skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
Honestly, has YC actually been shown to consistently add value? I thought the jury was out on that, until we get stats about success rates. Given how many companies they fund, how much time do they actually spend with each company? How do they scale the model without diluting experience?

Most VC's, even poor ones bank on 2/10 paying for the failures, otherwise they go out of business. Has YC provided > 20% success rate - I don't know, I'm asking? How does YC even define success?

Sequoia and YC do not have a monopoly on technology success, far from it. There are many thousands of excellent, proven technology investors around the world available to work with. Pretending your idea is better than all but the "top 10" is laughable really.

PS: Mentioning YC in the same sentence as Sequoia isn't really fair to Sequoia given their success.
Science & Engineering Visualization Challenge 2008 winners
Questioning the purpose of sleep
By the way, just checked out your profile and saw virtualmin - I wasn't bagging it, I was meaning "an idea" in an abstract sense.
Description of the folder options settings in Vista | How To | DailyGeeks
Pretty impressive. I did a few searches (including my name, and the name of a person I knew about a decade ago, Ruby etc) and am definitely impressed with the resultset.

I do agree with the others that the UI could be done a little better, including the colors (a little too vibrant for me) and the name. I don't really care about the home page, since I dont remember the last time I went to Google's homepage.

Once I like a search engine that consistently gives me good results, using FF's Keyword search is the way to go.

All in all, great work, and I certainly wish you luck.
Ours was frozen by Citi.
For example: George W. Bush
As I commented in the nonhackernews thread, this should be combined with nonhackernews. While I've enjoyed reading both sites, we don't need two HN splinters.
C++ Considered Harmful
This should be combined with nickb's new mogul. While I've enjoyed reading both sites, we don't need two HN splinters.
he didn't post a single link.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algae_fuel

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tidal_power

The "atmosphere tower" might be the convection "energy tower":

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_tower_%28downdraft%29
Matt, most of the stories on NonHackerNews.com could be on HN with no issues. So I don't get it. Why do you want to splinter a community you've helped build and maintain one of the top accounts with? Why name it NonHackerNews and not RandomSocialNews.com or LightlyModeratedSocialDiscussion.com? I don't see what this new site has to do with HN at all (besides you)

It's like I've stumbled upon bizaro Friday.
"...tidal generators and atmosphere towers."

Atmosphere towers?! What's that?
This is my first time actually checking out Slinkset . . . pretty cool app. Do they have any paid features yet? What's their business model?
I like the look and feel, have to try out Slinkset.
Personally I don't agree with ESR. I think C++ is a great language, if used with caution, and I will use it right away in projects where C would normally be used. Specially with useful libraries like STL and Boost being available.

Most plain C projects are reinventing the wheel many times. Linked lists, hashtables, reference counting, OO with function pointers. I'm sure those projects shrink at least 33% in size when they would be using STL or Boost. I've certainly seen that in my own code.
Just to let everyone know, Wells Fargo is the only bank in the U.S. that still holds an "Aaa" rating.
Nevermind:

for the time being Slinkset is offering its hosting service free of charge, with plans to introduce a fixed fee in the future.

http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/07/14/y-combinators-slinkset-...
WaMu becomes biggest bank to fail in US history
I disagree. Reia is not misguided at all. It's not trying to improve Erlang but rather expose Erlang features to those who don't quite grock Erlang's idioms. Programming languages evolve because someone, perhaps a fashion-conscious fanboy even, took a little from this language and some of that language and mixed them together. You may not agree with the result but it may suit others just fine.
Protect yourself from what, exactly?

Your savings is protected by the FDIC up to 100k per acct.

I honestly don't believe that the tech/info sector is going to lose that many jobs. If Cisco does consolidate, it (hopefully) will be non-core resources, such as HR, and internal operations.

If you have a 401k, you're screwed either way since you have very few options on where to invest.

If you have an IRA, you can hedge risk by selling calls against your assets... but that's as far as I will go in terms of specific advice.
I know it's probably a stretch to ask this, but: is there a Republican in the house?! Can you please explain to me how it is even remotely morally OK to pay people this much money to do what basically amounts to jack shit?
It might be this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_tower_%28downdraft%29
Option Pools
is now the time for the developer in the dorm room?
NPR says VC capital is down, only 7 IPOs this year, only 2 in the valley. down from 60 in a more typical year. Is it cheaper to enroll than rent? is the dorm a safer, cheaper incubator right now?
They do this anyway.
That's $159,166 an hour.
You could sell study guides based off what homework they are saving.
Ten easy ways to attract women to your free software project
Yep, almost every time I look at good C code I see classes and iterators (written in macros), operators etc. Why not use C++ that has this onboard? C++ is a unique language, it gives you a lot of expressive power with the ability to access the lowest level.
Because the shareholders, the owners of the company, are free to piss away their money as they so choose.

I think there is an argument to be made for better, more transparent corporate governance rules, that would make it easier for the shareholders to say "uh, no" to stuff like this, but it's ultimately their money.

(BTW, I am not a Republican).
Trust me : US Economy is in WORST position than anyone can think; sooner or later it is going in to deep recession (if not depression) ; this is just the beginning; don't be surprise if US$ value decreases to the record level in the history ....

Solution:
Increase income, decrease debt

Increase Assets, decrease liability

If you're from other country then spread your cash in different currencies or buy universal currency (Gold / Silver).

Try to gain multiple skills so that when it hits your job you can take-up something else with the help of your new skills.

BE A GLOBAL CITIZEN; YOU SHOULD BE READY TO MOVE WHEREVER IS THE JOB OPPORTUNITY.
As an owner of a handful of slinkset sites, I'd be more than happy to pay a fee for additional features/options. It's been a huge hit for us.
"Integrity is not a commodity. It’s the most rare and precious of personal attributes. It is the core of a person’s and a company’s reputation."
-- Dick Kovacevich, Chairman of Wells Fargo

Reuters: AIG's ex-CEO refuses $22 million severance payout.
Have faith all. The core of the United States will persist.
Hello Movie
Hello movie review, view latest Hello trailers and movie clips, Hindi movie Hello picture gallery, movie stills, videos, and Hello wallpapers at
The Product Guy's Weekend Reading (September 26, 2008)
The name is good. Memorable.

The text is exactly right for a different way of looking at search results - like a little generated topical page rather than like a list of links.

Unprofessional is good! Professional = boring. Altavista was "professional".

Four good results is enough.

You aren't getting the whole "looks like a topical page" thing. The mixed sources of results are evidently nondistinct for a reason!

Yeah, the highlight is annoying. Breaks the unified flow.

Arrows are hints evidently copied from Wikipedia. It goes with the design and it's a visual hint they link off-site. Makes sense to me! Moreover, it made such immediate visual sense i didn't even see them as distinct elements until you described them.
Times will get rough but anyone who isn't a moron will come out alright. Recessions are necessary periods of self repair for economies. This one is a backlash from too many people getting too much stupid debt and financial institutions not being responsible.
Still no webcam and mic support?
liked it ; IMO you should concentrate on one or 2 sections only... focusing on everything may not serve the purpose again its my personal opinion.
I think this comment sums it pretty nicely:

---> "So, to answer your question about how many wizards C++ has ruined, I can argue that I never bothered to go further in programming due to feeling utterly lost with C++ and Perl." ;-))

However, one comment is worth discussion: "There is no reason to use C++ for new projects."

Do you agree with this? What is a better choice then for developing standalone apps or libraries where speed is critical? It's funny to watch how some people bash c++, and then, when we need to develop some critical app, like javascript engine, suddenly the choice is again C++. ;-)
Thanks for the link! Citation: "Currently, no known physical implementation of an energy tower exists."

The article refers to another similar concept: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_updraft_tower

"A research prototype operated in Spain in the 1980s."
This is kind of on topic but I was listening to a podcast earlier this week and one piece of advice given was:

If you are part of a small company, or if you have a growing small startup/business, this is the time to grow. The big guys are going to be hurting by the downturn in the economy. Get your product out there, stabilize it, and use these years to get a level of safety for it.

As for your assets. Like others said, reduce your debts, keep saving as you are now and you will be fine. If most of your assets are in ACTUAL CASH (i.e: money stored in a savings account) then you will be fine.
Or "solar updraft tower": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_updraft_tower
He says there are other problems with CO2 in the article. If not global warming, what else could be bad about it?
Does your average head of lettuce last longer than the bagged variety? I hadn't really looked into it. If that's the case, though, it may be worth the extra effort.
What software does HN run on then? Or is NewMogul just copying some of the design aspects of HN?

http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/7245/newmogulbusinesslead...
Right, I'm not saying it doesn't take talent. Musically, though, the songs have no merit, so I don't really consider Pop music to be music; it's more like smart marketing or something. For instance, would you consider the songs in Coke commercials to be... music? I mean, it's music in the dictionary sense of the word I suppose, but nobody with any reasonable amount of taste would call it that. It's just an advertisement.
Police Charge VC In Hit-And-Run
Damn, I read "Essential Maths Games for Programmers" and was disappointed to find old-fashioned book learnin'.
As well as NonHackerNews.com, there's some other slinkset sites that might be worth visiting.

Infosec Update - http://news.mandalorian.com is an Information Security Slinkset-powered site.

Just Hack It - http://www.justhackit.com is a good example of a general site.

iPhone Lockergnome - http://iphone.lockergnome.com/ is a good example of slinkset's RSS feed in use.
Chuck: An Audio programming language - it's like a dream come true.
This is a gross simplification. Good leaders do exist. The real problems are politics and corruption, which happen to run rampant in...well, politics and public companies. These areas are where the "problem of choosing a good leader" is most pressing.

It would work out nicely if every leader thought leading was so fun that he'd do it for free. Berkshire Hathaway chooses its managers in this way. The people they hire seem to enjoy building something rugged.

Unfortunately, many leadership positions just aren't fun enough for this to be a viable option. And it's not even just a question of choosing the right man for the job. Public companies are notorious for their ruthless owners (the market), which often require different things than what would be necessary for long-term growth and stability. Even if all shareholders were interested in the distant future, the market is nothing if not a committtee. Necessary decisions are sometimes unpopular. No one who masters his craft (in this case domain-specific leadership) wants to be bogged down with politics, but this is exactly what public companies offer.

Hence, these positions attract the wrong type of people - those who are attracted to money or power. The 'right man for the job' is probably enjoying a tenth of the salary leading some small company somewhere, because leading a large market-exposed company just isn't worth it. It's not just a question of choosing the right guy and writing him a big check; he might not want the job.
Looking for a Better Man-to-Dog Lifespan Ratio
Why is it so hard to figure out that certain executives command a certain pay? If Wamu paid less, they wouldn't get the guy they are looking for. It's supply and demand. There are a certain number of top executives when it comes to these searches. Just like top athletes or actors. It's not like these Boards are arbitrarily picking someone from the mail room and giving them $19m.
Playing around with some figures sourced from wikipedia and assuming best case scenario meeting the demand for oil would require an area the size of Germany be turned over to algae oil production.

One of the points raised in the post that I didn't quite understand was tidal power being presented (although it isn't explicitly stated) as though it isn't time variable. The last time I checked the tide went in and then out twice a day. You can trap it in a reservoir and then slowly release it but there are going to be periods when it generates no power.
http://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/1a5pk/eric_s_ra...

But I'm sure he is useful to society. We're all unique snowflakes.
He probably means protection against hyper inflation. Any advice for that?
And make sure your article on the subject comes off as extremely patronizing. That always works.
OCaml is quick to write and produces executables with great performance.
Abelson’s Android Class at MIT Expands to Nokia and Windows Mobile—But No iPhone
How IntenseDebate announced their acquisition at the Techstar Demo
Tom Keller, the CEO of IntenseDebate, was to present at TechStars which apparently is some event where startups give their pitches to an audience of VCs a la DEMO or TechCrunch 50. So Tom gets up and says something like, "I don't have any slides and I'm not looking for any money...but I do have a surprise." And then he introduces the CEO of Automattic (the company that owns Wordpress) who goes on to say that he just bought IntenseDebate.
C++ is the "great white whale" of programming languages? It is not. It is the manatee of programming languages, trivially located and dispatched, though more often by accident than by intent, because who gives a shit?
Finding the Right Ski Jacket
Skiing is a very exciting sport and it is getting more and more popular among people as accessing skiing destinations is becoming very easy these days. If you want to enjoy your skiing vacation, you must go well prepared and don’t wait for the last moment to get your ski gear including your ski jacket. It is worth spending on a good quality ski jacket because the secret of enjoying your ski vacations is to keep your self warm both during skiing activity and outside skiing activity.
Crowdsourcing a Pixel-Art City
I'm thinking we need to register vomitr.com and crowdsource this. A community of people answering the question: Is your favorite pet species vomiting right now?
A suggestion and a possible monetization idea - don't sell to students. Make schools your target. They buy a copy of your app and put it on their servers. Make it possible for teachers to push out assignments to it.

It also makes the thing actually useful for me -- I don't want to have to remember to add the assignments to it myself. I already know what my assignments are and I don't have time to type them into yet another place.
In China these people would be executed. If I remember correctly that's what happened to the CEO of the company that made all that bad pet food. I'm not saying we need to gather a lynch mob or anything, but we certainly need some kind of balance between that and the fake outrage we have in this country. I don't think jail time would be unreasonable for executives that, through gross negligence, run economy-critical businesses into the ground.
you'll be fine. put money into your retirement account, save money in a good high-yield FDIC account and wait this thing out. don't do anything stupid, but don't do anything you think is smart, either, because its probably also stupid in an uncertain market.

this is just a part of the business cycle. we're just seeing an extra big down because some jerks love money more than ethics. it will go back up, and by investing in your retirement still, you'll be buying some good deals on stocks while they're down.
Having hordes of actual cash won't protect you from inflation if it starts to become a problem. There's a reason gold is trading incredibly high right now.
You can trap it in a reservoir and then slowly release it but there are going to be periods when it generates no power.

Why not use pumped storage? What is needed is elevation to overcome the head-deficiency inherent to the equilibrium periods. This is achievable by sacrificing some of the stored water, to pump a smaller amount of water to a higher elevation.
A notionally noble aim, but I agree that the article is condescending as fuck.

Maybe it's aimed at recruiting "little girls" rather than "women".
Good grief. Are we looking at another Great Depression here?

I ask seriously. I don't know much about this economics jibber jabber, but I know that I sure have been seeing a lot of bad news lately...
It's more like they are arbitrarily picking someone from their circle of friends at the country club and giving them 'reasonable compensation'.

Beyond that the board wants to reassure themselves that they are making good decisions, consequently they can justify a slightly larger payday for the new CEO on the grounds that since they are such fine people they have hired an above average CEO and should pay him slightly more than the median compensation for Executives in comparable companies...
This article doesn't mention the actual reason: There are very few female geeks. And geeks are those who create open source software. Women who go into computing do it in order to earn money.
I don't know why, but that is very interesting indeed, as is the article.
During WW2 people in Germany would take wheel barrows of cash to the grocery store to buy bread and milk. The value of German currency dropped so low that people would steal your wheel barrow and dump out the cash.

While I agree with your sentiment that you should only buy what you can pay for today, I wouldn't put too much trust in your (US) cash being worth tomorrow what it is today.

Investing in foreign currencies can build a nice hedge in times like these.
Tons of free online flash games to play for girls 
Tons of free online flash games to play for girls. Any games for girls, fashion games, makeover games, hairstyling games, celebrities makeover, anything, you name it.
Oh I understand this, but for most people doing any kind of trading is just out of their league. I'm sure most people will be happy to know the $50k they have in their ING Account will be safe from most things while the economy levels back up again over the years.
There is a difference between a contrarian and someone who is wrong on basic facts:

"And no, electric cars aren’t the answer either; the power to run them has to come from somewhere. The best case is that people will charge them off the grid at night. This will require power plants to be burning just as much additional fuel as if the cars themselves were doing it, perhaps more given transmission losses." --ESR

"Pacific Northwest National Laboratory calculates that there is enough excess nighttime generating capacity nationwide to charge 84 percent of the 198 million cars, pickups, and SUVs on the road today. Ideally, the energy charging those cars would come from carbon-free sources, which would reduce almost to zero the greenhouse gas emissions per mile. But a joint study by Electric Power Research Institute and the Natural Resources Defense Council found that even if a plug-in vehicle got all its electricity from coal-fired plants (the U.S. electricity grid is about 50 percent coal), it would still emit only two-thirds of the greenhouse gases released by a conventional car. Over the next thirty years, the study concluded, widespread adoption of V2G could eliminate 450 million tons of carbon dioxide annually, the equivalent of retiring a third of the current fleet." From Earth: The Sequel (p. 226)
Ok, but if you would be a project manager responsible for developing and delivering software product, would you choose non-mainstream language for the project?

OCaml might be better in academic sense as the language itself, but now I talk about commercial product...so you would need to take all factors of software development into consideration - like how you will find future developers if you expand, what the support will be, etc. etc.
Skype for Asterisk Beta
WAMU becomes biggest bank to fail in US history
Looks good. Keep it up.
Almost every foreign currency has at least an informal peg to the dollar. The European and Chinese Central Banks are working hard to make sure that the dollar does not fall too much. The only truly foreign currency is gold. But the potential for a dollar crash is already factored into the price, so buying gold too is very risky. The safest place to put money would seem to be a combination of FDIC insured CD's, dividend paying stocks ( as opposed to non-dividend, purely speculative stocks), and gold.
Internet Vigilantism
Props for putting this together.
The somethingawful forums (goons) regularly do things like this. Another pretty interesting one is http://blueballfixed.ytmnd.com/
Don't forget about its predecessor, <a href="http://www.goontower.com/">goontower</a>.
I think you're thinking like NASA. I'm thinking like a startup founder.

construction of a space elevator is a worthwhile pursuit likely to result in many useful technological advance

Exactly! Monetize that shit, and feed it back into the pool. I think we're on the same page that getting it out in a year is ridiculous.

Also, a lunar elevator might not be the best choice. Perhaps a mass driver or sky hook on the moon would be better. I would still start on the moon before constructing the first inch of tether around earth.
Consider Natalya Tatarchuk: http://www.mefeedia.com/entry/ati-natalya-tatarchuk-8-14-thu...

I doubt she "went into computing to earn money" any more than anyone else.
He might be referring to reduced nitrogen (e.g. protein) content in plants:

http://www.sspi.gatech.edu

A book, "Silent Power", summarizing the work of the SSPW to date will be published here.

Chapter One "Climate Change - Nutritional Impacts" explains how the food we eat is slowly changing due to rising CO2

http://www.sspi.gatech.edu/chapter1.pdf

From that .pdf:

In one important study, Dr. Clenton Owensby and colleagues, studied ruminants grazing in a FACE range with a doubled CO2 level on Kansas’ grassy rangelands. Their studies into the impact of increasing carbon dioxide on those rangelands revealed a surprising effect. The grass these animals foraged from the FACE range had less nitrogen and correspondingly less protein. The protein content and digestibility, even by the four highly efficient stomachs of ruminants, was reduced at increased CO2 level.