skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
I am serious.

I also don't doubt for a moment that exercise is healthy for the body, just like spinach, which I also hate.

But hey if you got some idea about how to make it more fun, I am open for suggestions - I have no desire to die early.
I don't understand, what is the posterous of customer support?
We've been using this process (rolled our own) for a couple months and I very highly recommend it, whether you build it yourself or use this TestFlight thing. Your testers will love you.
Ask HN: best practices in running a tech startup?
What resources are there for actually running the business of a tech startup? Checklists, frameworks, advice - whatever. Is there anything you've found particularly helpful in putting together and keeping together the actual company you're building (as opposed to the product or service you're selling)?
It makes sense, until you realize that Facebook does "Talent acquisitions" basically, i.e. with drop.io, friendster, etc.

He thinks highly of Adam for sure, but Adam also left Facebook to found Quora. I don't think Adam would want to be bought back by Facebook and actually stay there for any significant period of time.

Plus, there's Facebook Questions... (Of course, the quality of the questions/answers is certainly debatable)
Lame Stuxnet worm 'full of errors', says security consultant
The CSS book makes good 'light reading.' The others are interesting but it's hard to retain much, from such dense material.
So lets say I go on IB, make a kickass ROI after 12 months, and decide I want to be gainfully employed in that industry. Do I just put it on my resume? Do I write a blog talking about my success? Or, at the end of the day, will I need people to still vouch for me?

For the DIY MBA, I completely agree. No easy way to signal that you have the requisite skills yourself.
PilarHQ, is a product which I've been secretly building for my other projects. I wanted a "light-weight" customer support tool for startups and projects which I hack on. Zendesk is kinda complicated, as it requires some training. I wanted something really really simple - like posterous.

It works simply:
You cc/forward any support you'd like to be published on your help page to post@pilarhq.com and we update your support page. If people come to your support/help page, search for an answer via our instant search and dont find an answer, they just have to leave their email and your entire support team is notified.

PilarHQ is lightweight because all you do is pretty much embed an iFrame to your site at pilar and you're set. Thats really all there is to it. You later on recieve emails from us and your customers, if you forward the ones you want to publish, we publish it to your cool support page.
"By allowing you to forwarding all your support emails to a special address"

HRrrrk... grammar.
"By allowing you to forwarding all your support emails to a special address..."

By allowing you to forward
Personally, I've seen very little benefits from this new method of learning.

Except that you learned programming where you otherwise wouldn't have done?

Like you, I learned to program on my own. I learned well before the internet, and let me tell you that it's easier and better with it than without. As for missing parts of my education, they are there and they are real. I've attempted to broaden my knowledge by reading and experimenting, and I would suggest that you do the same. This is the difference between learning some HTML, CSS, Javascript so you can put up a web page and the ongoing education that's required to stay current as a programmer. Ongoing reading and playing is required whether you've got a degree or not.

For a broad introduction to your craft go buy Code Complete. For a survey of popular programming language paradigms get Seven Languages in Seven Weeks. There's a lot more to read but seriously reading those two will be a nice start and will have a practical impact for you.
Obligatory XKCD: http://xkcd.com/353/
Whoops, haha. I'm sorry for that, didn't see it. Fixed now.
Hey, sorry for that, didn't notice it. Fixed it now.
That begs elucidation. I can't even tell if you mean it positively or negatively.
This is the article submitted by banksy http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2131563
I couldn't agree more about the "great company" part. I am 99.9% sure that that Qwiki has more tech behind it than simply going for wikipedia articles. From what I heard at TC Disrupt, they have some content search & discovery tech behind it.

Many "great" companies took off because of good execution, not some huge technology breakthrough.

That said, your Fqwiki is still cool.
Could you provide mode details on this, either in the comments here or in a blog post? I almost went with Selenium but ended up with a custom system to drive Firefox, would love to learn more about what the Selenium based solution looks like.
Read this passage again:

>"The dirty little secret," a former AOL executive says, "is that seventy-five percent of the people who subscribe to AOL's dial-up service don't need it." [emphasis mine].

The OP (at Huffington Post) very strongly implies that they do not need it because they connect to the internet through DSL or cable. I take that to mean that these customers use web services and client software that AOL offers for free or at a much lower rate if the customer does not need AOL's dial-up service, i.e., basic TCP/IP connectivity, to connect to the internet.
Single page:

http://www.newsweek.com/2011/01/23/the-genius-dilemma.print....
Write a book and get solid reviews.
agree with the above,

it's unclear to me if i'm outsourcing support or if this is like an autoupdating FAQ page?
I learned about this at one of my old corporate employers. One of our local contractors was ostensibly doing very well, and I presume he was making a lot of money, but when he wanted to go on vacation, he couldn't leave for over eight months because of his obligations that he had to personally fulfill for clients. Seeing this and thinking about the futility of being self-employed in the name of freedom but running your business such that you are more trapped than a normal "working-for-the-man job" in almost every sense, I decided I would always delegate aggressively when I had the opportunity to do so in my own businesses.

What's the point in having millions of dollars if you have never the time to enjoy any of it? Also, a company that is overly dependent on one individual is unable to ever exceed the capacity of that individual; he becomes a bottleneck that slows (usually to a complete stop) the growth of the whole company. In a few years when he finally cracks, the whole thing goes down with him.

I'm glad Derek found this out before it all collapsed; many business owners don't.
Angel investors on Twitter and Facebook
We just made this list of every angel investor we could find AND their investments twitter accounts.

there is no better way to court an angel investor then stalking them on twitter :-) let me know if we missed any and we will add.
Pretty much an autoupdating FAQ page.

I was planing on emailing you with a demo, but you don't have your email in your profile. Email me at hajrice@gmail.com if you want a demo.
I have the Disconnect extension for Chrome installed so I can't see what the submitter is trying to get me to see. Can someone fill me in?

I'll be an intern at Yelp this summer, so I'd like to know what I'm getting into if shady things are happening.
A tangential thought:

I deeply appreciate the process of selecting the right people for the business. I also think that the idea of "random hiring" has some juice in it for small businesses. When someone goes through layers of interviews and then gets selected, their expectation from the company gets higher. They have a feel that they are the 'chosen one' for the job. But when someone is hired at random, he/she knows she is just filling an open slot. The expectations are low. Such employees can be moulded the way the organization wants him to perform. Also, This is even better than the interview process in one aspect, that it is not enough to prove the worth on the first day, but he/she now needs to sustain the performance level at the job.
France Telecom Said in Negotiations to Buy as Much as Half of DailyMotion
thanks... sure i can't code in every evening, or i go blind or mad.. or single, all of which are not the options
Normal? With languages?

Normal is an ATM that doesn't know to look on my card or at my account data for my language. At my own bank. Ok, so maybe prompt for that and set that once. But then prompting me every single time I use that same card in the bank's own ATMs? Duh.

Normal is an IP-based language selection that fails for non-native speakers, or for regions where the populations where there are multiple languages.

Normal is a language chooser box implemented with the available languages listed in English.

Normal is US ASCII encodings and sort orders, when you're not running with English selected.

Normal is not being able to select your default language and spellings and related grammar checks on the fly, and on a per-document basis.

Normal is English text labels within images and icons.

More than a few of these systems will barf in creative ways when you toss UTF-8 at them, too.

Normal is a scheme a programmer or IT specialist can use to alter a mass deployment implemented as the main user interface, rather than as a design suitable for the end-user first and IT second.

Yes, we can do a better normal, too.
You have to have respect for the pigheadedness of these guys though, most people would pack it in after being sentenced to massive fines and jailtime, instead they just keep on going and find the time to roll out new stuff.
This level of communication is hugely important not just to employers but employees as well.

I want to know that my boss trusts me enough to let me make these sorts of decisions.

Bad managers will not bother to rise to this level of communication - or in some cases will purposefully withhold it in order to maintain their dominance.
Why I don't buy the Quora Hype
This is a technical problem. In companies the same questions get answered forty times. I finally gave up and spent a weekend writing an app that fixed the problem for me.
No one ever claimed that Twitter was a technological breakthrough, though. People are saying that about Qwiki.
A similar set-up I like is FAQoverflow:

http://www.faqoverflow.com/

Instead of eBooks, the content is visible directly in the browser.
For whatever reason, the post formatter is truncating the display text for your URL in a manner that makes the last character preceding the ellipsis a character that does not display correctly -- at least on under Windows XP with the Asian et al. character packs installed. Maybe some people see it as suspicious.
In English, yeah probably. In Hindi, not so much - the position of the 'h' matters.

In any case, is that rule one applies to names? That it's okay to mangle the true spelling as long as the pronunciation remains the same?
I just had an experience that made me reevaluate my career, re: compensation and success.

Background: I have had in a 35 year career lots of stock bonuses and good compensation. I have actually felt occasionally guilty of getting much better deals than co-workers because mixed in with lots of success have been many failures.

Recently I had lunch with someone I worked with off and on for years but had not seen in over 10 years. When he was introducing me to his wife, he said some very complementary things about my work and I modestly said something like "yes, but what about all the things I did that didn't work out."

He said, basically, that no one cared about my failures, just my successes.
Ed Fredkin: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Fredkin

(Caltech dropout after 1 year, joined the Air Force, became a fighter pilot, got assigned to Lincoln Labs, wrote the first PDP-1 assembler, then became a full professor at MIT).
Thanks for the book recommendations - I will definitely look into getting them.

> Personally, I've seen very little benefits from this new method of learning.

What I meant by this statement is that I saw very little benefits from this method in comparison to the traditional method. While it is not entirely impossible to go back and relearn the basics the right way assuming you've already taught them to yourself, it is most definitely a waste of time and something that should be avoided. As I said before, I think the first introduction to programming is the most important part of the learning experience. If the formal introduction is done well, you should be able to go off into the real world with what you learned and discover new languages by yourself. However, the lack of this introduction makes kids go off and teach it to themselves via the Internet. The solution? Schools should offer the basics of programming at an early age (10-11 years old). From there, those who want to pursue programming in greater depth can seek more instruction or do the learning by themselves.

> I learned well before the internet, and let me tell you that it's easier and better with it than without.

While I'm sure it's easier with the Internet, it is not necessarily any better. The easier it is, the less time you'll spend learning it.
Show HN: My first MVP - A Tea Search Engine
I agree that it's not the most elegant way to state what I was saying. What I meant to say was:

I'd wager good money that if you gave a random sample of 1000 people the option of either reading a wikipedia page or watching a qwiki, a majority would choose qwiki. If you don't think that assumption is a safe assumption, than we'll just have agree to disagree.
I don't quite see the appeal of "Do It Yourself" strategy. Most people in top MBA or MFE programs are also "doing it themselves" on the side but have many more resources to draw upon.

If you know for certain you want to be in business or finance, why not simply attend a top school. It only takes two years, which is nothing in the grand scheme of things. You'll make great friends, expand your network tremendously, and learn a lot, particularly if you go in with a very clear idea of what you want.

Of course, there is a downside -- tuition and opportunity cost. But it doesn't sound like your opportunity cost is that high and tuition, while expensive, is often worth it. I know plenty of people who were earning $40k pre-MBA and $160K after. They are also doing much more interesting work. It's absolutely essential, however, that you know exactly what type of job you want and what is required to get it. If you want to go to McKinsey, you essentially need to attend a top five school. Schools are definitely not worth it if you fritter away your time or decide you don't like the career path you've chosen.
It's been clear to me for a few years that PJ/Groklaw is not coming for a lawyer. Her agenda is clear and generally her arguments not compelling unless you're already in her camp.

It's unfortunate, because when Groklaw first began I thought it to be very useful. The more tangential issues she goes into the less interesting, useful, and credible it has become.
I think his wording ambiguous as to whether or not he was inferring application of the concept to software, and I personally appreciate someone clarifying that it isn't.

It was a good series of posts, either way.

Ultimately, I think I'd probably waste a couple hundred bucks and get professional legal counsel if I really wanted to be sure I knew all my practical modes of reprisal.
if it is indeed a p2p spotify, i hope it comes with an api!
I assume the poster is looking at instant personalization on Yelp (http://www.facebook.com/instantpersonalization/), which was introduced last April.
"As far as I can tell, the article is about calculating the probability of random people matching a particular DNA sample, not about excluding people, which is a lot easier."

No.

The article is very clearly questions the role of DNA evidence as a whole.

A couple of relevant quotes:

"Defence experts were trusting that the scientists had interpreted the data correctly. This perpetuated the myth that DNA is infallible."

"There's a considerable lack of understanding, not just from the public, but from the judges and lawyers."
I count three, with no information about the Xoom (before you got downvoted) except that it would "slaughter" the Toshiba and its UI was "better." I think the downvoting was consistent with HN standards. When a particular web site is under discussion and a guy posts a plug for a similar site, he doesn't get downvoted. Three in the same thread without an informative comparison, he gets downvoted.
A small peek inside the Google Android team
Thats not a bad idea - it will cut down on fraud at least.
It's called "Instant Personalization".

http://gigaom.com/2010/04/22/facebooks-instant-personalizati...

Old instructions on how to turn it off, back when it was simple:

http://gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/23/how-to-opt-ou...

But of course, facebook doesn't want you to turn it off so they made it a few clicks:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0Ei3HNeQkc
If Google isn't going to start filtering this low quality (spam) like they say, then someone hopefully will write a Chrome plugin to filter out search results for anything created by Demand Media et al.
Looks neat. Would be nice if you added Harney and Sons teas to the database.
I could imaging paying for a sponsored link at the end of the presentation or below the presentation if someone was watching a presentation on something relevant to my products/services.

The problem: People generally prefer not to read. Yet, people are curious creatures. If they could quench their curiosity without having to read, they will.
JavaScript's Popularity Declined in 2010 According to TIOBE Index
The New Meritocratic Elite: Really?
I wouldn't be able to speak about MFE, but in my experience people with 'real' MBAs respect and admire anyone who has built a successful business of any kind or size. Many times the people doing the hiring at investment banks, money management firms, and management consulting firms look for that in lieu of having the actual degree.

I have a sneaking suspicion that deep down they know the degree itself is kind of bullshit anyway, and want to work with people who actually have run businesses.

The real question is - armed with the equivalent knowledge of an MBA of MFE, why would you want to work for a large firm? That problem is already solved - just go get a Masters.
I knew that it got the info from wikipedia. I still don't like the name.
Scientists build double-floating-gate FET, could revolutionize computer memory
It would be kinda funny if this were all actually a viral advertisement for USwitch.
New Device May Revolutionize Computer Memory
I completely agree with this.

Even if you had the legal right to remove your code, or stall the site, (I have no idea if one would. I assume it depends on contractual obligations) and even if you decided that was your only rational option, it would still be best to handle the matter tactfully.

A future client, even if they agree with your motives, probably won't agree with your self-righteous customer-service methods. That's not the kind of person most people want to deal with. Maybe I'm jaded, but my opinion is that, if your job/contracts require interaction with customers, then part of your pay is to compensate for having to gracefully handle the garbage those customers throw at you. That doesn't mean you just let people abuse you, but it does mean knowing your options, and calmly taking them, or, where you really have no pragmatic recourse, washing your hands and moving on. That's why I hate ever being in a financial position where I absolutely need the current client/contract/job to survive through the next week.

Just my two cents, though.
Upon reflection, I realize / recall that I worked with a lot more good eggs than bad. Some people I grew quite fond of.

But the bad ones could really stink things up, and their self-promotion often sabotaged others' efforts.
So can one use this process to install non-signed apps onto a non-rooted iPhone? Does this mean I can write an app for the iPhone without going through Apple's AppStore?
Why I stuck with Perl (just some of my reasons!):

- I discovered more about the Perl language which allowed me to do more with less, more elegantly

- Moose

- metaprogramming

- fun (which is one thing Perl has always been IMHO).
I think it is better to build your own brand name rather than relying on another one. An 'autoupdating FAQ system' is a better description/tagline than calling it Posterous for customer support. Posterous is famous but what if a small online flower retailer wants to use your product and he has no idea what Posterous is? It is better to directly explain what your product does rather than relating it to another one.

On the other hand, if a tech blog writes PilarHQ is the posterous for customer support, that is well and good!
Wow, I watched that video and now hate Qwiki. That's the most useless, annoying way to present information I've ever seen.
RVM is Ruby's virtualenv (Wayne Seguin began work on it after Ian Bicking created virtualenv for Python, but I have no idea how much influence the two projects had on one another).
> The code base is bloated

Evidence?

> performance is sluggish

In 3.6, right? 4.0 improves on a lot of that.

> websql

Which pretty much everyone developing web browsers and working on the relevant standards now agrees was a bad idea, last I checked (if nothing else because it can't be sanely standardized). Firefox 4 is shipping with IndexedDB, if you note.

> they have acquired in the last few years

And who have been working on Firefox 4. Firefox 3.6 branched from trunk in August 2009...

Yes, the release cycle is too long; that's being fixed.
Awesome list. Bookmarked. It must have taken some work to put this together. Thanks.
lol Hate is a pretty strong word. You sure it's appropriate for what you're feeling?
"I would consider that low value content"

It's actually high value content (from a monetary perspective) otherwise Demand Media wouldn't be creating it. Low quality, high value. Spam is something else entirely.
Listening: a critical variable in learning mathematics
Depends on which terminal emulator you're using and which terminfo descriptions are available. (Ubuntu users: install the "ncurses-term" package.)

Xterm: xterm-256color,
Putty: putty-256color,
Gnome Terminal: gnome-256color,
Konsole: konsole-256color,
Screen/Tmux: screen-256color

And for anyone interested, the best TERM for Terminal.app is dtterm.
Hi there. Thanks for your comment and to be honest, this is still a test whether or not I should release this to the public and build it into a product. That being said, I totally agree with ya. So many people want a posterous for support. An autoupdating faq system is slightly vague, a posterous for support is much more descriptive from my perspective.
Top 10 reasons to run your own business
Open Hosting launches new corporate website
Try using TERM=dtterm.
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JmxzFzxstcx fSfsdzshf xgsddsdsd;-2/ddsa
Good lord, not a single one in the Republic of Ireland, the future Silicon Valley of Europe or so say our "smart economy" pushing government. Hopefully we can rectify that in 2011.
So do I; I only use Xterm (Ubuntu/Linux, Mac, & Windows).
I went on Quora a while ago and answered a few people's questions, mostly about the Stanford CS department and maybe a couple about Django or AI or something. I haven't been back on the site since - I haven't gotten any emails from Quora saying "you should answer this question" or "these people liked your answer" or "this discussion might interest you". I'm probably the kind of person they want on the site, since I actively like answering questions and helping people, but they're not doing much to keep me on there.