skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
Birdbrain: How Smart are Parrots?
Get sleep and stay healthy because that way you'll be the most productive

Some days I'll code away from 9-7pm, some from 10am-12pm because I'm just too tired.

Have a life, get sleep, and balance it all out. Think of how much you'll get done sooner if you aren't re-typing half your shit for stupid bugs you made on that 3am binge
Speaking of RSS, when is Feedburner going to adjust their dramatically inflated "subscriber" count that is featured prominently on sites like TC? 785K looks good and all, and at least the numbers from site to site are relative, but I'd rather see accurate numbers (not a number akin to 'hits')
> things we have in common

Right, like the undeniable facts that vim is better than emacs, Macs are fundamentally more secure than Linux, the gphone will be better than the iPhone, 37signals is overrated, ruby is better than python...
You get one guess, keep in mind that Arrington authored the post.
PLT Scheme 4.0 to introduce major new changes to Scheme
See my other post on this question.. it's possible to last quite a while.

But yeah, at that rate, burnout is inevitable. However, with some animalistic (see http://www.paulgraham.com/start.html ) determination and focus, and the right support network (friends, family, partner), it's possible to last quite a while, even though bits and pieces of your life are falling apart along the way.

I should add to the post I made (but can't anymore now) that after I launched that first startup, I went pretty much into super-low productivity mode for about 2 months, which was absolutely necessary to recover from over 8 months of working two and a half intellectually demanding jobs!
Most days I wake up around 6am and go for a couple of dives, as I'm working on my Divemaster certification in the mornings. Great deal, if anyone's interested- you pay $700 for the course and get unlimited dives for as long as you're working on your certification, which can be dragged out to four months of diving every day. Plus, it's on a Thai island (Koh Tao), so cost of living is quite cheap. $200/month for a bungalow, and $1.50 for some incredible phad thai.

Get back around noon from diving, get some lunch, work until 2-3am. Likely too much, but in the early startup phase of doing a startup there's simply a lot of work to do.

As an aside, I don't really understand the whole weekend thing, if it's necessary to take a break from your day to day life then there's probably something wrong with your day to day life.
Sounds like a very good day plan. How well does it adapt to life's niggles? Meetings with business partners, dates, friends, etc? (particularly other people who also have busy schedules)
Actually, direct threading can be done with C/C++: I just wrote a switch statement with 256 case labels and made sure the switch control variable is unsigned char. With -O3 it gave me exactly the code I wanted - no range checking anymore, since the control variable is unsigned char anyway.
It's very cool, but is in danger of being killed since Adobe bought Macromedia as there's now overlap between FW and Illustrator. And Adobe is generally pretty evil.

Let's hope they keep it around.
Brain surgeons don't hold cellphones next to their ears
Why blog when a tweet will do?

"Emailed tunecore. They said fu. Boo hoo."

100 characters to spare.
Red wine may be much more potent than was thought in extending human lifespan
I like to push all that into my one or two days away from my terminal if I can. That's what those days are for.
Every thread on HN about PHP garners one reply which always reads "choose another language/framework blah"

Let's give people advice for their problem and specific language and keep the opinions on framework/code to yourself.
I work 11 AM to 11:30 if the projects are uninteresting. I work 7 AM around the clock to 2 PM if the project is good.
emacs rules, dude! But at least in those debates, we're some of the more qualified people to comment, whereas with politics, it's just the same tired old blah blah blah that you hear everywhere else.
First paragraph: "A source at a software company that has been working on a native iPhone application tells us the company is getting ready to launch that application on Monday"

That sounds pretty definite to me.
Because ignoring them doesn't work. If you don't fight to keep things on-topic, you'll just end up with another Reddit in a few months.
I love how Arrington continually says that the email was sent to press@tunecore.com, except that it would be pretty damn rare for a startup to have an actual PR department. And anyway, if a company doesn't want to release information to the press, they aren't required to do so, no matter if it's TechCrunch or the f'n Times asking. Arrington getting offended when the request was rebuked just comes off as pugilistic.
Amazing that these data are so upsetting to news.YC's audience. I wonder if one of the downvoters could articulate what it is about these facts that needs to be suppressed. It seems relevant to me that Obama sought such a radical preacher as his mentor, and it was only when one of his other spiritual mentors (http://www.volokh.com/posts/1207631070.shtml ) got in trouble that he finally left the church.
Maybe because Twitter was down?

/thank you folks, I'll be here all week
10 Examples of Beautiful CSS Typography and How They Did It…
120,000 year old bacteria found still alive in arctic ice
Is there even a positive correlation between throwing more money at education and having better-educated kids? It looks like at some point over the last thirty years, we got to the point that the administrative cost of distributing the next dollar for education exceeds one dollar, so the extra money gets soaked up by bureaucratic inefficiencies.

But whatever! It's only billions and billions of taxpayer dollars spent by a monopolist that buys its product from a cartel! Clearly, the important thing is to give more money to this completely deranged system, rather than fixing it.
See: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=165783
From Homeless to Software Success
If people don't want to hear political opinions, won't they downmod everything else equally?

Do you really expect that there will be no correlation between bad-mouthing Barack and getting more downvotes?
How the Web Was Won
Did you ever find anything on this?
No idea if global warming is real or not. I don't like that article though - it is purely rhetoric. The historical examples are interesting, but suggesting the analogy is not a honest style of discussion in my opinion - not facts, only emotions. You could probably drop random subjects into that article and make the same point.
1Gb is 1000Mb. 1Gib is 1024Mib.
Interesting.

Neither of the TC intern's emails are quoted. We get to take Arrington's word for it that "Peter responded politely."

The CEO's email looks curt and impolite, but we have no way of knowing whether that's because the CEO is a jerk, or because there's a mollifying second half to that email that Arrington didn't feel like publishing.

In the past I've basically ignored TC because I thought they were kind of silly. Question for anybody who follows this more closely than I do -- is Tech Crunch making the transition from "waste of time" to "unambiguous parasite" ?
I got the book yesterday and I've read the first chapters.
It covers very interesting stuff in a introductive, easy to follow way. I like its pragmatical approach a lot, but I would have liked more depth in the teorical side of things maybe. I guess that is be material for a different kind of book, but an appendix would have been much appreciated.
Most dangerous domains
Yeah, I meant as a way to confirm that they are really using it?
Work doesn't necessarily need to be stressful. If you're doing the right stuff, it's fun enough that you want to keep at it and you're productive in different ways throughout the day.

It's rare when I feel like I'm "working all [my] waking hours" because when I feel mentally drained on the boring things, I find some of the fun things in our backlog and toy with those-- e.g. designing a prototype for our next site, doing some graphic design (which I find fun but I'm not so good at), trying a new technology/tool that might help us out, etc.

I enjoy hacking very much. Startup founders often get caught up working on all sorts of unfun business things during their core hours so designing/coding then becomes your relaxation time.

The biggest problem is that exercise stuff-- I'm going to go work on that right now.
Matrix Software
AJ Matrix is the latest and most advanced Matrix affiliate Script with level upto mxn can be customised according to needs. It is a complete web application developed using PHP with MYSQL as back-end. Full developer API allows for endless possibilities and use in your own project. When creating a new user account, the user is sent an email with a verification code which is used to verify that the email address is real.
It makes me wish all of the AI courses I took that used generic pseudocode really just used Python. It would have felt more tangible to me and given us more examples to hack on.
Don't let the husky's near it!!
Ah I see, sorry I didn't understand you. Too lazy to decompile the Flash code, but the JavaScript is unfamiliar to me and seems to indicate a rewrite.
Embracing OpenID: "Clickpass did it for me"
The nav improvements are great.

I was talking more about how each article link is rendered. The links (in the new reddit) take up too much vertical space. The way HN does it (and the way reddit used to do) was much better. Here is the reason: It makes it easy for me to quickly scan the article. Basically have one-line per link. Instead of multiple lines.

Also I don't need to see the score in a larger font. Usually I don't pay attention to the score. The way I decide whether I want to read the article is: (a) the title, (b) where it is linked from (e.g. nytimes.com, etc). Almost everything else gets in the way.
I've been keeping pretty close tabs on my hours for the past few months and find that I generally average about 6 hours of really focused and productive work per day. It's really hard for me to get into the productive zone so I might actually be sitting at the computer for 10 hours procrastinating.
The article points out the situation with Global Warming science: "...Under the circumstances, any scientist who has doubts understands clearly that they will be wise to mute their expression.

One proof of this suppression is the fact that so many of the outspoken critics of global warming are retired professors. These individuals are not longer seeking grants, and no longer have to face colleagues whose grant applications and career advancement may be jeopardized by their criticisms."

I would be very interested to see a comprehensive paper on Climate Research funding and decision making for that funding, but I do remember seeing articles in the past on Scientists being threatened or fired for questioning man-made Global Warming. One of many examples: http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=21207 . However, I haven't heard about any scientists being threatened/fired for advocating Global Warming.
Does anyone else think that PLT Scheme dialect is moving closer to Common Lisp?
"At the same time, it shows how much most web applications being developed today lack deep technology"

Just my 2 cents but I find PCI a very shallow book without much "deep technology" in it either.

AI cannot be divorced from the underlying math. PCI takes (in my opinion, feel free to differ) a math-lite, "dummies guide" approach to AI algorithms. I realize that my opinion is in the minority, and a lot of people think that the book is very cool. So take it with a grain of salt.
Fumbling with ear pieces is inconvenient as well. I wish there were a cellphone with an external antenna instead (connected via a cable). You could then keep the antenna in your pocket (shield it towards the side facing the body).

Maybe I should just get a tinfoil hat instead... ;)
Democracy is the greatest hack.
I just got it in the mail yesterday, and after a first reading I am really impressed. Most of the published material on these topics is academic and heavily mathematical. This type of practical guide is very useful. The things that I like the most so far:

1) The examples are real python code, and many chapters the code samples are small enough that you can follow the text by typing the code into an interpreter to try it out

2) He doesn't just test algorithms on standard datasets like MNIST or MovieLens - He gives programming examples for how to extract your own datasets e.g. by showing how to use the eBay api to download prices from eBay, or how to use the facebook api.
http://message.snopes.com/showthread.php?t=2333
Granted, the one about the retired professors was the one single argument it gives. Other than that, just because a theory is not popular, doesn't prove that it is right. I am pretty sure that if you want funding for research into the Spaghetti Monster, you might as well also be fired. That is why I did not like the article - it suggests public outrage is a proof that there is something to the theory, but it is not a proof (nor does it prove the opposite).

Not saying that I like the academic system - I think there is always a lot of politics involved. I am amazed by the kinds of things that get funding. For example there are whole conferences on "consciousness", something that I personally believe to be a complete chimera (or take religion - in Europe you can take up religion as a subject at university, not sure about the US). So people meet on those conferences and talk about what? They can not even give a definition of the subject...
Ask YC: How to determine whether or not you should list a particular technology on your resume?
Pretty much every job posting I see lists a bunch of "required" or "desired" or "preferred" technologies. Sometimes I've heard of them all, sometimes I haven't. However, I've never encountered a list where I feel I can truthfully claim significant experience with everything on it. Do you apply anyway? Additionally, how would you determine whether or not you are comfortable enough with a technology to list it on your resume, or apply to a job with that language in the title? For example, I've started learning python to build a db-driven website. But, just because I have something that works doesn't mean I now consider myself a python hacker... or should I?
I thought the whole point of mod_python was performance. Since it runs inside the apache process it doesn't have to spawn a new python interpreter for every page request. Am I mistaken? Does fastcgi and/or mod_wsgi solve the same issue?
Agreed. Without a downmod arrow, bitching about upmodding is part of the system. The idea is that if every political article degenerates into a bunch of people bitching that political articles shouldn't be posted, then eventually people will learn not to post political articles.
FWIW I downmodded all politically partisan comments except the one specifically regarding technology policy. I did this because I like HN, and don't want it to turn into this:
http://files.sharenator.com/we_know-2368.png
I am sure you are a nice guy, I am downmodding your comments, not you. Don't take it personal.
that was me trying to be a smart ass. missed an order of magnitude

the market is about 15000 people

regarding a wannabe / junior version comment
I am inclined to think that the tool requires 100% functionality to be useful.
I constantly lie to my children. 99% of the time its told with a wink, but I have been (unconsciously perhaps) testing there ability to tell whether or not I am joking or not.

My wife frequently jokes that "I have lost all credibility" with the children. I think this may be a good thing. I want my kids to be always straining to differentiate what is true from what is false, and to develop a good skeptical ear.
I just learned enough awk to alter a tiny script written by someone else.
It's so going on the resume.

Seriously - just apply to anything that sounds good - if they really are decent and the position is junior - or if it is a senior position it doesn't revolve around that particular technology - you can learn on the job.
The interns emails are posted in the comments. They really aren't that bad, and definitely dont warrant such a response from a CEO in my opinion
Where to begin? Here, Michael Crichton links "global warming" with "eugenics", and the fate of critics of the former with the fate of critics of the latter. Yes, he's talking about "critics of global warming", not about "critics of the theory that global warming is caused by humans".

To me, the dispute seems not to be to be about whether the globe is warming up, but about whether we have caused this warming-up, about whether we can prevent and/or reverse it, and also about whether the activities of us puny humans can have a significant impact on the system at all. Ok, his might be excused as some "shorthand formulation". but he's making judgments of science and of scientists here, so I'd think that some precision would be in order.

Anyway... eugenics. Crichton describes eugenics as a form of politicized science, which caused people to be discriminated against, sterilized, and even killed in large numbers. It was bad.

About two thirds through his text, he cites another example of politicized science: Lysenkoism. Trofim Lysenko was a Russian biologist who speculated that aquired characteristics of plants (and presumably other organisms) could be inherited, and that soaking wheat grains in water and burying the wet seed in snow over the winter would improve crop yields. During the time from 1948 to 1964, criticism of Lysenko's theories was formally outlawed in the Soviet Union; academic critics were thrown in jail. As a consequence of such foolish behavior, many people died through famine. It was bad.

In the final quarter, then, he brings on global warming:

"Once again, critics are few and harshly dealt with."

Oh, really? What happens to them? Are they jailed, or killed? Crichton doesn't say. Instead, he says:

"Once again, claims of moral superiority are used to justify extreme actions."

What kind of extreme actions are taken? Are those actions comparable with those he cites, like letting peasants starve, sterilizing "feeble-minded" Californians, or killing Jews in concentration camps? He doesn't say. But:

"Once again, the fact that some people are hurt is shrugged off because an abstract cause is said to be greater than any human consequences."

Ah, some people are hurt. So it must be bad. But how are they hurt? Are they starved, jailed, killed? Does he refer to the critics again, or to some other people? Not a word about it...

I don't know whether or not human activities cause/prevent global warming. I believe that the jury's still out on that. But if, as Crichton writes, he really wishes that "knowledge is disinterested and honest", I think he should refrain from drawing the kind of comparisons he draws here. This text reads like scientizied politics. In fact, as a source of knowledge, it's indistinguishable from politicized science to me.
Arrington seems to have ego issues? Lots of melodrama lately.
Right, let's reduce education! Ignore the order of magnitude more funding provided to the Department of Defense.

This never made any sense to me. I target my voting like I optimize my code. Look for the biggest inefficiencies and start there.
There are plenty of people/startups/companies who have never heard of TC.

Seems these are people who generally just get on with things in thier own way in thier own markets, free from hype.
Given the position of this article, it appears that the rest of the community disagrees.
TechDirt wrong on copyright, too
Start-Up Releases Smaller Version of Flip Camcorder
it sounds like your recommendation is to make sure i am competent/comfortable in the core technology, and then worry about the ancillary stuff as it comes up. is that right? i'm not worried about not knowing the answer to something in an interview (it's bound to happen eventually)--i am worried about someone thinking my resume isn't truthful.
Sigh. Can we have a ban of techcrunch? Pretty please?
Depends on if you really enjoy what you are doing and find it stimulating enough. Being able to take a power nap at times also helps.

I used to work 12-14hrs/day and be highly productive (80/20 rule) as once tasks got boring or my mind started to wonder I would nap for half hour before doing a completly different task e..g. from coding to creating designs in photoshop, which was different enough to use different parts of my mind and thought processes. A change is as good as a holiday.

Most projects were completed as quickly as I could do and because they did not drag-on and because I was able to make lots of headway (reward in itself) I could sustain this for several weeks at a time.

Afterwards I would always take a some time off though :)
Build a $150 Linux PC
Talk about sensational headlines, read the title at the top of this page. I don't think he wrote it because they'd never heard of techcrunch, he wrote it because of the bizarre response from what was supposed to be the PR e-mail address of their company. Also, read the comments of the techcrunch posts and he provides their own e-mails.

Arrington may be a douche, but this thread is very sensationalist
i wouldn't claim proficiency in a language until i've used it for around a year and feel comfortable writing apps with it. i would claim exposure and experience for the other languages i've played with but wouldn't be comfortable with saying i could sit down and rattle out a solid program with them.

right now on my resume, i have two classes of languages: those i'm proficient in and those i have experience using.
A big curveball: OS X 10.6 “Lynx” to debut on Monday?
Well, yeah. The smiley was a stand-in for the feds.
afaik, no. they're hand-written.
No, the intern's emails aren't that bad. Frankly, I don't think that Price's emails are that bad either. None of this warrants being made public.
Ancient man killed 'love rivals'
I happen to know that Tony used to work for IBM on their Java implementation. I find it difficult to imagine that he hasn't been involved in some kind of integration testing.
What a silly article. The article finds 3 brain surgeons who dont use cell phones near their ear, and it becomes news. If 4 our of 5 dentists recommend Crest toothpaste, then if I talk to 15 dentists, I can find 3 dentists that dont recommend Crest.

My favorite quote from the pseudo science fear mongering article:
"researchers who have raised concerns say that just because science can’t explain the mechanism doesn’t mean one doesn’t exist."
"Improvements to the PLT Scheme language include better syntax for modules, better support for optional and keyword function arguments, more expressive syntax for structure types, streamlined hash-table operations, new syntax for list comprehensions and iterations, a more complete and consistent set of list and string operations, and reduced dependence on mutable pairs."

In the abstract, sounds like a Scheme that can compete with Python and Ruby.
great advice here, i was going to say most of it myself.

here are a few other nuggets i was going to drop:

* set aside some time to work in public places with free wifi (coffee shops, restaurants, bars, etc.). the point is to work some, and talk to people if you get the chance. some places won't mind you sitting around all day, but some will, so you might need to rotate.

* in addendum to the social group part, i'd suggest you pick a sport that interests you and join/learn that, whether it be martial arts or soccer or whatever (i personally suggest sport fencing). in addition, join a gym and go regularly. physical fitness directly affects mental fitness, which is important for a hacker. plus, you interact with peoples.

* SET A SCHEDULE AND KEEP IT. the only reasons to break it would be to meet some important deadlines. if you set yourself a 9-6 schedule, don't break it and skip your cool social thing at 6:30 just to get the next feature finished today. it can wait.