this troubled economy. And at only 17, I applaud her.
She has, quite effectively, hedged her investments against such an occurrence. If you read the article, you'll see that she is playing on multiple social networks, cell phones, and online utilities. She's a damned mogul, and the lot of us should be so lucky to cover our asses as effectively. She's going to do very very well in life as long as she keeps her head on straight when things get crazy and when markets evolve (and as she grows up).

Of course, I also agree that betting on MySpace or Facebook alone is a death wish.
She's more a designer than hacker, but nonetheless, she's really good. It's not my cup of tea for my own sites, but her design sense is impressive for one with so little experience and training.
Well yes, it is rare. But this isn't really hacking--its more art and css/html (digital media). I worked with this 17 year old CSS girl at my last job. I asked her why she didn't want to go in to tech, since she was so good. She told me something to the effect that because she was asian and firstborn, she had to do what her mom wanted, which was for her to be a lawyer. blah
It was a lowball offer. The article says she has $70,000 a month in revenue.
Why does the iPhone have chrome finish, unlike the iPod?
I noticed that it gives the iPhone quite a different aesthetic than the iPod. It makes me associate it with the luxury market, which I think is somewhat unfortunate.
Computer Workstation Ergonomics
Exactly. This was a bright girl whose hobby turned out to be really lucrative, she grew into it completely naturally. This let her get better at it without running into the normal motivational difficulties a typical teenager would see.
Didn't mean to criticize her, but to add more information.

Anyone like to valuate her startup?
I forwarded this article to my sisters, who are around that age.
I recommend reading the forum and just waiting around for the next time someone asks "Have we heard from any companies that got rejected and still went forward?"
Ye' Def'
4 times revenue? So around 4 million. I'd still be surprised if she took that offer.

Her best method of growth seems to be competing with Weebly with her page generating software. I assume that unlike Weebly she'd be willing to put ads on the pages of her users, so that could also be very profitable.
He makes it sound so easy and elementary.

The truth is that when they launched Basecamp they already had major name recognition and tons of web designers (their primary audience for Basecamp) already admired their philosophy on UI design and old-school web design (which is what they did before DHH came along).

Starting with that made all the difference in the world. Fried is excellent at giving the impression he's speaking candidly and informally when really he's continuing a neverending cult-like pitch.

Not many people can do that. Certainly not I.
Is there a way to insert links with text other than the URL?
No, and it has to be the full URL with http://.
The girl was hit with a stupid question, and gave a stupid answer.

"Recent polls indicate 1/5 of Americans can't locate America on a world map. Why do you think this is?"

How can a poll show this? Wouldn't it be a study? Furthermore, even if it were a study, it couldn't be true, given the well-known across the states, shape of Florida. The only way it would be plausible would be if they included babies in the 'polling'.
Why synching sucks
Google and search
do not. I am just letting it out.
O boy. I am not writing for anyone to enjoy or even read this. But this is the only place I am socially active on a daily basis. I kinda feel secure here. Last Tuesday I lost my job ( well I quit, but I did not like it and they were treating me poorly). Wednesday I lost my car. It stopped in the middle of the freeway. I managed to take it home after 3 hours ( the normal ride is about 5 minutes top ). Thursday I lost my phone. If you are addicted to mobile IM and push email, then loosing your phone is like loosing your ability to breath and now you must live with a tube stuck in your throat. Friday I lost my girlfriend. O boy. Now that one hurt. Can you imagine seeing someone leave you when you need them the most. My girlfriend knows me more about me than anyone outside my family. I thought she was sweet. I never thought she really loved me, but we had this rule of "no lie" that made it all smooth. She lied to me. Big time. And to make matters worst, I found she did for a long time. O boy. I am not even mad, but I am hurt and unpleasantly surprised. Saturday and Sunday were tough, but I managed. Today, I found out more lies from her. O boy. And today, the one person I called my best friend let me down. I called him and say I needed his help. O boy. "Hang on" he told me, "You will do fine".
O boy. I keep wishing that I will wake up soon. I wished this is a dream. Somebody wake me up please before it is too late. Wake me up.
The technology to simulate a human brain, and scan the "state" of a brain into that simulation looks like it is more likely to happen sooner then a general AI. So it maybe pragmatism that causes it to happen that way.
Is music production comparable to programming?
In software development, I have no problem to envision developing arbitrarily good applications, by building it one building block at a time. On the other hand, the last few days I have listened to extremely good music and I don't see how to ever arrive at that level. Is there a point when one has learned enough basics of music production to be able to produce arbitrarily good music?
Google Launches Official Facebook App
breathe in, breathe out...
This will inevitably become standard fare to boost one's high school resume for college. What's special is that this girl did this on her own initiative without rich or highly-educated adults to guide her along the way. She did something for fun and it worked out. I hope you stress the fun, socializing aspect to your sisters and not a money-making scheme, since that will just them off from the idea.

Maybe there just haven't been enough rolemodels for girls to look up to.
If there's any trend worth to analyze, pg would write another essay and I'd rather read that :-)
THAT would have been a good answer.

Too bad you're not 5'll, blonde, with pearly whites.
I like it how his message is always consistent. I would like to hear some new things about their company and business though. The message in the video he has been giving for 2 years now...
it still hurts, but Thank you
Perhaps you might like today's article by Steve Pavlina, "The Joy Of Sadness": http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2007/08/the-joy-of-sadness/
The Tale of the Mechanical Virus
Tip: Block facebook apps with Facebook Profile Cleaner
Damn, that is a large quantity of bad luck in a short amount of time... But don't panic!

I would say getting the lying gf out of your life is definitely a good thing as painful as it may be now. I had a similar problem with my ex-fiancee. Sooner is much better than later - life is too short to deal with lying gfs/friends.

If you didn't like your job, then its good to be out. Focus on what it is you want out of a job, and go get it.

Get a new phone. Fix your car (if you need it), and then when the dust settles, you may grab victory out of the jaws of defeat. It has happened to me several times when things seemed impossibly bad. The key: you are still standing to fight another day. Never give up.
Thank you Gibsonf. Sometimes it feels better to tell your problems to people who do not know you and can be frank with you. I appreciate all the advices.
I actually get this magazine in paper (thanks for that Delta Airlines!) and was pretty surprised by that story too. I think it's yet another plentyoffish style story that makes the web look a little more democratic than it really is.
It's definitely kind of neat to see companies that were turned down by YC and worked on their project anyway. If there were a list of them somewhere (similar to TechCrunch's deadpool, but a little more cheery) I'd love to read it.

I'm really curious what percentage of the submissions that get rejected go on to incorporate and put something out there.
Job.... you did the right thing. Waking up every morning and not being able to look at yourself in the mirror and dreading going to work is not a way to live. Life's so damn short! You need to follow your dreams.

Car.... it can be replaced.

Phone... well, now you will not be as distracted as much and you can start working on the future.

Girlfriend... well, you found out on time. Imagine if you were married and had kids? What a mess that would be!

Let us know how it goes but best of luck to you... things are not as dark as you think! At least you're healthy! That's absolutely the most important thing.
I will keep the humorous posts to a minimum.
Provide a reply indicator similar to Reddit's red envelope. Make it a #part link to the most recent new reply on my threads page.
Rest assured, nearly everyone has had a string of incredible bad luck that seemingly conspires and culminates together. I know I have had this. Just know that you move on to greater things and the less time you spend on all this bad, the earlier the greater things come.
I'm not jewish, but I've always thought that this parable is a wonderful for times like these when you feel the whole world bearing down on you: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Too_Shall_Pass_(Phrase)

Hang in there.
YC application as an exercise to define and focus your startup goals?
Hang in there. You're the same person you were a week ago. It hurts to find out that someone close to you isn't who you thought they are... but you're still yourself. Hang on to that and you WILL do fine.
JavaScript Tips for Novices, Acolytes, and Gurus
Someone posted a topic earlier for discussion about whether or not to publicize his startup as a "YCombinator Reject."

I've been thinking lately that the act of preparing an application might be a very good exercise to focus and define your goals in a useful way. I don't mean that you should apply if you don't intend to accept if YC accepts you; that wouldn't be very nice. But if you can explain your idea to someone else you're more likely to understand it yourself.

At least part of the reward is in the journey.
Vista & Information Control
Vista Sucks
Why Ubuntu Sucks
Linux Media Center Better Then Windows Media Center?
A guy who runs his life with index cards
They really don't bother me, I'd encourage you to post whatever you want. It's up to Paul Graham and the editors to fix it if there is a problem.
Found the full article:

http://web.archive.org/web/20070417081136/http://www.loudthi...
won't bore you with blessing in disguise saying, someone said it to me today and all I could say was, "do blessings ever come as they are, all I seem to get are these so called blessing in disguise."

job, phone, car are easily replaced possessions.

Lying girlfriends may be amusing for a while but get old quick.

So if your here, you must want to do a startup. Here is your chance!
no doubt, we have a new team member aboard and are doing the YC app as a team building / focus / vision exercise.

We are going to submit the app, so its a good use of time, but the clarity and focus bits are essential.
This guy is basically saying that Ubuntu sucks because it does exactly what it is intended to do, namely help convert Windows users to Linux and to make the transition as easy as possible. While it may be true that more hardcore Linux users don't like Ubuntu, it's hard to say something sucks when it does exactly what it is intended to do.
My standard speech to them is that hacking is the ultimate in flexibility: whether they found a startup, make a standard career of it, or choose another path (such as marriage/motherhood, the popular choice in my family's subculture for young women), they will always be able spend some time hacking, wherever and whoever they are.

As far as earning money, they're working at retail stores earning single digits/hour to earn spending money; if I was a bit richer, I would hire them to learn hacking/build an app as a way of earning at least that amount. Money-making is definitely not a turn-off for them.

One more thing: it's not just that there are too few role models for women; there's too much peer pressure not to be a girl geek. For guys, being a geek has a certain cachet to it; people treat you as smart. This is not true for girls. So there's more pressure for girls not to do hacking/engineering/other geeky things. This is my observation, anyway; YMMV.
Not sure what you mean by "arbitrarily" here, but yes -- in my experience the two are very similar:

1. Both require long periods of focus to really get in the zone and be productive.

2. Progress is marked by stretches of frustration punctuated by "eureka" moments.

3. It helps to be around others with the same interests, be it Scandinavian metal or Ruby on Rails.

4. If you do the little things wrong, you make it harder for yourself at the more complex levels. Good habits are key.

5. Don't get too hung up on the tools in the beginning (ie overspending on guitars, amps, mixing equipment -- or switching development tools every time the next hot framework or dev kit comes out)

My advice to you is to persevere. Just like with programming, one day you will find that things which once seemed impossible are within your reach, and it's a very rewarding experience.
Perhaps. Can you recognize the different parts of music that make it good? Have you ever had a favorite song that you love but can't stand at the same time because you hear one part or beat that just isn't right?