skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
Facebook and Wordpress are using PHP, but they've put significant effort into overcoming its pitfalls.

You can do anything in PHP that you could do in a more modern framework (Rails, Pyramid, Django or whatever), but some things will be more effort --- in particular, keeping the codebase organized and well-tested as an app gets larger.

(Also, FWIW, Facebook's codebase isn't all PHP, and Facebook alumni don't always stick with PHP for their next ventures. For instance, Quora's using Python on the server side; apparently its founders see some value in the switch.)
Well, it's his bank, so the lobby really is for his use to some degree. Also, I'd have to think they'd pay attention to who hangs out in their lobby repeatedly and for any length of time, if only for security reasons. (Or I'd have to hope.)

As long as he's a customer and doesn't seem to pose a problem, they probably don't mind. (And bankers would do something if they perceived a problem, if only by having the security guard hang out very close to the people in question.) If they haven't noticed that a few people work in the lobby, then those people really must not be impinging on anyone there.
> The UI design makes no sense whatsoever. It must have been done by an automatic random UI design decision maker.

Disagree. The UI reflects how I've seen most people use Skype (and other IM applications, iChat, Adium, MSN, …): always keep the conversation window open with all the contacts you usually chat with; ignore the contacts list.
HN: Care to mentor?
Hi everyone,

I've been lurking around these parts for quite some time. The level of knowledge that is found in this place is just amazing.

About myself:

I'm a recent college graduate who like most didn't really get much out of those years accept a piece of paper and some student loans.

I'm hoping that I could find a mentor here. Someone that could perhaps tell me about avenues i have not thought of, or been taught. I know that I want to be a hacker, but I just haven't found something that makes me passionate.

So if you are free for a few minutes a week to just chat or email, and maybe suggest a few new cool things that I don't know of, in the words of Bill Lumbergh, that'd be great.

Thanks all,
-s
Great article! I am currently in the first stage of starting up my company and will start implementing most of it as soon as we have enough material to do it successfully.
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I would venture it's a combination of disc-free PS3/Wii and the (Sept.) release of the iPhone app.
I'm not exactly a programmer (I've written some really cool Matlab code and I make SAS do nifty things, but no real languages other than dabbling in java) and getting the environment set up is a big intimidator to trying a new language (it took me 20 hours to get AS3 to compile and I never got box2d to work). I'm now tempted to try at least one or two on compilr.
I don't know much about Arc, but my gut feeling is that it is not likely to be newbie-friendly, between the combination of it being somewhat esoteric and, you know, a dialect of lisp, which isn't exactly known for being all that friendly to the new programmer. :)
Ruby’s define_method, method_missing, and instance_eval
Those improvements aren't as fleeting either. If the employee leaves, whatever process improvements they had gotten with that 5k has a good chance of sticking around and helping for the future.
I was hoping to have some video tutorials built beforehand, we have just been swamped. But there definitely needs to be a help page for users.
Startup America-Dead on Arrival
Don't let your iOS developer license expire
Great to see CouchOne getting momentum. Their commitment to mobile solutions is a great direction.

Additionally there are so many use cases in the fields of data warehousing and analytics. I am sure that CouchDB will replace many cube-based solutions in the future. There is great potential for companies focusing on CouchDB, like CouchOne and also Cloudant.
So...when the government pays people to do things, that's socialism?

I seriously doubt that's how a governmental program training and employing the youth to repair the infrastructure would be viewed, and especially not as proposed to the more socialistic policy of welfare.
I think "100% sure" might be overselling it... Interesting how many meta-startups are emerging, though.
Great app but I actually had trouble downloading it... I went to the app store and searched for "google translate" and it came up with a bunch of apps that were not the right one. App store searching sucks
Looking forward to "YC Makes Yummier Primordial Soup."

The comparison of the 90s to today got me started on a conversation about why the web industry is the one odd-ball tech industry where barriers of entry are abnormally low, cost of tech & services are low etc.
Update your timezone defs: Russia abolishes winter time (DST)
As I recall, this had very little to do with this guy complaints - it was a mixture of C allowing use of x87 80-bit-wide doubles and not allowing sufficient reordering of operations.

That said, yes, restrict was added for this kind of thing.
I find most debate tactics pointless. I find some of them a bit intellectually dishonest. An honest search for the truth involves questioning and self doubt. A lot of the way debating is practiced discourages the right kind of openness and keeps people away from the truth.

I think I'd like to see more of the "intellectual potlach" I see a few really brilliant and confident people playing. (They are so confident, they willingly put their ideas into the fire, knowing they'll most likely come out unscathed.)
The Future of Art
No offense taken. I think I recognize my own limits (Stanford's a good place to learn them), but I also know our customer base better than a contractor, and at the end of the day I'm the one who has to maintain the code. There were certainly situations where I went with what the contractor said rather than what I preferred because he made reasonable points (e.g. "this would add a dependency to the project") or just general software engineering stuff where I deferred to his experience. I also think I was more than fair about discussing and justifying my decisions when I did have to make the one he didn't like, but it didn't seem to mollify him.
Very funny idea (not sure if it is meant to be) but I do agree with nckpark in that getting 5 people to drop a couple bucks doesn't mean much for the quality of the idea. Especially when knowing that most people aren't successful entrepreneurs that know what will work, and even if they are, 5 people doesn't give you a majority. Also I feel a big thing VCs preach is being "contrarian" so having mass belief in an idea would be contrarian to contrarian (Upstartly likes recursion right?).

Either way, really fun idea and Goodluck!
S - drop a line and tell me about yourself. What makes you happy, what do you do with your time, what did you do in college, what ?'s do you wonder about - that sort of thing.

I am fairly busy but I can squeeze 15 minutes out of a week to answer ?'s you've got, vet some ideas or otherwise help you get started.
There's always some exclusive story that can be spun, at any stage of a company's life. It just takes creativity.
Mozilla intend to ship Firefox 4, 5, 6 and 7 this year - Is this Realistic?
I'm not sure who the audience for this is, but I didn't really leave the article with any new ideas.

EDIT: The whole article is available at http://onstartups.com/tabid/3339/bid/24525/14-Reasons-Why-Yo...
In some cases, your boss may understand and support this position, but be constrained by his higher-ups. This is especially the case at companies where technology is on the expense side.
Yep. The big take-away from this thread and the related one linked above is that libraries vary a lot, and you'll have to try yours out to see how it works.
Ask HN: should I take the red pill or the blue pill? 
I have 5 years of experience with .NET using the C# language, and I am very familiar with the associated tools, from Windows, SQL Server and IIS to Visual Studio and MSBuild. Now I have a good idea for a web application which I could develop using those tools, but if (when) it becomes a success I will have to pay the Microsoft 'tax' eventually.

Instead I could try building it on other platforms like Ruby on Rails, MySQL and Apache and learn as I go. I love the idea of learning all that but I don't feel comfortable because I don't know how exactly it's going to work out for my app.

Picture this: you have (as I do) a MacBook Pro running OS X and all the tools needed for the experimental approach. Only a reboot away on the same drive is a Bootcamp partition running Windows 7 with the very familiar and free (for 3 years) Microsoft tools. Which one would you choose, the red pill or the blue pill?
I was actually referring to RoR in regards to support concerns but I appreciate the arc response :). Still helpful.
This is loaded question :

1) you can't control formats to guarantee safety. You can have malformed files (like pdfs used to hack google) or valid files with payload (most doc viruses are valid files)

2) you can try to identify / help users with some files by providing more information about files. Start by running commands 'file -b' and 'file -ib', and then deeper inspections: 'pdfinfo' for pdfs, etc Also read zipinfo/file comments (old school stuff like: files.bbs / descript.ion / zip global comment / zip per file comment, etc)

3) you can help people mark files up. Aka: is this secure / verified file. And also is the person trusted. This heads into whole can of worms regarding trust relationships.

4) in the end you can't guarantee anything. Instead of a popup just before download give indication to how you see a file. Mark .exe as less secure file than .txt . If you want cutesy go with a cake. A text file will be a nice cake. EXE will be a rotten cake (and add a note 'cake is a lie' for gamers refernce)

5) for internal things rely on various hash methods. For my stuff I use: md4/md5/ sha1/sha224/sha256/sha384/sha512 /ripemd160/whirlpool/ crc32/adler32/ ed2k_chain/ed2k_aich_chain/ed2k_root (i use these to detect dupe files)

Additional benefit of these hashes is that you can block a whole series of files. Many a pirate site will provide either SHA1 file hash (mostly gnutella) or ed2k_root (which is same md4 for files below 9.8mb). Some torrent files will contain md5 per file. CRC32 is also quite popular in pirate scene (atleast rely on crc32 to flag potential pirate content that could land you in prison).

Finally, also rely on hashing like ssdeep, which will help you detect viruses.

---

Finally, talk to your users about file formats. They can help you deal with files, give hints how to inspect them, etc.

Kind regards
Reminds me about the story of Netflix CEO. From http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2011/0...

[... Huffington coaxed Hastings to talk about leadership -- and one early experience that informed his leadership style.

Hastings recalled how, as a 25-year-old software programmer, he would stay up all night, propelled by coffee. He'd leave an array of mugs on his desk. Once a week, he would discover the cups cleaned. One day, he arrived at work at 4 a.m. and walked into the bathroom to discover the company's CEO, sleeves rolled up, washing the collection of nasty cups.

"That whole time, I thought it was the janitor," said Hastings, who said this had been occurring for a year. He asked his boss why. "He said, 'You do so much for this company, this is the only thing I can do for you.' ]
worked for me too.
I guess the secret is to be the "X guy who isn't afraid to do the dishes," where X is something other than doing dishes.
Anybody see the inherent irony in this?
Python is very fun and agile, however I was always under the impression it was also not meant for big projects as it is strongly not typed. Do you think Python is a great substitute or compliment to rails? What's your code of choice?
Also, a just society needs to operate by certain fictions: for example, that people are innocent until proved guilty or that all men are created equal. Among those should be the assumption that others can be persuaded through logical means

This is good if you are using this as a filter to find exceptional people. The exceptional people can often be persuaded, because they actually listen and consider unfamiliar ideas and ways of thinking. (Also note, that they aren't always persuaded.)

However, if you are playing the odds - odds are people aren't really listening or devoting sufficient attention to a complex or genuinely novel idea.
If he truly said that, I am even less inclined than before to see the merit of his theories. Not that I know them in detail, but this makes me not want to know them.

If people are still able and looking for jobs, their time is better spent looking for jobs than doing pointless tasks. This can be a real problem - writing applications (if that is your approach) takes a lot of time, and if you do 14 hours of taxi driving per day, there is less time for finding that job that would suit you better.

Then there are the people on welfare who are really sick or disabled - why should they have to build giant structures, and how?

Lastly there might be people exploiting the system, but I suspect they are not that many. At least were I live, being on welfare is actually work, anyway, because you have to wade through tons of bureaucracy to get it and stay on it.
I would, but you don't have an option for openID.
If Social Media Were a High School
Ask HN: Any angels hate Facebook?
Sorry for the throw-away account, but I've been obsessed with creating a Facebook alternative since 2004 and wouldn't like to admit it publicly. Anyway, since I'm unable to separate myself from this obsession, I have put years of energy into crafting and positioning a potential alternative that I hope might bring Facebook to obsolescence.

Recently, I've had very positive results with the stickiness and viral qualities of a unique feature that someone else suggested to me.

Confidence bolstered and believing it the right time to strike, I'd like to know if there are any angel investors out there willing to help me support the scaling out of the project.

Requirements are equal disdain for Facebook and a matched love for the web at large.

If that's you, comment below or contact me directly at fbnomore@gmail.com
Kansas Turns to a Brigade of Senior Citizens to Track Student Attendance
I had literally the same experience a few years ago. I was working at a fine dining restaurant, the dishwasher called out, so the chef happily did both dish and grill. Turned out he was the best dishwasher there. Since then, I've noticed that one invariably cooks as well as they clean.
Humans not that much better than fellow primates at game theory
Most of the traffic still comes from Google search, so I'd say a combination of user interest in this type of thing and being near the top for most of searches.

As far as features I added sharing which allows teachers to generate links that they can send to other teachers and embedding which allows teachers to put their planbook right in their website.

Nothing revolutionary, but both helped w/ SEO and increased visibility with target customers.
Prosecuting the possession of information without clearance is done so rarely because a conviction on any of the points that touch the act is impossible.

The scenario you describe simply doesn't exist, it has nothing to do with journalism, and the onus is on those advocating for the validity of these kinds of prosecutions to distinguish acts from those which AIPAC members had charges dropped in the Franklin case just a few years ago.

I'd be interested in hearing about any successful prosecutions, so consider me eager to be proven wrong.
Don’t Forget about LinkedIn
Government investigation: No evidence Toyota electronic throttles malfunctioned
Exactly,

HVAC design
Janitors
Construction
Nannys
PLumber
Cable Pullers
Architects
Landscaping

All of these are compan types that would never have groupons.
Guess who signed up, following that article? A YC partner. Which one? Guess :-)
This works for some startups, but not all.

More importantly, WHO those five are is very important. I could get five best friends to give me five dollars. That's meaningless in evaluating your idea.
Ah, sorry. RoR has a very vibrant and active community, and I don't think you'll have any problem finding help with it if you choose to go that route.
To date people, unless you have the misfortune of being gay (only in the sense that it limits your pool), you've massive numbers of singles wandering around...not nearly so common are the people who are connections, and certianly not at the bottom.
Homeless folks still have to pay sales taxes in most places.

People breaking the rules is certainly a valid complaint. However, I'm not aware of libraries banning YouTube (if people are using headphones), Facebook, or whatnot.
You were called out for it in the previous thread, and yet you're still including children in your full-time labor force participation rate.

And as near as I can tell you've conjured your "80% of the poor don't work at all." figure out of thin air. You don't adequately address the objections in the linked thread, and you're making the same oversimplifications.
If arguing is pointless, why even have your own opinion at all?

So you can live your life by it?

And what point does democracy have?

Democracy involves artificial environments and contexts where there are rules constructed to make arguments follow a certain structure so they can be settled through voting.
epi0Bauqu what does this mean for you and DDG?
Out of curiosity, why the disdain for Facebook?
I expect in the future a lot of people will be employed in computer games. It would not be so different from working for Disney World.

Not sure how many support people Blizzard has, but it is a shame that doing real business is usually outlawed in most MMORPGs.
Feel free to drop me an email as well (email in profile) with questions/etc. I'm definitely not at the level as some of the other people here but hopefully I can help a bit.
This debate is exactly why I'm looking at co-working. I've yet to try it, but the local shop (ideafield Tampa) is only $99/month + a $25 one-time desk fee. That's not bad.
Loved his Cult Creation essay. I'm sure this will create some attention.
Should mean a more long-term stable API.
The design for syntax highlighting is pretty clever, and makes that feature much more responsive than most in-browser editors. The current line is always black text on a light blue background... and then when you move the cursor to a new line, the highlighting is processed.

I've implemented that kind of thing in the past, and making it perform well is always a ton of work. This approach is much more elegant and gets you 90% of the value. I like it!
It was the DARPA research lab next to the McDonald's.
37signals - Better
If you want to do a big project in Python, it's considered best practice nowadays to have a thorough test suite, in part to catch the sorts of goofs that the typechecker would otherwise tell you about (though a good test suite will do a great deal more than that).

However, Rails is a Ruby web framework; Python and Rails do not mix. The Python equivalents would be Django or, I think, Pyramid.
One dream exits, another dream enters.

Unsentimental redeployment of resources to newer, more promising ventures is one of Silicon Valley's competitive strengths.
It's called a query string...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Query_string

My advice: come in on the Rails - stay for the Ruby.
I didn't realize the Sun campus was empty.

It's a strange place. Not walking distance to anything, not train adjacent, not school adjacent, .... The buildings are pretty though.

It's the perfect location for a middle-aged company to become isolated and slip into irrelevance.
I can't believe how many people are belittling this idea or strawmanning it as a couple of dollars or $5. What the page is getting at is if you can get a few customers to actually commit real money, then you've got an actionable idea on your hands. This is so much better than any wishy-washy "that's a good idea" or "I'd buy that". This is a full fledged, "Here's my money, I am buying this right now." sort of decision.
Want to be a great leader? Work hard to develop extraordinary skills. Become an independent thinker and have the courage to follow your ideas. Show respect to others and never think more highly of yourself than you ought. Avoid bad habits of sloth, dissipation, dishonesty, and other qualities that would cause others to lose respect for you. Set goals that challenge you to do your best and follow diligently after them. Apply all this consistently to every part of your life, always striving to better yourself in even the smallest ways while maintaining integrity.

In my student days, I worked in restaurants. I worked with a guy who was a Mexican immigrant, who washed dishes with me for several years in a busy restaurant. He worked hard. He was always upbeat. He never complained. And he radiated a sense of joy all about him. Why? Because he was content with what he was doing while obviously striving to improve himself at the same time. He would often sing while he worked. And that was inspiring. That man might never make a mark in the broader society but I could see he would be a fine leader wherever his life circumstances took him.

These same qualities can be found in the startup world, as nicely reflected in this piece. But they are by no means limited to those who seek success in business. They are life qualities. It profits us all to follow them.
My dad owns Renditions, there in Railroad Square. He recently suggested I apply to TechStars. It was way out of the blue, but I wonder if your work with SiliconTally may have spurred it.

I'm not living in Tallahassee anymore, but if I were I'd definitely be interested in meeting up.
Ask HN: How do you maintain long-term focus
How do you maintain your long-term focus for building a truly successful software project?

Most great pieces of software will take many months to build. How do you maintain focus over the long term?

I've started a few software projects with friends that show promise, but my month three or four we (or at least I) get sick of looking at the same code base everyday.

My mind starts to wander and get more excited about other projects and I lose focus on my original idea.

Do others struggle with this? If so, how do you maintain focus over the long term?
Open source. if you learnt properly with the .net platform, you should be able to transition... and from there, you can scale faster and cheaper, and look cool doing it. :)
"apply raw social power"

This follows my experience of how decisions are made in corporate America. It's all about animal dominance games. Logic is only an auxiliary weapon. It's a grenade launcher beside the main cannon.
The headings in this article are incredible: "How The Singularity Gave Birth to Black Frankenswan"

I especially like the idea that this new species of entrepreneurs is feeding a new species of investors. I tend to think, though, that institutional investing will still be popular -- especially in later rounds, as the risk profile of investments trends closer to what big investors are used to.
"There is a stigma attached to middle-aged job hunters. Why hasn't he found his dream job by now--is he fickle and hard to please? Why isn't he already rich? "

It's funny you mention this. An unmarried (and has never been married) friend of mine who is in his 40s says he has the same problem with dating. Women wonder: why isn't he married? is he afraid of commitment?