skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
Not true at all. Once clean year is all you need. TRUST ME.

They're not looking for boy scouts, they're just looking for honest people. Questioning applicant's soft drug use is just a great way of smoking out dishonest people (no pun intended.) If you're not honest about the little things, then you won't be honest about the big things. They are looking for threats to national security not someone who got high in college.

I worked in the defense / intel world for a long time and I never knew anyone who was honest on their app who did not get their clearance. Everyone I know who lied, even a little bit eventually got caught and lost their jobs. If you ever want a higher clearance you'll have to take a polygraph and you won't beat that no matter how many tricks you read on the internet...
Well, that's always good to know. :) Thanks.
Hmmm I cannot really claim to read Bill Gs mind. But the man was an accomplished programmer and knew that great software gets built when a hacker commits himself to doing nothing else but working on it for a couple of weeks. I think he was just trying to edge Hertzfield into working on the Switcher. Another interesting take away from the story is how Gates focuses on what is good for the users and not on M$ controlling the Switcher
> I think he was just trying to edge Hertzfield into working on the Switcher.

He was trying to get him to do it really quickly so he could justify paying him as little as possible. He got it for $0, so that made him happy.

> Gates focuses on what is good for the users and not on M$ controlling the Switcher

He wanted to take advantage of the fact that his apps had very low memory footprints. Switcher was the way to do it. He had no need to control Switcher itself. The fact that he wanted the project done quickly to save money says to me he didn't really care about quality, which users obviously do.

This is an amusing lesson in how different people interpret the exact same thing so differently.
People that start startups and sees them through are champions. They are not normal, people. They forward thinkers that change the world....
I just think its interesting that Trumors is still alive. I can't help to wonder what the facebook verion cost. Another $12000 ...
I had thought of this exact same system last week, but obviously a little too late. :) Good luck guys!
$240k to be a part of a monumental failure? Please. I'd rather work for IBM.
Online Publishers Need To Stop Selling Space
Microsoft decides 'open' is better than 'shared': What this says about OSI
Microsoft's Ozzie opens up on Internet 'cloud' services
Java OR HTML!! What the deuce ?!!
Depends on what tech you're talking about. Some areas are not developonig has rapidly as electronics, computers and software. For instance russian jet fighters are still very much on top in many respects, but their avioncis/radar/target tracking suck big time comparing to modern american/french fighters. (and THAT I heard from a friend who's russian defence contractor).
I think most people mean something more like Uncommonweb or KPAX. I built a fairly sophisticated application for a client using TBNL (now Hunchentoot), CL-WHO and CLSQL.

Building a web application doesn't require a framework; it does require a set of libraries to handle talking over http, generating HTML and often talking to a database. Since most frameworks include these, some people may confuse the two. A framework is really just a half-done bottom-up application, which is pretty useful when it matches the kind of application you're building and pretty useless otherwise.
Free advertising. Even if you just get your friends to add your app to try it out - that gets broadcast to all of their friends who look at the news feed (I'd guess that few people don't). And if any of their friends are bored and happen to try out your application, then it keeps rippling out.

The trick of course, is to build something compelling. The platform will only mature with time, and the really compelling applications - that aren't just profile-based applications, or aren't heavily rooted in a site off of Facebook - haven't been built yet.

That's where you come in :)
Not sure how they can do this - but seems like there are a few things that would really help this work.

a - encourage the advertisers to make better ads. Ads are inherently useful - when they're relevant. Cool ads are entertainment in themselves. Anyone remember adcritic.com? Welcome to my Friday nights in college...

b - pass voting data back to the advertisers in some meaningful way. Haven't thought this through yet...
How much is your time at college worth?
I've recently been asked by a large (massive) company to give them an hourly rate to do software engineering during college as a consultant. I've only ever quoted small companies with little jobs before, never dealing with the big fish. My question to YC is how much you would charge? All the standard formulas don't apply since I have no expenses other than time here.
I realize that this has little to do with startups, but I posted it for 2 reasons:
1) Where else could you find college students having to answer similar questions?
2) This would basically replace my "developing for the hell of it" time, which is what usually leads to my startup ideas. It's very tempting...college is expensive.

Oh, and FYI it's a company that I've been interning for over the summer, i.e. I already know their systems, my coworkers like me, and my code is already proven to be good.
Startup: Stock Option Planning
What about those MS haters?
Business 2.0 Magazine picks the best non-U.S. sites to watch.
Lookery, the Facebook advertising network...with lots of data
Google Testing New Homepage
It doesn't look like anything special, there is a lot of room for competitors in this market.

There must be people planning on applying to YC for this same idea.
The 105% Rule in word-of-mouth
Do the link submissions in news.yc follow the long tail?
Curious to see the top 10 link domains...does anyone have time to do a quick perl hack on /newest?
Making the web into a banking platform
Twitter funded
> encourage the advertisers to make better ads.

That's what I wish to happen. I do sometimes enjoy ads themselves. If advertisers find it's more effective to make nicer ads than to put crappy ads everywhere...
Incredible Walking on the Web with a fresh new startup
True, but syntax doesn't matter, I think. Everything can be re-defined in Lisp style if needed.

What I'm looking for is a clearly defined syntax, character sets, metachchacters, etc for Lisp-like representation of data.
Ad Networks: Why it's better than ever to be a targeted content site
Have you never seen a government-related job posting before? They often don't make much sense.

Yes: Java OR HTML... :D
syntax doesn't matter, I think. Everything can be re-defined in Lisp style if needed.

Yes, you're right.

You might be interested in this: http://www.pmsf.de/resources/lisp/expat.html

If you use Mai's modified expat, you can convert any feed into s-expressions, preserving all attributes and namespaces.

Here's a quick example.

This is the beginning of the xml for the news.yc feed:

<rss version="2.0"><channel><title>Startup News</title><link>http://news.ycombinator.com</link><description&#... most interesting startup-related links,
as determined by readers.</description><item><title>PG: If starting viaweb today, would you use lisp?</title><link>http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36905</link><...;

And here's the expat-parsed, s-expression:

(("rss" "version" "2.0")(("channel")(("title")"Startup News")(("link")"http://news.ycombinator.com")(("description")"The most interesting startup-related links, as determined by readers.")(("item")(("title")"PG: If starting viaweb today, would you use lisp?")(("link")"http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36905")(("comments")"http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36905"))
are there any requirements to come?
Nicely understating the obvious. I approve :).
Thunderbird spin-off plans
All new competitors have access to the ridiculous amount of data available to Facebook apps.

Is anyone else here interested in or working on a behavioral targeting project?
In photography, there are way more other things to worry about than what kind of camera you're using, but you'll notice the pros don't use point-and-shoot.

A piano concert's quality depends much more on the pianist than the piano, but you'll notice the pros don't give concerts on uprights.

If you have a choice of several languages, it is, all other things being equal, a mistake to program in anything but the most powerful one.
Having heard "Lisp would be popular only if X were true" many times over the years, I've developed a quick test for such statements. I take a quick mental tour through languages that have become popular, and stop when I arrive at an example where X is false. If I ever get to the end of my list and X has been true for all of them, I might actually believe the statement.

Left as an exercise for the reader: Are there any languages that have become popular despite not having discipline built into the language? If so, then it's not a prerequisite for popularity.
Twitter gets venture round anywhere from 1-5MM
AU's largest telco, Telstra, bans employees from facebook
XML and Scheme
http://okmij.org/ftp/Scheme/xml.html
Read this essay for some ideas:

http://www.defmacro.org/ramblings/lisp.html
Thanks.

I wonder if quotes can be omitted to make it slightly more readable. Anyway, this idea obviously needs some effort for improvement before it can be brought to market, so to say.
A VC Gone Mad?
So it's time to revisit Twitter.

The news today that Fred Wilson's Union Square Ventures has funded Twitter is enough to bait me back into the ring.
Startup Created a Revolution $99 Linux Based PC
Startup to Take on PayPal
A secure electronic payments startup plans to challenge PayPal, but with a twist: It permits transactions for online pornography and gambling, which PayPal does not.
To blog or to startup....What's the difference?
Isn't Blogging related to Startup? Below are some of lessons a blogger learns over a period of time,which are the key elements to any startup:
Venture Capital: Beer, ribs and tales from the Web front lines
Anything can happen when you get Internet entrepreneurs out of the office -- especially if free beers and ribs are involved.
Need Some Expert Advice? Ask Steve (Steve sometimes writes for TechCrunch)
Marketing or PR ideas? Overall assessment of your website, business, or app?
3 Steps to Correct 50-80% of a Negative Credit Score
So the first step we're taking is to repair the damage done before we became Cash Money Superstars. We've met with a credit rehabilitation specialist who does all the hard work for us. Here's Step 1. The Game Plan: She helps us understand what we should pay off first and how we should do it. Sometimes paying off a debt completely is not the best strategy as it will re-age the debt on your credit record...
I think it's incredibly risky to build an ad-network on Facebook because of backwards-integration (i.e. Facebook will just build it too if it's successful).

Once Facebook has a proprietary system, they can leverage all the other data they don't give developers access to and in doing so give marketers the best ROI. Marketers will flock to Facebook's system, leaving companies like Lookery and Peanut Labs with, well, peanuts.

Witness what's already happened with Peanut Labs. They created a succesful online market research tool (a.k.a. "polls") that they embed on social networks and SNAPs.

Facebook could have used Peanut Labs, but instead they built their own system, Facebook Polls.

Where are market researchers going to go now? Peanut Labs or Facebook?

Facebook, obviously, because Facebook can insert polls directly into the News Feed and target them better than Peanut Labs can.

Granted Peanut Labs might be a better fit for smaller social networks that don't have the scale and power of FB, but that doesn't mean marketers will prefer to use them. Marketers will flock to the system with the most users from which they can extract the most information. That system is Facebook.
I'm confused by services like twitter and heyhan. How is money made when the platform is difficult to monetize and easily repeatable? I suppose both could use text-ads.
Nice article. Basically what Seth Godin talked about with his "Purple Cow"
A stab at twitter from the man who days earlier recommended buying facebook. What's the fb killer business model again? rigghht...
Has anyone else ever wondered: what would I tell my parents if I got involved in the adult entertainment industry?
Just Build It, Damnit
Would it make sense to give equity to your users when they invite lots of other users?
I wonder what I would tell my kids. "How was work today, Daddy?"
I'm referring to languages that weren't primarily pushed by big companies to make them popular. For example, Ruby.
I think you can do it directly. No? I've just started to study List, but I think you could do sth like:

'(root (child-1 attr1: val1 attr2: val2)
(child-2 attr1: val1 attr2: val2)
(child-3 attr1: val1 attr2: val2))

And then recurse over it?

BTW, If I'm wrong please teach me :D
Their business model, as far as I can tell, is to license the presence technology/platform (to other web2.0 sites, mobile carriers/developers, etc), and become the "finger" of web2.0. They want to become a network backbone, after a fashion.
It's an inclusive or.
World's First Look at the BBC iPlayer
Hell yes. I think there's a big market for selling UGC-type data as behavioral targeting data... the current systems are relatively unsophisticated-- they tell a marketer what kinds of sites you've visited, but not what you were talking about.
Basic premise holds - creating > criticism.
<meta name="Generator" content="Joomla!...>

How lame.
I thought the "blame the buyer" comment was an interesting take on the relevance of business models.

It's essentially the crazy-uncle-locked-in-the-attic aspect of all this, which no one wants to talk about.
The headline is misleading. The company is not trying to take on PayPal, they are just trying to fill the void that PayPal leaves.
couldn't possibly disagree with that
I've heard a lot about LinkedIn vs. FB recently and how they aren't compatible because one's for business, one's for, basically, effin around.

I think a smart move for FB would be to let people categorize their friends/acquaintances/contacts into different cateogories (college, business, family, etc.) and have customizable limited profiles for each.

The only problem with this is that it becomes costlier for users to use the site (in terms of time and effort), but I think it would be worth it.
After the whole NETeller debacle, I would be wary of association with anyone providing service to online betting shops.
http://www.wnbc.com/news/13656319/detail.html?subid=10101421
The 5, 10, 20 year plan
CSS Specificity: Things You Should Know
Slyck News - AXTorrent Mobile: A First Look
Google ads will work on the newspaper medium. Traditional newspaper ads are distruptive marketing: the content of the ads is not similar to the content. Google will have content sensitive newspaper ads, which will work a lot better.
eastsidegringo... enough with the blog promotion. Most of your blog is not startup relevant, so take it down a notch if you can...
"Pay no attention to what critics say. A statue has never been erected in honor of a critic."

-- Jean Sibelius, Finnish composer (1865-1957)
You'd be telling them "sure you can borrow my second yacht this weekend."
That was the US goverment's screw up and that had terrible consequences for many startups, even outside of gambling.

Blame those who caused this, not the companies.
Twitter
The Internet is largely a communications medium. It's also used for content distribution, commerce, and a number of other things. But the thing I do most on the Internet is communicate. Via email, Skype, instant messaging, blogging, commenting, and twittering. It makes sense. When you connect 700mm+ of the Earth's inhabitants to a global network, people are going to use it to talk to each other.
With Tools on Web, Amateurs Reshape Mapmaking
On the Web, anyone can be a mapmaker.
Fred Wilson is basically following the tried and true investment philosophy of Peter Lynch - invest in what you know.

He uses twitter. Lots. Why wouldn't he invest?
Deal Note: Twitter's Nonexistent Business Model (Or, How to Invest in Media)
How do you write a "terms of use" for a website?
Is it possibly to do without a lawyer? What would it cost to have a lawyer write one? Are there any guides, templates, etc., available that give suggestions on what to cover?
Fred Wilson has lost it.
How To Get In The Zone, And Stay There
If you attract a large number of eyes, you can always monetize them somehow. Also, at this point, it's unlikely Twitter-ers would use a clone of Twitter, because everyone is using Twitter.
It is a myth that people working in adult entertainment make a lot of money.
It's beyond ridiculous for an American company to attempt to process gambling transactions. I'd be extremely leery of using them for anything, as they're going to be shut down and have their funds seized without a doubt.
I heard something about facebook status messages duplicating what Twitter does. But I think your view is pessemistic. Isn't the whole point of startups that users aren't loyal and will change to a better service?

So if you monetize by adding something annoying, people would change to a new service that doesn't have it.

Who, for example, makes money on blogging? Premium services are a small part of the market given the free tools to do it.
Kedrosky: Twitter - "Business plans are overrated, and profits perhaps even more so."
I once did a little work on the payment system for one of those sites (luckily I didn't have to see much of anything, because it was something I consider pretty gross rather than 'hot'), and frankly, the people involved weren't getting that much money, and they were real assholes to boot. I have no idea whether that's normal or not, but it's not something I'd care to repeat.
You imply that adding monetization weakens the product. That's not always true; Google's search ads are a great example where the results are enhanced via the monetization. Even in cases where the product is diminished, that effect is not necessarily enough to drive away your audience. Especially if you have strong network effects in play.
The 8 Strangest Communities on the Web
Every once in a while you'll stumble upon a forum or an online community that is so specific, so insane, so completely ridiculous that you are forced to conclude that you have reached the end of the Internet.
It was not the US Government's screwup, it was the Neteller founders' for coming to our country. Had they had the common sense to remain overseas the whole debacle would have been avoided.

Regardless of where you stand on the issue (and I'm obviously as pro-gaming as they get, since I made my living for 5 years playing poker online) the fact is that the DoJ is going to systematically destroy anyone who has anything to do with online gambling. Anyone starting any startup in that space in this country is begging for jail time.
4chan? I dont think 4chan is one of the strangest communities on the web. It is where all horrible memes spring from and go to die.
A pic of our start-up [pic]
This is where we are founding our summer start-up.
Would you describe PHP as having discipline built in? I notice for your CL example of lack of discipline you chose a namespace issue.
More poeple should send in pics of their startups...
This has F@#$ All to do with startups. You are just pissing people off here...
True, I made a blanket statement. Network effects can keep a product strong. But it doesn't make you money. "Get Eyeballs" can't possibly be all of it.
At the moment, it's the best anyone in web 2.0's got.

I agree, though, I'll reserve my jubilation for when I see a billion-dollars-in-revenue web 2.0 company appear.
It may be true that it only became popular because it was more disciplined than Perl, at least when it came to expressing websites.
I'm actually more interested in your product than in how you look. Are you guys actually trying to take on the huge social networks head on? If your best selling point is that you're better on technical merit and/or a few small features, I don't know that you're going to find much success.
Yeah, he could have said "Probably, dumbass." Nice guy. Up that man's karma.
That was my point exactly. I would think anyone setting up a wide ranging electronic payment system must need some sort of funding, banking deals etc. Being US based, getting that with a prominent link for Online Casinos etc. to sign up as merchants on the front page, seems rather unlikely. Hence, unless they refocus, the whole startup seems a bit unserious. I wish them the best of luck, though; hoping that does not make me guilty by association:).
Loved that you put this up to share made me smile this morning, THANKS!
Man, this'd be a legal nightmare if you ever needed to take funding or make important decisions. (Disclaimer: IANAL, but I just met with one, and spent a lot of time and a good chunk of change dealing with having too many founders.)

Problem is, there are many decisions - like taking investment, or big partner deals, or top management changes - that require shareholder consent. If you have lots of non-involved shareholders, you've gotta send out shareholder vote notices to all of them and hope they come back. Without the signatures, you can't do anything.

Plus, if any of your shareholders have a conflict of interest (say, your product falls under their IP agreement), you potentially have a legal problem on your hands.

You can ameliorate this somewhat with a voting trust or various other legal arrangements that I know little about. Check with a lawyer to make sure. But it just sounds like a really bad idea to me.
A swiss startup should give this a shot! They have what I think would be a unique advantage... they automatically inherit the trusted & neutral "brand" thing associated with swiss banks.

It would need to prove stable but it might be enough to give Paypal or any other fund processor (online banks even?) a real run for their money.
Be the Lesser of Two Necessary Evils
Thirteen Simple Rules for Speeding Up Your Web Site by Yahoo!
Real opportunity comes from being opportunistic.
Opportunities are spontaneous, but when you're sticking to your five year plan you don't deviate. You're putting the blinders on. "This is where we're going because that's what we said!" When you don't have a plan you can pick up on an opportunity that comes along. You're taking the blinders off. "This is where we're going because it makes sense today." I'd rather stroll into the future with my blinders off.

One of the best pieces of advice I've ever read from 37 signals.
I will burn my product to the ground before I let that PM have it! Muahahahahahaha!
Steve Rowe's Blog : Too Many Questions
Coding Horror: Futurist Programming.. in 1994
Top 10 Ways to Communicate
Hello, I'm compiling a list of the world's most popular ways we talk with each other. Here's what I've got so far:

1. Cell Phone
2. Texting
3. Email
4. Postal Mail
5. TV
6. Skype
7. Twittering
8. Instant Messaging
9. Blogging
10. Fax
The command line is back! (features Buxfer)
Gmail Giving You The Chance To Be Internet Famous
This is one of the best collections of rules I've seen, despite the glaring omission re. keep-alive.
The Cranky Product Manager: QlikTech, Go Learn Rule #1
Did you see this research:
Top Social Networks: The Summer of Social?
http://blog.compete.com/2007/07/24/top-social-networks-june-...
Are social networks becoming the next the dot.com bomb?
Nokia challenges iPhone + iTunes with new online music service
AJAX best practices?
I'm new to the AJAX business and am trying to find a resource outlining the basics. In particular, I'm very concerned with handling out of order asynchronous requests, but can't seem to find a very solid recommendation on how to handle them. As of now I'm going to implement a queuing system for dynamic requests but would rather not re-invent the wheel...