skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
On occasion, I'll make a posting that's not terribly well thought out, or is flippant or even mean-spirited.

For the most part, I can look at a comment and ask myself if it really adds anything to the conversation. If it doesn't pass that litmus test, then I delete it.

I think that a lot of the downmodding around here is coming from the fact that sometimes people post things in a way that's similar to talking just to hear the sound of your own voice... They aren't applying that filter to ask themselves if they're really adding anything to the conversation.
The exact OPPOSITE trend is what I've noticed and am more worried about. Lately it seems there is an increasing number of inane posts being upvoted to the front page. Karma-bombing seemed more prevalent a while back when it was easier to do.
I can pretty well guarantee you that we're getting ready to be spam-assailed.

So... Congrats YC on making the big-time!
Ahhh, a sales guy. :) Bit of a brain dump here, but I've been on both ends of this - the hiring end, and the sales guy end (and the tech dev end - wait, can you be on three ends?)

Like any sales jobs, have numbers. Show what you did, where and why it's relevant. Don't be too salesy in the interview. Show they why you are committed to THIS opportunity, not that you could sell ice to well, folks who live in cold places. Show that you've done your homework on their market. Show them why you're more than a hired gun. Be ready to pitch whatever they throw at you. Know their competitors dead. Seriously, do all your homework. Also, building on what was said before, it doesn't hurt to familiarize yourself with the founders / head folk's previous work lives. Google is your friend.
Snowed out
Report Takes Aim at ‘Model Minority’ Stereotype of Asian-American Students
Looks fixed now. Very fast turnaround. Nice work, Google.
Yahoo: Severance Plan Not ‘Nuts’; Not Easily Revoked; And It Wouldn’t Cost Microsoft $2.4 Billion
Absolutely. Furthermore, you're going to give yourself a huge bounce-rate if - like the dentist example - you have a single page with no external links.

Google keeps track of how many times users click 'back' from a search result to a search page. Needless to say it's going lower the subsequent rankings that the dentist page receives.

Decreasing the number of pages through clever AJAX use can improve user experience. But it still makes sense to have different chunks of content on different pages, linked together. The SEO implications are a reflection of this.
babul - if you are ever in San Francisco, look me up. Would love to take you out to lunch. In the meantime, I am learning to use Friendfeed and you can track my online movement. Good luck.

http://friendfeed.com/dennykmiu
Ironic downmods are my least favorite thing in the world. Let's downmod jamongkad just because he claims not to care about being downvoted!

Is that funny to people, or something? I just don't get it.
As an example:

There was a post about the birthday of the user edw159. Some people thought that the post wasn't hacker "newsworthy" and others thought it was ok. I commented "I think edw159 is one of the more active members and recognizing his birthday is ok" and I was downvoted pretty far. I think my comment was appropriate and it added meaningfully to the conversation, but a lot of people downvoted it to (I assume) show their disagreement.

Now I'm worried before I post any comments, partly because I'm worried I'll lose my precious karma but mostly because it's embarrassing to have a negative number next to one of your comments.
Yeah, I've aimed at 800x600 for my general-focus sites. I feel sorry for the 5% of our audience that still uses it and it hasn't hurt us so much yet.

For my gaming sites, less than 1% of our visitors use 800x600 or lower.

We'd probably go with 1024 in the future for all our sites if we have a compelling design that needs it.
What else do you hate?
When I interviewed for a startup about a year ago, I wrote down some questions that I needed to have answered before I would take a position

http://www.innovationontherun.com/considering-working-for-a-...

Hope it helps.
I DON'T LIKE that allcaps can have an EFFECT ON ME even though I constantly REMIND MYSELF that they're just visual spam.
I'd say there's more downmodding only in that there's more modding in general. Far more 10+ point comments now than six months ago, as well as far more -10 point comments.

I only rarely see negative-karma comments that don't deserve it one way or another.

Furthermore, penis.
Great news for these guys. Always nice to see a totally new take on an old idea that actually works. Kudos. And Kudos on being close to profitability - no small feet!
It's a print page for an entire, small-sized website or possibly a summary page for a medium-sized website. It's not a new concept but I would like to see it applied more often. Anything worth doing is worth summarizing.
I am interested in seeing some evolution on other planets. We have a number of planets nearby that are as old as our own. Evolution should be at the same pace on those planets. Life comes in many forms (bacteria on radiation as I mentioned before) so we should see some sort of life on other planets even though it is not life i.e. a dog, cat or plant that we are most familiar with. Preferably something that moves or at least recreates itself (spawns).

Evolution is a fact, there is natural selection, certain offshoots of species die out (fail to adapt), etc. But the really curious thing is that we can't point out and say hey yeah evolution is happening over there too.
Not a tip...

But I'm curious, does anyone else get rubbed the wrong way by some of these job descriptions for these startups?

A good portion of them want "super smart", "kick-ass", "rockstar" developers and a number of them even incorporate puzzles. I understand people will mimic Google but don't ya'll think it's going a bit too far?

Or does it really work?
Crude Approximations: Oil is too cheap, and we're in denial (pdf)
Rails and JavaScript Cheat Sheets
We had a similar conversation about down voting a few months back, I just can't find the thread anywhere. I do remember PG saying that he thought that it was okay to down vote something that you disagreed with as well as down vote non-quality comments.
Even though every screen I use on a daily basis runs at least 1280x1024, in general, I still tend to work off 1024x768 as my baseline.

My feeling is that - as with 800x600 - I will likely stick with 1024x768 as the baseline for a little longer than I should... Just to be sure. A site that takes up a bit to little room is less annoying that a site that takes up too much, IMO.

See here for a somewhat old but useful discussion on the topic:
http://www.cameronmoll.com/archives/001220.html

Then yeah, there's the whole fluid width angle too... Most of the sites I have designed are actually fluid width (useable at 800x600 and up) rather than fixed. Fixed width is something that I have only more recently started experimenting with.
Exactly. I saw that and was really surprised. Burying you comment like that was an aggressively unfriendly act; two adjectives I never thought I would use to describe this place.
PG once before weighed in with "it's ok to use the up and down arrows to express agreement" [1].

But, the mixing of the "quality" axis with an "agree/disagree" axis risks coarsening discussion. A disagree-downvote is mildly censorious: it lowers a comment's placement and docks the commenter's karma. It stings.

I don't want to downvote comments simply because I disagree, but if such comments are highly-placed because of some superficial popular appeal, and comments I more agree with are lowly-placed, I want to restore some balance of attention. I then tend to cast a few votes based on agreement/disagreement.

One possible answer is an idea I've plugged whenever this issue comes up: start a second orthogonal rating axis that is explicitly for agree/disagree [2][3]. It could be little left/right arrows, at the end of the comment. Then you might 'disvote' a comment you disagree with, but still 'upvote' it because it was well-stated... etc.

[1] http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=117171

[2] http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=117196

[3] http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=126917
This has been talked about before too.[1] I think the issue is generally that downmodding means different things to different people. Some use it to kill trolls, others to agree/disagree. I generally agree with you regarding how I downmod.

[1] http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=147098
Contributing to OSS would definitely make a candidate stand out in my eyes. Not to mention that you can also review his/her code. Few things in life are more annoying than interviewing a candidate who's fancies himself a programmer b/c he read a "Program ____ in 24 hours".
I:

* like Monty Python and absurd humour
* prefer dogs
* bad at painting but likes and is good at photography
* like science fiction movies but havent read mnay SF-books
* know what grok means now but didnt before reading the article

Willst thou hire me?
When Will We Get It Right? Behavioural Targeted Ads.
Maybe, but this functionality is greatly needed with the organization I work for. We currently use SharePoint and it's utter garbage.
Not sure if you were being sarcastic, but there's none better.
Last.fm Re-design: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
Dear Last.fm,

Do NOT do this!

-- Sincerely from all of the internet
I got the message and was asked if I wanted to forge ahead anyway. So that worked for me. Glad to hear you're working on Safari 3 compatibility. For many new Apple owners, Safari is it.
I'm starting my business part-time. But then, I work 12 night shifts for 3 days a week as an ER nurse. I have 4 days a weeks to chip away at my business.

I'm also focusing on building a business and not a startup. So, if things go well this fall, I should have some revenue coming in.

My goal is to spend 2-4 solid productive hours a night when I'm not working. And, I can usually achieve it. I figure little by little I'll get it built.

I'm also taking the long view on being an entrepreneur. I'm planning on this being a life-style for me. I'm going to be starting businesses or startups for the next 10-15 years. So, I don't have to get it all done in the next 6 months until my savings runs out.

As to whether you should quit your job or not... How long can you sponge off your parents? :) No, really. How long can you go without having an income before you have to get a job? I'd run with it for as long as I could. But, that's me.
That article discussing the new company to which the founders of Versionate have gone.

Wrong. It's the same company. They just launched a new product called Zecter.
Is an Aussie answer to Y Combinator just around the corner?
Robot Asimo can understand three voices at once
So that's it! I always suspected that having a dog ruined my programming fits and that having to walk the dog at midnight ruins my concentration and programming rhythm. I guess it's time to get a cat, or train the 65lb dog to use a litter box. ;)
Is it just me or did these types of articles start appearing once Arrington started promoting HN on TC?
Edit distance in Scala
Giant Library of Free Data Models
Introduction to URL Encoding
I downvoted jamongkad because he made a shallow argument.

You can say what he said about anything because there is always something more important than something else. It's a cheap way to dismiss someone without actually addressing their points.
Initially you may worry about karma (as I did too) but we have to realise it does not exist (and that it does not matter)!

I now appreciate down votes and see it as a way for the community to 'teach me' (not in a negative way par se but as a guiding/helping hand) in the simplest way possible.

:)
I'll get my car news from AutoBlog thank you very much.
"To rid salmon of the lice, fish farmers spike their feed with a strong pesticide called emamectin benzoate, which when administered to rats and dogs causes tremors, spinal deterioration and muscle atrophy ... In other words, the farmed salmon in nearly every American supermarket may contain this pesticide"
Zillow banned in Arizona
Not Sure Whether To Rent Or Buy? Use HotPads
Yeah, the Air would be much nicer without the OS X tax.
The Ethernet-in-the-power-brick is a cool idea. It's like a docking station, but smaller. (Of course, a docking station would have video and USB... but you have to start somewhere and this is a damn cool idea.)
Yahoo Execs Under Stress– Whither Weiner?
Yahoo facing possible trial before Icahn showdown
Touch Feels Its Way Into Computing
To be honest I hope del.icio.us 2.0 never launches. Usually Yahoo has a knack of making things less usable. I really think they have a solid offering now (that is what made it purchasable) I would hate it to be another yahoo tv.

However I hardly go there, usually a track for me. so they could get some more traffic there if they changed their site but the service within the browser and distributed bookmarks will always be their main point.
The ratio of downvotes to up doesn't seem any different than it's always been. But because there are now more voters, the most downvoted comments get more total downvotes.
This is a really cool idea.

I'm guessing that the reduction in weight would make this car a lot more energy efficient also. It might even make it accelerate faster.
I just think people feel peer pressure to downvote when someone already has karma less than 1. Does anyone else think this is true?
Actually, TWC has a rather good usenet service. Unlimited download, with no speed cap other than the speed you pay for, and about 100 days retention on binaries. Not bad service at all for costing a grand total of $0 a month.
I thought it was interesting that the problem wasn't simply overfishing, as I'd previously assumed.
To be honest "There’s no glamorous future for Mailmanagr, as well." pretty much sums up this article. It may be a good product, but its aim is not to be a high growth start-up and technically its just a component to an existing app.

Best place for a start-up lesson? Probably not.

Should you not target techcrunch, even if your app would most likely not get covered, in order to maintain the exclusive nature of your launch? Sure, if you got a good plan B.
Yes, just like most convertibles.
Typically between 7 and 10 am. I hear you lucky Americans see them on Saturday, too!
HTTP Cache Poisoning via Host Header Injection
When you're in the interview, be sure to ask a lot of questions about the company's origins and the founders' backgrounds. Ask about the company's strategic direction and where they want to be in 6 months/year/5 years...

I had put in a couple of months at a startup of sorts (not tech related, but in 'green' real estate development) doing sales and biz dev work. I left because the founder wasn't putting his all into it and the company began to suffer. He had other business interests and obligations that prevented him from making this company his primary focus. The experience taught me that leadership and strategic planning/execution are extremely important. It can become frustrating if you don't agree with the way your employer makes decisions, especially if you come from a business background.

In short, make sure the people you're working for know what they're doing.
To be honest "There’s no glamorous future for Mailmanagr, as well." pretty much sums up this article. It may be a good product, but its aim is not to be a high growth start-up and technically its just a component to an existing app.

What?! Over half of Techcrunch-covered "businesses" are not even that: useless weekend projects without use nor future. By the way, I got an email from a co-worker today about Mailmanagr with subject "Check this out, it's pretty cool".

Last time I got an email like that was about Google's "Street View" feature.

P.S. I am not affiliated with Mailmanagr in any way.
I've started designing primarily for 1280x1024, mostly because I use 1920x1600 and 1024x768 design is so shoddy on it. Of course, most of my designs are dynamic/fluid and change size to fit the page so its not really an issue.
Patterns for designing a reputation system
The actual pattern library is here - http://developer.yahoo.com/ypatterns/parent.php?pattern=repu... - but the post has some interesting backgroup + rfc.
That is really great advice. I will definitely research that. Thanks.
knew that (karma hit) would happen :)
Tech Blogs?
What other Tech Blogs are people reading?
Why don't they replace Finder with something that works at least on par with Explorer from Windows 95? Adding "move/cut" feature in 2009 will be a huge step forward. Or make iPhoto actually usable, so it will see and recognize JPEGs on your own file system without "importing"? Or how about making Aperture just slow, as opposed to pathetically slow as it is right now? How about fixing Spaces to exclude icons of other desktops from Alt-Tab list? How about making the whole thing to feel like it's been made for non-retards?

Catch up to freaking Gnome first, dammit. Then talk about parallel computing...

Come on, macwhores, let the downmodding begin.
IBM Scientist Predicts Software's Future
It's like the cliche, "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery." IMO, just a ploy use to make a company more attractive to Gen-Yers.
I think marketers rely on emotion a lot to sell...

They do. Especially with cars, but it can be seen in almost every imaginable product (both physical and technological).

Look at an Apple commercial. Let's take the Mac vs PC version. Of course points of pain (viruses) are brought up, but emotionally we connect to the feeling of "victory" over the PC when we have a Mac. And if we don't, we feel a sort of defeat. If we have a PC and we see our friend Mr. PC embarrassing himself because the Mac is so obviously better (as implied in the commercials. Your current opinions need not apply), we get hurt, even insulted. We can be defensive. We want to be on the "winning" side. It's our emotions that tell us "we want to be cool, like the Mac." So we buy a Mac. For most consumers, it's not the direct, logical comparison that causes us to buy. Those comparisons are justifications for our purchases. We've already decided what we will buy, now we need to justify it.
Can only hope so. Australia needs more traction.
Record Store Owner Calls People Who Pay To Download 'Idiots'
Really? I thought Techcrunch has been moving away from those weekend apps and more towards the ones with potential to have "mainstream" appeal. Aka venture fundable apps. Plus mainstream tech news so he can get interviews on CNN.

I go to mashable for "weekend apps".

Of course, they have a lot love affair with Twitter and Arringtons ego.

At $5/month per user is a very low margin thats only reaching a market based on another non-mainstream apps userbase. This would definitely be considered a side project that regardless of TC is not very ambitious or PR worthy.
Indeed.

I'm from Melbourne and all the business here seems to be around finance and consulting.

With some really great universities (RMIT and Melb Uni) and computer science programs, I can see a lot of potential.
It also appears to be immune to the accidental scratches and dings one gets from doors, shopping carts, flying gravel, etc.
Sasha Frere-Jones on Auto Tune
The Muse in the Machine: Or, The Poetics of Zork
I've never been a big Mahalo Daily fan but I couldn't help but get a chuckle out of Jason Calacanis being listed as "Craft Services" in the credits.
Warren Buffet: How to Minimize Investment Returns
A Legitimate Videogame Violence Study
$('a.hide_these').parents('p')

or if you want to hide all the anchors of class hide_these then you could do this.

$('p > a.hide_these').hide();
Microsoft Says Windows Server 2008 Cuts Power Consumption By 10%
I'd also publicize that "vote up if you like candy" posts will be deleted. That's the only danger of the story downvote that I see--that it will be used for reddit-style popularity polls.
Gamenode
Large online games collection, daily updated with the newest and best games.
Look at Paul Tyma's Howto Pass a Silicon Valley Software Engineering Interview

http://paultyma.blogspot.com/2007/03/howto-pass-silicon-vall...
Seasteading: engineering the long tail of nations
The one-page strategy doesn't give you room to grow. I think that alone is enough to reject that strategy in all but the most trivial of cases.
Garfield + Markov Chains = Garkov
Utopia? Oh, no pressure, then... :-P
great. thank you very much
Is Google Draining or Retaining?
How the 3G iPhone could kill GPS Manufacturers
When I interview, I'm most interested in the jobs which sound challenging, and expect me to be excited about 'doing a bit extra' because that's actually fun.
That's why we put this sort of thing in our job description. We want people who love this sort of stuff like we do.
50 Ways to Take Back Control of Your Personal Data
The 50 tips and tools in this list will help you understand how Internet scams originate, how to protect yourself online and offline, and how to track down your personal data on the Internet.
Introducing IE=EmulateIE7
50 of the Most Dependable Web Resources for University Students
This will not stop anyone from up/downloading child pornography. All but the stupidest child pornographers are using anonymous third-party Usenet providers.

This is nothing more than a feel good headline for Time Warner. 'See guys, we did our part to save the children.'
I quite often up vote a comment I wouldn't normally touch if it's negative karma seems unjustified.
"It's amazing what you can do with a Pentium processor"
That actually made me chuckle. Nicely done.
I would first do it part time to hammer out the ideas and to build a prototype. Once you have the vision, run with it and go full time. It's really hard to be successful when you're doing it half-a$$.
Really?! What do you have to lose? If you think you are burden with responsibilities now, the future will hold even more responsibilities and constraints. It's better to take risks when you're young and unadulterated. If not now, when?
I do my designs at 1000 pixels too. The horizontal scrollbars at 1000px should disappear. So in short I design based on 1024 but the max width I work on Photoshop is 1000px. Even on fluid designs, I do this.
Cute, but in this form it will never be allowed on European streets. If you hit a pedestrian they will smash their head right into the engine block, so it is never going to pass safety standards. Still, the idea is nice, does anyone have any stats on how much weight this safes?
Incompetent American Programmers
How are you supposed to know the reasons behind the votes? Often times something of mine will get downvoted, and I'd like to address it, but I have no sense of what the problem is. I have to actively keep myself from deleting things that have received a quick negative response sometimes.

I have an idea: limit the number of downvotes per user per day. If the want to downvote something else, something will have to fall off the stack. I think there's less of a danger if people only downvote what they disagree most with, as opposed to dismissal.

(ps: wow guys. real funny.)
Boy Scouts of America to fix self-serving open source
Thats actually a really good overview, just about covered everything announced.
Sun Goes Longer Than Normal Without Producing Sunspots
"... With some really great universities (RMIT and Melb Uni) and computer science programs, I can see a lot of potential ..."

The bottleneck in my view is the ultra conservative business environment. It's not for the lack of hackers, entrepreneurs. While Boston may be the sister city of Melbourne the overwhelming message I get is not "be smarter" ~ http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=201373
If someone says "People should downvote to express disagreement." and I disagree with them should I downvote them?
There is a TechCrunch developer in the house:

http://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=hwork

henry@techcrunch.com