skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
> There are about 15 people so far who have said the same thing. Maybe it's true, but it seems to be getting a little desperate. I'd wager that many Mac purchasers did not have a long experience with OSX before buying one, nor could they describe in any serious way the differences between various OSes ("It just works". Memo: Windows "Just works" also). They have, however, been exposed to the bountious fruits of Apple's marketing department, and could tell you quite clearly the differences between "I'm a mac" and "I'm a pc".

Because the hacker crowd at JavaOne: known for making uninformed and unresearched computer purchases based off marketing. Could you at least try not to be derisive? Why don't you just say, "Go play with your shiny toy, kiddo?"

> 99.99 percent of the time, using a computer, you are not using the OS but the applications. Firefox, an IDE, a music player, an IM client, etc. These don't vary too much.

Yeah, and even then I like the choices on OS X better. I prefer Adium to Trillium, Safari to Firefox (the Safari web inspector is like firebugz, but fast), iTunes is pretty much the standard player.

And then of course, most of my day is spent in a text editor (of which I have a wide variety of excellent choices, from Linux standbys like emacs and vi to modern contenders like TextMate) and a terminal.

Why is it that these things are so hard to believe. Is it that hard to imagine?
Ididwork (YC Summer 08) Launches
I'm Shawn, one of the ididwork.com founders. We'd like to know what you think about the service. Please leave any feedback here or email us at feedback [at] ididwork (dot) com.
I'm truly impressed and would love to play around with my own version.

But it is funny how re-creating forty-year-old technology is now considered an achievement.
TOP Ebook Publishing Do’s and Don’ts From Ebook Publishers Around The Globe
Hi, Cory here with my latest post on the subject of ebook publishing. But, this time I don’t have an article for you to read, thats for Friday, but what I do have for you is a list of great links to other articles and blogs that reference ebook publishing and the Do’s and Don’ts of creating your own ebook.
I might be free, but it's only been three weeks. Maybe the weekend after?
so for all the people who upvoted that "tired of Techcrunch, want direct links instead" story, let's take a new habit :

direct link : http://www.ididwork.com/
This is the kind of bottom-up stuff that can change an organization from the inside. Congrats to the ididwork.com team.
The beloved anti todo list. I've been using it every day.

Loving the video - good job Shawn and Reman.
I like it, but I'm skeptical when TechCrunch says "it will eliminate the need for status meetings". Face-to-face still offers lots of advantages: you can ask questions in real time, you can read body language, and you have have quicker discussions. ididwork is a supplement (a pretty good one too!), but not a replacement.
It's actually nice to read TC's review in 2 minutes rather than spending 20 minutes on the site to discover all that stuff on my own.
News is one case, but how about the millions ratings & reviews floating out there on the web? What about this site? http://www.boorah.com/restaurants/CA/palo-alto/the-counter/A...

They scrape, re-present abstracts from and supposedly do calculations based on of the entirety of user-submitted data collected by a number of sites.

Does that violate fair use in anyone's opinion?
I do, as do several coworkers. It's only about a mile for me, at the moment, but I've done ten each way before. (I often take the long way home, now. A mile is nothing. Living right by downtown is nice, though.)

Biking to work (or going to a gym, etc., etc.) regularly hits many of the same points the author addresses: You will be generally happier and have more energy (both physical and mental) if you get exercise regularly. Fact. (Also, it works better if you pick fun exercise, because you'll actually do it.)

It isn't practical in some cities / for some people, but if you can, give it a try.
Cool, but what's Shake Shack?
This is one major problem 90% of startups/businesses face. Most entrepreneurs are usually skilled individuals who build products. But what they fail to realize is that now they have to place their product in front of your customers. That is the hard part.

Most startups launch will not be covered by TC, Mashable, RWW....Even when your startup does you cannot guarantee the audience will come back. Why would they? So what does an entrepreneur do?

A few startup entrepreneurs believe they do not need a "business guy" in their team. Well, save the case in which you are building a Google Killer or a super viral app, you do. While you are busy responding to those 50 hard core users and not the 5k who signed up and never came back, the business guy is supposed to be busy creating and/or attracting business.

That one guy should be the one selling your product, looking for distributions deals and spend his time emailing/calling (harassing works too) established players who may be able to take advantage of your product/service. Sales prove your product is worth something. Distribution is another important part of your business. You cannot easily acquire 1 million users, but you can add a tiny value to someone else's 1 million users (Facebook applications). In this case you are usually generating revenue as well. Once you sign one decent deal (and make sure they announce it publicly) other players will follow. "Monkey see , Monkey do".

Hackers can certainly learn to be great negotiators and great business development managers, but usually they do not want anything to do with bureaucracy.

If you are a team of 2 hackers, having a third co-founder or early part time employee as your VP of sales and Business Development will only benefit your company.
I think it would be helpful if you included the option to input the time that each task took.
I really like the idea. There is a definitely a need for something like this. I'm curious to know if you plan on adding any sort of communication aspects (along the lines of built in chat, messages, possibly video chat, etc.)?
Then it's a lazy hack. Every law has a message, and apparently the message of this one is "It is perfectly okay to support a candidate as much as possible, so long as you use the second through nth most liquid medium, and not the very most liquid medium."

There are just so many negative externalities, here. Imagine a lawyer who can do something society thinks is worth $500 per hour. By lunchtime, he's earned enough money to make the maximum donation to Obama; thereafter, his next best bet is to do the kind of volunteer work worth about $10 an hour. He's running at 2% efficiency so we can feel like our political system is less corrupt!
2. PDF Files for Online Reading

This should be #1. You can always search the site with google if I have to.
The only concern I have is, I might not want to give details to somebody on the tasks Im working(since the projects whatever I do in my company are confidential). This could be a genunine problem for most company employees but for personal tracking its great.

EDIT: Same concern over rescuetime which sends all the corporate urls to thier server?
You can disable the translucent menubar. Just uncheck the box in Desktop & Screensaver's prefpane. Spaces can be disabled as well (in the Expose & Spaces prefpane) so you can use Virtue instead for virtual deesktops.

Also, Safari's been stable for me (except on delicious2.0 for some reason, but I dont use delicious often). But thats just one piece of data, not really enough to make any sort of conclusion.
My to-do list for Identi.ca
i think that for people who only use simple programs, all the OS's look the same (except linux, which can't seem to get rid of its shoddy gestalt.) i think for these people, the external design of the computer as an appliance makes a big difference, partly because it's something they can actually valuate

i don't see a problem with buying/selling the candy coating. if i bought a mac it would be for the case/monitor design. it is very pretty and elegant
Mozilla mocks up possible Firefox successors in idea factory
Most of the tools aren't the same - as has been discussed here, the Mac repositories are far smaller than their Debian and Ubuntu equivs, which means you're less likely to find what you want. In my experience they're less tested too.

Personally I prefer the Linux middle-click paste (especially compared to the key Macs use instead of Windows for Ctrl, which messes with my muscle memory by being over to the left), and viewing images, content indexing, and mixed channel sound have worked out of the box for years.
I'm very interested in discussing this with you and have sent you an email regarding this post. If you could please take a look at that I would appreciate it.
Thats what I thought at first sight, but its not exactly true.

If all you want is a cheap ticket than stubhub seems like the place to go, stubhub is the cheapest on all of the ticketstumbler searches I have done.

However, If you want something rare like courtside at the lakers.. Stubhub might not always have it, but ticketcity or some other place will. Thats where the value of TicketStumbler comes in I think. Its a useful site.
osx86 is hacky at best. It's worth buying a real mac box if you're getting a laptop (to have working power management).

And if you use a desktop, well, I'd recommend getting a mac anyway, just so you can update without having to reinstall or sacrifice a USB port to that efi hack.
Yeah, you can, and it works fine, and then you need a fix, and then it's not cracked and won't install, and now your computer's broken.
I find it sad that people on News.YC think that 'PC' means Windows.
Former Apple employee sues for violation of labor code
Heh, you'll probably receive a violation notice if you name your product with anything that's of the form "i'm *". Unless you're a big co, good luck fighting MS.
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/hans_rosling_shows_the_be...

This shows the GDP stats even better! Well worth watching
Voted up. The exact idea I hyped to everyone (and wrote on my name tag) at YCombinator's Startup School and reception in April, so I know it has potential. And registered at Dynadot 3 days ago, the domain registrar I introduced News.YC to this Spring. ;) So, at least you got one vote :). And I know other founders of existing YC companies loved the idea as well.

Good thing that of the two YCombinator founders who were there at the reception, I only talked to Trevor about the idea, and not PG--otherwise I would be pretty upset! Oh well, I'm actually going back to college this Fall per PG's new advice to finish college--after following the old advice to drop out of college--so that's fine that somebody made this. (Had I applied to the summer round, I would have probably been rejected, given that an app like this takes 5 people to make.) The implementation looks good! Good luck!

Obviously, I'm not particularly excited to hear this news, since I was thinking about this idea every day, but on the other hand, it will make it easier when my app launches since it would have been previously demonstrated as a proven idea by somebody else.
Scalability and concessions
Bookmarklet incoming? Or, better yet, a Quicksilver plugin? Looks great but it's the kind of thing that I'd only use if it's easy to get information into, ala Twitter.
Check the colors again - Scheme is increasing popularity at the same level as Ruby is.

Ack. re: Lisp.
would you agree or disagree with the statement "might makes right."
I can't read mashable with all those ads.
A bland OS X install can't write to a ZFS partition yet. You could try prereleases of ZFS for Mac from http://zfs.macosforge.org if you want write support. However, it doesn't let you boot to a partition with ZFS or index the partition with Spotlight. There's a few other limitations as well - look around the trac wiki and you should find the list pretty easily.
It doesn't seem like most of those would apply to early stage companies(I would hardly call a company early stage if you need to hire a full time accountant)
I'm the other cofounder. That's something we're working to alleviate concerns for - we've added hackersafe and verisign (and truste's on the roadmap) so the data is secure and the session is encrypted. It's definitely something we want our users to be comfortable with, and something we're working on.
Attorneys know what they're talking about where law is concerned, hackers don't but often don't realize that. Asking a hacker for legal advice is just as bad as asking a lawyer for programming advice. Actually it's probably worse, since nobody ever ended up in jail for a coding error.
Burgers and Ice Cream and stuff - http://shakeshacknyc.com/about.html
Absolutely, it's ridiculous to pose legal questions here. If I were running the place I'd probably remove them. It's actually dangerous to both the poster (whose business could be ruined by misinformation) and those who respond.
I forgot there was still good stuff on Kuro5hin as recently as 2005. Internet years seem so much longer.
That's an awesome map! Thanks for the link!
Right. But my actual concern was not that a middleman is snooping, but the concern of giving the data to ididwork.com. Its not that data is not secure, but I think companies might be just simply paranoid(for no reason maybe). A hosted solution within thier control might be one of the solutions. Again, might be people are ok with that and its just my thought.
Based on your questions and your last comment... let's be clear here. You aren't wanting to make an app just to view content right (ala plugin)? The purpose of the native app route is to provide better/easier/more interaction with your site/web application. If it's just another way to view the site, I would just do an iphone optimized site ala m.digg.com, espn, foxnews, cnn, etc.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/mcsweeneys ?
"Yahoo later shut down other sites that were pilfering Geocities as a storage service, but strangely they didn't shut down HotOrNot. Hong later found out that people at Yahoo really liked HotOrNot and did not want to be known as the company that killed it."
Motorola MOTORIZR Z8 Black Unlocked
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Even Viruses Get the Blues
SEO optimization - Some best practices
Startup Pushes Free Wireless Broadband for Everyone
That's what I thought, too. Fortunately, I read your comment before looking at the article, thus saving me time. Thanks! (That's why I love HN).
An iPhone web app will also work on Androids Platform and I'm assuming Nokia's S60 Platform(it uses a webkit browser).

So there are some benefits to being platform "agnostic" (even though it's not as true in this case).
And, they lost the Van Halen lawsuit.
Parasites That Brainwash Their Host
Weird, I'm not sure who would have downvoted you for this suggestion. It was exactly the sort of thing I was looking for.
Ididwork - The work log that shares
I believe perpendicular applies to only two dimensions, while orthogonal applies to three or more. The latter makes sense when there might be more than two dimensions present in the discussion.
Tufte debunked this book in Beautiful Evidence. It even led him to coin the term economisting (emphasis on con and mist).

Draft: http://www.edwardtufte.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=0...

When I first read it I remarked that he was going after too easy a target -- surely nobody would take this stuff seriously. And yet, since then, all sorts of people have.
Definitely.
Another thing to note is that apple haven't really done any black magic marketing (though they have done that too) to get their margins up. They simply differentiated effectively. Noone else has in that market so it seems like voodoo. But in most markets (batteries, soap, jeans, cars) you have differentiated brands that command different premiums.

A mac is not comparable to a windows pc (in the minds of many consumers at least). So the get to raise their margins. Dell including XYZ = Toshiba including XYZ. The specs are the value, pretty much exactly. So, like petrol stations, they don't have margins.

Another thing to note is that most price comparisons compare based on seller costs. Because in a competitive market that is what market prices reflect. The value to a consumer is necessarily higher (or they wouldn't buy) and it can be much higher.

If the cost of production is $1000and & the value to the consumer is $10000, the machine will be priced somewhere between those two. The more competitive (less differentiated) the market is, the closer to $1000.
My name is Amrith. I would be interested in joining as well. Is this still on?
I can be in too. What time we talking?
Adblocker Plus.
Oh, but we wish they did sometimes :)
that's awesome... my favorite magic trick is this one:

http://www.penguinmagic.com/product.php?ID=1703

The video demo is pretty incredible.
Doh! (smacks forehead)

And thank you!
How are you planning on making money, exactly?
For the event I was looking at (a Cubs game @ Wrigley, if it matters) 3 of the 4 links I clicked went to tickets that were no longer available at StubHub. You obviously have no control over third-party content, but the result is that I simply closed the tab your site was in and continued my search directly on StubHub.
iPhone Apps are good if

a) You want to charge for the app

b) iPhone's MobileSafari can't do what you need, performance-wise or feature-wise. Note the gap is narrowing now that MobileSafari has touch events and hardware accelerated 2D and 3D transforms.
Appreciating how busy you are, what you do (thank you), how HN is built, the fact HN is not a business par se, and that one would rather not have a feature than something poorly implemented, it nonetheless would still be helpful to many even in a basic form.

Generally, most people here are capable of finding what they want/need (e.g. using the methods repeatedly outlined throughout HN), but that is not really the point.

In most (especially YC) startups, such features are the first to be implemented even if initially they suck - the mantra being release early and iteratively improve.

Hence, I'd have thought search would have been high on the agenda and one of the first things done (even if not optimally - it doesn't have to be good, just 'good enough' to be useful, and can be improved over time) as it is a critical feature in almost every site these days and even on HN is one of the most repeatedly requested and asked-about things.

I don't think it requires infinite time either. :)
True... it's for former-hackers who succeeded financially and now pay a lot of income tax.
I wouldn't be surprised if apple is considering that route.

Especially now after they've successfully bamboozled carriers with the iphone.

But I actually think that the cheap ultra-portables (eg Eee) wuld have the edge here. If we take the mobile phone industry as a guide, the carriers will probably pay up to about $150 - $250 to get you on a $30 - $50 p/m plan. That doesn't make too much dent in an Air.

If you bundle it with home broadband plan (maybe they'd subsidise $300) they could give out mini laptops for free or at $100 or so.
Apple is actually in a spot. Experience & connections with carriers that no one else has, but no product to which a few 100s makes much of a difference.
I like the idea and initial basic implementation. I can see a lot of potential.

The name has problems, though. First, it seems a bit defensive: "Look, I did work!" Second, it looks/sounds a little like 'idiotwork'.

There are tons of themes and word fragments to work with for 'team microblogging of work tasks with metrics', so I think with a little effort you could have a very memorable, meaningful name.

Good luck!
This is neat. I've been using this technique ever since stumbling across it in "Building Communities with Software" by Joel Spolsky (http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/BuildingCommunitieswi...). Money quote:

Q. Why don't you have some kind of system so I can see what posts I've already read?

A. We have the best system that can be implemented in a distributed, scalable fashion: we let everyone's browser keep track of it. Web browsers will change the color of the links you've already visited from blue to purple. So all we have to do is subtly change the URL for each topic to include the number of replies available; that way when there are additional replies the post will appear in the "unread" color again.

Anything more elaborate than this would be harder to build and would needlessly complicate the UI.
Popcuts (YC summer 08) Pays You To Find Good New Music
It's a very interesting concept but I fail to see where it will really be useful? Can you give me an everyday example of when you'd need to search for the intersection of two concepts?
Later on we're planning on charging managers/companies that want to use this as a tool to manage multiple teams and employees. We'll never charge the users that are using it as an individual account.
Why did you create a new user account just for this?
Definitely. One of our top priorities at the moment is adding more (and quicker) channels of input into the system.
While windows "just works", OS X is the desktop nix that "just works" and works with all the peripherals I own and there is a high-quality ISV market.
I could see myself using a tool like this for my freelance work which is usually 'task based'. I would probably use tags like 'paid', and 'unpaid'. It would be helpful if it had time element for tracking hours too.
Quakes caught by laptop sensor
I'm not sure (since there are so many alternatives out there for that kind of thing). Our primary goal is to keep it as lightweight and easy to use as possible. That being said, it's something we'll think about.
ASK HN: How to hire good employees?
I run a small web design & development company that deals mostly with small-businesses and local colleges. We're about to open our first office and would like to bring in two or three developers to help with the workload. Most of the work we've done so far was outsourced to out-of-country developers, so this would be the first time we're hiring inhouse developers.

We're planning to recruit from the local colleges, we're in NYC so there's no shortage of CS/engineering schools. I've put together a list of questions and talking points that I want to cover during the interview, but it's difficult to assess whether or not they are sufficient.

Can anyone recommend good reading material on proper interviewing processes? Any advice you can provide would be appreciated.
Misinformation: "There is just nothing like it in the Linux world"

http://www.gnustep.org/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNUstep
How to Fix BitTorrent, the Startup?
Thanks for the suggestion.

It's something we've been debating about, and it helps to know what a user would prefer. Right now you can star an entry, so the more important work gets prominence.
The problem with the video demo for this particular trick--indeed, the video demo for virtually ANY trick--is that you're seeing the best-possible performance. Don't get me wrong; I've seen this stunt performed in person, and it's pretty impressive. But I do consider this to be a compendium of best-possible outcomes, with a willing audience and a very skilled magician.
Iz niice work guys.
I'd be interested in attending as well if enough people can make it.
Patent Protection Checklist
The Anthropology of the Social Web
I agree about the Thinkpad being better than any Apple laptop--both in looks and the fact that unlike Macs the Thinkpad has a nipple.
Already passed it on to some artists I know.
Of course it's an "attack website." It'll strip away your HTML, and then what will you have?
Good to know I'm not the only one, I actually read "idiotwork" the first time I skimmed the title.
"Polonius is no longer online."
For those who've never heard of this gem :)

Well, I don't know as I want a lawyer to tell me what I cannot do. I hire him to tell how to do what I want to do.
~ J. P. Morgan