skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
The C site does has ads, actually. Far right, right under the Contact Us link.

Hits in last 31 days (5 month running CTR avg):

http://kennethfinnegan.blogspot.com/ - 4,574 0.33%CTR

http://ctips.pbwiki.com/ - 544 0.14%CTR

http://www.ducttape.pbwiki.com - 1,073 0.14%CTR

http://kwf.dyndns.org:5821/ - 164 (Mostly script kiddies attacking my Chumby) 0.86%CTR

The C tips site was a half-finished project. There was a lot more work to be done and I never promoted it.

And yes, all of them are very stale unformatted html pages. Web development isn't my interest or skill, and plain pages like those have never bothered me. Most of it is useful notes to myself, which I think others will find useful.

The Duct Tape site actually pays much better than my blog per page view, bringing in 2-3 cents per 1k, where the blog almost never brings in anything per 1k, but the blog pays $0.30-$1.50 per click, where the tape site only brings in 5-15 cents per click, so the blog brings in about 95%, the tape site the next 5%, and the C site brings in 2 cents on a good month.
a great related article at Wired: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/03/what-is-success-tr...
what PG calls determination I think Wired (quoting Angela Duckworth) calls "grit"
In 1960, it had the highest per-capita income in the U.S.

That's striking. It's almost hard to imagine that the city could have been so strong in the past.
Even if Mark had remotely turned on the camera of his own computer and started recording, I doubt wiretapping laws could come into play, because it's a) his property (see also: case law involving video recording of employees) and b) he's not law enforcement.

What it would come down to is reasonable expectation of privacy, but considering the admission that the laptop was stolen, most judges would throw this whole thing out if privacy was the legal argument. Any thief would know that a person whose property was stolen would probably go looking for it.

Mark's first amendment rights to publish data that is recorded on his property trumps the alleged thief's expectation of privacy.

The other issue that could come into play is copyright, but again, Mark is the owner of the property. Photographers who shoot photos on company equipment don't have the copyright of those photos; the publisher does, unless there is a specific contract between the author and the publisher granting the publisher (or the author) reproduction licenses.

Lastly, others have mentioned libel/slander. There's one flaw in this argument: Nowhere in the video description does it a) explicitly accuse the person of being the thief (so if he was found not guilty, the accused has no case there) and do so with malice or b) even make fun of the guy's dancing (which is a statement of opinion and wouldn't hold up in court).
Congrats to the Django team! I know you guys have worked very hard to put this together. I've been waiting for this final release for quite some time, having tried the beta release since launched.
Thanks again for your comment, as you replied both here and on the blog, I'll repost my reply here:

John, thanks for your detailed reply. Sorry I could not respond sooner. I realise that my writing was imprecise in places, so I've edited the story very slightly to describe the situation better.
To clarify: the thatcher in the story did actually do some investigation upfront. I've changed the wording slightly to emphasise this. The problem in general, though, is how do you know when you've done enough risk assessment? The only way to eliminate _all_ risk is to actually do the project, but that is clearly way beyond the point of diminishing returns! But doing _no_ upfront inspection is flagrantly reckless.

Also to clarify: the thatcher did in fact work on a time and materials basis. However, I only vaguely alluded to it, and I've improved the wording again. It's interesting though that you assumed it was done fixed-cost-and-scope - I suspect that is the default situation people assume.

I'm interested by your suggestion of using professional indemnity insurance - how would the thatcher have used this? Can it be done in a win-win, none-confrontational way?

Finally, while I've included enough detail to describe a "full" project, the problem I wanted to emphasise was how (given both parties realise they are partially through a project of questionable value for either side) do they to resolve it in a mutually satisfactory way?

No matter how experienced the thatcher, or how carefully he manages the risk, there will always be a project lurking out there he had no way to prepare for. Improving at your job means being caught out by more difficult problems, as the easy ones you handle almost intuitively.
What the fuck? Is this really the standard HN holds itself to?
I found it odd too, I assumed it was used humorously.
I was wondering that. They're a whole week early on April Fools??
I'm getting kind of tired of this argument by anecdote kicked off by the Twitter not-so-smart bar. A lot of the examples have much more to do with acquisitions by big cos that neglected the services after purchase. Do we really have to run up a huge list of free services that have stayed entirely free to users and are still good (Yelp, Zillow, a million things from Google, Goodreads, IMDB, all the IM services) or that charged money and stink, have gotten worse or disappeared altogether (Mozy, Xdrive, MOBILEME, Gizmo)? Charging does not equal profitability and other revenue streams are available beyond directly dunning the user.
and the survey measuring how gritty you are is here:
http://www.sas.upenn.edu/~duckwort/images/17-item%2520Grit%2...
Which is being stretched pretty thin to include "IPhone App" as "speech". But ok.

Freedom of speech is expressly limited in cases such as hollering "Fire!" in a crowded theatre. How about defeating police efforts to catch murderers? Child molestors? Drunk drivers?

Seems like its not cut-and-dried is all I'm saying.
Taken with a huge grain of salt when this is written by someone who's business is getting publishers to use their tablet browser based service.

(this doesn't mean its wrong, the cross platform bit is dead on - it just loses some punch in my eyes)
This was not actually the case, but I realise my writing was not clear, so I've improved the wording in the story.
There are a couple of good arguments in the incoherent linkbait. Luckilly, Mozilla knows this and has answers for both.

1) A continued slow release cycle will kill Firefox. Very true. Which is why Mozilla is switching to a 3 month cycle.

2) An app story is required. I'm not sure if I buy it, but Mozilla also has an answer to that: https://apps.mozillalabs.com/
It's not in the "name" of anything. That is, it's not a principled stand. He is claiming that people's prejudices and biases will cause them to overlook it.
I was walking alone in the woods one day, and I thought they were pretty. I thought, "I'd like a house here some day." So I bought the woods. Sadly, I never had time to build my house there. So now I'd like to sell my woods to someone else who may get enjoyment out of them.

While asking real estate agents the best way to go about selling my land, a developer overhears my conversation and says, "You should just give your land away. You've already prevented people who could have done something better with it for the past few years while you did nothing with it. Why should you profit too?"

I don't condone domain squatting for the sake of making quick and easy cash. But I bought the domains with good intentions of how to use them, and just never found the time to do what I had hoped. Now I'm looking to see who else wants them. I've not prevented anyone from implementing their own good ideas somewhere else.
You mean probability of her being unique is atleast 0.78, dont you?

As being unique would be rather a binary state, either one is unique of not.
Your comment fails the "say it to my face" guideline.

I certainly wouldn't vote this stuff up, but no need to be rude about it.

(Edit: also, why keep downvoting him, I think he probably gets the idea already)
...why on earth would you do that? This person wants to work at instagram, if she gets the job, she'll be absolutely floored about coming in to work every day.

This is exactly the type of employee I would think everybody would want. Why would you want something else?
I don't see how the constraints of one system, whether they are right or wrong, really affects the ability of a UX designer to recognize and work within those constraints.
Accepted at MIT (and Draper Labs) while in prison
When I was a sophomore at the 'Tute I became friendly with a frosh who was a little different. He was from Texas (as I am, but that is not germane), and was 24 and about 6'7". He had pledged the co-ed frat next door to my dorm where I used to hang out sometimes, and I was a fixture around the lovely pool table at their Friday happy hours (anyone who knows MIT knows Number Six Club). His father was a senior executive at a well-known semiconductor manufacturer.

He was certifiable on many levels, but a very interesting guy and nice, albeit strange. He was working at www.draper.com within a month of his arrival on campus doing who-knows-what with some-unknown-level security clearance.

He had applied to MIT from a Texas state penitentiary where he was serving a six-year sentence without parole for robbing a series of pharmacies and related misdeeds. Once he finished there, he started a different sort of prison. ;)
_______________________

I'm new around here and had added this as a comment on another thread, but it sort of got lost, so I posted this. I guess I could have posted this in ask, but the attention-grabbing headline was too good to pass up. It is a true story.

I recently submitted an application for the summer YC funding round as a sole founder. My one good friend who has been living JavaScript and CSS for the last few years is busy with his own company, but I am sure this is a good spot to meet potential partners.

I call my idea StratoShare, and it involves a gateway for providing a uniform access API across users' data aggregations. The gateway would manage users' various site credentials and a sharing graph for each user that would include those of their various aggregators, but would be independent of them. Share once with each other for everywhere, and manage it all in one view.

If you have some Web app chops and are interested at all, please email jmichaeltindell@gmail.com and I'll send you a link to my application and video.
Don't want to sound rude, but the lens ("I made this") has pretty bad type work. Kerning is off, the curve is not right (http://i.imgur.com/tpDqv.png). The drop shadow is also strange. Overall, there's not enough attention to detail.
Religion set to go extinct in 9 countries
Actually those jobs in Detroit/Rust Belt are moving to the southeast.

Southern states are offering tax breaks, state funding to train workers, low cost labor pool, low rates of unionization, etc.
I appreciate your feedback and discussion.

I don't know of any VC's or Angels which won't except a business plan. I think they are more open than ever to finding new companies. I've never had a VC or Angel refuse to receive a business plan. I have contacted three on the phone and they all gave me their email addresses to send pitches/packages to. Have you actually sent VC's and Angels business plans and they've sent them back unopened or are you just assuming they would? Have you ever emailed VC or Angels and they replied to the email saying they will not read the email or are you just assuming that would be the case?

What you are calling an "public open application process" to me is simply freedom of speech. You can send a letter or email to anyone in this country, including VC's. By open, I would think the list of companies which apply to Y Combinator would be made public. As far as I know, and I may be wrong, that list is not made public. That signals something to me. It may not to you.

If you accept Y Combinator reason for providing absolutely not one single word of feedback as reasonable, that is fine. However, I think most people would agree that organizations which truly want to help, would provide some, even if minimal feedback pursuant to an application. Off the top of my head, Y Combinator is the only organization I can think of in my life which provided absolutely no feedback pursuant to an application. That also signals something to me.
Awesome. Forwarded along to Mike, one of the founders. (Know him from our CHI days...ah, memories. :) ) Hope it works out for you!
I had a chat with my friend last weekend. She is a professional writer. She says, she is very interested in programming but, has no time to learn programming stuffs. When she first built a simple plus/minus calculator app in VB during her college course, it was one of the "Wow!" moment of her life. You are familiar with the "Wow" environment even before trying an app by yourself. Finding passion for programming is the key here.

Everyone started with the "Wow!" programming moment of their life, includes me. What they did differently is - they never quited and kept learning and building things. I would suggest, you continue your Rails learning, build simple apps for fun on your own.
How to Hire And Work With a Virtual Assistant
I want to work at Instagram myself because I love increasing entropy in the universe.

And yes, I'd say that to their faces: it can be very irritating to see pictures that already are not stellar, being from mobile phone cameras, further trod on by software.
He can probably just do a simple DMCA takedown. He made the video, so he owns the copyright. Even better -- just turn on monetization and buy a new laptop in a week.
Care to provide a bit more on thingist? I clicked through and at first glance have a few ideas of what it is but not totally sure what I would use it for. Without an about page or any precursor I would not sign up for something on a whim. Interested in checking it out though!

Also side note: The bottom pagination links do not work for me. I can click next page and get next page but if I select a number be it 2, 3, or 75 I get an empty page?
I know why baby carrot sales flatlined. Every bag I buy is slimy. Something changed in the pipeline/process and now they are disgusting.
With $18M/year salary I think he could go anywhere he wants and use his own resources, and create his own culture.
Doc; 3yr HN reader, Navy's sending me to Japan. Please post your recs.
Just got the word. Need to go home and get the go bag, but may not fly until tomorrow morning. Would appreciate your recommendations on things to bring, especially anyone who's been to Japan.
The challenge with applying quantum physics at the level our actions take place is that the laws of classical physics rule. So does that randomness impact our actions in any way or are our actions deterministic for all intensive purposes?
because I'd quite like my designers to be capable of creativity, whereas this Instagram application is derivative in every single way.
I always got the impression that getting stuff on Wikipedia was a political minefield because you can never make a clear-cut argument like “after this patch was submitted, the code didn’t compile; therefore, the patch should be backed out”.
the "say it to my face" rule? what's that?
So, how do you, as an individual, learn this? Do you just memorize a set of rules and when to apply?

That said, I believe the above is for the people who will never get to higher level mathematics, but rather are struggling with first level calculus.
Great link-bait headline, but nothing more than the census numbers. I'm in Detroit. I just ate lunch at Slows, which was packed as usual. Detroit goes as does manufacturing, and the last decade was harsh. However, the city has increasingly more to offer, and it is coming back in bioscience, tech, the arts, and manufacturing, automotive and non-automotive.

The city might look like rock-bottom to outsiders, but something is brewing. In 5 years, the headline will be 'is Detroit making a comeback?'.
Comodo attack appears to have originated from Iran
Thanks for the replies both. Yes, this is one of the issues I have found: honesty over the risk in a project can make you look more expensive if you don't explain it carefully. This is especially true in a young relationship, when the client has not yet build up trust in the supplier.

Fortunately, I have found once clients are used to regular progress, they're more accepting of variation, and willing to accept estimates based on real statistics.
If you want to tell people you've got a great lifestyle business but don't want the baggage - tell them you run a "small business" or a "small software company."

"Lifestyle business" focuses on what you're not rather than what you are. It is loaded with all sorts of "no ambition" or "that's nice, son" connotations.

"Small software company" is something most people can understand and appreciate. Even VCs.
Except I've only made it through the introduction, and I'm still not clear on whether or not their technique implies a compile, execute, profile, re-compile cycle.

One major difficulty with academic articles is that they have to "sell" their contribution in order to get the paper accepted. This entails taking the approach to its logical extension, and talking up the impact it can potentially have. Otherwise, reviewers may reject it for not being novel enough. But, this sort of approach is often detrimental to understand what, exactly, the researchers actually did. I know that when I read a research paper, there's often an "aha" moment when I realize "Oh, they just took XYZ and did ABC to it" which can either be followed up with "that's lame" or "that's neat!"
I think people are ready to pay for simplicity and ease of use. examples: Dropbox (as opposed to box.net), hipmunk (as opposed to so many.... Orbitz, expedia, etc)
Ask HN: I'm creating a list of the top "Brain Hack" sites and top articles
I love this stuff and have yet to find a solid list of mind hacking sites. Lets make one.
shouldn't that be 'if you lose 3 twimes in a row'?
So remember that if you'd like to work for me sometime in the near future.

Cool... you've been filed under my list of "people I will never want to work for." Thanks for the heads-up.
It looks fine in Opera. (Well, I would prefer Georgia, but I'm boring like that.)

Maybe you are using a browser with a duller font-rendering?

EDIT: On Windows 7. Should have included that.
I don't really see how statements like "I learned from Pooh bear that it takes guts to be different but my differences only make me that much more unique." - and indeed the entire "active application" format - can be described as anything but clichéd & obsequious.
There is a different standard for celebrities in the US, probably everywhere.
I don't know; how is that relevant? The article argues about the future, of which Chrome and IE have app ecosystems and Mozilla does not.
I don't want employees who love my product, I want employees who are competent.

And you believe those to be disjoint sets?
http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

"Be civil. Don't say things you wouldn't say in a face to face conversation. "

It's a pretty good rule for writing things on line whether it's in the guidelines or not. Sometimes you (meaning: all of us) get tempted to be snide or snarky, but if you think that there's another person out there, and if you pretend you're saying whatever you have to say to them directly, I find that it greatly improves what you write.

It doesn't mean "don't criticize", just do it as if that person were in front of you.
She made leica d vario-elmarit 14-50? I'll hire her then! </snark>
It's probably more convenient for SCEA since their lawyers wouldn't have to travel as far and/or can work in person without contracting a NJ lawfirm and doing everything telecommute. Also, someone posted that a judge in that district (Susan Isom, or something like that) has a track record of being very friendly to big corp DMCA complaints. They obviously think it will be much easier in CA at least from a practical perspective, but I assume they also believe they're more likely to win there with the judges that are in place.
Computers making lending decisions don't sit well with Fed chief Ben Bernanke
Although I highly agree with you on how Apple messed up by making "maximizing" such a pain, at the same time, I (not a Mac user, but had to use one for work for around 5 months) almost never have my browser maximized, even when on multiple screens. So it's still a valid point that Lewisham brought up.

This website gives the impression that she still needs some practice in her UX design skills.
On one hand, I think you are dead on. On the other, I think she's inadvertently showing - unfortunately not for the better. :)

The old analogy is never to write in an application that you are funny. If you have a sense of humour, it will show.
There's another definition of "killer app" besides an application which drives platform sales?

The killer app for tablets and it is the reader (just as the killer app for smartphones is telephony) - the reader only ceases to appear as the killer app when one focuses on the iPad to the exclusion of ereaders from Amazon, Sony, etc.

As a platform for the browser, the tablet/slate is compromised form factor - no keyboard, limited screen, size, limited support for client side technologies (e.g. Flash). There's really nothing in the form factor that makes browsing on a tablet better than browsing on a netbook, laptop, desktop, or to a certain extent even a smartphone.
It's definitly illegal in Germany and the USA to steal a laptop. If the thief presses privacy charges, the police will probably press theft charges.
I'm not sure what this is supposed to say. Can you put a comment with your link?
Apple replaces Samba for Windows networking services
Packaged apps is just one of the many (and growing) features of being a Chrome apps. But packaged apps don't have anything to do with offline storage. There could be a packaged app spec in HTML in the future, but there isn't today. Nor is there a spec for background pages, cross-domain XHR.
I would never want to work with someone as negative as you.
I've been at four startups. Of the ventures, one of the two with investment is successful, the rest are not.

I can't know if the secret ingredient is having a VC. But having someone whose interests are aligned, has experience in the industry, and can contribute more than just sweat seems really valuable. Maybe that's not every VC (good god, if it's not find someone else!). But that seems like a requirement for a good investor.
New Clojure Course on CodeLesson
What are you working on right now, Zach?

Why not start living the crazy-startup-founder lifestyle today? That's what I'm trying to do. [1]The time I spend at my current job is like sleeping to me. It's time during a 24 hour period that I just plain will not get back. I have to do it or I will die.

But the hours I spend not sleeping are hours that I spend reading, and hacking, and writing, and more reading, and more hacking.

As much as I'd prefer the weather (and the availability of coffee) in the Bay Area to the weather in Phoenix, I can't make the move happen right now, so I'm just doing the "crazy hours" thing anyway :)

[1]: I just want to clarify that I don't mean I'm slacking off at my job, if anything, being in "work" mode 100% of the time, as well as having a passion for learning new stuff has benefited my employer. When I say "sleeping", I just mean something that I don't have a choice about doing.
Das Kapital Capital
Dmitry's got something similar, Eve:
http://dmitry.baranovskiy.com/eve/
For HN, I use "Comfy Helvetica": https://comfy-helvetica.jottit.com/

For Reddit, I've only added Reddit Reveal:
Chrome: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/ccjhmanjcinnojaidg...
Firefox: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/reddit-reveal...
Userscript: http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/66698
Most people have some risk aversion. For example, few people would trade $10 million for a 10% chance at $100 million.
That's the most viable solo model--a hacker with the inclination to hustle.