skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
That reminds me: I did my thesis in Word XP. On AMD Duron 700 MHz with less than gig memory on Windows XP (or was it 2000 back then?). I think, I ended up using almost any feature possible, including editing huge documents (although I splitted huge doc into chapter sub-documents to avoid wasting time while saving), peppering my document with enormous amount of formulas through Mathtype (Word's own Equation is Mathtype Light or something like that), having lots of illustrations, several page layout changes (portrait -> landscape -> portrait) in the same document and an automatic ToC generation. It worked out just fine.

There's a reason why Microsoft still sells their Office product in the age when everyone and their dog can whip out a document online for free.
This is a slippery slope argument that ends in you arguing that the best tested cryptosystem in common use (TLS) is also insecure. All cryptosystems have vulnerabilities; the question is, how workable is the system after those flaws are fixed.
4 steps:

- I learned how to draw a line
- I learned how to turn
- I asked the teacher how to "do things over and over" (loop)
- I taught myself to draw a circle

That was day camp, when I was 7, learning LOGO. After that, it was learning how to load things into high memory writing elaborate menu'd boot batch scripts. Then BASIC, middle school classes with Pascal, taught myself C & C++ from books, and then classes on C++ in college.

All self-taught after that - I don't think a single employer I've had has ever paid for a proper training class of any kind.
Shoot. I downvoted you jason, sorry. I looked at the site's CSS and I think the problem we're experiencing is due to this site using -webkit-text-size-adjust: none;

The text does not grow in size at all in Chrome for me (while the other page elements do... the text gets squished which gives it some illusion of growing).

I tested it in Firefox 4 and increasing the font size works fine... So, I know you've been downvoted to oblivion but it is at least partially the browser's fault in this case (vendor-specific css extensions).
Ok, so they were in on the plan as @dhh's article suggests, but why did they put up so much (nearly a billion)?

That level only makes it harder for them to realize a high return.
quoted from http://shortlogic.tumblr.com/post/5834390772/right-now-our-d...:

"Right now our desk is seeing something they’ve never seen before. It currently costs roughly 100% annualized to short LNKD. So put in monthly terms, if you borrowed $20,000 of LNKD to short, each month you would have to pay an 8.3% borrowing charge (100% / 12 months = 8.3%) or $1667 per month. That is absolutely unreal.

Of course this charge amount can change, and it probably would decline if/when LNKD becomes easier to borrow. But right now is virtually impossible to borrow, so the charge is off the charts."
A positive Groupon post or how Groupon will become like Adwords
I learned over the past 6 months. Basically just read up on w3 schools, php.net and other online sources. Started hacking away at already built apps to extend them and eventually was facile enough to build my own from scratch. I still suck but I can definitely put together enough to get a reasonable MVP out. Will it scale? Who knows.

The toughest part for me coming from a completely non quant/non-cs/non-programming background was learning how to think like a computer. Basically, how to break problems into smaller subsets and solve them. The second toughest part was learning the rules and conventions (i.e. what CAN and CANT you do with the language youre using in the frame of the problem you're solving and eventually what IS and ISNT completely foolish in terms of memory usage/speed).

Good luck if you're on that path! I started out as a "business founder with an idea" and realized how hard it was to get anywhere with that so I learned to build my own ideas out.
Hey fellow HNers. I'm trying to decide if there is real value in this and if I should do something with it... or maybe WordPress will buy it from me. It can do incredibly complex installs for web apps very fast. Please let me know what you think.
Similar to what teach said you could apply some of it by trying to code without using the docs as much as possible. But I agree that it's hard to "practice" programming, versus "doing" programming.

So much of programming is working with large complex systems that it isn't that amenable to small drilling techniques.
Great article. It's too bad the code samples weren't syntax highlighted; I had a hard time following along in monochrome and ended up just skimming most of the code.
Looks like -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; which would explain why it works fine in FF. The text does not re-size for me in Chrome.
I was never shy about my opinion. A good board is made up of people with differing opinions. The worst boards are made up of rubber stamps.

And of course a board is made up of people with different strengths and experiences. My experience is not in massive growth, rapid growth, acquisitions, companies with thousands of people, etc. There were and are people on the board that are very experienced in those matters.

My experience is in product design and development. My advice on those matters was my main contribution to the board and the company. I continue to advise, when asked, on product design.
It is important to also add that APRS has HF and satellite equivalents, and is very twitter-like with data payloads and telemetry, and all kinds of crazy neat things. You can bounce it off of the ISS too.
Questions from a Power User on the Road to Programmer
Need to do what? I've never quite understood 37sig's vision besides being comfortable and profitable (and I assume I'm not the only one).
Type study: better kerning with Kern.js
This needs to be a prominent part of any major clojure web tutorial. Most tutorials are horrible and already assume a basic understanding as outlined here.

Fantastic writeup.
I thought maybe User Mode Linux had been improved, but this just talks about boxes and lines.
Would appreciate it if you could share them as well. I am planning to host one in Richmond, VA in a couple of months and would appreciate any pointers.
Their strategy reminds me most of the telecom strategy in the 90's. Since as many have pointed out there are few barriers to entry, one possible strategy is to get so big so fast that your the 800lb gorilla before anyone realizes the opportunity.

That said, their losses do seem to be coming down relative to their revenue which would imply they have some idea of the 'recipe' that would make money in this space and are spending capital on growth.

But the really egregious thing that stands out, is that if the "early investors" had taken only a third of the billion dollars off the table, rather than the 80% or so they did take, we probably wouldn't be having this discussion. Rather they would have enough money in the bank to fund this growth rate and converge on an operating profit (see point above) at or just before going public.

If this kills them, and startups are full of the 'one decision' that in hindsight took them from the launch rail to the fail rail, they will have no one to blame but their investors.
Hi; I don't know you or Mr. Mason, and wasn't intending to imply that you were doing anything immoral or unethical. Hell, if I had the opportunities and circumstances that Mr. Mason has (for example), I might chart the same path.

I was just speculating that these developments may have a nonzero impact on your brand, PR, image, etc. You've talked a lot about the 'bootstrap vs. VC' topic; insofar as people perceive that topic to be dichotomous and you as being "all-in" on one side of it, any involvement with the other side may create some cognitive dissonance.

Maybe I shouldn't speculate about people's personal brands and such (something I can't say I do often anyway), just so I don't rouse any sleeping bears, as it were. :-)
I didn't say you didn't want them to succeed, I said it doesn't seem like you were very committed to seeing them succeed. Those are two very different things. I want all sorts of things to succeed that I am not committed to at all.
Looks great thanks for sharing. Here are a few things that came to mind while browsing the list.

In the browse view it would be helpful to show more of the description as many of them are cut before they get to the point. Also including the visit official website button as well as show details would be a nice shortcut.

On the details page it would be great to include an image where available.
I was buying this article until I read the line about Apple dropping everything that constitutes why Apple is "Apple." Pixel-perfect design and a professional ethic are exactly why Apple is recognized as one of the most prolific companies (and brands) in the world. If I want to see loose, ragged, amateur content, I know where to go. There's nothing wrong with sterility if it's done properly and given purpose. In this case, to promote a more professional existence (not a bad thing).
Back in the late 80's I won a free pass to a 1 semester programming course in Gw-basic, from there I thought it was super interesting and studied Computer Science at the University where I learned how to program in Pascal and some Java. After that I just bought books and learned by myself some PHP, CSS, AS3, etc.
I agree with all of this. BUT it'll take a while to get there. .NET will be around for a long time in the backend.
A lot of buzz around AngelList... but now I want to test if works
Drilling into his specifics, one issue is that they didn't actually keep the team together (and may well not have wanted to, given the comp package the new COO at least got), the COO and CTO both left in March. http://money.cnn.com/2011/06/03/technology/groupon_ipo_quirk...
I think the issue is that people do not know how to use the tools. I've used both LaTeX and Word extensively and i'll stick with Word.

On the basis of using Word 2007 and above, I can separate content from layout quite happily, have piles of templates I have written, I can programatically control it (I have written authoring platforms on top of Word), I can merge and diff documents from my version control system, embed information from other programs (this can be a sod in LaTeX) and I can typeset math quite happily. I can also collaborate with other people quite easily which is not the case with LaTeX.
Factoid Overload: The Ultimate Infographics Playlist
Well, yes. I also think SSL is too complicated for people to get right. ;-)
Too bad ARM11 is an ancient processor.

It would be interesting to see LuaJIT vs. Dalvik.
archimag (of RESTAS fame) wrote WSAL, which does something similar: https://github.com/archimag/cl-wsal
>>What fraction of legislation do you think that the "best" governor understands?

> Any and all that he signs, or he shouldn't be signing it into law.

I think that you're answering a different question, namely what should a governor do. I asked about what real governors actually do, suggesting that the governor in question is typical and that none are significantly better.

Do you have any examples of governors who behave as you (and I) think that they should? If not....
True enough, if you're targeted it's not going to help very much. However, like outrunning a bear, you only need to be harder to catch than the guy behind you.
What an inaccurate analogy. Newer processors actually behave differently from older processors, while gravity doesn't change.
Good points here... if Microsoft had made a polished, professional video - it would've only made Windows 8 as it is appear to be even closer to how it will be at release. It's ridiculously pre-beta at the moment and people are reacting to it as if it's a release candidate as it is.
I didn't say DHH should or should not do anything. I was (perhaps too obliquely) thinking aloud about how the image of Mr. Fried (esp. re: VC vs. bootstrapping) meshes with his work with Groupon and their strategies, totally unrelated to whatever opinions or remarks either he or DHH make about Groupon.
i always loved RPGs so i tried rpg maker, than i fell in love with a small app to make RPGs for the Nokia 6630, than i started using vb to contribuite to an open source project to make MMORPGs, from that to now, when i wanted to do something i looked to online resources and i studied by myself.

1)want to do something

2)search online tutorial/examples/similar apps

3)TRY TRY TRY TRY TRY TRY TRY TRY

4)back to 1
John von Neumann came up with this algorithm. Basically, it goes like this: flip coin twice. If result is HH or TT, flip it twice again. If result is HT, player 1 wins, if result is TH, player 2 wins.
Apple: No More Free Apple Product Giveaways or Promotions
Could this be due to short demand from insiders to protect the IPO value of their stock until the lock-up period expires?
Any idea what their rate of client acquisition is given their current sales force of 8,000?
almost same here. except I it was a trs80, not a mobile phone.
I wouldn't quite say adding 7000 is a "huge boost" to the economy.
Apple is too professional to get the amateurish web.. pfff what kind of non scene is that? As if web companies like Google, Facebook, Twitter etc. were a bunch of disorganized slackers and that is somehow more successful on the net. Weird associations like that remind me of arguing with high people.
Most of these jobs are low skill? My understanding is that the majority of the people at Groupon are in the sales force. Just because it doesn't require a degree in CS or EE doesn't make a position low-skill. Being an effective salesperson takes a lot of skill.
I say misguided because it's highly unlikely the attacks will have the desired outcome. I heard the most recent hack mentioned on the local NPR broadcast of BBC radio, and all they said was that Sony was attacked again. I'm not aware of any mainstream media saying why.

The only effect seems to be people portraying hackers negatively in general, and at best, questioning why Sony was so vulnerable. The root motivation I described above seems to get no mention.
It always bugs me to hear coworkers complain that employers don't pay for training. We work in an industry that makes it almost hilariously easy to self-study, and most of the things I'd really like to have paid training for are either too new or too esoteric for that training to exist.
What does this have to do with Groupon's valuation? It seems like Jason got baited into setting the record straight on his involvement with Groupon and is now being chased around the thread about 37signals. 37signals and Groupon are, obviously, very different businesses.
I've thought about this a lot, since I have a subscription based game with about 1200 active subs, yet nearly all newer games coming out seem to be in the item-mall / freemium category.

When I ask my players what they think, the most common response I get is that they prefer subscription model because it's more fair. They hate games where the person who spends more money gets an advantage. (Of course, my sample set is biased.)

The advantage of the item-mall category is that you get great price discrimination, and you also get a much larger player base than you would on subscription only. But it's seen as cheesy and unfair, so works better with casual games, and I think that's the key.

If it's a casual game, go for item mall or freemium. If it's a more serious or competitive game, then go for subscription. I think we're seeing a lot of item mall games coming out these days because we're also seeing a lot more casual games.
Well Amazon is a high volume relatively low margin business which is valued at a bit over two times revenue. So if they stablize out at a revenue of $4 - $6B/yr it might make sense to value them at $8 - $12B.
Don't roll your eyes, but this is exactly what Reagan did to the Russians. Basically, spend more and faster than the other guy until he cries uncle.

Groupon is raising money, spending like crazy to be the top dog. When the other "coupon" companies can't keep up, Groupon will buy them, retaining their #1 position. Once all of the others are gone or reduced to a tiny size, they'll go back to a sustainable model. This explains why they have a focus on hyper growth.

What do you think?
With some thought, a person might be able to come up with a rational objection to the rather subdued assertions in the UN's declaration. Your apples-to-oranges troll doesn't quite qualify.
Google acquires Postrank.com
Please post the full URI and not the bit.ly redirect on HN. This isn't twitter.
In middle school, with library books; first something about text adventures in basic on an XT clone (wish I could find the actual title, it was in the kids' section), moving on to Turbo Pascal on a 386sx/33, probably high-school time frame at that point.
PostRank has been acquired by Google
False valuation and poor accounting and financial transparency affects us all. We should do everything we can to discourage these type of shenanigans. A much better proposition would be to build companies that people want, and are willing to pay for, and then raise money based upon the future possibilities of those creations. Raising too much money is just as bad for us, and for Groupon, as raising too little money. Why? because any mis-allocation of capital will lead to market instability, which will lead to inefficiencies. Companies, Societies, Empires, rise and fall based upon these simple tenets.
Need to run the business, design and develop our existing and future products, maintain and improve our infrastructure, and serve our customers at the highest standards we're capable of.

Plus balance all that with maintaining the type of culture and environment we all want to work in, for, and towards.

For us it's about balance. Rapid growth is not balance. Not having enough people to serve our customers is not balance. Not improving our products frequently enough is not balance.

Balance is a moving target. Sometimes we're in better balance than other times. But the goal there is to try to strike the right balance as often as possible.

I hope that helps shed a bit more light on what we need to do. Have a nice weekend.
It might be interesting as an open source project, but I can't see it as having too much value, especially with hosting services like Dreamhost giving people 1 click installs of Wordpress.
"In this case, it confirms for me that Groupon was built to flip"

If it was built to flip wouldn't they have accepted Google's offer?
Agree 100%, but also would like to add that the only reason we can't develop things faster, better, and more performant is that so many companies have been focused on making their own tools faster and more performant. If Microsoft can design something as cool as F#, they can make a responsive HTML + JS rendering engine. They just haven't put their money there.
I wonder if this is designed to crack down on those insipid "Free iPad!" ( If you sign up for 100 offers) sites. Considering the number of giveaways of Apple products, driven by their rating as a very desirable prize, this seems to be a little ridiculous and unenforceable on its face.

I'm also wondering about the legal issues. Where has anyone agreed to Apple's "Guidelines for Third Party Promotions"?
There's a big difference between thinking something is true and thinking something is probable.
The Man Who Was Cured of HIV and What It Means for a Cure for AIDS
Practical Tips on Writing a Book from 23 Brilliant Authors
Just finished reading The Loser by Thomas Bernhard. Cruel, repetitive, ironic... effing brilliant. It's about three pianists - one of them it's Glenn Gould, and how meeting him ruined the life of the other two.
Currently reading High Fidelity by Nick Hornby. I can't be objetive about him, I simple love it. (The movie is great, also)
I told you so:

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2117952

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1968491

With all the experience of the past 12-15 years, I'm convinced that "local" is a hopeless hole for tech startups.
Yes. Subscriptions can be paused/cancelled any time.
A Historic Moment in Amateur Rocketry
They fixed the driver issue by adding "CQL". The new interface should be simpler for people to pick up and understand since it is similar to SQL. Some slides on CQL: http://www.slideshare.net/shotaz/cql-cassandra-query-languag...
Make a complex startup
Yeah, we do ... In fact they were our first clients
Most Adobe software is bloated (Creative Suite and Acrobat, in particular), but I don't think it is fair to call Flash bloated. The Macromedia Flash dev team has always been very conscious about Flash's download size, allocating code size budgets for new features.

Here are the historical file sizes of the Flash Player installer (compressed .exe for Windows ActiveX Control):

* Flash Player 2 (1997) = 0.2 MB *
* Flash Player 3 (1998) = 0.2 MB *
* Flash Player 4 (1999) = 0.3 MB **
* Flash Player 5 (2000) = 0.3 MB **
* Flash Player 6 (2002) = 0.5 MB ***
* Flash Player 7 (2003) = 0.6 MB ***
* Flash Player 8 (2005) = 0.8 MB ****
* Flash Player 9 (2006) = 1.5 MB ******** (first Flash release after Adobe acquired Macromedia)
* Flash Player 10 (2008) = 1.9 MB **********
* Flash Player 10.1 (2010) = 2.7 MB **************
* Flash Player 10.2 (2011) = 2.7 MB **************
* Flash Player 10.3 (2011) = 2.9 MB ***************
Yeah, but when was the last time any country cared what the UN considered a breach of human rights?
The lesson that the Syrian's seem to have taken is that the way to stay in power is to double down on repression.

Hopefully, they don't become another data-point indicating this is a workable strategy.
>> But no crime is being committed [...] It's closer to aggresively handing out flyers on the street and possibly a case of harrassment.

Well, technically littering, graffiti-vandalism, etc is also a crime. In certain cities treated harder than small thefts.

All these loophole-abusers make me really sick. Even if there's no "law" making it "illegal" it doesn't mean you have to abuse every possible loophole there is in the "system" to make some money "legally". If you are going to ignore ethics and cause pain to people anyway just grow some balls and rob a bank instead.
Make that a philosophy of purely visual design. OMG, aluminum, round corners, and animations. MacOS did not have a defining part in the digital revolution of the 90s, their market capitalization is their biggest success and that is mainly due to the US market--think old people and people with significant disposable income.

I know, I know, but I love to hate. And don't start me on Facebook.
> An experienced C++ programmer can probably implement the 'better' algorithm equally quick in C++.

While there are programmers who can implement a given algorithm faster in C++ than Python, I suspect that they're the exception (among folks who know both).

> In an existing project in a non-C language, the C implementation will require you to write and maintain a binding as well.

If there's no c penalty, other languages wouldn't have been used as often for said existing projects to begin with.

My view is that each language has both strengths and weaknesses, so different languages are better suited to different tasks depending on factors like available personnel, existing sw, ease of implementation (to reach an acceptable level of performance).
I have an IRC channel open all day with the 6-8 people also working on the same project, so if anything I feel like there are too many people around. If you're the only one on your project, maybe consider a small IRC channel that you're interested in that doesn't get a lot of activity, but there are bursts of conversation throughout the day? I know it's a fine line between gaining motivation from being in a group and not being distracted -- probably everyone will be different on this point.
Possibly worse than outraging people, you kill commerce. We're at the point where economies can not operate without the internet. Explains why so many want to regulate/control it now. It's too entrenched to ignore.