skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
I went to an Ivy League school and based on my experience, I found the author's comments to be exaggerated. How in the world could he not find anything to speak to the plumber about? Furthermore, why should he blame it on class differences when it was probably more of a case of social inadequacy? Although there are many ivy leaguers who major in econ or finance in order to work at an i-banking or big consulting firm in nyc, there are others who have different goals. My friends consisted of the latter and we created our own space within our school while still feeling very much a part of campus life.
We're working this out as we speak! Make sure to keep up with the blog as we're posting info everyday as it becomes available on conjunctured.com. We're looking to be open in some capacity by the beginning of the month.

If you're going to innovationCamp on the 28th, we're a sponsor and will be around AND we're hosting the official after party, so make sure you attend both so you can ask us questions and come check out the space in person.

Send me an email or a tweet for more info! @cesart // cesar@conjunctured.com
Cats and Dogs - a one dimensional theory of character
My son and daughter were both into this game for about a year before they lost interest and decided they would rather save their money or spend it on other things.

I think the thing they liked the most at the start was the fact that there were a relatively large amount of things they could do and discover and then share and showoff.

But after they played for a while I noticed they stopped wanting to show me neat new stuff in the game and instead tell me about the people they were playing with. I was really surprised when I learned that my then 13 year old son was regularly spending hours online with armed service personnel stationed in Europe, disabled diabetics from Iowa in their 40's, thirty-something gay couples from Palo Alto, off-duty nurses from Los Angeles, etc. In short just about every kind of person he would never otherwise consider part of his social group.

So personally I think the real reason it is successful is that it seems to be able to create the same kind of opportunity for shared experience across cultures in much the same way early radio and television did.
Not every startup is a web application built around a CRUD model, seven years is a short time for bringing a new medical device to market; and a long time for a novelty ice cream flavor.

Time to market is not always as crucial as it seems; photo.net was doing photo sharing and social networking ten years before flickr got bought by Yahoo!, it's more than possible to be too early to market.

You don't go to VC's during the R&D phase, you go to them once you've worked out the technology risk and have something that could be taken to market with a sufficient application of money.

It's a good thing that there are inventors with long attention spans because we would still be chasing wildlife for dinner if there weren't.
That's because the social networks haven't opened up the floodgates yet, they're still in data collection mode. The real revenues come when they sell your data -- when Facebook tells Miller that you are a central person in your social network who just sent a message about Bud Light to a frat buddy -- that's when Miller sends you a special offer for your next party and when the real revenues for Facebook come.
You have to be careful when typing languages where "they are fucking you" and "you run out of arguments" are only one letter apart.
LilyPad Arduino - Turn signal biking jacket
actually, it is impossible to do currently. after a comment reaches a certain age, one or two days i think, you can't downvote it anymore.
Everquest was just as addictive as WoW. In many was EQ and Final Fantasy XI were both more addictive and more immersive than WoW, yet WoW's success dwarfs them both. It can't be the only explanation.
The other big problem with the story: the two words don't just differ by the dots on the "i"s, they also appear to end with a different vowel.
Punctuation and capitalisation can also be problematic: http://www.bash.org/?367896
An event-based model would have done the trick. Register a listener to a message queue, and when a message arrives, the queue handler sends it an event. It would make things a little more complicated, but it also imposes less load on the servers on both sides by making polling unnecessary.
I agree. SQS's design has its uses and S3's ordered key-space makes it easy to create queue structures without this behavior if that's what you think you want.

The thing I too would like to see from AWS would be some kind of callback api where an HTTP request would be sent to an EC2 instance when something useful happens in S3. That would allow you to dispense with polling entirely.
There are many reasons why it is successful. However for me the most salient reason is that it strongly appeals to casual girl gamers. This demographic can elevate a game to the stratosphere a la sims.
It was a good article, with a good point: just because developers say they're not writing applications for Vista doesn't mean anything, since most things that work on XP and Win2k will continue to work on Vista. Well written, too.

But somehow, all these articles about Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, don't really strike me as interesting. Do we really care that much about what other analysts say? Does all that political and religious bickering over operating systems really matter? Somehow, reading the continuous articles about "Microsoft's Problem" or "Why (Mac|Google|Linux|Ubuntu) Will Win" or "Why Microsoft is Doomed" just doesn't really excite me. Maybe it's just me though.
Slasherdot: News for Kurds, Stuff that Splatters
It may be too little too late. Symbian is dead on the smartphone right now, but Nokia's iron grip on the mobile phone market is going nowhere. It will need a complete tear-down and rebuild, and quick, to be effective.
Finnish?
I love HN because it is simple. Now there are too many things separated by '|'. It's less usable.
I know nothing of Turkish. But it's extremely feasible that the trailing vowel is decided by tense or inflection. Note that the active subject changed between the two phrases. "You run out of arguments" vs. "They are ____ you."
Why Objective-J, Cappuccino and SproutCore are completely changing the web app industry
That was awesome! I never believed the idea that actual applications, like work processing or something like that, could shift away from the desktop, but now I think that it actually might be possible.

I was literally open-jawed when I created a new window with the content URL of http://www.google.com, used that to search for Mocha UI, then opened another instance of Mocha UI in itself. I thought that was pretty nifty. Although useless in practice.
Yes, it was. And it was posted here as well. I remember reading it.

Also, I know that ESR mentioned Asperger's in IT at least a decade ago you are right about it being pretty old hat.

That said, it's still an interesting discussion.
Melding Mind and Machine
I put the adjective in to restrict it to the strong sense, imitation isn't necessarily bad, intelligent emulation of successful strategies is the basis of progress; but it's a mistake to think that you can succeed as a follower.

The thing I see is that there are a lot of bright young things out there who want to be entrepreneurs but who have not the disposition or the discipline to be creative as entrepreneurs and who for whatever reason don't take a critical look at their goals and methods. Leaping on to the business model of the week becomes a substitute for self-assessment and critical reflection. And of course there is the "ooh that's cool, I want to build one of those!" factor to be considered.
Hah! Pleasant read. I especially liked this snippet, in which he suggested that you could become a 'cat' when the person you are conversing with is trying to make you a 'dog' (cats being assertive, dogs being passive):

Them: "Have a seat."
You: "Let's sit down."
Them: "Ok."
The door closes when the pressure coils (a.k.a. the ones that ring the bells at gas stations, and the spaced out ones used for speed detection) on the floor detect the vehicle has been parked. If it detects that you are no longer moving toward it, it will also close. The garage will learn which cars you park inside and which you leave outside it, so it might open at the wrong times the first few times, but once you've trained its filter, it'll do fine. You'll obviously be able to open it manually (that is, with a key fob) as well, in order to train it. If you want to let your friends park in your garage, just put "my friends are coming over by car" on your calendar.

And none of this will happen, of course, if your garage is full.
A more accurate title would be "Google Popularizes Way to Manage Data known to Practioners for at least Last 20 Years"
Twellow: Organizing Twitter Users Into Categories (much cooler than it sounds)
Socialbrowse: Y Combinator Startup is Twitter For Links
Oh, I get it, irony: http://alaskamiller.com/
You'd think though, that google would work with them for less than the amount they are spending to setup those domains. Assuming gmail is a money maker, google would love to have that many more guaranteed users.
Ask HN: Are we too homogenous? Maybe, Not yet, But...
There's been a lot of discussion here lately about the quality of front page stories, comments, and the community at large. Is it still focussed, or are we going down the bland road to mediocrity other social sites have done?

In one of these discussions (on potential pg bias http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=165855 ) I came up with a visual of a social website (network/ bookmarking / whatever) being like a pond with a series of ripples.

I've now expanded on this on my blog - more reflection made me wonder if the growth of social sites might necessarily lead to homogenization

http://www.shirlawsonline.com/blogs/197-my-pond-theory-or-why-social-networks-must-fail

and what might be done to prevent it
http://www.shirlawsonline.com/blogs/199-my-pond-theory-or-how-social-networks-avoid-failing

Is HN too far gone? What can we do to stop it from becoming the next Digg?
DMT. Would you consume a drug that triggers your higher consciousness?
I'm glad somebody's paying for all those text messages I'm sending.
RTA! It was his ex-girlfriend and her family that opted for murder, with her heading up the line at the knife buffet. She died of blood loss after he fought back, then he killed himself in prison.
Looks interesting. Seem to have missed out on the invites though. Ah well.
I know I hear you. It definitely should be done but I'm not even sure if it's possible. I'll begin looking more into it shortly. At the moment, not a single feature or layout segment is operational.
I think it is a problem because busy people have such a short attention spans. Looking through a long list of entries here takes up time. As I find myself scanning entries from NyTimes, CNN or any other major news site then I start to think why I should spend my time looking.
I don't mind ad supported websites, because I'm pretty much ad blind. Years of using ad supported websites has conditioned my brain to simply ignore the ads; I just don't notice them very often.

So if companies can make money off of the suckers who do click the ads, and still provide me with a free service, I'm fine with that.

Of course I could just think I'm ad blind, and in reality I'm being brainwashed by these ads which I don't consciously recognize, but still subconsciously see.
Ask YC: Software That Makes a Difference
Let's face it: working in business software typically means writing code to line a few peoples' pockets (and sometimes not even your own). Much of Web 2.0 and social software is merely a distraction and only really helps communication among a technological elite, and does not substantially improve the quality of life for those who use it. This is a personal dilemma I have faced for some time now.

How do you work in software that has a meaningful impact on peoples' lives? What sort of software can generally help lift up humanity? Embedded software for devices has the ability to act on our physical environment. Games have the ability to give people joy and escape. Creative software allows people to make good things. What else is there?

Have you found a way to write software that has a real, tangible, positive net effect on society? This is a major factor in my startup decision. I might be too idealist.
I studied Turkish in college, but it's been a few years.

Turkish has "vowel harmony", so a suffix's vowels are determined by the preceding vowel. The ending "-IncE" (capital = "correct-by-harmony-rules vowel here") means roughly "when doing", and it can look like ınca or ince (or other variants) depending on the last vowel of the verb it's attached to.

Literally "Zaten sen sıkışınca konuyu değiştiriyorsun" = "Anyway you (when-)get-stuck (to-the-)topic change(-now-you)". They don't quote the other reading of the sentence (or even the alternate word), so I think the "they are __ you" form was just the English translation.

It's not even clear the message used an "e" -- just that "sikişince" is what it "looked like". I propose that people, when reading, tend to place more value in the root of a word than its suffixs. He probably typed "sikişinca", which I admit looks more like "sikişince" than it does "sıkışınca".

Aren't agglutinative languages fun?
Sounds simple and useful. Can we please get a few invites?
not gonna lie, i'd use this site :)

I basically use AIM for precisely this purpose, at this point. I have my own little AIM mini-network for link spamming amongst friends.
Am I the only person still paranoid about having my operating system and all my data stored on the Internet?

I'm sure there will be advances in how we store data and run applications over the next five years. However, I still can't imagine moving all the data and applications currently stored on my private home network to the cloud. That seems to be a huge leap of faith in both the reliability of my net connection and the security measures of my chosen data caretaker(s).
Business applications can allow people to deliver more value for less cost (time and money), which has a flow on effect to their clients' clients / end users.

I disagree that Web 2.0 social software is "merely a distraction". 1) Enhanced communication has substantial benefits, and
2) even glib developments can later form the basis for meaningful impact on lives - the telephone was probably a distraction at first, but where we would be without 911 ?
Reinventing past mistakes in new mediums does not count as innovation.
Me too. Can I have an invite when a packet is available for additional traffic? ;)
> Although useless in practice.

A good point. Also notable that Mocha UI did not invent the iframe, nor use it in any way unforeseen by it's inventors.
WoW was much better at linking together the big rewards than EQ or FFXI were (I've played all three, along with Asheron's Call 1&2, Dark Age of Camelot, Ragnarok Online, Eve Online and Lord of the Rings Online [Good God!]).

With EQ, big rewards were frequently too far in between (especially hell levels and gaps between major "new spell" levels), which led to people quitting when their addiction waned (ie, minor rewards were considered rote, major rewards non-existent or too far away). Also, the end game (at least until Velious) wasn't nearly as developed as WoW's is, and relied on raids held by huge guilds or even the entire server. This led to higher-level players frequently not having access to any near-term rewards, and eventually losing the addiction.

FFXI's problem was with lower levels. The reward for gaining a level didn't seem as important as in either EQ or WoW. Equipment never seemed like a major reward either, as most players essentially rented equipment from the auction houses.
Fascinating. By standing in the expert line, people seem to make more of an effort to follow directions to ensure they aren't the jackass poser "expert" who holds up all the other real "experts".
This seems a bit like the project I work on (timelope.com). But still requires people to actively push data into the network. With an extension installed and already looking at what you browse, why not just let that data they generate just by browsing be the key part?
How did you decide that social networking is "merely a distraction", and yet games "have the ability to give people joy and escape"?

> I might be too idealist.

Are you really?

If you really and truly want to have a net positive effect on society, write some open-source software and contribute it to the FOSS community. Aim for things that will help others, e.g. for the 100$ laptop program.
ICANN considers unique top-level domains
Biz Model for 40-Yr Old "Social Networking" Company
I got an email from Harris Connect, which handles the alumni database for my old high school.

The company is old-school in many ways: it was founded 40 yrs ago(!); it requested I call in by phone to confirm accuracy of data; and one of the ways it makes money is by offering printed directories, including a $40 "deluxe" version. They offer a variety of other white label products, including online social networks, according to their site.

A bit of searching shows them to generate $50-100MM/yr in revenue with 500-1,000 employees (admittedly, the rev per emp is low compared to companies that leverage highly scalable technology).

As the Facebooks and Xings of the world look to monetize their offerings beyond advertising, I thought I'd share how this old-school company does it.
Veedow wants to be the Last.fm of shopping
If a Trend Can’t Continue, It Won’t Continue
There is no need for pop-up windows nor MDI, it's a technical demo for the sake of a technical demo. It's no accident that the default layout contains no overlapping "windows".
Ask YC: is anyone attending OpenCoffee at Boston?
I recently arrived to Boston and I'd love to exchange some ideas and get to know people around here.

It seemed to me that a great opportunity to do so is an event like OpenCoffee.

For those who are not aware of it, just google for "OpenCoffee Club", or take a look at http://boston.going.com/event-122245;OpenCoffee_Club

Thing is, I don't know if this is still going on (last message in the board was posted in May), and I don't know if anyone over here is interested in such event. Anyone has gone/is going/plans to go in the near future?
Full text: An epic Bill Gates e-mail rant
> write some open-source software and contribute it to the FOSS community

The only problem I see with FOSS is that a very very tiny portion of people, as a whole, will ever actually use it. Perhaps if it lead to cost savings for municipal governments that helps to pay for social programs?

> the 100$ laptop program.

I was going to mention that, but it has been usurped by Microsoft and real benefit has yet to be seen.
Not to pimp my own entry, but I just submitted a post to HN about a 40 yr old company that makes $50-100MM/yr selling white label social network services. Interesting, but perhaps not extremely scalable (i.e., needs a sales force).

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=227040
How is technology changing the world of Washington D.C.?
> The only problem I see with FOSS is that a very very tiny portion of people, as a whole, will ever actually use it.

Or more precisely, only a very very tiny portion of the people will ever actually knowingly use it. How much of the internet utilizes the linux kernel? or Apache? Or MySql? or gcc/gdb/glibc?

The impact of a single significant gcc change reverberates all over the computing world.
Yes! Software can and does make a difference in people's lives. Think out-side-in. Start with people and look at their problems and then decide what software will solve their problems. Don't start with 'social-software' and look for a problem. Two cases: Look at how you local fire department uses mobile computers to deliver maps, CAD drawings, medical information to firefighters on the way to an emergency. BIG IMPACT! Look how social software - yes, even social software - drives activism for Obama. BIG IMPACT! I'm an idealist too. :)
A few years ago there was a fellow who gave a presentation at a PostgreSQL user group. He demonstrated an easy to understand way to virtually eliminate sql injections attacks. I can't find the paper now but if I recall properly it worked by allowing you to specify a prototype of the kind of statement you want to expand and then checking if the statement being prepared was structurally equivalent to the prototype and then throwing an exception if not. For example if you specify a prototype like

select name from emp where {x = 1}

then you're telling the system that you want your where clause to have the AST structure {variable operator constant}.

Then you let the application generate whatever sql it wants however it wants, e.g.

"select name from emp where x = " + $x

Then if the database server gets something like

"select name from emp where x = x; delete * from emp"

The statement doesn't match the structure of the prototype and an error is returned. This allows even a novice to specify the kind of sql they want to allow without having to learn much.
I think social networking gets a bad reputation because it has become a bit of a buzzword applied to any application that tries to cash in on the "social" trend. The real value of social networking is huge, but the message is lost in the noise of zombie bite applications and myspace profiles.
That's Dr. Bezos.
Want a job at a Clean Tech startup? Start here...
i am not sure the real benefits, but I can smell it will be loved by spammers.
"they told me that using the download page to download something was not something they anticipated."

And rightly so. Anyone who tries to use the download page to download something will give up and never try it again, so after a while everyone will ignore it!
The endowment effect: It’s mine, I tell you
I'm trying it now.

First impression: Totally Awesome!
Work for GreenMountain Engineering. We work solely on renewable energy, which I believe to be a more crucial concern than social networking.

We're mostly mechanical engineers, but we do a lot of embedded systems programming for photovoltaic manufacturing equipment. We're currently working on a solar tracker controller that uses YUI, Python, and Debian on a small single-board computer. One of our employees was a YC guy from a few cycles back who had the same desire as you.

Or start a renewable energy company that competes with Fat Spaniel-- they seem to have missed the web 2.0 thing. Or compete with us. We could use some hungry competition to keep us from getting lazy.
Why is this surprising? Bill Gates doesn't need to fanboi Microsoft internally; it's his company. He needs to be as critical as possible so the outside world gets a good product. It's his company that looks bad when things like this happen, so of course he is going to "rant" about it. It's his job.
We opened up more. Try again.

http://socialbrowse.com/techcrunch/
This reminds me of the bug report Linus Torvalds submitted when he couldn't figure out how to get youtube to work on linux.

https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=439858
Write some software that gives voters a way to monitor what their representatives are doing and how they are voting.

Perhaps it could provide a means of informal electronic voting. Perhaps it could standardize the way government officials communicate with their constituencies. Perhaps that would lower the barrier of entry so more people would be involved in their government.
All they had to do was see the sign and the list of what it took to be an "expert."

Oh, and let's not forget the social context: if there weren't people there they wouldn't care about not appearing expertish.
And that's how a guy with "no taste" critiques. Imagine Steve Jobs' emails!
Funny and true :)
Actually we are spammer resistant. Your shared links are only broadcast to people who follow you. If you spam, then nobody will follow you.
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