skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
What I really need is my mother as an iPhone app: when I was younger, she would tell me that "that shirt doesn't 'go with"' those pants". Apparently, there is a system of rules for this.

Unfortunately, when everybody else went off and learned this arcane system I was apparently playing Battletech. Now I know that large pulse lasers followed by SRMs (order very much dependent) is generally strong play, and everybody else knows that striped blue and white doesn't go with ... I have no clue what it doesn't go with, but it doesn't go with something. A lot of somethings, apparently.

It shouldn't be that hard to snap a photo of an item in my closet, play "20 questions" to classify it, and put it in a DB. Then every day, when I wake up, the app generates an outfit (I don't know, maybe a genetic algorithm would work for this, it is probably straightforward constraint satisfaction) and tells me "March 25th: Patrick, get these three things out. Can't find one? Click 'Backup Plan'."
Definitely - competition played a huge role in making text message plans cheaper. With 1 less network that's available for consumers to choose from kills other chances of networks introducing agressive pricing, etc.
Anandtech's Apple iPad 2 Review - The Only Review You Need
This would be more interesting if you picked a girl by how she looks and asked her to dress you.
Mind..blown.

We are about to experience a boom in global events.
Making it as a Creative Freelancer: Online Portfolio Tools You Need to Use
You’re creative. You’re talented. You want the world to see who you are and what you can do. But the world’s a big place, and it’s hard to stand out. If people can’t see your work, they won’t come knocking at your door. You need people to see what you’re all about, and that requires a strong, professional presence on the web. Luckily, there are online tools that can help you do that successfully.
Sounds good. Can't wait for the beta, then. :-)
Yep. AT&T would not even let you use a different smartphone even if you already are on the iPhone data plan! Of course they don't let you use a smartphone without a data plan at all. So this sucks.
HP Grooming webOS For Assault on Android, Apple iOS
Tell the White House How to Power Up Startups
It's pretty easy to tell when a candidate has the answer memorized, and it is pretty easy to push them to explain their answer beyond what sites like this give. If they can't tell you things about how their answer would scale, what the tradeoffs are, why they used data structures they did, and what they'd do with slight modifications to the question, they probably won't just skate through the interview.
Sure, I e-mail my friends sometimes, when I want to send something around (interesting links, pictures), or to coordinate things. But I guess that's pretty old fashioned, I don't use Facebook or other social networks.
Debatewall, a crowdsourced realtime blog.
Cletus,

Thanks for the rad feedback. I appreciate it. It'll make my product a lot better.

You're right, shopping online is different. But despite this, shopping online is a billion dollar industry that doesn't show any signs of being slowed down simply because it isn't taking place in person. I think if women (who, arguably, are more obsessed with fit/feel/etc. than guys) can shop online then there's definitely a way to make it work for men. That's what I plan on doing.

Also, great point about clothing serving as a symbol or a form of self-expression. I think you're spot-on about programmer types making the statement, "I don't really care about clothes," but a) it assumes everyone is making the same statement, which is problematic (we can't ALL have the same message to express since we have such a diversity of experiences in how we perceive the world) and b) it eliminates the possibility that a typical geeky dude never wants to look good, which I would argue isn't the case.

Nevertheless, great points and I appreciate them all.
Is anyone else going to build a bot? I'm going to make one in Python or Javascript. Looking for co-commander.
So the lesson here is to target people without girlfriends?
I see a fairly natural superpower line with welding and mechanical engineering (alongside machining or some rapid prototyping ability) on one side, and bricklaying, ditch digging, etc. on the other side.

Bricklayers and ditch diggers don't often think of something cool and then make it happen with those particular skills.
More interesting to me: how many have been rejected? If anyone were curious about possible racism in funding (AND I'M NOT SAYING THERE IS AT ALL) that would be the metric i'd begin with.
The EFF[1] mapped out the CA structure of the internet and it is easy to see it is anything but a monopoly or US-centric. [2]

DNS is not used for key storage as DNS is not authenticated.
There is nothing stopping your registrar from being a CA and issuing you certificates.

SSL certs are assigned to specific domain names. The CA really doesn't need to care if you are a Fooian Industries registered as a Romanian company. They are only interested in if you are the proper owner of fooian-ind.com. That your local government official knows that you are fierarul is of no value in determining if the cert someone sent me for fooian-ind.com is the correct one for fooian-ind.com.

The infrastructure to support SSL is the result of a large number of smart people sitting down together and working out solutions. Chances are that any deficiencies or alternative solutions you may think of were considered or result from your lack of understanding. It is clearly arrogant to think otherwise.

[1] http://www.eff.org/observatory

[2] http://www.eff.org/files/colour_map_of_CAs.pdf
Why the downvote/flag? Did I say something offensive here? I really am curious. I was unaware Cw was as old as it is when I first posted this.
Technical Co-founder/Advisor Opportunity For StickyFrames
We are looking for a web developer to join our venture. Sticky Frames are magnetically attached frames that contain messages users create and print themselves. So one day your StickyFrame can be used as a political bumper sticker, while the next day you can used it to advertise your business or sell a car. At this stage we are going forward with production of prototypes/low volume test series but we need a functioning web platform to maximize the potential of the product. The web service should help our users to create and manage content of their StickyFrames. We can offer a stake in SF project - but we are also ready to discuss other forms of compensation. If interested please contact me via HN or email at computerfix at gmail dot com http://stickyframes.posterous.com/pages/about-us -> Our ycombinator video for W2010. Since then we have developed much better looking and cheaper prototypes that are almost ready for production.
Katana were too long for a ninja - they'd more likely use a Ninjato which was shorter... [Puts geek credentials away and gets back to the point]

Yes programming is great and useful but I think super power is overstating it and is just meaningless, sightly immature hyperbole.

If people want programming to be attractive and interesting to more people then they should possibly think about not using super hero, fantasy and sci-fi metaphors as they only serve to re-enforce the view that most non-programmers have rather than do anything to dispel it.

This isn't really having a go at you, more the a culture that exists within certain sections of the programming community. Don't get me wrong, I still play D&D and video games, and I still read comics (though in trade hardback these days). There's nothing wrong with these things but they're not things which most people are interested in and are therefore not a great way of making programming seem cool or interesting beyond a very very small group, most of which are already working in it.
I tried looking for outside funding early on but eventually got discouraged and gave up. I've started working on a new project this year and so my focus has shifted a bit. I may reconsider outside funding once again in a couple of months if I still own the site and the traction metrics are positive.

Haven't thought about applying to YC because I'm not much of a developer and without a technical co-founder I figure my chances of acceptance are very low.
"At the beginning of 2009, our income from AdSense (our main source of income) halved overnight"

Did you ever find out why this happened? I'm also curious which alternative way of income you eventually found.
No option for Groovy? C'mon, man... :-)
$99 per month recurring cost. Damn. That's a rich person's territory.
Social Game Developer A Bit Lucky Scores $5M From Nexon
As a black technical founder, I'm with you 100%. But the hard part is getting the word out. It won't be enough for us to become successful programmers / founders / entrepreneurs. We can't expect kids to find out about our accomplishments on Tech Crunch and Hacker News.

We have to reach out to them. We need to show them the possibilites available to them in our field. We need to show them how much freedom you can have, and how lucrative software development can be.

And most of all, we need to show them how much fun building software can be. I'm not the only one who loves this stuff, right?

But it still comes down to getting the word out. What's the best way to do it? I don't know, but it's on my agenda to find out once I've achieved some form of success.
I don't think you'd say the same thing about diamonds: you pick the shape, size, clarity and colour. What else is there? If I were in the market for diamonds or diamond jewelry I see no problem with buying it online.

Shoes are a closer analogy. I would be very interested in seeing an answer to this question to those who buy/bought from Zappos:

When you buy shoes from Zappos, are you buying a style or shoe that you've previously tried on or bought?

Also, I think women's shoes are a different market to men's shoes. Women I think almost take it for granted that shoes, particularly dress/fashionable shoes, will be uncomfortable.

Again I take a utilitarian view to shoes. I have a hard time finding a pair that fits nicely. I'll buy lightweight runners/sneakers/joggers (depending on your lexicon) and then wear them virtually every day until they fall apart and I buy a new pair.

I imagine I am not alone in this.
Some good points here, but he should replace every instance of the word marketing with advertising because that's what he is really talking about. Back when google competited with many other search engines, the competition thought the best way to market search engines was with ads. Google was different, they understood the great soft engineering was and still is the best way to market a search engine.
Word of mouth happens when you understand people will talk about your software if you give them a real good reason to talk.
T-Mobile Sale May Close Tough Chapter for Deutsche Telekom
Diamonds have a standard set of metrics which are verified for certification. They are essentially a commodity. I wonder what BlueNile's revenue for loose diamonds is vs. revenue for bands.

Shoes are slightly different than clothes. While fits do vary slightly, it's not even remotely close to the variations in clothing. Online shoe shopping also produces better results than clothing. Things like feel aren't are varied either and the details are not nearly as important. I wouldn't buy expensive shoes online, but for most types of shoes, I much prefer online vs. b&m. Partially because of variety and partly because of my size (13 US).

Contrast this to my online clothes shopping habits, where probably at least 50% of my purchases are returned.
Turkish here. The keyword here is probably "socially and economically compromised regions". I haven't felt any hostility or superiority from any Germans I know, and I do know more than a few.

In the US, I've also never felt alienated but that might be because my English is at the native level and I don't have a discernible accent (I sound like your average American). When people do find out that I'm Turkish, they seem to be pleasantly surprised and impressed, and I feel like it creates a positive impression of Turks in general. Top tip for foreigners: try to learn the local language well.
Open source and app stores: Where they mix, where they don't
2011 EclipseCon Conference Launches
My answer:

No. We still have Verizon and Sprint. We may get a duopoly in 5-10 years, but for now, AT&T is not a monopoly.
I Love My Web Host
Yeah, I predict the market for used T-Mobile Nexus Ones is about to get swamped, but this may cushion the blow a bit.
Eclipse Found. Launches 5,000-Seat Beta for New Web-Based Web-Dev Platform
Yeah, but it's not going to collect data about a network it doesn't know about, is it?
C'mon Fresno. ;) [fingers crossed]
A tiny keyboard is still a tiny keyboard; hardware or software. You're not going to feel comfortable writing long messages on anything but a physical full-size keyboard until direct-neural interfaces appear.
I think that degree will have more value than a lot of degrees handed out in decent universities. I would definitely enroll!
I forgot all about this article: http://www.cio.com/article/32228/Project_Management_AT_T_Wir...

The original AT&T, before SBC takeover, failed to implement number portability by the late 2004 deadline that all other wireless companies hit. They also "botched" a CRM system upgrade.

Charlie Sheen might have gotten it done better, it's hard to say. If he can listen to "the little people" telling him that problems are imminent, then maybe he could have averted AT&T's downfall.
Geez, you think it's just guys who hate to shop?
Yeah, demographics and statistics are tough and mostly useless in this situation. For example, the DOE found that roughly 40% of people have merely a basic or "below basic" level of literacy, yet I doubt that's true of the YC alumni..
It's an interesting concept, but I think the biggest flaw is in the pillar for capital. They claim $2B in matching funds to VCs. That doesn't make getting capital easier, it just makes funding rounds larger and perhaps dilutes an owner's stake faster. Is there something I'm missing here, because I would think access to capital is the most pressing issue, and they don't seem to be addressing it that well.
"So I said, narrow the focus. Your 'use case' should be, there's a 22 year old college student living in the dorms. How will this software get him laid?"

http://www.jwz.org/doc/groupware.html
"The greater question is not why there aren't more founders, but why there arent more minority/female students in academia"

http://www.prb.org/Articles/2007/CrossoverinFemaleMaleColleg...

http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/2009/section1/indicator11.as...

To wit: Females have dominated academia for a couple decades now.

Also, it should be pointed out that many founders are college dropouts or even high school dropouts, so I'd be interested in some sort of citation of evidence that one can assume most founders will be a subset of academia.
The author captures this point perfectly: AT&T and T-Mobile merger will create a "GSM Monopoly" in the American market. This will be bad news for any customer who has to use GSM handsets as Europe, Asia, etc have GSM. So if you ever have to travel internationally you are better off with GSM phones. AT&T must not be allowed to Monopolize this key market.
Why we are choosing Clojure as our main programming language
Mashups Reveal World's Top Scientific Cities
No, the advice would be killer. I don't even know what to order, and then when I got it I wouldn't know how to evaluate it to decide whether to return it!
From a marketing standpoint, I wonder how you actually find the customers you're looking for. Most start-ups seem to generate enough interest through HN, TC, and other niche focused sites. However, I'm not sure these are your key audience.

From my own shopping experience, I generally find one brand of shirt/pant/shoe that work well and then it's my go-to brand. Anytime I need to buy something new, that's where I go. I hardly deviate or try something new because as you mentioned, I hate shopping and as other people have mentioned, fit and feel are important.

However, I think you can expand your product by saying "hey, if you like Shirt A, then maybe you'll like Shirt B". After all, the style from one brand often remains the same and even guys will want different types of clothes for different events/moods/etc.
There's no cost beyond what you pay for your Sprint service. This is just pure FUD.
They don't have their own seat at the UN for instance. They don't field their own team at the Olympics.

If Wales needs a tld, what about Texas? Texas has a distinct culture and was once an independent republic. I'm sure people from Wales think they are independent in some way that Texas is not, but people from Texas think those thoughts too.
Is a 'huge wave' of M&As, financing deals about to hit Silicon Valley?
Using Implicit Method Group Conversion  in C#
Really? For me, those Windows Phone 7 ads fall into the category of "make me never want to do business with you". I guess I don't identify myself as a douche doing "more clubbing, less staring" or whatever.
As a shop, it would be really cool to commission a set of really cheap "try-me-ons" in every size. You could then send these out to people for free with a prepaid return envelope - very much like online jewellers will send you a paper ring sizer for free. Just have people input what they reckon their size is, and send them that plus two sizes on either side. Make them as plain, cheap and flimsy as possible - cheaper postage, people don't order them as free clothing ('Unlimited supplies of plain white tees? Yes please!'), and if you don't get them back it doesn't cost too much.

Unfortunately, due to the differences in sizing between manufacturers, you'd probably have to be commissioning your own products for this to work, but it would be very cool for an off-the-peg suit shop, medium-high end lifestyle catalog (Land's End, etc) or something similar.

You may need fitting guides to show people how particular pieces of clothing should fit (trouser crease should break just above the shoe, shoulders should fit without bulging or sagging...) For bonus points, produce them with several different models with different body sizes - for me, having a heavier guy modelling a suit and showing how well it can disguise a gut would be a major selling point :)
Haven't thought about applying to YC because I'm not much of a developer and without a technical co-founder I figure my chances of acceptance are very low.

Low, maybe. Non-zero, almost certainly, based on what I've seen pg and others say here. Especially since you actually have something "live" that already has some traction. I think I saw somebody say something like "traction trumps everything" not long ago. Anyway, just a thought...
I see your point. But apologies if this sounds insensitive as I am not American and I am not privy to the social complexities that exists. What I think is that as budding entrepreneurs all trying to figure out some method from this madness, I think we ought to celebrate the success of everyone and anyone who has made it. Black, white, blue, green whatever. Singling out someone because of skin colour I feel almost contravenes the spirit of YC and hacker news. We are all here because of ideals and passion, beliefs and doggedness. I think I speak for most people when I say the community at HN is by and large colour blind.

What makes Michael Seibel special is not because he is Black but because he has succeeded at least on some level where many have tried and failed. So your last sentence "...was just wondering if anyone that looks like ME has EVER made it." is really coming from a wrong angle IMO.
They won't? When I got my Nexus One back in april, I just put my iPhone's sim card into my Nexus One and blammo, works fine. Same data plan. Grandfathered in to the unmetered plan, too.

I still hate AT&T more than anything and wish to the silicon gods that I could cut both them and Cablevision out of my life like the malignant tumors they are.
Shopping is a waste of time. Instead:

* Find a favorite pair of jeans, buy 3-4 pair, wear them every day.

* Find a favorite a t-shirt, but 4-5, wear them every day.

* Ask for socks for Christmas.

Solid colors are recommended because then you:

a) aren't a walking billboard and,

b) it isn't as noticeable that "wtf you wore that same slogan/whatever shirt two days ago".
Show HN: OpenNow - Find nearby restaurants that are open right now (SF Beta)
Google Blames Chinese Government for Gmail Issues
Seriously, Twitter got a commercial filmed in fucking SPACE.
i have some tech background (java, perl) but am more business savvy. i am based in USA but will def make the move to SA
Great question! Unfortunately, I don't think you can.

If you use CA certs to trust site certs, the site certs can change on the fly (i.e. be replaced with an NSA interloper) without you knowing.

If you kill your CA certs, and mark individual sites trusted, than at least your browser will notify you if the site's cert has changed since you lasted trusted it. Theoretically. I haven't actually tested this yet. :(
Not really knowing what I need to take the site to the next level is probably my biggest challenge. I started off with high hopes and expectations for the site and now I am having serious doubts and questions about how viable and sustainable this concept can really be. I guess these are the high and lows of entrepreneurship, and I'm at a low point right now.
Object-oriented CSS Heuristics for Programmers
Maybe he'd like to read http://craphound.com/littlebrother/

It's probably more targeted at a juvenile segment, but an interesting and enlightening book nonetheless.
Replacement for consoles ? Come on...maybe only if you're a Sunday gamer.
Groupon CEO: You shouldn't trust my contractors or my instincts, because I don't.
I agree, it's not an easy problem, and I think you're right that many people don't feel comfortable speaking up in an interview. I've never let my thoughts slip in a job interview the way I did above, because it makes me look like an asshole and that's a great way to not get a job. I am brutally honest in exit interviews,

Whatever culture you decide to push, I think intentionality is the best policy. If you want people to get lots of work done, make that clear and then set things up to reflect that. For example, you might tell people you're looking for results, and as long as they can get results you don't care if they go home early. If you want people to feel "at home" when they're at work, make that clear and think of perks that would minimize the "pain" of being at work instead of taking care of "real-world" problems. If you aren't intentional about culture, though, the message is just going to get lost in the noise of day-to-day operations.
I wonder how much of this deal was made with the intention of acquiring T-Mobiles spectrum rights? I'm under the impression that GSM was mainly a technology focused in the time domain, and the newer 4G technologies seem like they're more centered around the frequency domain. It occurs to me that if lack of spectrum is a problem for 1 it is probably a problem for the other, so it would make sense for both carriers to merge?
If the version was bumped, the sha1sum ought to be different no?
Eclipse Launches Open Beta of OrionHub
Guns Sprite sheet for Iphone and Android games
There are a couple of things to balance. I'm building a word game myself right now, and ran into these same issues. I found that loading a string for each letter of the alphabet worked adequately. It is not clever in the least, and far from optimal, but it ended up with a reasonable size / load time / processing trade off in the browser.
Yes, you're exposed to MITM. But if you permantly mark the cert as trusted, and the MITM goes away, you'll know somethings has changed. You'll be blind as to which way things changed, but at least you'll know to investigate.
Everyone is moving to LTE, so this really doesn't sound like a huge deal, at least in the medium-to-long term. You will be able to get LTE from AT&T/T-Mobile, Sprint, and Verizon, at least.