skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
*pets C++* It's okay, I don't hate you, C++. Your undefined behavior makes you special.

But really, C++ is a somewhat decent language if you use it in a simple way. My day job consists mostly of C++ work (video game development). My side project is 95% C++.

I think C++ is infamous because it's so easy to shoot yourself in the foot with its language features. Templates are an excellent example. They sound like a wonderful idea when you first begin to use them, but unfortunately it's extremely easy to abuse them. (Templates, just like every other tool, has its place; a lot of experience is required to know when to use them, or rather when not to use them.)
Many partnership agreements have time-based equity. In the case of YC-related companies, full equity doesn't come into fruition for 4 years. The equity grows over time and usually requires a minimum 1-year commitment for any equity stake.

In your case, you guys didn't think this part completely through (oh well, move on).

I suggest you talk with the previous programmer. It's more than likely he doesn't see any value in his equity and may be willing to give it up completely or for a small return.

If he wants a return for his effort, you guys could come to some sort of arrangement of payment. This could be an immediate payout or a payout dependent on funding (seed/series A). If the value is too high for an immediate payout and the programmer has no faith in you getting funded, you could arrange to make monthly payment installments ($300/mo * x months).

As for his rate, I would suggest that he not expect his "corporate rate" for his work. As he was doing this in good faith as part of a team, it's stronger to expect a discount, similar to what you'd charge a friend or partner for work (i.e. $25/hr vs. $100/hr). It's unreasonable for him to expect to be paid as a contractor considering the circumstances.
Where are these tags from exactly?
Hm...
# We work long hours. We believe great things are accomplished 5% inspiration and 95% perspiration.

Translation: We can't plan, so we make up for it with burnout.

# We believe the perfect is the enemy of the good. This means we focus on getting things done, not on building the most perfect system. We strongly believe in rapid iteration."

Translation: Don't try to get it right, just get it done again and again.

It's a recipe for generating technical debt, not developing software. Unless, that is, the goal is software that's just as buggy and unmaintainable as most corporate software.
Ask YC: Pointers for Running Cat 5?
I need to run some Cat 5. I want to do it myself, but I am little wary of doing a sub-standard job.

I've printed out some on-line directions and I haven't yet bought any tools. Any suggestions on tools, good directions or other pointers?
That article took a long time to get to the point.

It was still interesting.
Presumably, it's any text enclosed in [brackets] in a news item or comment. (hence all the numeric tags from code)
No, actually, the phrases "pun intended" and "no pun intended" don't mean anything of the sort. Stop whining, they're just a friendly gesture. ;)
http://ijlit.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/16/1/1

is the full text of the original article if you want more technical info.
Tags: [witty] [sarcastic] [funny]
Tip YC: Periodically check your web host prices.  You can negotiate if prices have since gone down.
This article appears to be lifted from [1].

The first four paragraphs are identical; the rest of the article at NewScientist is available to subscribers only, and yet appears at esciencenews. Also, the author's name, Paul Marks, has been removed.

Does esciencenews have permission to reprint such subscriber-only articles without full attribution?

[1] http://technology.newscientist.com/article/mg19826626.500-ar...
Are you actually incorporated? Did you actually distribute shares? What does the agreement say exactly?
Hahah, let me tell you how.

When I'm explaining computer science to someone who wants a capsule explanation, I don't tell the "computer science studies the problem X Y and Z, along with their generalizations", I say:

"Computer Science studies the limits of human thought, trying to understand exactly how hard a particular idea is to think, and what sort of problems it is reasonable (for various notions corresponding to best, average, worst case complexity)to ask a person to solve".
WebObjects was way too far ahead of its time. You're absolutely right that so far Apple has contributed very little to the web app space. We'll have to see what happens in the future.
I'm glad you got something out of it. I didn't.

I think it's a cruel stereotype, and the upvotes that comment has received are telling of the lack of sincerity on this topic.

There are many things you can do with IT/ICT to help the developing world. Here are some suggestions:

Build a non-literate UI on a cheap cellphone. Use it to provide rural villages with healthcare and market information, and financial management tools (like microfinance accouting).

Hack together a long-range WiFi to provide connectivity to a remote site.

Stream video from your cell phone to your favorite video-serving startup. Convince people to donate their time and money by showing them conditions on the ground.

Build a service that lets multiple villages form a cooperative using cellphones. Let them buy agricultural inputs in bulk at better prices, access wider markets for their goods, and coordinate transportation and tool sharing.

Use pcs or phones to educate rural farmers on modern agricultural techniques.

There are countless underfunded projects that are trying to do something in this space, going far beyond microfinance (though that may turn out to be one of the most important measures taken).
Probably my fault for linking the print version. http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=digital-image-forensics
You're right, it shouldnt have happened, the system is supposed to filter for New Scientist postings on Eurekalert, as they're the only one who post their full text as a press release, but still tell you not to use it. It appears the filter have failed, i will fix this! Thanks, i didn't even notice the source. People can read the story at http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/ns-ccp062508.... since I deleted it from E! science news
It's amazing how incredulous people get when I tell them my office has a sleeping room. Its really sad and unfortunate that something this natural has been demonized to such an extent.
The Sustainability of Human Progress (John McCarthy)
Note that while I don't share all of his views, this webpage is a broad, reasoned, concise case for optimism amidst the obstacles we'll face.
He got tired of waiting for the semantic web ... So he's building it. From scratch. By himself.
10 Hot Web/Celebrity Company Comparisons
I wish upon my own life that my office had a sleeping room. I'd gladly settle for sleeping on the floor in my cube from 1:30-2:00pm, but instead I stare ahead blankly from 1:30-4:00pm. Totally worth my company's time to make sure I'm awake.
Check out these guys:

http://www.inveneo.org/

I recently met the founder at an event in SF. He gave me a demo of their very impressive solar-powered computer product. This is a high-tech nonprofit run in an entrepreneurial way by people who are trying to change the world for the better.
Try applying for QA positions as well, instead of tech guy ones. Frankly, you might be running into a problem that you're overqualified for the grunt work positions. Further, unless you're WAY younger than your wife, you may be running into an age discrimination issue.

I've come to the conclusion that the best thing anyone can do for themselves to get into the corporate world is an internship during one's college years. Most places hire their new talent from their intern pool.
Using packet sniffing to build a World of Warcraft bot
Ask YC: job market for functional programmers
I wasn't a computer science major in college, though I took some classes in it. My first programming job (most recent) was at a hedge fund, and most of my work was in the functional paradigm.

I'm not afraid to learn a new language, because that's always been easy for me, but I want to continue working in functional languages, e.g. Lisp, Haskell, ML.

What types of work are people doing with these languages? How is the FP job market, in general, where are the jobs located, and which of these languages are most employable?
I would like to see how CS minors figure into the context, as well as CIS/MIS degrees. As someone with a CS minor (considering going back for a BS/master's), I've found that all I needed was that first job. Certainly, I've had my fair share of jobs that I just couldn't get into, but it's enough for blub.

I might advise someone to get a major in Biology and a minor in CS these days. In the corporate world, as far as I can tell, you are only as good as your domain.
It took me a while to get a real programming job out of school as well. It eventually happened. Whatever you do, keep coding. Get stuff out there. Pick an open source project if you like that kind of thing, otherwise follow a pet project, get it on the web. Hell, you may not even need a job if it takes off. But in the short term, there's a serious risk of fading away from code, which is why you really honestly might be better off working at a coffee shop instead of doing a boring corporate job. At least you'll be hungry to write code. A creative writing teacher advised a few students against taking a PR job for the same reason (I'm not sure that was necessarily the best advice, just one school of thought).

In the past, it was much harder to program, because the resources were harder to come by. Now, you really can't say "I never had the opportunity to work with that programming language", because pretty much everything is there for the taking.
No. We are not incorporated. We are not really a startup still. So far, we are just a bunch of guys working in a basement and trying to get a working demo ready.
Nobody is more qualified to value your company than you are.

Ultimately it's your call. Think of a price you can live with, and don't take a penny less.
I think he makes a pretty astute observation that relying on technology to solve command problems actually exacerbates the problem.
> Stop whining

You are telling maddox, not me, right?
Ballmer's a marketer. He believes the crap and promotes the liars.
The agreement is really basic, spelling out what share of the profits each person will get. Of course, at that time, all of us understood that our ownership will be diluted based on any future investment that we might receive.

Looking back, we were incredibly naive and unsure about how these agreements are typically drafted although I have a much better understanding now.
Have fun, I was in Cairo 8 years ago, very cool place. What are you doing there?
Bluetooth enabled wearable thermometer. Chip design, convenience, measurement, programming for devices are some of the challenges.

Anyone else in medical diagnostics?
I'm not sure the tag is voluntary. I submitted it with (pdf) at the end, and edited after the posted title turned into "The First Report on Scheme Revisited (pdf) [scribd] (brics.dk)" which was a bit of a mess.
"I visited Stanford for a few hours while travelling through California and even the bookshop clerk pretended I was some sort of king. Maybe she took acting classes, or denies the fact were she not employed by Stanford, many of the students wouldn't give her much more than the time of day."

You know, there are some Stanford students who work in the bookstore. I think your accusation of all Stanford students having contempt for people who work at the bookstore, especially since it was just extrapolated from the behavior of a clerk who could've been a Stanford student himself, is highly unfounded.
Free Real-Time Collaboration for Open Source Teams
N-BRAIN today announced the release of new commercial and open source licenses for UNA Collaborative Edition, which is the company's tool for real-time collaborative software development.

The new commercial license is priced at $25 per user, and shaves $275 off the price of UNA. Explains John A. De Goes, president of N-BRAIN: "We've had many requests for a cheaper version of UNA, something that just lets people do a little coding together once in a while. With the new One Shot license, we're happy to offer all the features of UNA in a package that just about anyone can afford."

The new open source license is completely free and available to most open source groups. "UNA is built using a lot of open source technologies," says John, "And now we're able to donate something back to this community." He continues, "Open source is highly distributed by nature, and teams wanting to code together haven't had a lot of options. With UNA, we hope to offer open source teams many of the benefits of pair programming, but without colocation."

For more information on UNA, visit the N-BRAIN home page (http://www.n-brain.net).
Striptease web 2.0
I've wired most of my 60 year old house with cat5. It was surprisingly easy. Why don't you post what directions you've found and see if people have anything to add.
School locked down after 'ninja' sighted in woods
Also note that nearly all reviews for Microsoft are written by some kind of "managers"... The place seems to be composed almost entirely of them.
The exciting, confusing world of middleware
You might want to ignore singularities. Once-mentioned non-tags currently pollute the cloud.
Source?

I have heard of only informal studies on the percentage of economic growth over the last 200 years that was caused by charitable or governmental redistribution versus skills, technology, and reinvestment. And the number is usually less than 1%. But apparently someone has studied this more rigorously, and gotten a more confident estimate. Let's hear it!
My audience is probably both the easiest and most difficult audience to reach because of all the products waved in their face, gamers.

I am one myself so I fully understand, but I am having trouble building trust.
So they're cheap, offer low pay AND long hours? Wow, where do I sign up?!

Honestly, unless they do some incredible work and/or have great prospects and generous options, I can't see why anyone would want to work there. And based on their product, none of those seem to be true.

Apart from this, the article itself doesn't say much - the problem being that no matter how honest you want to be, listing a few things like in his example won't be enough to give a candidate anything more than a vague idea of what the place will be like and offering below-market rates is always wrong.

This company seems to have a much better idea:
http://thisisremarkable.blogspot.com/2008/05/zappos-remarkab...
"Like everyone else, I also hope to get covered on TechCrunch, Mashable, VentureBeat, etc. in order for the tech world to take me seriously, but I’ve gathered they will only cover you if you break silence through them."

They will cover you if you're newsworthy. You have an edge if you offer them an exclusive. Launching is rarely newsworthy (unless you're noteworthy as a founder or you're doing something really revolutionary), but growth is-- so start growing and you have a story.

I've been covered on TC 5 times spanning two businesses. My impressions are that A) being worth writing is the important thing and B) It's not all that. 10-15k uniques from TechCrunch isn't going to build your business, it isn't going to get you funded, and it isn't going to get you more than 500-100 actual users. For fundraising (if that's a nearterm goal), it's a good thing. But growth/traction/market are WAY more important.

Real good read on the topic: http://sethgodin.typepad.com

IF you want to ease into it, post a hardcoded signup key here... If it leaks outside of this community, turn it off.
A favorite startup of mine is bodybugg (http://www.bodybugg.com/). They measure the flux of body heat and determine a person's caloric output. I built some MEMS devices once and was juiced about building a body calorimeter. Too bad I had my idea something like three years after bodybugg went to market :)
I'd turn it around: Why would you turn your computer off if you don't have to? The power consumption is roughly $0/year, and by keeping it on you don't have to resurrect your editors, terminal windows, and browsers every morning.
I wish these "cruel stereotypes" would stop ending up in my inbox.
I do the same thing, but even with sleep sometimes my machine gets hosed (the technical term) and requires a reboot. That never happened with my old Linux box.
"Your valuation is a multiple of your revenue. If you grossed $500,000 this year, expect $750,000 next year, and want a 2x forward valuation, you're worth --- do the math."

When I sold a consulting business, this was a good starting point, but how many online startups are valued this way? I'm not saying that it's not ridiculous that some properties get sold for gazillions with no revenue (and no prospect of it), but if these guys tie to a multiple of revenue (which I imagine is pretty close to zero) they are probably priced to low.
It sounds a bit strange and it feels a bit strange too, but you can practice getting up when the alarm goes off.

Before you go to sleep, set an alarm like a minute in the future. Lay down, close your eyes, relax. Then, when the alarm goes off get up immediately, stretch a bit, etc.

Do this a couple of times (3, 5, 10 ;) and your brain will get used to the idea of getting up when the alarm goes off. Works like a charm for me (I tend to fall into the snooze-habit too)

This is not my idea, BTW, I got it from Steve Pavlina (http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2006/04/how-to-get-up-right...) but I thought I'd summarize the long article for you ;)
http://w3schools.com is good for real real beginners...
http://www.webdevout.net/ good for some more tips...

I like o'reilly's book web design in a nutshell very good reference (little dated in some cases (not much for beginner, has all the ropes, just not up on latest browsers firefox 1.0 or 1.5...) though hopefully a 4th edition is on it's way)

ooh... and don't forget http://csszengarden.com great for seeing how powerful css really is and getting some good idea's for design.
There's a section in the script to only give the top 100 tags. I commented it out so that you could initially see the full range of curiosities. Long term, there will be a more concise list.

Tags: [tagging] [outliers] [singletons]
[IBM] Introducing OmniFind Analytics Edition: Customizing Text Analytics
The purpose of feature writing is to tell a complete story, not provide data as fast as possible.

War and Peace in short:

Napoleon invades. Gets kicked out.
Given the fact that the consumption of video and audio will only increase I would like to see a remote control specially made for that purpose. It should not be hard. Maybe it will be an improved mouse. I looked around, but could not find anything that would satisfy my need. I may go on and get a prototype built.
Specifically, anything that matches the case-insensitive regex \[[0-9A-Z_\.\-]+\] and there's already a surprising number which provide useful searches.

Tags: [search] [tagging] [regex] [meta]
"They have asked for a valuation and if we would want to become full time employees."

As another poster said, it's a sales process. You should appear delighted at the prospect of working there. You can always say no later, but they should be wowed by your enthusiasm.

Regarding valuation, make them offer a #. A good way might be, "for a company at our stage, a formal valuation is pretty hit and miss. We kinda feel like the market should set our value. You guys certainly have more experience buying companies than we do selling them-- and we'd like you to make an offer." If they push you could always make noises about the best way being to see what a couple of other buyers might pay. ;-)

I'd avoid a lawyer for a bit-- they aren't going to help much with valuation.

The variables in the deal we did was:

1) stock options (part of employment agreement), vesting over 4 years
2) cash
3) cash signing bonus (just a way for them to put it in a different budget line)
4) relocation allowance
5) salary

Treat the employment stuff as separate. My buyer laid off 40% of the company in 6 months... I made the cut, but as easily couldn't have and would've lost my options and salary. Assume that'll happen to you (which means focus on cash, signing bonus, and relo variables).
I had you flagged, but then I thought that that would be inappropriate. Instead, I'll ask you this: What value does a comment have to me out of the context of the conversation I'm reading it in?

All you're doing is polluting your comment (and the site) with nonsense. You should really stop it.
And the book "Wolf of WallStreet", autobiography of the guy that founded that "Boiler Room"
well, if its any consolation, its telling that this person created an account just to leave that comment.
Can anyone explain why the comment in this subthread by keating is marked as "[dead]"? What does that mean?
This happens all the time: multiple people you are following share the same link. In fact, that is one of the cool effects: a shared link starts spreading through the social graph. What you as an end users sees in your sidebar is a single view of that link, with multiple small user icons lined up underneath it, showing each of the users to have shared it. Think of Gmail's message threading.
New CSS in Firefox 3
Appliances: Adaptable Parallel Computing for Mass Consumption
I didn't know that was possible. Is there a page that says how it works? I don't want to watch their video.
"...	Y Combinator News Tag Cloud ..."

Can't wget the rss feed (nice addition) or add to browser
Microsoft has a tough time retaining its best and brightest employees. - July 10, 2000
granted, but arbitrage is a wonderful feature of capitalism. It shows you exactly where big inefficiencies are.
This Andy Schlafly appears to be a bit of a quack from the dialog, but I am not convinced Prof. Lenski was right to deny him the data.

I'm admittedly quite unaware of how science works, but would this be a correct analogy: Initech uses GPL code in a product, hacker writes Initech asking for source, Initech says "no, you do not have such and such qualifications, you wouldn't know what to do with the source, so you can't have it".

I looked up section viii. of the PNAS guidelines and at first glance it doesn't seem he quoted it out of context. In fact it specifically says "readers", not "qualified scientists" as in another guideline.

Obviously Andy Schlafly's intentions were to discredit Prof. Lanski, and he was not qualified to examine the data. Prof. Lenski made the judgement call to deny him the data. But, having submitted to PNAS, is it his call to make?
non-literate UI

this is brilliant (no sarcasm) and a good example of fantastic ideas being summed up in a single phrase. is anyone working on this?
Thursday at Noon is the best time to post and be noticed
Yes. I think it's very valuable to ask why people cho0se this form of escapism over another, like sports, television, body building, or any of the others available. There are more and more every year.

But if you want to replicate it, I think the biggest thing to understand is that it is escapism. That was the not very well-received point of my comment.
I think you're right on some fronts, Allan-- tho:

"4. Shared hosting wasn't the cause - you just chose a bad host."

Seriously? Hosting an email app (that needs near-perfect reliability) on a shared hosting account? No.

But yeah-- the is probably missing a few items on the list of reason why he failed and is including a few that he shouldn't.
The former may be fun with ampersands in shell commands. Try double quotes around the URL. The latter is a world of pain. What version of what browser are you using?
The truth lies somewhere in between those two extremes!