skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
You switched from Google to Yahoo for privacy reasons? Yahoo! has already demonstrated their total lack of ethics regarding privacy by helping the Chinese jail thought criminals. Whereas, Google has designed all its systems and its business models to ensure that it does not need to cooperate with horrible regimes.

Also, Yahoo! happily shared its users' information with the U.S. government upon request (when not even legally obligated to do so), whereas Google went to court to fight for its users' privacy.
Obviously, free is better than $19.95. But, I think $19.95 per day is a pretty good price too. I would rather pay browsercam.com $20 for instant results than wait around for hours (the current wait time on the browsershots.org cue is over three hours as I type this).
You should probably try browsershots, then see how it actually works, and if it's not fast enough for you, try browsercam's free trial. I only mentioned browsercam and browsershots, but if you know any more, you can post them.
If you have no serious commitments (no mortgage, no girlfriend, etc.), then I'd say go for it -- make the move. In life, you're going to regret what you didn't do, not so much what you tried and did. And don't worry about the hype here. Just know hype when you hear it.

This sounds like an opportunity to focus and work your ass off on your idea.
On most sites it's difficult for a bad guy to discover the email addresses of your users (they're private). It's trivial to discover the usernames (they're public). With thousands (or millions) of users it's not hard for a bad guy to find accounts with weak passwords. Probably wise to make sure you have decent password constraints and a way of preventing brute-force logins.
If this guy reviewed his own site the way he reviews others, he'd call it a few choice names and suggest that it shut down.

uncov is techcrunch/valleywag except that uncov's Fonzie is on waterskiis and is in mid-air over a shark.
Small thinking.
Thanks Aito for your input.

I just visited you blog. Are you a hacker?

take care
Perhaps Viaweb 2.0
The Secret of Apple Design
Directory of Lifestreaming
SEOmoz announces Web 2.0 Award winners (Wufoo Wins)
Yahoo hires economics, sociology researchers
Spike Lee, Italian billionaire take on YouTube
What Weebly Could Do: Make their editor a drop-in / turn-key service for other sites to use as their Custom Profile Editor for users's profile pages.

Co-brand that biatch and call it a day.
HI IMP,

Thanks a lot for your info. I remember reading the article about the guy who wrote 101out. Thanks for the link. I wish this project to become an open-source soon.

I also remember reading that YC news was an attempt by YC team to work something out in Arc. Thanks again.

I have been around Reddit and YC communities for a while, but never really had the opportunity to jump in on any discussions. Up to now my projects were all in concept develop phase. Now that I am approaching content and communications phases I definitly need to know more about programming, languages, frameworks and all....at least to know how to talk with hackers.

Thanks a lot for your time.

Zelda
If you do not have hacker friends, what is the best way to find a hacker co-founder?
Protect your paper millions
Mark Cuban used a similar stragety after Broadcast.com was bought by Yahoo! to protect against a downturn in the stock market:

"The basic worry that comes with having lots of money is no different from what worries everyone else. Whether you've got $100 or $100 million, you don't want to lose it. After we sold Broadcast.com, I hedged my stock with synthetic indexes, in case the market cratered in the six months before I could hedge my actual Yahoo shares. It cost me $20 million, but it protected what I had. Todd Wagner and I had a credo: "Pigs get fat; hogs get slaughtered.""

Note: Obviously meet with a financial advisor if any of this actually applies to you.
What is your recommended beginner's hacker training course?
What is the fastest way to learn "hacking" to a reasonable level such that you can apply for YC?

Of course, you need a product/idea to apply, but what will be the fastest way to acquire the necessary skill such that you can build a reasonably good product / to actualize your idea? Finding a hacker co-founder is a shortcut but it is not considered an answer here.

I want to have a full schedule, e.g. firstly read this book, finish all the exercise in it, then secondly you read a certain website, and so on, etc. Of course there will be no limit to learn, but I am asking for a minimum requirement. Something like a curriculum.
I would recommend the classic book Structure and Interpretation of Computer Languages. Its available for free online. It is the book taught at MIT. I do want to say it's not easy after the first couple of chapters. The videos are available online as well. But this is a great way to start.
another one is actually http://www.htdp.org/
by Mathias Felleisen from Northeastern University. Also a great way to learn to program the right way.
10 Lessons from an Olympic Athlete
'... What is the fastest way to learn "hacking" to a reasonable level such that you can apply for YC? ...'

How smart are you? How hard are you willing to learn? Try reading 'How To Become A Hacker' by Eric Raymond for a start ~ http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/hacker-howto.html

There are others but this is a good start.
If you consider startupping as competition, these lessons apply.
Good question... I have a similar situation, however I have hacker friends that a) have too much holding them down from working on any projects, b) are comfortable with the 9-5 routine, or c) I just know that I can't work with them

I guess that is why I'm beginning to contribute here at news.yc, in hopes of meeting some technical folks who would be willing to start something down the road.

If you're looking for co-founders, I think you're in the right place
Your acceptance is based entirely on your idea (even though ideas are worth "nothing," heh) and your past projects. So learn some lisp to score brownie points and outsource a resume-filler project of your design to some cheep foreigners. You'll be ready to go.

As for hacking in general. The only way to learn is to create real programs. Books are a very small part of learning. I wouldn't recommend any.

Oh and don't tell the YC guys that you are hardly a hacker. They wont like that.
Wil's Version of "The Secret" (Get Off Your Ass)
I agree with his point, sort of, but I don't think the dichotomy is really that bad. I think a lot of unix and open source people are a bit fanatically anti-microsoft, but the reality is most developers simply don't have the time to become an expert in both worlds.

I'm trying to move away from microsoft for a fairly simple economic reason: licensing is is a pain in the ass. Auditing software compliance is a legal hassle that eats time and money. It's discouraging make-work.
That's what we need. A thread on explaining to your girlfriend that you won't be with her this summer, and what protective gear to wear when you tell her.
The Top 4 Internet Business Models
this has caused me to burst out laughing.
Start with a Commodore 64 in the early 80ies, then keep programming and learning.

Lacking a time machine, I think open source is the best way to learn and get involved with something. Pick a real project that utilizes some of the technology you'd like to use, and try and dig in - fix bugs, add features, and so on.
Hrm, I think that in actuallity, the top internet business model is pornography.
You should put some information about yourself in your profile. A web page or something.
I'd start with the video lectures of SICP:

http://swiss.csail.mit.edu/classes/6.001/abelson-sussman-lectures/

After that you'd probably want to learn some web stuff like html, css and javascript. You can pick these up by looking at the sources of other peoples' pages, and by using w3schools:

http://www.w3schools.com/

Good luck!
Pick a language and start learning. I recommend Python instead of Ruby only because I use it.

The Python website has a good list of tutorials for non-programmers (http://wiki.python.org/moin/BeginnersGuide/NonProgrammers) and for programmers (http://wiki.python.org/moin/BeginnersGuide/Programmers)

The book Learning Python from O'Reilly is really good.
Learning by doing is the only way in my opinion. You could start with (X)HTML - think about something you could make a web page about, for example a homepage for your grandmother. Then start thinking about some dynamic content to add to the web page, for example a guestbook (for the server programming route), or fancy animations in JavaScript or Flash. Try to find your way by reading tutorials on the web.

The thing about programming/hacking is that it is not a fixed set of skills. Rather, first you think about what you want to achieve, then you start researching on how to do it. There is never an end to it, therefore just reading a book doesn't cut it. You might be a versatile Perl programmer, but suddenly you'll find that you want Ajax in your next web application, so you learn about that.
As a second source (it's sometimes helpful to hear material from more than one perspective), UC Berkeley has some podcasts from a Scheme course which uses SICP:

http://webcast.berkeley.edu/course_details.php?seriesid=1906978270

I listened to a few of them a while back, just to check them out. Not bad, if you can ignore the lecturer's occasional side-trip into politics (well, it IS Berkeley).
Five Steps to Start Working From Home
Sorry - wrong URL! Whoops!
Bookmark, Copy, Note and Share: SharedCopy.com
Err... what does doing math have to do with it? If I have a good (human) assistant, I can ask him or her to find me all the Y Combinator articles and it just works. I don't need to write some formal mathematical description of the task.

It's true that it's all math/physics/chemistry underneath, due to how the brain works, but in practice we never worry about that, just as an engineer doesn't generally consider quantum and relativistic effects when he's designing a bridge, or an outfielder doesn't scribble down a bunch of differential equations before catching a fly ball.

Sure, any standard computer is equivalent to a bounded Turing machine, but Turing machines are a real pain in the ass to program.

Mathematical purity is one thing. Getting your work done is quite another.

Over-mathematization is what killed AI (IMO).
Ars Digita Univeristy is roughly the first year MIT computer science coursework free online. It has yet another version of SICP, plus several other useful bits. The videos can be had on DVD for $75 or downloaded (recommended donation $0.25 per video).

The turnaround on the DVD is a bit slow, though. Took me about three weeks to get mine (I don't mind, but you asked for "fastest" and that would slow you down).
I too have talked to hacker friends who don't have the nerve. Get 5 years of experience, then start something. 5 years later, get 5 years of experience, then start something.

and 5 years later, they start a family.

if you think about it, it's pretty easy for a decent programmer to get comfortable with a 9-5. if it pays well, you really don't need to think much. and i've come to believe that complacent people, no matter how skilled, will not be able to achieve great things. when i talk to talented, but complacent people, it's harrowing.
That's a product, not a model.
As for not telling the YC guys...they'll notice. You won't have to tell them.

Ideas don't matter (except to show that you're thinking hard about solving a real problem for someone). You want to have a working demo to show them.
Norvig: Teach yourself programming in ten years

http://norvig.com/21-days.html
For those that don't want to google it,

http://mitpress.mit.edu/sicp/full-text/book/book.html
It's a good thing that union organizers are in no real danger anymore, and companies allow a fair negotiation process between workers and the corporate offices who determines their pay.

Oh, wait...

http://killercoke.org/crimes.htm

http://www.wakeupwalmart.com/facts/#anti-union

An article about the double standard applied to unions vs. corpoartions:

http://www.tpmcafe.com/blog/coffeehouse/2006/sep/24/biased_anti_union_reporting

Sure, in a field where there is a high demand for workers, unions are unnecessary, because any deficiencies in pay will be punished. In manufacturing and retail, however, where the demand is not as high, there has to be someone out there establishing a minimum standard for their employees to receive in compensation for their work. Since minimum wage in the U.S. is not enough to live on, the only other groups with the possibility to enforce such standards are unions.

I think that the recent trend (as in the last couple decades) of discounting the importance of unions is in large part due to comparing dissimilar organizations. Manufacturing and retail is a completely different beast from the service industry, and to lump them all into one "unions fight for overcompensation" group is shameful.
I seem to be in the minority here but I dislike sites that an use email address as username. Yuck.
Fidg't: Central Control of Social Networks
5 Lessons Learned From Pitching VCs
Allow, but..

Username should an arbitrary object-id, service generated.

This is OOD, isn't it ?

Additionaly user should be given the possibility (not obligation) to provide:
- one or more email addresses (primary & secondaries)
- a unique user chosen ID - 30 or so chars.
- a user chosen Display Name, not unique
- a password (optional too)

User should be able to login using their optional password and either :
- an email address or
- their user chosen unique ID or
- their system generated unique ID

If login fails because user is not known, user should be directed to a pre-filled "register" page ! Never ask user to re-enter data just typed a page before.

Only the object-id and Display Name should be public by default. Display Name should default to unique user, name part of email address or Anonymous.

There should be a log of failed & successful logins, with optional email delivery/alerts.
Additionaly : User should be able to use their email address for password, if they wants it that way. In that case I guess that they should be warned when they allow their email address to be seen by others...
http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Electrical-Engineering-and-Computer-Science/6-171Fall2003/CourseHome/index.htm

Philip Greenspun described this course as "how to build Amazon.com all by yourself"

the textbook is available on amazon here:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0262511916/pgreenspun-20

The curriculum is not language specific so you'll also need a book on Lisp, Ruby-on-Rails, IIS/ASP.NET, Apache/Tomcat/Java, or whatever is your choice of technology.
I agree with the comfort level of a 9-5. I've been working high paying 9-5 jobs between IT and Software Engineering since I graduated (3 years now).

I'm just plain sick of it, however I can certainly see how the majority can get easily complacent with the daily routine and nil responsibility.

I've just come to the realization that its not for me.
I can't believe nobody suggested _why's awesome new beginner Ruby environment:

http://hacketyhack.net/
Basically, the way I learned it was something like:

1. Begin administering a message board and discover the need to learn HTML in order to avoid using the god-awful Microsoft Frontpage (awful in terms of generating unnecessary complexity).

2. Learn Java because I've always been interested in programming and it seems like a "hot" language.

3. Learn Javascript to make some elements of my webpages a little bit dynamic (on the client side, at least).

4. Begin a Computer Science major. The truth is that I really did not learn much from the class content itself, but from the projects we had to do, projects which involved a lot of independent work. So find some programming problem that seems interesting and program it in C/C++ (at least that's what I did :-).

5. Discover Lisp, code in Lisp, learn Lisp, vow to use nothing but Lisp (and maybe some Python) ever again.

6. Work for a company that uses nothing but a Unix environment (FreeBSD), and spend the summer upgrading to a new server. This involves looking at plenty of open source code in order to find out what's going on and why nothing is working right. Discover a loathing for PHP.

7. Install Linux at home. Learn Perl, and shell. Realize the amazing power of commands like find, xargs, and 'perl -e ...'. Note the convenience of having gcc and interpreters for Perl, Python, and Lisp at your fingertips.

8. Get started. The sooner you start programming, the sooner you will find yourself searching Google to figure out how to do x in language y. There is no easy road to hacking... you have to take the Nike approach. ("Just do it." Is that even their slogan anymore?)

Looking back, you could certainly avoid step 2. Step 4 is largely unnecessary as well, except that being forced to do projects is a good motivator to get you programming when you first start. If you can find your own motivation, then a CS major is not really much help. Step 5 is optional, but you should definitely learn something beyond the standard C/C++/Java that most people get stuck with. Step 6 was a great experience for me, coming from a strictly Windows environment, but skipping straight to Step 7 wouldn't hurt too much. I'm not trying to be a Linux zealot here, but open source, Unix-based platforms teach you a completely different way of thinking (problem-solution based) than the Windows mindset, and I think it's closer to the manner of thinking employed by your typical hacker.

Step 8 is the most important. Get started. Don't look for someone else to do your work for you. There is no substitute for hard work, so find something that interests you and start programming it in the language of your choice. If you only want to learn hacking in order to apply for YC, then you have already written yourself off as a non-hacker. Hacking is a means to an end in some ways, but not to that extent.
Blackstone Plans Orbitz IPO
I'm curious how ITA Software will be affected by this.
Do you want to be a "hacker" or do you just wanna be able to build web apps. i dont think they are the same thing. I am not a hacker but I am learning to build Web Apps. For example I dont need to know how to build enterprise wide software. I spoke to a few friends of mine who can "hack". I said I wanna be able to build web apps they said learn the following and I am.

1. (X)HTML and CSS
2. A tiny bit of Javascript
3. PHP
4. MySQL
5. learn stuff on linux and servers

6. After that i am on my own, I figure I will learn Ruby on Rails after that. Ive given myself until January 2008 to be pretty good at 1-5. Lets see how it goes.
i think hacking is a state of mind, and not a learned skill.

hackers, entrepreneurs and artists have a certain "what if" personality that leads to a never ending quest to answer these questions, they are usually very personal questions of curiosity. The quest to see the result is often more fun than the result itself for these people, it's about the process of discovery and exploration, and not about the answer. A runner runs a marathon because it is ultimately fun to train for one, not because the need to go 26 miles. A hacker is the same way, we just find it fun to hack, to explore.

If you want to know what quests other hackers are on, you can always go to defcon in las vegas during the 1st weekend in august. Defcon is more like an art gallery of hacks, than it is a place to learn how to hack, that comes in from an inner desire.
You have to love these guys that wake up one morning and decide coin a name to what occurred last week as if it was an era. I wouldn't call Dodgeball an example of Mobile Social Web 1.0. If anything, we're in the really, really early stages of the mobile web. In a world where mobiles outsell PCs 20 to 1, I'd need to see mobile applications reach at least 50 million users before I even start contemplating terms like Mobile Social Web 1.0.
Did you know that SEO can be very beneficial for your online business? I'm not talking about going to a SEO firm and spend thousands of dollars with them, I'm talking about using basic SEO techniques, that a lot of newbie internet entrepreneurs don't know about, to improve your visibility on search engines. This article helps in that direction.
TAKE CLASSES AT A COMMUNITY COLLEGE.

You might be able to teach yourself from a book, but that only works for a very few people (ususally those who are trying to learn a new language rather than someone with no experience). I tried to teach myself some SQL (with no database or programming experience), it didn't work. After 6hours/week for 4 weeks at school, I was doing ok. Heck that was 3 months ago, and it has tremendously helped me.
Now, I am looking into a taking some java classes at a technical school. The classes are cheap and you will get more than the fundamentals in 2 months. The rest will come as you practice and work along side a developer on your project.
And there's also the poignant guide:
http://poignantguide.net/ruby/
I downloaded HH a little while ago. Good for people with no experience.
Have you explained how she'll benefit when you're rich? The first-class flights to europe, the jewelry, the personal masseuse?
I went back to school. It worked.
The idea is great. But the humor not so much.
Why bubbles are great for the economy.
We got over 20,000 uniques(500 signups) from TC day we got TC'd. Of course we had an entire post so 750 for you guys makes sense.
the top ten courses first:

http://www.lecturefox.com/computerscience/
This was also recently discussed here: http://news.ycombinator.com/comments?id=15613
Professor Felleisen is an amazing professor, I had him for the fall semester for "Fundamentals of CS 1" and he really pushed you. Then his higher level course, "Software Development", I hear that he radically changes the requirements at the last minute. I guess that's to help you learn how to design a solid program in the beginning and then be able to easily change it down the road. It's supposed to be more like the "real world" (but I'm not quite sure when I'll get there).
14 rules for fast web pages
Things get worse for Vonage
Find hackers who are thinking about schools for their kids and discovering that the kind of environment they want costs a lot of money. Those are the ones who might branch out and try something new.
Just start programming in anything really (except PHP, since you may learn some bad habits). Make something you want (i.e. it could be as simple as a greasemonkey script for FF/UserJS for Opera/GreaseMonkIE [or equivalent] for IE). Then try to see if you can program it in a better way and continue to refine it as much as you can.

Ultimately, you're going to learn that writing solid tests are equally, if not moreso, important as writing solid code. They help you determine the root problem, so I suggest just writing some code and learning how to properly test it. Also, test everything! I was coding a project and I think without a proper test suite (I made) and a debugger I would have never finished.

Professor Felleisen taught us a design recipe:
http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/matthias/211-f06/Assignments/recipe.html
and it works really well, it ensures a structured and organized code that is easy to maintain down the road.
Are we bloggers individualistic or cooperative?
Case Study Review: Reddit
New Hosted Blog Contender is a Wee Bit Weebly
After reading this article, it seems that these critics are grasping at straws. Their whole point seems to be that Weebly is not an established player yet. That is obvious - it's a brand new service competing (sort of) against players that have been in the field for many years. Anyone who has actually used Weebly realizes immediately the power in simplicity and flexibility that they have going for them.
I was implying that they received many more visitors than the number he gave. As of the writing of this post, their whos.amung.us widget notes 804 unique users browsing.
Excellent collection of ways to reduce response time.
Please Delete (accidental click on the accursed YC bookmarklet; at least it didn't happen while I was looking at porn)