skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
It also breaks another law and resizes your browser window.
Anyone else feeling nervous?

I hope we at least get an interview so we can present to PG & Co.
Here's one the Seattle Times maintains for tracking earmarks: http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/favorfactory/favo...
The article makes a comparative analysis based on weak points from each economy with respect to that of US, ignoring those countries in other aspects.

For example, India, one of the BRIC countries, does not get a mention though Brazil, Russia and China are mentioned.

Did some googling for Indian numbers..

> But here it helps that the ratio of government debt to GDP in the U.S. runs to about 62%. For the eurozone, it's 75%; for Japan, 180%.

India's debt is at 41.7% of GDP in FY08
http://www.financialexpress.com/news/Indias-debt-at-41.7-of-...

(China, Brazil, Russia ignored)

> Last month's $700 billion bailout package seems staggeringly large, but it amounts to a little more than 5% of U.S. gross domestic product. Compare that to Germany's $400 billion to $536 billion rescue package (between 12% and 16% of its GDP), or Britain's $835 billion plan (30%).

India : No bailout.

(Japan, China, Brazil, Russia ignored)

> Before yesterday's surge, the Dow had dropped 25% in three months. But that only means it had outperformed nearly every single major foreign stock exchange, including Germany's XETRADAX (down 28%) China's Shanghai exchange (down 30%), Japan's NIKK225 (down 37%), Brazil's BOVESPA (down 41%) and Russia RTSI (down 61%). These contrasts are a useful demonstration that America's financial woes are nobody else's gain.

Indian BSE : 23.92% for the last 3 months.

(India ignored)

No. I am not suggesting that India is going to become a Superpower.

I just feel that that the article takes a weak path for comparison. It is like - "US is better than CountryA in this aspectA and CountryB in this aspectB and CountryC in aspectC and since no other country is better than US, US will remain a super power."
"I eat because I'm unhappy, and I'm unhappy because I eat." -- Fat Bastard
Why break lines at a fixed length yourself instead of letting your editor's wordwrap handle it?
>Observing that money is a proxy for many desirable traits, and helps, and has helped, in bettering survival chances is not social Darwinism. To assume that the unintelligent wealthy are somehow more lucky, and that morons must be filtered out is.

The unintelligent wealthy are more lucky, because they don't have to struggle. The letter writer struggled his whole life doing things he appears not to enjoy very much to get into the right school, make the right deals, etc, so that he could retire and go live on a diamond-studded houseboat and smoke weed or whatever he's going to do with his life now. If he had been born extremely rich, he could have done what he's doing now from the start. If he had been born moderately rich or an Ivy League legacy, he could have done it with less difficulty.

>Here's a statement: On average, the wealthy are smarter, prettier, and taller, than the not-wealthy.

If you want to select for smarts, looks, or height, then select for smarts, looks, or height, not some proxy which will never be as good as direct measurement.
Not so much nervous myself, maybe if we actually get an interview maybe my nerves will kick in then. ;)
Surely it's also at least partly a show in order to make terrorists feel like they won't get away with it?

It's easy to complain about airport security, but you gotta admit: terrorists seem to have more-or-less given up on targeting aeroplanes.
right, of course... i was talking about startup CEOs =)
Everyone said "FAIL" about three months ago. Get with the times, dude!
Why the kill switch makes sense for Android but not for iPhone
It's all just terminology, so the definitions are kind of fluid, but this is how I see it:

Crippleware tries to shame you into buying the full product by making you feel like a second-class citizen while using the free version, while Freemium tries to provide you with a pleasant user experience until you eventually decide to opt for the paid version.
From my skimming, I'm afraid the author is only picking up one of the three things that make The Poignant Guide, well, poignant.

1) Witty, offbeat humor (w/ +1 for cartoons)
2) Interesting examples tackled
3) Restructuring the lesson to work for people who have learning styles unappreciated by typical tutorials.

I'm seeing routine examples like summing recursively/with foldr and implementing linked lists all within an outline not so different from any other Haskell tutorial.

Of course, the real acid test is seeing what zany metaphor the author thinks up to describe monads with.
> I didn't think that the US devoted a great deal of their military capacity to the problem.

We devoted a carrier group. We have more than one, so it wasn't a huge deal for us. And, since we have several, there is always at least one fairly close to almost anywhere there's an blue-water ocean.

However, a carrier group has a lot of capacity. It's at least one fairly significant medical facility, an airstrip and transport, a lot of housing and trained personnel, a huge amount of desalinization, and so on.

It would be a huge deal for the EU to provide the same capacity.
You say it like it's a bad thing. It works very well - people feel safe.
Is that because of the show or some actual, intelligent counterterrorist work?
Ask News.YC: How hard was it to learn to be a self-starter?
From http://paulgraham.com/sfp.html: "I could see that from how the founders' attitudes changed during the summer. Most were emerging from twenty or so years of being told what to do. They seemed a little surprised at having total freedom. But they grew into it really quickly; some of these guys now seem about four inches taller (metaphorically) than they did at the beginning of the summer."

I've been sending my kids to a private Montessori school where they learn to be self-starters. I'm concerned that next year I may have to send them to public school. For those of you who spent 20 years being told what to do, how hard was it to transition to self-starter mode?
Anyone of you apply with a ready prototype?
This list is crap. He advocates the ridiculous

x = if boolean then 3 else 5 end

in place of

x = boolean ? 3 : 5

Then we have

return if x = null

which assigns the value of "null" to x (if null exists). Maybe he meant

return if x == nil

If so, this is better rendered as

return if x.nil?

Finally,

all_users.select(&:is_active).map(&:name).sort

isn't standard Ruby; it will (currently) only work in Rails.
What is (fire)wait? My google-fu is weak today.
We reported that story about electronic circuits embedded into contact lenses on http://thinkgene.com ages ago. While an interesting idea, the circuits themselves are not powered, nor do they provide any function, and the lenses have never been tested in humans ---even in their un-powered, nonfunctional state.
Yes, if you click on the "866 percent" link it says he bet against the subprime market. Sloppy wording.
Is this an abnormal frequency of startup layoffs, or is this sensationalism citing an unlabeled red graph? What were layoffs one year ago?
Nice article. Thanks for submitting this.
Monads are not as hard as you think - it honestly helps if you stop thinking of them as a completely new concept with a scary name. I'm sure it wouldn't do people learning functional programming any favors to refer to the fold operator as a catamorphism all the time. (The syntax is also pretty funky, at first, with >>= and whatnot.)

I found it most helpful to think of monads as being similar to the pipe operator in Unix, but one that has a hook function it calls as it passes results along.

Also, the IO monad is probably the worst to start with; it's one of the most complicated. The Maybe monad is much simpler -- Think of a function that takes a function, f, and a second function, next_f. It calls f and grabs the result: if it's an error, then don't bother calling next_f, just return the error; otherwise, call next_f with the result as its argument. You can chain a bunch of Maybes together, and if any of them return an error, the whole chain immediately passes the error to the end. It's like how || (or) short-circuits in other languages, but much more general.

A similar Countdown monad could start with a time and a list of functions to call, then call them in succession, passing along the results, but immediately aborting and returning an error if the chain has exceeded the specified time to run.

The monad is the chaining construct, but you define what it does with the results it passes along.
> So we have to start a war or something to get respect?

Not at all.

There are no shortage of problems in the world. Rwanda is basically over, but there's the Sudan and the other hell-holes of sub-saharan Africa. Surely you've got more to contribute than "the Americans dropped the ball again."

Then there's Bosnia. Right in the EU's backyard. Why should the US be there at all?

The world is full of problems. Pick some and solve them. We don't care how you do it, but we do notice that you're not even trying.

Is it really unreasonable to expect the EU to handle fairly big problems?

Apparently so - you can't even manage to provide reasonable capacity in Afghanistan. (Man for man, fantastic, but there aren't many men.)
Yay, Northern Ireland!
...and as we can see from the cover, in the future, all the women are going to be these hot-nordic-asian mix kind of creatures...and the lip-stud communicator also comes in nose and ear models. ;) ... and the men? I'm sure there's some device that yields men unnecessary; we get phased out or turned into novelty slaves.
I'm also going the second route. It does scale and I'm going to make others rich in the process - creating wealth is not zero sum. And I never said "get out of my way" :).

"We don't take steps to redress inequalities of looks, friends, or sex life. We don't grab a kidney from you to save someone's life, even though that health difference was unfair brute luck. Redistribution of wealth has some role in maintaining a stable democracy and preventing starvation. But the power of wealth redistribution to produce net value is quite limited. The power of wealth creation to produce net value is extraordinary. Most of America's poor are already among the best-off of all humans in world history. We should be putting our resources, including our advocacy and our intellectual resources, into wealth creation as much as we can." -Tyler Cowen
I thought it was going to be about protons.
I would argue that in preindustrial times the rich and the poor were on different sides of a subsistence level income. This was a huge distinction until recently, but in the present day Warren Buffet doesn't have a harem, nor does he have several hundred children. Wealth and progeny don't scale.
My reply was to build on your comment, not to tear down your position.

Creating wealth is not a zero sum game, but... because noone can be certain of the proper amount of FU money one needs, you overreach (I don't mean "you" you, I mean anyone). It is precisely this that creates hordes of wealth "locked up". This is a highly inefficient model and does not scale to "all" people. You reach a point very quickly where maybe less than 20% can participate before you create inflation and devalue the equity, which in turn makes people raise their "FU quotient".

It creates a culture of continual acquisition of wealth due to the fear that not to do so means your relative wealth will decline. But what if everyone slows down? What if you can follow a well understood path to financial security that did not rob you of your life as a youth or your life as a parent or of your life as a spouse?

I'm not saying you or anyone else is a bad person for pursuing wealth. I am saying the model we have in which to do so is flawed. Most of us are aware it is flawed but don't bother to describe or attempt to fix it as there appears to be no alternate solution (i.e. we only live in one economy, we don't get to go hang out in a different one if we find the one we're in unappealing or flawed).

My hypothesis is that the only/best timing for creating alternate solutions is in harsh times. Times when people are hurting and willing to open their minds to new things. After all, this is the original secret of any entrepreneur: "find someone who is hurting, he'll take a chance on a tiny company he's never heard of." I think the same lessons apply to changing our local and global economy.
Does it? Everyone I know, and a few strangers I've met while taking off my shoes for the X-ray machine, hates airline security and doesn't really believe that it helps keep anyone safe.
In! Your! Recent! Comments! You! Seem! To! Like! Exclamation! Points!
Loading YUI: Seeds, Core, and Combo-handling
Not sure I agree that the whole point of VC is to raise VC funding.

The whole point of YC is to get connected with some great people and build something people want.
I like to spice things up, since it's the internet and difficult to convey tone in a string of characters. In real life I speak in a monotone drone.
Can one of the eight people who unmodded this explain themselves?

EDIT: No, no. Quit downmodding me and explain why you upmodded that website. I'm just curious. It seems really dumb and really offtopic, both.
Agreed, but I also think it varies for the individual/team. Some groups gain mostly from VC exposure, some gain mostly by being able to talk to PG & Co. and others gain molsty from the smart people they're now surrounded by for three months (that was us).
Me! Too! ;-)
yes, number 1 is idiotic, for me and for most others.

The second route also doesn't work real well for most small investors that don't have a team to constantly analyze what are the best long term holds. My point is simply that I do listen to Buffet's advice and haven't disagreed with him. Its just that most cannot play the game in the same way he can.

Most small investors can only afford to allow large companies to manage a portfolio for them (normal 401k fund management companies). Look at the current balance sheet of these folks. They are destroyed. The fund companies didn't take care of them. Have you heard of any fund company that sent messages to their small 401k customers telling them "hey, you need to redistribute your portfolio NOW!!! Its what Buffet is doing. Then in a year or so, we'll take all that cash we switched you into and buy stocks again when the market is low". Hell no. I'm not saying the management companies are completely out of line for not taking care of the little guy. What I am saying is the little guy can't ever expect that kind of treatment. It all means that only a few get to actually partake in Buffet's wisdom.
You're doing it wrong.

;)
I am in this exact position (graduating college in 8 weeks), so I guess I'll give this answer a shot.

I think that you need to encourage you child to find activities where he/she can learn how to learn by himself/herself. For me, that was debate. We had no coach, we had no teachers, it was just a bunch of kids and books, taking on the best teams in the nation. Or perhaps the Robotics club, or some sort of community service outlet, these are all great activities that build great people and self-starting skills.

You can also encourage him/her to figure out much earlier what his/her passions are, if he's/she's young enough, perhaps get him/her to read books on different professions and encourage him/her to learn about them by himself/herself.

As the internet becomes more pervasive, it has become a lot easier to learn online and off, but at the end of the day, I think that being a self-starter requires a lot of support from friends and family and the drive and passion to get what is important. So even by asking this board, you children should be in good hands.

PS. I went to public school, and it was an awesome experience.
Yeah, I was able to get a rough prototype together this week. It doesn't have some of the better features I'm aiming for, but I think it helps to have something visible.

We got our app in this morning. We listed about 4 or 5 other ideas in the app too. Not sure if that helps or hurts.

Sometimes I go back and forth on what idea is most attractive/viable/appropriate.
No, but this is also my second time applying. Given how ridiculously competitive it was during the summer round, I feel it's probably unreasonable for just about anyone to get their hopes up.

My advice is, don't bank your startup dreams on getting in. If your team and idea truly have merit, you can and should have a startup plan that does not depend on getting into YC. View it as the best-case scenario instead.

Not getting in, by the way, does not imply that your team and idea don't have merit. Last time they couldn't accept many that did.
This looks great! I'm thinking the author was inspired by Conrad Briski of http://lisperati.com fame?
Sadly, some people will never make the transition, but for me, reality hit when I committed to start my startup directly out of college. Once you've jumped in with both feet, you learn quite quickly how to be a self-starter. You learn that to get things done, you need to teach yourself the fine art of time management and to keep up with those around you, you need to have an intellectual curiosity which drives you to learn and innovate on a daily basis.
I spent my whole education in public school, but I also had a sort of "counter example" from my dad who has been self-employed since I can remember. Almost instinctively, I opted for self-employment even while still in high school.

I think the examples and alternatives are the most important thing. I find it hard to believe that it was just in my nature that I'm more independent than many others, as many would like to believe esp. from what they've been told their whole lives. I feel strongly it's something that can be learned, and as long as that spirit is encouraged I imagine your kids will be fine. By the sound of it, you're already aware and active in teaching this spirit, so you probably have nothing to worry about :)
I'm 40 and still learning to be a self-finisher ;) I think this why start-ups need co-founders.

There seems to be some correlation between people who are natural self-starters having problems finishing things. I think the opposite is true as well, people who are naturally good at finishing things seem tooften have a harder time of "thinking outside the box", which is often a predicate to starting something.

So, when I say natural, do I mean you're born slanted one way or does it happen in early childhood development? My son is close to 4 now. He goes to a school with some similarities to the Montessori program (I'm in Shanghai, my son's specialty school is dramatic arts focused and tries to get him to express himself well). I have some of the same concerns about raising children as you express. I think the whole self-starter behavior is learned and can be sown at an early age. I think the "finishing things" behavior is also best to be sown in early. But school isn't the only and maybe not the best source of learning...

I'm a lifetime entrepreneur. Why? Its what I experienced...my father ran his own businesses. Every time I would see him (he didn't raise me full time) he had some business. His father was a lifetime entrepreneur. My mother's father was a highly successful lifetime self-made-businessman. I think these male role models in my childhood directed me more than any school did.
Yes, lots of hacks and workarounds. Unlike Target Disk mode however it's not something I can explain to my parents over the phone.
I'm a terrible task manager and (though I've never been diagnosed) am quite attention deficit. But, I've learned that I'd rather force myself to get good at those things than have to take orders from someone.

Paul Allen's book helped me a lot. Having a business partner that is a natural self-started helps a lot too.

You also have to learn your limits. For example, no matter how hard I try, I _know_ that I can't work well at home. I get too distracted and I'm not productive. So, I don't even try. I've always had an office.
Well the good news is owners of new Macbooks are no longer vulnerable to Firewire attacks.
The owners of $1200 audio interfaces should probably consider getting a Macbook Pro. The Macbook line is apparently not targeted at people that need professional audio equipment. Some people didn't seem to understand that and it looks like Apple wanted to make it more clear.
When Steve Jobs met Don Knuth
nose for Python testing. Nice plugin architecture and compatible with unittest and doctests. http://somethingaboutorange.com/mrl/projects/nose/
Does YC publish the number of applicants for past rounds?
I went to public school but in the meantime taught myself computer programming, drawing, photography, and other subjects I was interested in. And I've worked for myself ever since graduating from college. So I'd say that attending a public school does not preclude becoming a self-starter.
Dropping out of the wired world
not since TechStars started competing more directly with them.
Congress already works like Digg; except you acquire karma points by lining someone's pocket ;)
Absolutely. Jumping in (and having no safety net!) really does work. Nothing makes you succeed like necessity, kinda like a survival instinct I suppose. The key is finding the right set of influences that will increase the odds, in his case for his kids, of them taking a real leap.

This is why I like some of the ideas behind John Taylor Gatto's writing, especially about how kids need to have enough freedom and independence to challenge themselves, as opposed to being challenged from an authority. I think that's a crucial step in a kid, whether they realize it or not, jumping into something head first and seeing if they can swim so to speak.
I don't even now why I'm replying but to say, "I couldn't have said it better!!!" ;) where is the tiled animated cats background and the cute music?
Download The West Wing Episodes
As a Grand Jury is convened to investigate the miliatry shuttle leak from the White House, the campaign’s focus changes to national security. Vinick (Alan Alda) deftly handles the issue while Santos (Jimmy Smits) is bound by his party loyalty to align himself with the Bartlet administration.
Download Hells Kitchen Episodes
The contestants must divide halibut into six-ounce fillets in the first challenge. During the dinner service, one member of each team works as maitre d’. At the end of it all a contestant is eliminated.
Accept loss as a universal force.
I'd like to have people recognize what I did, but not who I am. Think Tim Berners-Lee: the average man on the street doesn't know who he is, but everybody knows what the world wide web is. And AFAIK, he doesn't have the same sort of crushing fame that say, Paris Hilton or Britney Spears gets (or even Steve Wozniak). I don't think he gets accosted by complete strangers, other than Aaron Schwartz ;-).
I'm sooooo confused!
Gmail Back After 30 Hours Down
+1 for the hilarious picture, beer just shot out my nose.
Monads aren't there, you'll have to look elsewhere.
Download Everybody Hates Chris Episodes
Here, you can download its each and every episode of Everybody Hates Chris, even the current ones. This site is for guys who have missed the episodes of Everybody Hates Chris or who want to know what will happen in the next episode
They bugged every single new car going into Northern Ireland? I guess the British are willing to infringe on pretty much anyone's privacy in order to catch terrorists.
Test::More for Perl.

Watir (ruby-scriptable driving of a browser) for web UI testing.
Most social organizations filter for other criteria, and tell successful applicants they are screening for intelligence. No different than looking for "rock stars" and telling them they're genuises.
The ASCII graphic: is that this so-called "Hungarian notation" I've been hearing about? Or is it something in Perl?
Many distributions (including mine) have that. Although they're rare, I know Linux users who never touch the command line.