skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
Actually using these techniques is difficult and takes a lot of practice, even though most of us do it to some extent by accident.

One of the keys is to use what Psychologists call "Miller's Law" to identify the dominant metaphor being used by the other party. Miller's Law says "In order to understand what another person is saying, you must assume that it is true, and try to imagine what it could be true of."
There's a video here:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7846959339830379167&hl=en
haha, yes, that; it's a silly mistake to make in writing, which is why I didn't want to point it out. While trivial, that alone got me wondering how much you planned out your analysis.
Serial young entrepreneur and previous 2x Y-Combinator applicant launches new venture revolutionizing real estate industry.
16. Any advice given by others has a huge potential to harm you and your plans.
Python or Ruby ?
This is a pretty old interview, fyi.
MySpace Lifts The Ban On Photobucket Videos
Now I'm a big fan of marching against the super paranoid who can't share a word about what they are doing.

But even I'd be cautious about posting my potential future ideas on a site that is specifically made for folks looking for great ideas.
I wrote it at 3:00 AM. And there initially were only 4 points: I had put advice & connections together, but realized that advice was important enough to list separately.
I've thought the same thing myself and I usually assume that it's a combination of #2/#4. The geniuses are out there, and those who work directly with them know that they're geniuses, but they won't get wide-spread recognition until much later. Probably because they're working on ideas that won't (can't) be implemented until much later.

Actually, it might be that there are many groups of geniuses out there, but only those whose work ends up being useful (depending on random future events) are later regarded as geniuses. Like the article said, the demand for computers didn't really increase until WWII.
My karma shot up mysteriously sometime in the past few days. I thought people were replying to my posts but no, my posts were still lonely.

If this isn't a bug, the request is for a more transparent karma system.
Great content never goes stale ;)
Interface = the part of the software application seen by the most common user of the application

Best = Most optimal as in fastest or easiest to program, most flexible, has best support for visually appealing and easy to use designs
Sun's 25th Anniversary
YouSendIt Raises $10 Million in Series B Round
"This setup is difficult to replicate because not only do you need the right people, you need the right money, and the right money and the right people."

I'm not really trying to replicate YC. As you mention, there's already Techstars, Highland, and YEurope for that, and any attempt to replicate YCombinator runs up against the fact that they're simply better at what they do. Heck, even if this site was successful, I'd still probably prefer YC funding.

However, YC doesn't scale. So there are hundreds, probably thousands of other startups out there with worthy ideas that won't make the cut. Simply because it's a numbers game.

Some of those are going to start up anyway, and probably apply either to a later YC round or to local angels. That's our plan, for our "real" startup. But many more of them will give up because they think nobody's watching and nobody cares. I don't think that's a reflection on their character, I think it's the rational thing to do. Thing is, everybody loses out because those startups don't get started.

So the goal here is to provide an environment where the 90% of us who don't get YC/Techstars/YEurope funding continue with our startups, and have something we can show local angel groups. As I understand it, the main problem facing angels is they're afraid founders will give up and send the angel's money down the tubes. This would give founders a place to develop and test their ideas in the critical probably-a-flop-but-could-be-useful stage before taking it to an angel.
Giving good ideas to hackers is a bad idea... People on YC can probably implement my idea in a night.
When the cost is $100 - $700 per month that's pretty good.
Your idea must not be worth much then. ;-)
I think the point is to throw off all your ideas that you'd like to see implemented but don't have the time or resources to implement. At best, you might manage to implement a dozen or so ideas in a year. I have a dozen or so ideas a week.

Plus, startup success is much more about being passionate enough about the idea to do a bang-up job implementing it than having a good idea in the first place. You need many good ideas, not just one. You get more good ideas by letting people help you.
Cool. Simple, clean, minimalist and I'm glad you are not begging someone to fix your CSS :) Congratulations.

Now, a couple of important features, and it would be just perfect. I'll try to post suggestions here a bit later.
Even CEO can't figure out how RadioShack still in business
What's the barrier to entry here? It looks easy to implement.
Funny thing his blog is written in Ruby hehehe but seriously it's good to see that someone is hitting a wall. Never knew it was the runtimes fault that led to issues.
Landlords who also want to be your Investor, start a VC Fund (a sign that the Bubble is Back?)
Though the article is recent, they've been doing this for a long time.
It is, apparently. I've switched to SendSpace ( http://www.sendspace.com/ ), and there's also MegaUpload ( http://megaupload.com/ )
major labels: the problem with music
VentureBeat: Creating a killer team
Yeah, it was actually submitted here before.
First, second, or third is great--anything else and you have problems
I know this is way off topic but every time I see that pic on his blog, I become unnerved. I'm not sure he's a real person. He's kind of plastic looking. It's almost like he's Steve Ballmer's avatar.
Google releases code for MySQL enhancements
What is a Niche Expert?
One thing that comes to mind is the ability to "lock" (grab, block - whatever) ideas. Someone decides to implement an idea and posts a special comment that says, ok, I take it, and gives a web site address where it's supposed to happen. The "locker" may get back and edit that comment, and possibly trigger an "implemented" status for that idea.
How would you export users' data in a note taking service?  Which format would you use?
I would like to add an export feature to Study Stickies:

http://studystickies.com

It's unlikely that many people would use this service much if there's a chance they could lose their data. So an export feature is critical.

I was thinking of HTML since the stickies can have HTML tags in them. However, I recently added a math mode that uses TeX syntax. So stickies can be a mixture of HTML and TeX.

Any suggestions on a good export format?
I agree with him that Python is more useful right now as a general programming environment... mainly because it's been around longer, it's a more mature and stable platform, has better libraries in general, better performance, etc.
What the Bubble Got Right
It looks a lot like the yc site.
Python is only four years older than Ruby. The rest ... YMMV.
I'd recommend reading Knuth's TAOCP.

Example: Knuth introduces the Grey code permutation of the natural numbers in The Art of Computer Programming, Volume 4 Fascicle 2, Generating All Tuples and Permutations (2005). Knuth gives the following equations defining Grey code sequences of length 2^n

G_0 = () [the empty list]

G_{n+1} = 0G_n 1G_n^R

where 0G_n means prepend 0 to everything in the list G_n,
and G_n^R means reverse the list G_n, and juxtaposition is concatenation of sequences. Successive elements of the list differ in precisely one bit position: this is obvious inductively, since if G_n does, so do 0G_n and 1G_n^R, and since the last element of G_n is the first element of G_n^R, the last element of 0G_n differs from the first element of 1G_n^R in the first digit. So this is a Grey code.

We get

G_0 = ()

G_1 = (0 1)

G_2 = (00 01 11 10)

G_3 = (000 001 011 010 110 111 101 100)

...

The sequence of G_n's induces a map g:N-->N
recursively by

g(0) = 0

g(k) = 2^n + g(2^n -1 - r)

for k = 2^n + r with 0≤r<2^n,

Here's an algorithm in Lisp for the function g.

The function MSB below kills off everything but the high-order bit of the binary representation of a non-negative integer.

(DEFUN MSB (n)

(LET (( x (LOGAND (- n 1 ) n)))

(COND ((EQUAL x 0) n)

(T (MSB x)))))

The MSB can be used to compute the Grey permutation
GREY:N-->N

(DEFUN GREY (n)

(COND

((= n 0) 0)

((= n 1) 1)

(T (LET ((x (MSB n))) (+ x (GREY (- (- x 1) (- n x))))))))

Restricting the domain and range of the GREY map to [0, 2^n -1] is a (well-defined) permutation; for example:

CL-USER> (MAPCAR #'GREY '(0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15))

(0 1 3 2 6 7 5 4 12 13 15 14 10 11 9 8)

And for fun, in my CMU common lisp system (under SLIME,
the Superior Lisp Interpretation Mode for Emacs):

CL-USER> (GREY 192873918237981273981279381729837127365712653712301098
102938891278389123112340983748920192834783201982374839201293874839201
982374893029872839409281729304983729102983748937291802357893465475648
576478658379128347635847658376485736451056105616516506105874568365836
503856836487134783748374817302893017308238713702873028730817387283462
864875387568475683756837458476583765847658376583746583764857364857638
4756387465837465917594857)

286196834290309414650371370191599291822213999612489335464107566352602
435648412184492184118063912008181215334900454318743739932993272952760
387272995403870156929179002537545706221256001587464111519239740005353
408236614872495338180309330035229762434762038407959020204331793558334
836843659189298641925497207483471043513624920173604726882678415424392
178475727939609277383096934996157278859779639219997432292981867624407
5270836893

Much larger numbers can be handled.
Users may specify some of their stickies to be private, so how would that work with RSS?

Also, it would be desirable to have an export format that the user can easily edit and perhaps even import into some other app/service.
Marshall: What's the new startup you funded from the Kiko team?

Paul: I can't say yet, but it is certainly the most entertaining idea we've ever funded. In fact, insane might be a better word. But it's what they wanted to do.
Give them a private key they can append to the RSS url request? They can use that private url to pull out stickies that are for their eyes only.

Example:
www.studystickies.com/rss/privatekey

As far as having an export format, if you target specific apps/services then you'd have a better idea of what format to use, since it would be a format those apps/services would support.
Funny... GE's policy was that they wouldn't be in any business they couldn't be first or second in.

But suddenly, we've added third. Because MSFT is 3rd in search. hah.
How We Learn (Is it the same for you?)
He thinks you're a sharp looking guy, too

:D
These "absolutes" are a little tiring.

You can always find an outlier or exception.

Don't these guys understand probability theory?
I would agree that teaching someone else is the best way to learn. The reason why is because when you teach someone else you are forced to understand how something works.

Learning why 2 + 2 = 4 is true is much more important than memorizing the multiplication table. Never been a big fan of rote learning for that reason.
So they got lucky because PayPal leased their space.

Yeah, you can survive a long time with a payoff like that.

But do they really understand tech investing?
I suspect you might actually be Don Dodge. Is that true? Judging by your comments, you don't seem to be a very big fan of YC.

:D
Yes, it's called FTP.

Remember that article about webifying unix commands? This is yet another example.

And they got $10m! The bubble is back!
In general, the YC idea of small seed amounts is a good one.

I'm also an entrepreneur myself.

It's just when the bubble mentality starts creeping back, I feel the need to call bullshit.

Just think of me as the proverbial grain of salt.

EDIT: No, I'm not Dodge. That creepy guy can write his own comments.
Viacom Admits Error-Takes Steps To Protect Fair Use
Great article. I especially liked this part:

"I have noticed that in technology we're surrounded by very smart people. IQ is virtually a commodity. However, there are those who are analysts - can ask 1 million questions, and be skeptical of everything; then there are doers, people who apply their intellect and resourcefulness to find solutions. Find those people and keep them close to you. Stay a 100 miles away from the former."
Steve Albini is the man. A great producer and musician, and his analysis here is dead on.
Yes, but Python gained a lot more mindshare in its early years than Ruby. Ruby is only now really gaining popularity, and therefore support.
Great RSS Explanation for your girlfriend/grandma (video)
Don't forget about rapidshare... the 900lb gorilla.
What they need all that money for is beyond me. I guess VCs need to prop it up even more before they flip it.
Makes sense.

This past weekend while waiting for our connection in Atlanta we got what we think is a super great idea(mainly because it involves solid revenue from the beginning--and not from ads). We got into YC less than 24hrs later so for now we've to put it on hold. I doubt it's going anywhere though.

The irony is even though we consider this the greatest idea, from the few unsuspecting folks I've shared it with in middle of conversations, it hardly gets them THAT excited. But hear this: as we elaborate more on the idea and engage their mind, you can see them get more excited. It just proves that merely a sentence or two is no where close to communicating the 360 degree thought process behind your idea.

What I want to be CAUTIOUS(not paranoid) of though is inspiring 10 other brains to start working on my idea while I am busy with something else.
Before I read your comment I was actually thinking, "I wonder if someone has a greasemonkey script to get rid of Dodge's head"
Note to self: remove picture from blog before posting my own articles to news.yc.
Why iPhone Will Win
We used to think that the enterprise was the hardest customer to satisfy, but we were wrong.
I agree with the ordering, roughly, but these numbers are complete bullshit.
Wow, this is crazy. I've been working on and off on a similar site for a few weeks now.

Most of the features are done. Just need to finish up, clean up code and release.

I was in the same boat are you Maurycy. It's crazy how identical our ideas on website full of ideas is (if that makes any sense!)

http://idealarm.com/comp/ (Just a mockup of the look, no real code).
Nice software - but $79 seems a little pricey. I'm not yet convinced the features justify the $30 markup over textmate.
And dropsend. Theres no shortage of apps in this space
I agree. There have been many times I'm sure where we've all had ideas that could be very successful, but not something that you would want to work on personally. This could be a great resource for those types of ideas. Down the road you could even begin to categorize them and, once you get some graphic designers on board, create themed pages for each category ;)
That's essentially what I was thinking: the whole equity-instead-of-rent phenomenon is a holdover from the last bubble.

While I'm glad to see they've done well for themselves, I'm not quite sure I'd welcome them as investors.
It depends on the market - some markets seem to support 3 major players, while others only support two. Think GM, Ford, and Chrysler for the U.S. car market; Toyota; Honda, and Nissan for the Japanese car market; ExxonMobil, ChevronTexaco, and ConocoPhillips for the domestic oil market; Apple, Commodore, and Tandy for the 1970s PC market; and Nokia, Motorola, and Samsung for the cell phone market.

Oftentimes that equilibrium is unstable, too. Chrysler got bought up by Daimler-Benz, Nissan seems to have disappeared, all the 1970s PC manufacturers ended up as bit-players when IBM and clones took over the market, and ConocoPhillips is clearly doing its best to become the #2 U.S. oil company instead of the #3. So they're both right, it just depends on what time horizon you're looking at.
Amen to that ;)

Once I get my app launched it'll be mostly free accounts w/ advertising and some pro accounts. With competition I'll have to get quite a few users to make anywhere near what they were making!
Good point :) I've never really used textmate, but have heard great things about it. What's your take on it?
I learned the most as an undergrad when TAing CS classes (a benefit of brown is the undergrad TA program). Not only do you learn the material at a deeper level, you have an opportunity to teach at that deeper level too.

There's nothing more satisfying than explaining something to someone and seeing the "aha!" moment.
YSI really is a good service - I use it all the time to send stuff to friends, or did before I switched to SendSpace. Many of my friends don't understand FTP, don't want to download a client, and just want to click on a link and get the file.

Only problem is they have basically no barriers to entry, so it'll be hard for them to ever become more than a commodity. If they're lucky, they may be able to make a tiny profit by charging or advertising just above their costs, but if they ever get decent margins they'll be swamped by the competition.
What do you take out of a story such as this?
Who would pay for file sharing? Who would invest $10 mil in something like this?

I've always wondered... if you raise millions through venture funding etc, are you allowed to just put it in your personal bank account?
Paul Buchheit: The secret to making things easy: avoid hard problems
I love what he says about Steve Jobs:

"By the way," says Charan, "the last time I talked about Steve Jobs, remember? I've now verified from two directors of Apple, and they say it's right on the button." Gomber and Bartridge perk up their ears. "I asked, Well, tell me his three God's gifts. And they think about it, and they say first thing, this human being has a talent to figure out what the consumer really wants. This is a very valuable thing! No. 2, he has the will and the talent to find - no matter where it is! - the right technology that will deliver what they want. Nobody said he invented one! And third, he has the talent to create demand at the right time. I say, Where do you find those human beings? But he is one."
"Ningun hombre fracasa
mientras no deja de luchar" Ma. Eugenia Solari

(No man is defeated
as long as he is still fighting.)
A new report finds that U.S. demand for IT professionals in 2006 reached levels not seen since before the dot-com bust
I love it when people talk about how you 'won't be able to dial a number without looking at the phone' Who dials numbers on a cell phone? I don't know anyone's number I just pick them out of my stored numbers list. I'm surprised they aren't asking why it doesn't have a rotary interface.
Deriving your demand curve using exchange rate fluctuations
An even better secret to making things easy: only try to solve problems that exist.

This is a nonexistent problem: "The problem? Most databases are still storing my name using the same techniques that they did 15 or more years ago -- they seek the disk head to some specific location and then read or write my name to that location. These databases rely on the one operation that DID NOT dramatically improve in the past 15 years! They still perform like it's 1991."

I don't think PostgreSQL is the only database that uses write-ahead logging.
Get Psyched! - Why understanding your right brain will help you succeed.
Post some numbers. How many updates per second can you do?
That's pretty interesting. I'm pretty enamored with rails but just last week I wrote a ruby script for a client to pull some stats out of apache logs and it took forever to run so I'm sympathetic to a lot of his arguments.

His mild attempt at the end to give rails its due suggests it's less black and white than he paints it. There's good reason to have both languages in your toolbox.
Lawyer recommendations? (with startup experience)
I am seeking a good lawyer to help us with the legal side of our startup. Initially I'll just need assistance with incorporating and drafting an IP release statement from my current employer, but I'd like to establish a long term relationship for future legal advice. So for this reason I'd prefer someone who has had experience dealing with tech startups specifically.

We'd like someone who is good but our limited funding wont allow for a firm who charges a lot.. I know, I know, these goals are mutually exclusive but I was hoping someone on this forum might have some recommendations.

Any general lawyer-searching advice is also appreciated. I know many here have been through this process..

Please feel free to contact me off list at jsjenkins168 (at) gmail.com too. Thanks.
Economics 101 for Web 2.0+
So, I was talking with my cofounder, and we came up with Bootstrapacitor.com. It has "bootstrap" in the name and also has the capacitor connotations of storing energy and letting it build up until it escapes like a lightning bolt. Also, there're tons of flux-capacitor jokes we could include (we - meaning the site users - are collectively inventing the future, after all), and the flux capacitor is even shaped like a Y!

What do you think?
I don't know. If that becomes a problem I'll put the write-ahead log on a faster disk to buy time to look into it.
I'm sure there are 50 million strings attached to this amount.
It's a strange portrait. The way he's described, I picture a character from an Ayn Rand novel.
Why can't you just succumb to peer pressure and get rid of that database? :)
Loved this point:

"The thing is, a lot of those difficult problems are irrelevant for 99% of products. For example, "real" databases can handle transactions that are too large to fit in memory. That was probably a really important feature in 1980. Today, you can buy a computer with 32GB of memory for around $5000. How many GB transactions do you suppose Twitter performs? My guess is zero -- I suspect that their average transaction size is closer to 0.0000002 GB (messages are limited to 140 characters)."
Those guys from Goodwin Procter that spoke at Startup School seemed really good to me, and I've traded a few emails with Mark.
SEC won't fine apple for options backdating
167 small transactions per second on MySQL 4.1 / InnoDB / FreeBSD / FFS / SCSI, which looks like one per rotation.
Presumably the time required to write a block at the
end of the write-ahead log.

5000 per second with --innodb_flush_log_at_trx_commit=0, which only writes the log to disk once per second.

The MySQL documentation claims that this configuration does crash-recovery correctly, though you may lose the last second's worth of transactions.
Good point. Knowing Apple, I also have a feeling they'll come up with some innovative solutions to the no-number-pad problem.

Some ideas:

- Automatically complete phone numbers, as you dial them

- Spotlight-type search for contacts. I.e, I dial "442" and the phone displays all contacts with 442 in the number, address, etc. I could then press the contact I want to call.

- Better voice recognition technology. For example, if I say "Call Mike," the phone displays the top 3 contacts it thinks match my request, I then confirm the default choice or select one out of the list. Maybe the phone even learns?

Obviously, this is all speculation. But the point is, it should be easy to come up with solutions to this problem that actually make the phone easier to use.