skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
Well, I can only speak for myself, but I care much more about the problems I'll be solving than I do about the tech I'll be using. CRUD is CRUD whether it's written in FORTRAN or Lisp. It's kind of the bartonfink corollary to Turing-completeness. You can theoretically solve any kind of problem with any language, so unless you want me to write in something that would add no value to my resume (e.g. COBOL) I'm going to consider what you're doing much more than how you're doing it.

You say that you've got reasons for not telling the world, and I understand that. However, right now your ad seems to say "Hey, we're using a bunch of new technology to do something. Send us a resume!" Even changing the first paragraph to end "... to design scalable, distributed applications for robotic dental hygiene" gives me an idea about what I'd be working on (robots with floss) and hopefully doesn't give away too much of your stealth edge.

As for my application, I am expecting a baby in a little under two months and don't plan on switching jobs at the moment. I am always looking for interesting "5 to 9" work to complement my "9 to 5" and if you can accommodate that I'd love to talk to you. All that is to say that there are other factors at work besides your ad that keep me from applying at the moment.
Don't follow the hype:)
The way i see things is simple.
X angel/vc knows how to play the game of taking some Y startup with non super unique idea/product and sell it to the Z highest bidder.
When X invest money the most important thing is to make Big News.
The Z are full with money to spend, they know that money need to circulate in order to multiply.
They watch The News.
They react. With money.
On the other side of the line are X, they also watch the news, dream for success and want to be Zuckerbergs.
And so on.
From my perspective the smartest move is to connect demands of Z and availability of Y. Be a X or The News channel.
But i am small, insignificant, away from first hand experience and everything that i think is away from The Game that is x,y,z.
Thinks i can do with one million funding, if i have it, in terms of product development, team building, business development, are so old school and simple that are not interesting to put here at all.
For me in this position the only valuable model is bootstrapping everything, test early in real world and iterate slowly and carefully in terms of technology and business model.
But i deeply respect The Game of x,y and z, not so in direct meaning but as side effect. If all this money are 20% effective they push new technology to the limit and test the audience and give as a valuable lessons without risking money that we don't have.
So if Z want to spend it's their decision to make.
Our is to choose a) to be valuable Y or b) to be other letter in the equation making our own working function, with our own proven methods and variables:)
After googling for a while, I found this great answer on SO:

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3265357/compiled-vs-inter...

Lunaryom is correct. There are no 'interpreted' and 'compiled' languages, just different implementations.
So, I was wrong in my original post. It would appear that you can just type and get instant feedback in Java (if you use Beanshell, for example).
A Digital Library Better Than Google’s
I disagree.

I think the reason you see those kind of posts is that those kind of applications are low-hanging fruit. The development of Yet Another File-Sharing App or Social Media Service can be accomplished by anyone with a "Learn Rails In 21 Days" book and a credit card.

Companies that are also getting tons of funding right now are biotechnology and solar energy startups, but I have never seen anything along the lines of a "Ask HN: Review my research on getting 3.3% more current per solar flux unit by doping gallium with boron" post, despite the fact that such an accomplishment would likely garner extremely good investment and/or business prospects.
Sorry, but the U.S. economy is a $14 trillion economy. Anyone who says we're in a bubble based on the aggregate Silicon Valley venture capital funding in the last year is getting ahead of themselves. Before you lecture us on a bubble, try to understand some basics on the U.S. economy.
There's no indication of salary apart from "competitive".

"Working remotely is possible." How remote? Would I have to live in Canada? Is USA ok? Further afield? Would you want me to come into the office at least once a week? Once a month? Is "never" ok?
Asking the wrong question?

What about asking, "How has taking this amount of funding helped this business?"

Strategically, this much funding through all of the controversy it has generated, will guarantee this company/brand gets in front of nearly every early adopter over the next couple of weeks.

It will drive hundreds of thousands of people to try it out.

And that's before they've spent a penny of it.

Loads of Posts on HN alone excitedly linking to the app on Android etc (one on the front page right now).

After that, it will sink or swim on it's own merit.

Would that have happened if they hadn't taken this funding? No. It would have had 5 minutes on TechCrunch, and then been forgotten about because it may not have been remarkable.

Now all they need to do is implement a business model / some way to make money from it so their per-user revenue exceeds their cost of user acquisition, and use the remaining $38,000,000 as a marketing budget to spread it to everyone else. Profit.
jacquesm really added ads to his site.
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No joke, though I'm not an old phone phreak (sorta...). It's just like remembering music - every number sings its own 10 note song.

At least it was until my cellphone stopped playing back DTMFs for stored numbers. SIP and quiet dialing have almost killed the music.
They say money is the root of all evil.
c.f. cnet & com.com
Good post. It seems common for participants in an industry undergoing a bubble to concoct elaborate industry-specific theories to explain a sudden influx of new money when the real cause is, well, exactly that: a sudden influx of new money. Unfortunately, we've been trained to correlate the numbers in our bank accounts with actual value, but the link has been all but severed for a long time.

It seems unbelievable that we as a population could keep being fooled by the same trick over and over, but when you look at the sums involved for those who benefit, it starts to make sense. This racket dwarfs even the military-industrial complex. It's rule-the-world money. In my opinion, anyone who tries to portray the situation as obscure or highly complex either has a stake or has succumbed to propaganda--printing money always causes artificial booms, and artificial booms always lead to busts. It's been true since fiat money was invented and it'll be true until we evolve beyond it.
Overpopulation: The Making of a Myth
You are right and I apologize.

There are any number of ways to get around it. Thats a known, regardless of what you do.

Rather than expend time and resources locking this up as much as possible its accepted that X number of people will do whatever they want.

What is a little frustrating is people thinking they've totally hacked the NYT subscription model and subverted our cleverly crafted lock-down methods.

However, its been stated publicly at several pay grades above me, that is there is an organized concerted effort to work-around the subscription then we have to act on that. Not just in a legal way, but also by developers working to lock-down the site more and more.

As I said, I'd rather work on constructive projects instead of that.

It is easy for anyone who knows how to View Source to get to the content. I just wish they'd stop thinking they're all l33t and subversive when its just a little sad (to me at least).

I think I'd ultimately feel better if I just ignored this stuff.
I'm sure the Chinese already have a network of informants and surveillance to gather "evidence". A system like this that just terminates calls is probably meant to slow the organization of mass protests. They probably figure that a near-spontaneous protest can be reduced in size or eliminated by making it take longer to get the word out. If people are angry about a specific incident, days or even hours of delay will make cooler heads prevail.

I doubt the Chinese would approach this in such a blunt manner. But I'm sure the Chinese government has lists of known and likely dissidents, and they probably have access to social network graphs for those individuals.

So you monitor likely dissidents who are hubs of major social networks more aggressively. For people who present randomly marginal political risk or low impact because of a limited social network, they get monitored less aggressively or with random sampling, etc.
What I Learned from the 1973 Star Trek Animated Series
Sorry, but your company dies when you have no more cash. The $41 million will help them survive for a long time.
Have any of your colleagues since, err, disappeared?
deviantArt uses !username for closed accounts http://comments.deviantart.com/18/1084654/712007861
I recall that being the justification for a lot of VC stuff around 1999/2000.
I think the techcrunch article (linked on one of the comments) mentioned that if they can't get a gps/wifi signal they look at lighting (camera) and sound (mic) to determine if people are in the same location. Neat use of the technology but - yes, a bit creepy.
It would be great if I never had to see another eliza. If it can't string more than 2 utterances together, its not AI, it certainly doesnt pass the Turing test, and its a waste of time.
There's always Conque.
Maybe at the exact moment, but generally look at pictures later to spark memories of places they were and things they did. The people who are around when the picture is taken are therefore most likely to want to see it again later.

I guess I don't know about you, but when my wife gets together with a bunch of her friends at a party or event, they snap ridiculous amounts of photos, which they then post on their facebook walls to share with each other. Really, this app just seems to take out the step of sharing on facebook and replace it with sharing with its own network comprised of local people.

Whether that is something people want remains to be seen.
To put it into perspective, say YC are giving out an average of $17000 a startup, time 43 startups is $731000 for the round.

For the same amount as this investment you could probably set up seed funds in 10 cities and cover all of the overheads involved. I know which option I would pick.
Does not saying what we do reduce the chances that you'd apply?

Reduce? Try "eliminate." I would never bother applying to a company where I don't even know what they're building.

If you're that alpha/stealth, you'll probably fare better recruiting locally through referrals from friends / colleagues / former co-workers / local user groups / etc.
I personally think that the fed now has no choice but to pump money at zero (to effectively negative) interest forever.

There's a number of reasons for this: demographics, peak oil, the massively deflationary effect of certain technologies, etc. The west really looks a lot like Japan, which has pumped cheap money since their economy went through a similar cycle of stock bubble, real estate bubble, and crash.

So expect bubble after bubble...

That being said, the existing hype is nowhere near 1999 levels. If this is a bubble, it's a mini-bubble. I lived through that time, and it was an entirely different ballgame.
This is completely wrong and absurd. We've had a gradual inflation rate since the beginning of the U.S. Dollar. We were headed toward a deflation without the QEs, which would've been a disaster in a highly illiquid economy. The QEs simply brought the inflation back to a good, gradual rate, and put more liquidity into the economy so businesses can start hiring again.
...at least twitter "worked". Yeah, it fell over, but only because boatload of people were using it.
Nope, that's a mis-quotation. Money is itself not the root of all evil, it's the love of money.

Look it up: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Root_of_all_evil
Perhaps we're seeing the start of something new..

B2C = Business to consumer
B2B = Business to business
B2A = Business to acquisition?
This is a typical business cycle[1]. Easy credit, low interests rates, no incentive to save.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austrian_business_cycle_theory
Come on, this has nothing to do with "expending time". It's about SEO. Otherwise they would take the minimal effort to serve a different page to people above the threshold.
Q1) How can we increase conversion from 2% to 4%?

A1) Well, this [file sharing/social/twitter/facebook/iphone/game/photo/video] application sure has people's attention. Their developers are wicked smart and have a plan for monetization by utilizing the geo/demographic/taste data of their customers to make it easier for you, the b2c business to target them with advertisements.

Q2) How can we increase revenue?

A2) See A1.

Q3) How can we increase profitability?

A3) See A1.

See also: why should anyone publish this magazine, TV show, blog?
So, of the $41M, $3M goes to technologists and $38M goes to ad agencies? Hmmmm....
That's been Roger Schank's guiding assumption to some extent: not that we really need to make AI "smarter", but that we just need to better understand the ways in which humans are fairly mechanical, or at least that "normal" human activity in most contexts is.

Hence he proposed moving away from more complex models of rationality, like logical inference or statistical decision-theory, and towards simpler ideas like frames of reference, dependencies between concepts, and behavioral scripts--- in his view, closer to what humans actually do.
the other scenario is that they have a tiny bluetooth camera pendant/lanyard (like microsoft's sensecam) that would allow people to literally immerse themselves in their friends' surroundings. having this bluetooth device and the platform would allow for a much higher valuation.
I don't think anyone is really being fooled anymore. They just get the game, and understand that cheap-money bubbles are a normal part of that game.
They should let him off easy for not putting up goatse or 2girls1cup.
You should be in Canada or move there. Salary is competitive means we tend to pay people more than they ask for. I guess you're saying it's too vague?
I think AT&T has this same policy. I'm not sure why 'Hello' is a forbidden word, though.
Twi$$er
Really? I'll happily spill the beans during an interview, I just don't want to post it out there just yet (we're barely getting started). Maybe I should reconsider that?
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It's important to not frame it as a transaction, or the person you are asking might evaluate it as such.

People want to feel like they are doing something for nothing in return, just goodwill and karma. But they are more likely to help if you make them feel that way AND give them something in return.
Not to take anything away from Bertrand and go back to the normal tea leaf reading we so enjoy to do with Apple, but … here goes :]

Did anyone else notice how the press release was so heavily focused on Steve Jobs? It could almost be read as: Jobs is at the helm, and don't worry, he'll be okay.
Even if we only save one child

What about the children that will suffer because a potential child rapist that was was in check because of his lolicon use now has no material to direct his fantasies towards and now needs to look for the real thing? Really, as long as no one get's hurt, what is it with people wanting to shut down everything they regard as obscene or offensive to them when they know that their view is merely an opinion and there are millions of people that think differently?

Ohh think of the children, do we really want our future (our children) to live like robots being told what they can and can't do, what to read and what they can't, where to go and where it's forbidden? It's sad that everything that has to deal with sex is always attacked without mercy by the 'Association of Housewives and Househusbands with nothing else to do with their Time'. Seriously let people live their live's as long as they're not hurting anybody else in the process, and while we're at it, let's defend free speech...

"you only realise how wonderful absolute freedom of speech is the day you lose it."
Original, and downloadable without account creation:

http://blog.envylabs.com/2010/12/rails-3-cheat-sheets/
The maths of clinical decision making [video]
I can see the viral ad now:

Boy sees a cute girl but can't work up the guts to talk to her.
Boy notices she's taking pictures with Color and writes: 'will you go out with me' on a paper napkin.
Boy takes picture of the napkin with Color.
Girl sees the message but ignores him.
Boy secretly keeps the photos she shared longing for his lost love till he's an old man. Camera pulls back to show his grandkids using Color.

Fin.
Redesigned Tags Page - Stackoverflow blog
Do you have a link for your popularity statement? Just curious.
It is most definitely different. My first impulse was "where in the hell is the login"

So to do anything "interesting" with it you need to be in the direct proximity of other users with the app. I managed to get the picture of myself it asks for, but because it is such a PITA to find in the (Apple App) store I didn't bother putting it on my wife's phone to try. That seems lame anyway.

This is probably not going to be a big hit with the reclusive introvert type (me). It is an interesting concept though.
TL;DR: bubble is intentionally blown, so that certain people earn more money

Pumping bubble is intentional. Financial world knows and uses this technique for years. They KNOW we have a bubble and THEY pump it up.

They earn money on stocks rising while bubble rises.

The more they invest, the more people come to them with the money (for investment). They earn money on those people (commissions, investment credits, accounts, personal advisory). And as more and more money pours from the sky, the market rises. And they earn on stock rising.

Suckers (commoners like we) believe that they can catch a train with next Facebook and sell houses or use life savings in hope for a fortune. And financial world earns.

At the proper moment leaders of this mess bail out and we have a "crisis".

Most people decide to invest too late (for example now it's much too late) and also bail out MUCH too late (after few hours or days from bubble blowout).

But those managers and capital owners.. People cry, media report suicides and they just are buying another Ferrari and houses in the Canarian/Carribean. They smoke a cigar, drink whiskey and looking at the sky think: 'suckers, so long till next bubble'.

Works like charm for years. So sad that for example my country's currency ex ratio and stock exchange is so vulnerable to this.

Financial managers are not stupid. They are pragmatically cynical.
The current inflation rate suggests that the supply and demand for cash is in balance. This might not be true, but you won't disprove it with unsourced conspiracy theories.
there's no absolute critical mass - what matters is how many of your most important peers use it. I'd say as soon as the probability for a random person to have a friend on said social network lies above 10-20% then you've achieved critical mass. it's a chicken and egg problem, which means you have to provide some value even if none of your friends use it - which is exactly what color is doing wrong.
Thanks for clarification - as I have never used instagram nor seen their job page. It's a good rendering (sans fonts), if nothing else.
Microsoft got too many services to be sure about that, but Azure by itself probably has a high demand of adresses.
I found this utterly unconvincing, because I fail to see how many of the examples he cited have anything at all to do with drawing up the actual agreement!

More importantly to me, the author completely fails to address the impact of the lawyer cost, which I thought was the biggest point of the original article. That extra $10k in lawyer fees can make or break a young company.
Effect of One-Legged Standing on Sleep
Heads up this is a 'pivot' - the initial site was a social network for gay men called Fabulis. They then rebranded to artsy/design discounts. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
Sounds like Duke hasn't run out of gum yet....
I can corroborate that for people with no prior programming experience, but a significant math background (engineers, stat and math majors), the statement "x = x + 1" is befuddling to them. They have no concept of time in a sequence of imperative statements. That is, they don't intuitively understand that statements get executed, and that the state of the program changes (potentially) after each statement. It takes real effort on their part to internalize this idea.

Now, I'm sympathetic to your final paragraph, but having never taught functional programming to anyone, I can't corroborate it. Personally, I went through something similar when first learning how to think functionally.
I hope I can pass this experience on to my grandchildren.
But what's the answer? Regulate the size of investments in early stage companies? Point and laugh at seemingly crazy valuations? Ignore the market and concentrate on building our own things?
Okay, so they’re cool, but are they effective?
are touchscreen tablets really that effective?
Best summary of bubble/non-bubble debate I've read yet:

[Are we in a bubble?]

“Maybe,” says Naval, “Certainly valuations are creepy up quickly in all stages of deals. On the other hand, 10 years ago when we all felt like this last time the total market size for any company was at maximum 100 million potential users. Now we’re in the billions of users. Facebook connections alone bring 500 million, Twitter 200 million. 10 years ago we only connected for brief periods of time when we were at our PCs. Now we’re connected to apps all the time, everywhere we go. So maybe there’s a bubble. It’s hard to say. But we’re also looking at unprecedented opportunity.”

- http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/2011/03/22/the-magic-midn...
The idea that criticism is insulting, or that we should implicitly trust investors because they have been successful in the past is a bit ludicrous.

I'd prefer to see evidence of success before assuming it will happen.
The Duke Nuken Forever List is my favourite place to check out at times like this.

> Things that have taken less time than Duke Nukem Forever's Development: The United States' entire program to put a man on the moon, from Kennedy's challenge to the landing.

http://duke.a-13.net/
It seems like highlighting the structural insufficiency of a sand castle by stomping on it.
Well, a bubble is the result of people being fooled on an industry or economy-wide scale, so I think the fact that we still have them shows that plenty are fooled. I agree that many savvy players will participate with full knowledge of what's happening, but this only works for them because of all the suckers waiting in line.
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