skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
YC doesn't dictate how many hours you work. They aren't project managers or pointy haired bosses. They're investors.

Your biggest mistake is taking the blog entry of one startup out of 100 or so that they've funded and assuming that what they do is typical and/or directed by YC.
It's more of a publicity stunt for a new startup than a real viable path to large-scale funding

Of the 80 startups prior to the current cycle (who haven't had Demo Day yet), I believe 14 have raised series A rounds so far. Probably the same number again could have if they wanted to, but either didn't want to raise that much money, or got acquired first.
This isn't a YC thing. This is a startup thing. Startups work a lot of hours, it's the nature of the beast. By being as accusatory as you've been, you've highlighted your inexperience with startups in general.
Good point. I think user experience is important as well. But as demonstrated by many of arcane JavaScript emulators out there (vi, terminals, etc), I'm sure you could devise just about any user experience you would like in a simple web page. I'm not sure the Windows and Mac OS killer exists yet, but I think they will become increasingly irrelevant (as well as the non-browser apps installed on them).
Thanks for the answer. I'm glad it's the norm, because to be honest, being on this site, more often than not I feel pretty stupid.

It's nice to know that even those experienced in business deals don't understand all the legalese. The fact that I can somewhat read them doesn't make me feel so dumb!
Well if you don't keep in memory the page nor the url you generate ever (either in the publisher or in the viewer), can it be used in any meaningful way? But if you don't keep urls in memory you could possibly generate as many urls as you wish in infinite time...
I don't like that formula, because in both cases the manipulator would think it's for their own good. It's too subjective.
Michael: Fredo, you're my older brother, and I love you. But don't ever take sides with anyone against the Family again. Ever.
But the government pays for the roads too. Isn't that a subsidy? And without trains or subways much more people would need to use cars - where would they be parked? Who would pay for all that parking space? Trains allow people who can't drive (or can't afford to drive) to travel.

And can you imagine the traffic in New York, Paris or London if the "unprofitable" subway networks were shut down? Society has a huge interest in keeping these networks running, even if it's impossible for a private company to start a new railroad and turn a profit.

There are a lot of variables involved here. Don't be too sure you see the whole picture.
My Quest to Build the Perfect Burger
Do they give you written explanations then?
Is someone in stalker mode today?
In the US, highways get an order of magnitude more government subsidy than transit (not just Amtrak but also urban subway systems, etc). Even if you treat the revenue from the gas tax as a user fee rather than a subsidy, there's still a huge subsidy coming from other kinds of tax revenue.

Chart and link to more info here: http://www.streetsblog.org/2008/07/22/highway-funding-the-la...
Stretched? It's stretched like a slinky that doesn't slink any more. It's a lame article with a false dichotomy, as others have pointed out.
I think it is worth reporting considering this as a move by Apple to thwart piracy of OS X.
Private transportation is subsidized just as much

Don't say "just as much". People buy their own cars, perform their own maintenance, pay their own insurance, and essentially pay a subscription through gas taxes (which, in my opinion, should fund 100 percent of roadwork.)
That's funny and sadly true in many cases.

But come on, I think we all know what point the article is really trying to make: You can run off and start writing code to some spec in your head; or you can spend a little time upfront finding out what the business needs and users' needs are before hitting the keyboard.

It's not really about putting down "hackers" or lifting up corporate developers. It's about the approach you take when you're building an application that solves a given business or user problem.

When you're writing code for someone else, it makes sense to ask questions, lest you create something that doesn't actually meet the person's needs. When you're experimenting or just writing code for yourself, by all means just hacking away sometimes makes the most sense.
my immediate thoughts:

- i dislike the name. for something producing somewhat important documents, it has a trendy, difficult to remember/spell domain name.
- i dislike the fact that i can't see any examples of what gets produced. i *have* to sign up and go through everything just to see an example of the end product to see if the process was worthwhile.
- i dislike the fact that i have to sign up before i can do anything.

i'll get back to you once i actually generate a plan. the idea is interesting, though, and does have potential for the right crowd.
I recommend the Big Island of Hawai'i for an "extended working period." You get an internet connection (albeit a laggy one), a laptop, privacy, fucking excellent coffee, and beautiful views of jungle and ocean. Result: you finish your novel or software project.
http://drunkmenworkhere.org/ did an interesting study of how some search engines handled infinite sites.
But their anger would have been directed at the government rather than the oil companies, as it is now.
I've been able to get emails through to Hotmail/Live/MSN accounts from my own mail servers after explicitly notifying the Microsoft postmaster of my domain and valid SPF record. (Just having the record wasn't enough.) Here's the form I use:
https://support.msn.com/eform.aspx?productKey=senderid&p...
Yahoo, Intel and HP Form Cloud Computing Labs
Umm... Supply and demand works... Not much in the way of news.
'students' reliance on Java's libraries of pre-written code means they aren't developing the deep programming skills necessary to make them invaluable... they are not fully prepared to compete against what is now a global field of rigorously educated software developers'

I think it's fair to say that most professional programmers in developed countries (a) make plenty of use of existing libraries, (b) may not have 'deep programming skills', and (c) probably don't have a formal education in Computer Science. It also seems unlikely that the majority of developers in India or wherever have these either.

The main reason it's hard for a CS graduate to get a job seems to be that agencies and companies want commercial experience, which can be hard to come by.

'Dewar says that if he were interviewing applicants for a development job, he would quickly eliminate the under-trained by asking the following questions... "I am afraid I would be met by blank stares from most recent CS graduates"...'

...and by many 'professionals' too, I would imagine.
NPR announces an Open API
"That's about the amount of energy you'd get if you converted the entire mass of Jupiter into pure energy via E = mc^2," said Cleaver

Or, to put it in terms (slightly) more easily visualised, that's the total amount of energy put out by all the stars in the Milky Way galaxy every 31 years.
Thanks! I will give that a try
Static pages for each picture = more pageclicks = more bs statistics to show your advertisers.
Yup, they tried to get rid of him when he pushed out Cornel West, then they tried to get rid of him when he was about to fire FAS dean Kirby, and then they finally had their day when he made the gender commments.
I am sure that you are not the only one who requires such an application. Regardless, that is not a database (certainly not a relational/SQL one), it is effectively a dumb object store. I meant nothing derogatory when I pointed out that drizzle was not a database. Just that databases are a very well defined utilities (cf. ANSI SQL standard). MySQL already pushed the bottom end of the envelop. Calling drizzle a database is a flat out lie. Heck, if I ever just want a transactional system for storing undifferentiated blobs, I will probably end up using this product.
Video: Predicting the web's next 5,000 days
This could lead to phishing/Trojans. All one would have to do is use the script and point it towards a modified binary. Just the other day, someone I know searched Yahoo for "firefox" and ended up clicking on the seemingly-first result - an advertisement going to an arbitrary non-Mozilla site, offering a download link hosted on their domain. Hook line sinker.
I think it deliberately left out most US cities (Honolulu is the only one I remember).

Businessweek's "Best of" lists are normally crap anyways... it still got me on their site, though.
1) Name is horrible. Srsly. :)

2) You should show screenshots at a minimum. Also show the final product/output. Maybe a sample Business Plan pdf to download.

3) Site looks like a blog not a web app.

4) Slogan is kinda wrong: Because Business Plans Are Hard. -> What are you doing to solve this? Would be like Basecamp saying: Because Online Project Management is Hard.
I have a feeling we're enjoying the golden age of e-commerce right now. With taxation looming, things will only get worse.
jwz is another well-known example.
If the rich pay less taxes then the non-rich probably pay more...
So in summary, some guy thinks that the kind of work he does is important and should be better funded.

Not a big surprise there.
Reclaim the word "hacker"!
Ok -I've worked on a startup on the side for almost 3 years now - and so far no real success - I'm starting to cringe at the lost opportunity cost and am thinking that I should go back to school. I can't leave the immediate area due to family constraints - so I'm limited to local institutions. I can probably get into either an MBA, Masters in CS or Law degree program. Which do you all think is a better fit? Or is there something to be gained in a spectacular failure of the startup (i.e. maybe more likely to get venture next time around)?

A little more background - the programs are 'rated' around 50th or so in the country - and I will likely never work in a totally high tech industry - (working in IT now within another field (i.e. enterprise)).
The other interesting thing was their balance sheet vs. cash flow statement. For the first quarter 98, they had $106K in cash. In the same period, they burned $200K on operating activities, and only avoided bankruptcy ($14K at the beginning of the quarter!) with a $300K cash infusion from investors. They would've been dead in another month and a half.

Talk about playing chicken!
Ask PG: Activity in comments adds to gravity
PG, Have you considered using the activity in the comments to help weigh submissions? I think the recent submission "YC is a cult" (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=260017) is a great example of something that should probably be ranked higher for longer because of all the discussion.
I agree, although life in general seems to move at a leisurely pace there, so the "urgency" factor in work is not there. OTOH, the fruit juices there do taste much better than the supermarket ones in mainland US...
It wasn't necessary to swap nixon and elvis
I wish it were selection bias. Unfortunately, every time I hear about a YC company they seem to brag about the hours they work.

Are there numbers about this? A survey of average hours worked in YC startups (ideally separating code / biz time) would be helpful to give people a realistic idea of what they're signing up for when they apply.
There's something about Atwood's writing that makes me mad he earns any income from that site.
Economics. It works, bitches.
Now I'm positive you're trolling. Kudos to you for a troll well executed.
When I do this at home, I'm stealing from myself. And it feels terrible.

When I do this during the day, I'm stealing from ------ Inc., and it doesn't feel nearly as bad!
This also happened when Wall-E came out.

In any case: yes, bugs should be fixed.
Looks like there were two 2:1 splits between 6/10/1998 (day of stock conversion) and 01/01/2000, so those 393,591 shares would have become 1,574,364 shares (assuming no one sold them before then).
Good God Maui's even worse... Kona is your best bet for Hawaii.
I know plenty of Boeing engineers and my impression is that they don't feel that way. Several engineers will be jointly designing that hatch door you mention, and they know there will be plenty of careful review by other engineers of everything they do before their thoughts become matter.
Europe and Japan join forces to map out future of intelligent robots
Great stuff! I especially like how the facial characteristics of the hybrids are mostly preserved. Could you have simply introduced more noise to increase variability?
People like Hogtown because it's like a mini New York. You get all the benefits of living in a "big time" city, but you can still have a house and a yard and live the suburban dream. (For now at least).

After being raised in Toronto and now living in Vancouver, via Calgary, I definitely prefer where I am now, with the exception of the rain.
I'd say weight the pros and cons of each and try to do what will feel the most fulfilling for yourself, rather than judge purely on merits. If you can afford to, you might go ahead on a startup, even if you fail you'll gain great experience. Just don't let it get you down.
No it wouldn't, because again, YC doesn't dictate the hours. You're signing up for whatever you want to sign up for. It's not as if you punch a time card and PG looks at them.

People work so hard because they want to do well on demo day. Other than that one day, I don't know of any way to pitch to all of the top investors in the industry at once. You'd be a fool to not try to maximize your productivity with that in mind.
I have done the personal MBA and it is great!
I own a self-funded startup, and have the president hat, obviously.

I'm working through Josh's list of books, and paying for an hour of coaching with Josh once per month...and I find it invaluable.
I think PG has mentioned this in an essay (and in the Founders at Work interview). They were running out of cash during the Yahoo negotiations.

Edit:

"It was really close, too. When we were visiting Yahoo to talk about being acquired, we had to interrupt everything and borrow one of their conference rooms to talk down an investor who was about to back out of a new funding round we needed to stay alive. So even in the middle of getting rich we were fighting off the grim reaper."

http://www.paulgraham.com/die.html
Well, that's why there is no formula! It's a sticky wicket. In the case of the mother and child, in most cases, the mother is correct in thinking it's "for their own good." Also, in that case, there's good reason to believe that the child doesn't know what's best.

So don't try to put any formula in my mouth. I explicitly said I had none!

(It's like porn: "I can't define it, but I know it when I see it.")
I'm tired of reading about how one person's favorite position on the abstraction continuum is the most important. Or at least I'm tired of reading that argument with nothing to back it up. Sure, CS departments may benefit from changes, but I'd like Dr. Dewar to tell us why safety-critical systems programming, compiler debugging, and hardware spec testing are what university CS departments should focus on.
10 Dumbest Lies of the Micro-hoo-gle-cahn Saga
Using Java as the primary teaching language in a CS curriculum does not necessarily mean the students are relying on libraries. From what I can tell, it's his perception that there is more reliance on libraries in course work. He mentions no studies.

The main language we used was C++ (although for the intro course, it was the C subset of C++, but with C++ style I/O). In our classes we were expected to implement our own data structures, we weren't allowed to use the STL (except for strings). When we got up to classes where they assumed we knew how to implement the classic data structures (say, compilers), we could use the STL.

Personally, I don't think Java is a good first programming language. But it's still possible to construct good courses that use Java - it depends more on how the course is structured than what language is being used.
Not to attack you, but when did "up or down" become a necessary qualifier on "vote"? Last I checked, all votes are binary.

(More to the point: when congress voted on the housing bill, they voted on this, too; it got a vote. It's naive to imply that all legislation that passes through congress somehow gets its own dedicated vote, and that it's "crooked" to put stuff into omnibus bills. This is how the sausage gets made, and it has been made the same way since the beginning....)
Stop poisoning Hacker News with crap articles filled with logical fallacies. Flagged.
The other day my girlfriend, who is of Louisiana Creole extraction, commented: "I've never seen so many white people on bicycles!"

We live in Houston, and it used to be that most of the bicyclists you see in my neighborhood are Black and Hispanic guys who have to get to work but can't afford a car.
Stop submitting CodingHorror.com blog posts here. They add nothing and aren't even worth discussing when Atwood doesn't take the fucking time to research things. Flagged.
on top of what everyone said(horrible name, no screenshots, looks too much like a blog), the theme is just plain horrible, puke green isn't exactly a great color, and you made it so light, that it actually hurts your eyes to look at it
Do you hate Vista?  Try Mojave!
HP, Intel, Yahoo Team on Cloud Testbed
Wow! A lot of food for though here! Thanks noodle!

The main problem with the Facebook application is that we would need to require a login and, since there are several facebook apps which does the same that currently Wolpy does, it would be a handicap for us.

By the way, I owe you an email about the FS offer!
I really do want to see what I am getting involved with. A visual example that walks me through the process.
Great. Can someone raise the gas price to 5 dollars. Sure my milk will be more expensive, but it will force more people to work from home instead of going to an office to drink coffee and take smoke breaks.
Chinese HD format: It's blue, but not "Blu-ray"
That's always possible, but I'd bet against that. Perhaps in the long, long run, but I think that 10 years from now the desktop will still house the killer apps. Not the Internet.
NetworkX looks really cool and has lots of example code to learn from.
What was summer wrong about? West was an embarrassment -- too busy writing a bad rap album to publish any actual work? It's not like they have accounting professors who are busy playing country music or death metal.

I hadn't heard about the other deans. I can understand Harvard professors being huffy when someone tries to make them behave differently, but that doesn't tell me it's wrong to ask -- it could be, but perhaps those professors were too egotistical or cozy. Very hard to say.

Is the National Review article factually incorrect? What parts of my life have been improved by the diligent and industrious researchers of the world's Afro-American Studies departments?
1 billion a year works out to less than 1/2 of 1% of our road subsidies.
I think Three Mile Island and Chernobyl have a lot more to do with it.
Here's to Waterloo (Ontario) in ... 2012 or so being on that list :)
You Don't Need a File System
Simple AMQP Library for Ruby
I think it works better in the other direction: i.e., firms with openings searching Twitter for users who tweet about the technologies they use.

This just seems like a severely size-limited RSS feed to me.
I think your name does need work and the principle behind the app is really good, I wouldnt want to waste my time writing a full BP.

But you should make that landing page more friendly, right now it's a like a shy kid in the corner. Nice & interesting once you read into that person, but not to enticing on the surface.

Add some bigger/bolder text to emphasize your value proposition. As well as pictures/videos of actual use.
Honestly, my introductory CS class was in Java, and the dependence on libraries is complete BS.

We were required to write all of our own data structures/classes as we learned them.

After we proved our competence in making proper structures, our professors would then allow us to use certain classes from libraries to get to the meat of more advanced topics.

While I don't agree with using Java as a first CS class language solely based on popularity, the future of students who take one or two CS classes is greatly benefited by the word "Java" on a resume. Java isn't THAT bad. And at least the C-style syntax matches up with a lot of the most popular languages.
> You begin to suspect that a problem you are having is due to a hardware problem, where the processor is not conforming to its specification.

What is the probability of that happening?

The last time this happened in any significant way was the FDIV bug on the original Pentium. That was 1994. It was extremely rare in practice. That's a ridiculous question and completely irrelevant to 99%+ of software development.

I agree with sofal that reading all these "you should think and work exactly the way I do or else you're stupid" pieces I see get really fucking old.

Fucking around with disassemblers and assembly language instead of just running on AMD chips instead of Intel until the problem gets resolved is a massive waste of time.
I don't think it's as bad as it might seem. I'd rather have this
on the frontpage than lolcats or accident pictures. In fact, I
think some of the people who upvote or submit things like this do
it as a way of keeping News.YC good. They don't want the site to
degenerate into an intellectual monoculture. That doesn't mean
they necessarily agree with everything it says.

Back in the 1960s, the Communists used to get so many votes in
French elections that some people in the US worried the country
would align with Russia. But as Laurence Wylie pointed out in
Village in the Vaucluse (great book btw), most of the voters
didn't actually agree with the Communists' policies. They were
just voting for them because they worried that the dominant party
was getting too powerful. Really they were voting for diversity.
AT&T Blackberry 9000 Bold comes to you
This Black-colored Blackberry will be embedded with a fortifying 2G network of GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 and a 3G network of HSDPA 850 / 1900 / 2100 to proffer a strong connectivity at each corner of the globe.
IMHO (based on my reading, and based on my observations of a certain organization where I went to college), the distinguishing feature of a cult is the exploitation of unanimous peer pressure (cf. the Asch conformity experiment) to make everyone follow one charismatic dictator.

E.g. you give all your money to The Guru because that's what a loyal follower of The Guru does, and all the people you hang out with are loyal followers of The Guru. All the people you hang out with are loyal followers of The Guru because they love you so much and they have so many things for you to do together and go on all these lovely weekend retreats where you are told that if you hang out with someone who's not a loyal follower of The Guru then it would be very bad for your karma.

The unanimity and the single leadership make cults different in kind, and not just different in degree, from other kinds of organized goal-seeking human groups. And I really don't see how the cult model, seen in this way, applies to YC.
So? The cost of roads, traffic lights, snow removal, and police coverage aren't factoring in? I get on a subway car each day with 100+ other people at a time, it probably gets 1,000 people on it a day, everyday, for the last 20+ years. How much could it have cost per person over that time?

Sidenote - the MTA in NYC is only 5% paid for by the city, with 95% of its operating budget coming from rider fairs. There is a big complaint from subway riders that it isn't more, the subways make the city possible, shouldn't they pay more into it?