skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
Hm, ok, I guess I was a bit harsh, so I apologize... however, availability of certain tools/languages on Linux really depends on the distribution and what options you install. Perl is probably installed everywhere, but others are not. Also, all the major languages are very well supported on Windows (I've been using Perl on Windows since '97 or so, and lots of people are using Python and Ruby lately). .NET framework is free and includes libraries, documentation, tools and compilers. There are a lots of editors (including vi and emacs). Also, there's free Visual Studio express, etc. Granted, they are not included with Windows installation, but I guess that's because of the difference in distribution and licensing models, rather than some fundamental inability of Windows platform to include them.

About the support for the hackers... hm... it probably depends on the definition of 'hacker', but there's MSDN, a HUGE resource for the developers on the Windows platforms, with references for all products, languages and tools, examples, knowledge base etc.

Speaking of installation, I guess it's a matter of preference. Personally, I prefer to download stuff that I need, burn the 'developer tools dvd', and install from there. apt, urpmi and similar tools are nice and I quite like their elegance and simplicity, but they are great when you have enough bandwidth and don't have to pay for the extra traffic, and not so nice if you have 3-4 machines to install or update.

And, finally, yes... hackers are few and far between, developers are a bit more common, and the rest are coders.
Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders Podcast (Stanford)
Got a thumbs-up @5pm EST. It was a generic msg, sent to a suppressed mailing list. knewjax, we did not provide a demo or prototype. We did, however, spend quite a bit of time in writing a detailed reply to a question pg sent by email about 5 days ago.
O'Reilly Web 2.0 Summit Podcasts (Audio)
O'Reilly Web 2.0 Summit Podcasts (Video)
The Future of Web Apps 2007 Podcasts
Google Eyeing Maxthon
OpenYou: The Limits of Privacy on the Social Web
we didn't get in but will keep going; the only frustrating part of our rejection is that ycomb didn't even look at our demo (they would have had to login to do so).
Microsoft helping open source (Frontier OPML editor)?
if you have any more left at this point i'd certainly appreciate one: eskaper@gmail.com
MuniFi a Bust?
Big Picture on Microformats
Where Did My Beautiful Internet Go?
30 Apparent Reasons You Launched Your Startup
The rejection from Y did hurt for a few minutes but then it is actually a blessing. It helped our team to re-evaluate ourselves. Our background is in medicine. We lack the technology part yet understand the 'gaps' in medicine that technology is needed. It's like Steve Case and his dive into medicine with revolutionhealth.

Anyways, going to give it a go for another program but this time using our strength - medicine. Any hacker out there want to give it a shot with us in the other program application, we have some great ideas that combines the internet, medicine, health insurance etc. Tired of hiring programmers, we need a real partner who can program since my programming ability is still newbish.

Give me an e-mail ;)
Looking for additional 'hacker' cofounder - LA/OC/SD
Actually, during PG's talk at UC Berkeley ( where I go to school ), I went up and asked him if a demo is important..etc and he advised me to put up a screencast instead, so we did that. I don't know if they actually viewed it because I can't tell from the server logs.
I am looking for an additional founder that is an extremely skilled programmer to join our team. We have several ideas that we feel are great and are extremely serious about pursuing, so we have many options. If you are in any way interested and live in the specified areas, LA/OC/SD, send an email over to:

kbeshay@gmail.com.

Hope to hear from some of you soon, and goodluck to all with your own ventures.
Yep, we got rejected too but we'll take it live. If it doesn't attract users we'll quit and move onto another project.
Baby steps for Dexter the robot
Who Got Accepted For Interviews? - Post here if you did
Hi guys. Sorry about the news.

I suggest joining my YC alum startup, Xobni, instead. Sometimes great hackers joinup instead of startup. That is what Paul Buchheit did : http://paulbuchheit.blogspot.com/2007/03/looking-for-co-founder-try-attending.html

send resumes: http://www.xobni.com/jobs.php
Congrats to all winners. For anyone who won't be in this YC batch, here is an idea.

I suggest joining my YC alum startup, Xobni, instead. Sometimes great hackers joinup instead of startup. That is what Paul Buchheit did : http://paulbuchheit.blogspot.com/2007/03/looking-for-co-founder-try-attending.html

send resumes: http://www.xobni.com/jobs.php
Yes, you can! Save enough for six months to a year in basic living expenses -- that's your seed fund. While you save, keep moonlighting on your project. Your seed-fund will empower you to make the right decision when the time comes (i. e.: When your project gets traction). And you can always do consulting gigs if you need more money.
Not quite accepted - but yes, we're going to Mountain View.
Con..grat..ulations?
Our team had a similar experience. It seems they didnt even look at the parts which didnt require logging in.
Rejected because my cofounder wouldn't move!
Got the interview; not the funding, yet(obviously)
Ah ok, then congratulations and best of luck with the interview.
Paul,

Why kill Microsoft if all you care for is the browser? Install Firefox, dont upgrade to Vista or later...Just have one desktop icon and start menu program...Firefox.

Microsoft is not dead till this can be viable.

Vijay
Dekoh
For us, this was just a small step towards seeking out more funding. While it would have been faster and easier to develop and launch with some money coming in (read, one less contract job necessary to get through the summer) that's no reason not to do it anymore.
Now that I have been rejected by PG, I am not disappointed, rather angry at myself for teaming up with a co-founder who wasn't on the same page as me! So, I am leaving Redmond to move on with my life and establish the startup in the San Francisco area. I have a GREAT idea that people WANT! I am mainly looking for like-minded people who are great hackers and are not afraid to embrace new technologies. SERIOUS ENTREPRENEURS please contact me at: theoutlander at gmail and we can discuss further...

On a side note, thanks PG for such a great opportunity!! Everyone that is selected has a lot work ahead of them ;-)....good luck to all!
I can't wait to see Zentor, as someone who worked on the next version of Keynote I admit I'm skeptical of online presentation apps but it seems like an exciting space to be in.
"Actors and musicians occasionally make comebacks, but technology companies almost never do. "
Although not in the form and style of Apple's comeback, I think that IBM has "reshaped" itself in a very intelligent way, not reling anymore in "monopolic" strategies but being really competitive.
I do not know if M$ can do this morphing.
I have added u on gmail ... lets discuss
Good luck bro.....like i said iJigg has GREAT founders and a GREAT site with a growing user-base..... :-)
I'm in Boston and working on a startup.
My sn's are hybridxaos on AOL IM, and hybridxaos on Yahoo Messenger.

I am also on google talk.

Hope to talk to you soon.
why did you get rejected?
check the apache log, if you get few ips, use geo ip (don't remember exactly the site) to see if the requests are coming from their area.
My business partner and I applied back in the spring of 2005 and were passed over. It wasn't all that surprising to me, based on the number of applicants that the SFP had received.

In retrospect I'm a little relieved. At the time, our company was not really in the state to make a run for a M&A or IPO exit, nor did it need to. It was only after doing more research that I realized that our company mostly needed customers, not investors.

We've spent the last two years setting up the necessary infrastructure for us to support our customers. It looks like 2007 may be our year. It's been two years and we are still proceeding.
Let us know of the deal at the end. I am really interested about the % they will ask for.
We submitted way late - literally last minute - but we'll still be proceeding. It's okay, since we thought up of a few more interesting ideas, and a few that would be easier to start first before working on our really big ambitious one. It's amazing how many ideas you can come up when you really sit down and think about it.
Could we have an option to have a link to our prototype alongside our names? This would encourage continued contributions to YC Startup News.
People here have voted to continue to work on their startup and there's nothing to be sorry about.

That is probably a great job opportunity, but not the same as starting up your own business. A lot of companies (like Xobni) take years to get up and running, and that's doing it full-time. How can somebody expect to do a startup while working 40 hours a week for somebody else without putting in the full-time hours?

Finally, I don't know if you want to hire people who have entrepreneurship in the back of their mind, 24/7. What do you think? Or, do you think it would be good to have entrepreneurial minded employees? Thanks!
Dont feel bad, but the fact that novlet.com got rejected looks like a right decision. The home page has only a small block of usable information [Top stories section ]. Everything else is just space fillers.

Last registered users, Top usrs.. are all sections that should become prominent once the community gets strong.To let the section take a major portion of page doesnt make sense at this point of time .

Yes its an alpha, but when you do alpha,you should be DOING alpha.

Not that you guys have done a bad job, but the site gives an impression that it was cooked up without developers themself having no genuine interest in the site.

Please dont get discouraged even a little bit..Keep working with an open , positive mind. Best of everything to you . :)
If you're a programmer, there's no need for having an 'in'. There's plenty of work. Just show up.

And when it comes time to negotiate salary or rate remember that they need to be paying you quite a lot more than you were making in Texas.
I don't know if this is a great idea. I'd rather spend time working on my code than scouring the web looking for stuff to post.
mukund, why don't u ping me: theoutlander at gmail....
ping me - theoutlander at gmail ... i dont have urs
It's a way to promote your startup so that you can get users and/or find cofounders.

And perhaps more angels/VCs would check out your startup as well.
No, I think they have been very busy ... besides, the idea has to sound promising to waste time looking at a demo...
The way the Netflix Prize does http://www.netflixprize.com/leaderboard
It should be clear that there's a direct link to the startup prototype.

For example:

username, prototype link, brief prototype description
I just want to say that there are as many comments as there are votes. This is great! I think we have likely exceeded the number of teams which will have been selected at the end. Those just starting now have months of time to get going. Let's have tons of demos up by June 1st, when YC probably starts!
That part is good, yes. What I'm worried about is the time and effort it would take to get onto the leader board. There is already a profile linked to every username where people can list their startup urls, blogs, or contact info.

An adjustment to your idea that I'd feel more comfortable about would be having an url field next to your name in comments/submissions. So your comment would look like:
1 point by amichail (mystartup) 3 minutes ago
"Reject the idea of being almost good enough"
Just to share a little story. I am "stuck" in a foreign country for some strange reasons; one of them is to avoid folks squaking at me for this crazy endeavour. YC would be a good excuse to fly back; it passes off as a job interview of sorts.

I am destined to piss off the older people. Shrug.
We should have a section to list demos that are up or going to be up so that we can support one another.

Maybe someone can put up something that the audience on here can go on and evaluate what everyone is doing. Perhaps make it 'invite' only to avoid trolls.
Don't do it alone! Lets connect co-founders. Post quick descript of your idea, location, and needs
Good idea. A definite benefit for the guys taking time to add value to the site.
PromoterForce is a referral marketing platform for high end service business.

Seeking co-founder in SF Bay Area, with a blend of Tech + Biz skills.

Contact me to learn more: hasan (at) promoterforce.com
My name is Jordan, my co-founders are dave, and Joe. We are looking to create a live-and-work environment where we can get our startup off the ground. We are looking to at additional co-founders as well as look for a living arrangement. Email me at jordansinbox@gmail.com or aim: jevanf2000

support would be great. I don't want to publicly shout out my idea here, but if you're seriously interested, shoot me an instant message.
I'm not sure this is up to YC. I doubt they want to go to everyone they're trying to fund and ask permission for this nor do they want to deal with potential investees feeling like their trust has been breached.

Furthermore it's probably in YC and their founder's interest that people not know what they are working on until they feel ready to disclose it.
It's completely optional. You would have to explicitly ask for it. This is intended for founders who are not getting any funding from YC.
I read it more as a request to YC instead of the founders themselves. I guess the later's not a problem if people feel like disclosing.
I'm interested in the space, drop me an AIM: jevanf2000
I've changed the title to make this more clear.
Announcing formation of new angel network....The Angel Project
Frustrated by traditional sources of capital....The Angel Project ...TAP Capital is Born
Need additional co-founder/skilled programmer in Southern California (LA, OC, SD) to help develop a social network-esque website.

If interested or know anyone who'd be interested, contact me at kbeshay@gmail.com.

Note: social networking doesn't just mean another facebook, myspace, etc. :)
So let's apply this to the new style of pre-seed stage starting funding. If Y Combinator is Harvard, then Techstars is like Cornell. Lightspeed and Highland are MIT and Caltech.

There's not many options for rejected startups, except getting lucky with an angel or your state's entrepreneurial resources.
I'd like that. It will also build that all important pagerank
Justin's imaginary friends -- why not create some?
It might be interesting to allow viewers to control imaginary friends that can interact with Justin. Only he and the viewers would be able to see and hear them.
Those are some huge exceptions you list! I think there are more options for startups today than ever before.

I am excited at the idea of getting into YC. But it does scare me a bit for the crowd that thinks you must have YC to get rolling on your startup. Fact is, most greats(be it MS, Apple, Google) all built a somewhat great product before getting any outside help.
I don't think you'd join something like Xobni and also do a startup on the side; Matt didn't mean that. The point of joining a startup this early is that it becomes your startup. Same concept as finding someone who's already tackling the same problem you were planning to, and joining up.

"Job opportunities" usually give Benefits and Work-life Balance. Xobni would give you (hopefully) lucrative equity and the sprint-or-die startup pace that most people here are looking for (along with the rewards that come with it).
Where? I am currently in Thailand.
Great point. In fact, founders should really try to avoid taking investor capital if at all possible (YC is the exception for me since you get so much more). Ideally you should strive to have your CUSTOMERS provide the capital you need for growth! ;)

Great examples of this are 37Signals and SmugMug.
Thanks sharing, Wayne. Every YC founder I've spoken to shared the same sentiments about the entire experience. You're right on about the startup path being a rollercoaster of emotions. There are days when I feel calm, collected, and focused, and there are days when I'm nervous and frazzled out of mind. But I always wake up pumped about what we're doing and that's a great feeling.
Whoah...Did you just suggest that MIT is lower than Harvard? Party foul, dude.

Absolutely ridiculous.
What webhost do you use for your startup?
I'm a student. For me to be able to launch a start up right now, I need outside capital for living expenses. Otherwise, I need to graduate and work for a year to save enough to bootstrap myself.
Firefox is also definitely a HUGE contributer to the downfall of Microsoft in its web-based assets. Had Internet Explorer updated more frequently, kept up with RSS (something just recently introduced), and integrated it more into the OS, perhaps it would still be gasping for air. Also, it should have continued the fight in Apple's OS X territory for Internet Explorer. Safari was a baby at the time. Microsoft whimped out for no reason. It's funny that Microsoft funded Apple in the 90s when hope seemed frail. (Not the Microsoft is going anywhere anytime soon.)
No, but I suggested it's different. I personally don't see Lightspeed/Highland as much worse than YC, they just attract a very different sort of entrepreneur. If you're capable of succeeding with Y Combinator you would be able to succeed with Lightspeed too.

I guess I could have made the metaphor the other way around, but something about the VCs made me think it worked better with them as the tech schools.
I welcome more investors onto the scene. I'm a little perplexed by the way they are marketing themselves though. Did you look at their site? It looks like an ad for a retirement home or for life insurance or something. One thing that YC does an amazing job of is marketing to their audience. Unfortunately, some of these other funders seem oblivious to who their audience is: 20/30 something year old programmer guys.
I would but I'm on a laptop without any of those fancy third buttons.
Softlayer
Yes, but we're taking a break on the original idea for about a week or so. The yCombinator rejection gave us another product idea; we want to push a minimal version of that out and see how it goes before returning to our original idea.
let me +1 this post.. adam and matt are not only damn smart but awesome guys (i worked out of their living room last summer and we had a great time.) xobni's on a fantastic trajectory and this is a rare opportunity for a smart hacker to get in early -- definitely check them out.
Oh. The "send resumes" part made me think they were posting a job ad, in a thread where 30 members voted to "proceed with their startup anyway."
How many teams who live in the SF Bay Area opted to wait until the winter round?
they are looking for employees :P but it would be a much better learning experience than a typical job; you'd be joining early enough that you'd be with the company basically from the beginning and would have much more of an opportunity to take on serious responsibility and make a significant impact (that, and much more equity than later employees :P)
Why do you have ads on your about page?
Become more creative and find a way around 'em. May be you need to build a prototype good enough to get you through to one of these programs? And if none of these programs accept you, may be you need to reconsider your idea? Or may be if you still genuinely believe in the idea, go around finding a cofounder on campus who can bring with him some $$$s(trust me, they exist, their parents are usually lawyers or into real estate:) There are plenty of options...just because some are more difficult than others is no excuse to not pursue them.

If you are DEAD SET on building something, you WILL find a way around these problems because they are pretty small in the bigger scheme of things.
It just didn't make sense to us to move to Boston when we already have an office in SF, so we opted to apply for the winter round.

I guess one argument against waiting would be that moving to Boston away from SF (and all its known distractions) would let the team totally focus for the three months on nothing but work.
As recommended by iJigg....Softlayer ... and they are just beautiful!!!
Definitely! It's a great job opportunity and you guys are great! I was just wondering why a job ad was posted here. :P
Dude these guys should gift me free servers. I've referred at least a dozen people to them since our launch. Until their great service continues I won't complain.
I have decided to move to the Bay Area.... then I can prolly apply again.... my idea is great and I am still lookin for a co-founder...
For us, the main reason for going with Angel funding is to benefit from the advice and expertise of the Angel's network - the money is not very significant. Y combinator seems unbeatable in the level of help they give their teams. The Angel Project seems to be missing this kind of benefit unless I'm missing something.
japan. on traveler's visa. very, very random story.
This is just the sort of request that would attract sharks.
I was sorta kidding above, but to actually be real on the topic, MIT is home of the hackers, and Harvard's got the business-minded folks. I would've picked the other way around. But then the numbers mismatch (1 VC, 2 hacker schools).

Also, just to clarify, the running joke (never really tested) at MIT is that Harvard kids would for the most part die here.
Basecamp extras and integrations via the API
Really? Philippines here, I got rejected too but it's cool, After much evaluation on my part. My start up needs customers more than investors at this point. And yeah living in the Philippines I have the advantage of lower expenses all across the board. :-)
7 Things you don't see in Web 2.0 from Web 1.0
We're trying to decide whether or not to set up a box at our place for our initial launch or to use a remote host. Looking at softlayer prices, it looks like things can add up pretty quickly. What is your experience with the costs - does it make sense given the low expense of boxes and bandwidth? Do they have a good scaling up path?
This is the most BRILLIANT article I have ever read! Publish it!
Just curious. Why did you apply to YC, then? And, would you've abandoned DropBox and started at Xobni, had YC rejected you? Thanks!
We have two boxes with them. We've few ideas about scaling. I am personally of the view that when we have a scaling problem, we'll address it without worrying too much about it beforehand. It can easily bog down your startup in calculations that will likely mean very little when you do actually have a scaling problem. Having a rough idea in your mind is a good idea IMO.

I believe this is the advice that delicious founder gave too in his writeup.
You can just put a url in the about field. Many do this already.
I dunno about the Philippines, but I do know that user preferences in the Eastern hemisphere are very different from those in the West. And if you are developing for a Western audience, you may very well be in the wrong place.
Watching Dexter jump for the first time in person was surreal. I liked this part from the article:

Anybots aren't designed to be witty sidekicks, like the robot in Lost in Space. Instead, Blackwell envisions that they will perform dirty or dangerous jobs that are unattractive or too risky for humans, like working in environments with hazardous chemicals, moving boxes of papers into storage and helping in situations where one person has to be in several places at the same time.

The Anybots make ASIMO seem like a toy.