skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
"Most people in the wine industry are douche bags" - Gary V.

I've been following him ever since and my interest in wine has, not surprisingly, grown.
Faviki announces semantic tagging in 14 languages
I like how you justify malware/bloatware/bad stewardship of client machines. "But we say you need it" does not defeat the fact that it's malware.

And tens of thousands of users having the same problem (and having it be reducible in 2 or 3 days to a repeatable problem) means that there was little to no testing done. Part of testing is USING the myriad environments of the ecosphere in which your application will exist. It would be like writing a web phone app that only works at 120 x 160 but crashes at 128x128. Sure, it doesn't crash on EVERY phone, but it crashes on a significant number of them.

(It's unclear to me, by the way, that your claim that only a few systems crash is true. I'm able to reproduce the error bug by doing a clean install of iTunes 8. It seems like the problem is much larger than you want it to be. But even if I concede your point that it's smaller than everyone, it's still large enough that we're seeing 'software malpractice')

And Microsoft got hip to how bad the "but there's lots of systems, wahhhhh" excuse is. Welcome to the 21st century. Apple should get hip to how lame that excuse is, too.
That's like... just your opinion man :)
This reminds me a bit of a lot of places in South-East Asia - There were town and territories that were Coke and others that were Pepsi... If you were in one then that's all that you could get.

Not sure of the mechanism behind it. For all I knew the government cola rights to each region up for auction.
Google Affiliate Network
I run 3 monitors.

1. Open Laptop
2. 22" Widescreen LCD connected to laptop
3. 17" LCD to a desktop computer

Desktop and Laptop share a keyboard and mouse using Synergy. http://synergy2.sourceforge.net/ which makes it seamless to use!
im sold, just wondering how long a charge takes. thats the only draw-back with battery powered motors. still i'ld get one.
Anyone knows of a JavaScript debugger that would display closures? It's seems kind of rough not to be able to see your "private" variables.
Yahoo's home page to get makeover - and more open
Why don't you call the point total of a user their "CredRank" too? Your users should already be familiar with the term from its use with your news sources. And you are ranking their "credibility" as well. Or, to soften the association (if you only want news sources to have "official CredRank"), call them "CredPoints".
Even if you are 10 times the average that's coming out to 55 lines per day. Seriously, did you ever find your coding constranied by your typing speed?
Congrats Shawn! I think that Robert Frost said it best:
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference
if the price was low? why would they release a n lower-cost product to compete with their higher-price poroducts for your attention and money?
Gosh, you would think they would take a summer break, no?
Google's First Steps (Interview with Larry and Sergey)
Here's the (alpha) documentation and code samples:
http://www.cilk.com/resources-for-multicoders/for-developers...
The actual blog post at http://www.markshuttleworth.com/archives/162 is much, much more interesting than this one.
You have a winner on your hands. License this technology because it has no place on a sub-par designed "web 2.0" business wanna-be site. Be outrageously aggressive in your attempts to contact would be licensees.
these "bikes" are going to be more like electric scooters with different ergonomics. still I'm sure they'll be great for city people and college students.

but they'll face the same problem of electric scooters. who wants to spend 7 grand on an electric scooter when for $3500 you can get this
http://www.kawasaki.com/PRODUCTS/Detail.aspx?id=263

which gets 70MPG, tops out at 100MPH and is freeway legal?
Kick some ass! Congrats on your self-promotion Mr. Founder :)
No, my argument would be that in 155 years we'll have better alternative sources of energy. Wind and Solar are already viable alternatives, with time their cost will come down and their efficiency will go up potentially eliminating the need for fossil fuels such as coal.
I know some people who have early clients installed that they can't get rid of :)
Perhaps not the same thing, but it would seem that we have opposite assertions both based on assumptions. I don't think this is going anywhere ;)
I find this misleading at best: http://www.getdropbox.com/install?os=linux

It's here, it's open source, and it's free software! Dropbox for Linux is finally available and ready for your everyday use.

Further down the page:

-- dropboxd is a per-user closed-source daemon process that makes sure your $HOME/Dropbox directory is properly synchronized.
When is this "fixed" Vista going to be available?

I ask because my Sony Vaio doesn't like USB devices. And, it's slower than my previous XP laptop even though it has over 2x as much DRAM, said DRAM is faster, and each of its processors is faster than the single processor in the XP laptop that it replaced.

In the past, replacing an old machine running a previous microsoft os with a new machine running a new microsoft OS left you with a faster system. Sure, the old OS may have run even faster on the new hardware, but new on new was faster than old on old.

Vista broke that. Even with hardware that is arguably 2x more powerful, vista is slower than XP. (And yes, I killed the background indexing job that never went into background and never finished.)
Yup - but I think this is a stronger case with traditional distribution methods. Where marginal costs are higher and there are other fundamental limits (e.g. your local music store can only hold so many CDs).

The internet potentially has a significantly lower marginal cost. That channel is better suited to volume. (The expectation is that because you have n lower cost products, that people buy n rather than just one).
Livingston did it.
I like tying Cred into the rating.
Up Close and Personal With the Esquire e-Ink Cover
This guy is a bit intense huh? Not that that's a problem, but, you know, I like my video life-advice in the form of videos of people who don't look like they've just snorted a gram...
Another interesting content analysis: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09...

McCain spent half of his acceptance speech talking about himself...
this is very, very cool.
Google bot error caused airline stock collapse
It's funny because dropbox wouldn't help him on a bus... :)
Ask HN: Password managers?
I've been getting annoyed at dealing with passwords. I have a pretty good mental system for generating good, difficult-to-predict passwords, but even so, I've been thinking about switching to a password manager. I am primarily a Mac user, and it seems that 1Password is a highly-recommended Mac utility, but it makes me a bit nervous.

1. I often use machines other than my primary Mac. These machines include Linux and Windows installations. How can I visit registration-required sites if their long hex-string passwords are trapped on a different machine?

I see that 1Password provides something called my1Password (https://my.1password.com) for web-based password use, but I have just 1Password's word that everything is perfectly secure back-to-front, and that it doesn't have nasty exploits on its site. In addition, how exactly am I supposed to use this password from the browser? Does it show up in clear-text on my.1password.com, and then I'm supposed to copy and paste it into a password field, thereby exposing the password to the system clipboard on a potentially untrusted machine?

2. I don't know if I trust a password manager not to leak the password somehow, somewhere. This particularly applies to banks and other sensitive sites.

3. It doesn't look like 1Password supports passwords for things like remote Unix hosts using ssh. I use passphrase-based private key authentication with ssh, but this does not mean that every Unix machine I log into has passwords completely disabled, which still leaves me with a slew of passwords to track.

So, HN: how does everyone here deal with passwords? Password managers? Paper notes, as Bruce Schneier recommends (http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2005/06/write_down_your.html)? Mental systems? A hybrid approach (write hex strings on a sheet of paper and import them into password managers on every trusted computer)? Use "Passw0rd" everywhere?
Re: Pigs & Lipstick: Mortgage Pig in Excel
I don't understand the question, its "karma", its a word, used all the time, informally to mean built up good fortune or bad fortune... you don't need to cite anything...

Honestly I'm a little freaked out by how eagerly over gracious to YC this question is...
Which is why the algorithm provides the possibility of moving uphill.
Plug-in hybrid, from Piaggio/Vespa:

http://www.google.com/search?q=piaggio+hys
Gnip More Than Ping Spelled Backwards (video)
I feel the same way. And yet, isn't being loved by so many people proof of being a really good marketer?
I also would never install realplayer. Real alternative + vlc has worked for everything I've tried.
Also check out these visualizations (StreamGraph, Document Contrast, Document Cloud) of the Obama McCain speeches:

http://neoformix.com/2008/ObamaMcCainConventionSpeechCompari...

(stumbled on this site via Summize - if you have not seen this site before - Neoformix is all about 'illustrating patterns in data')
While it's a pretty good book, I found it repetitive and filled with what I would consider somewhat arbitrary "style" guidelines (don't use increment or decrement operators? fall-through case statements?).

Also, it only covers the language, since the DOM isn't a "good part". I would recommend "JavaScript: The Definitive Guide" (a.k.a. the rhino book, which the Rhino JS interpreter is named after...). I keep that one next to my desk at all times.

But in summary, "JavaScript: The Good Parts" is a good supplement to other materials (though most of what's contained in the book can be learned from his website and video lectures)
I couldn't think of a better example at the time. Something that simultaneously matched several fields (whether destructured from one variable or not) and/or had guards would be a better example.

Maybe something like this (in pseudo-ML):

(* Look up order code for a Sci-Fi GadgetTM, units are in cm *)
let gadget_order_code width depth height color has_laser =
match (width depth height color has_laser) =
(* The original, simple code *)
| 5, 2, 1, Red, true -> "ZAP-X"
(* Most common width, color *)
| 4, d, h, Blue, true -> sprintf "ZAP-4-%d%d+" (str d) (str h) "+"
(* C for Custom Color *)
| 4, d, h, c, false -> "ZAP-4C-%d%d-%c" (str d) (str h) (color_code c)
(* Orange lasers are discontinued *)
| w, d, h, c, true when (w + d + h) < 15 and c != Orange ->
"ZAP-S-%d%d%d-%c" (str w) (str d) (str h) (color_code c)
| _, _, _, _, _ -> failwith "Unavailable"

That's a little complicated to determine with pattern matching or via a database, but doing it in a series of nested if statements would get mind boggling.
Ask HN: Beaten to the punch by a competitor, advice?
I've been working my first startup application for a couple of months out of hours from my 9-5. Not long ago a competitor surfaced and released an application which is very similar to what I have been working on.

They are targeting the same market and the application has the same features.

From what I have read so far about them they have been very successful (both financially and with creating a community of users) and the application is gaining traction. While this somewhat validates my feelings about the original idea in that it has been a great success for them, I am unsure what to do now.

Do I continue working on my own application and release it in a couple of months? I am pretty sure that there is enough market for it but I am no expert on marketing (far from it in-fact).

There are a number of older style web applications from competitors, both commercial and open source, but I feel that these are over complicated or bloated and my application is a fresh take on those with a greater emphasis on usability and simplicity (not through lack of features!) which the new competitor also provides. From research I have conducted on those they also appear to be performing very well financially.

Does anyone have any advice? Is this sort of thing normal and should I just ignore them and continue anyway?

Thanks
The thing that interests me is whether he’s committed himself to becoming a hacker too. That’s the connection (for me) that’s missing from the interview – how did he end up leading a software company? Did he have a hacker epiphany? And can you lead a team of hackers if you aren’t one yourself?
The mantra from eXtreme Programming:

1. Make it work.
2. Make it right.
3. Make it fast.
4. Make it small.

#1 first, then if you have the need, #2. If you have a need, #3. If you have the need, #4.

It's a lot easier to make it right once you've made it work.
That's pretty much what happened http://www.dilbert.com/strips/comic/2008-07-12/

He's not ruthless and uncaring enough to be a leader. A well aimed rock from Dogbert knocked out his moral compass allowing him to ascend effortlessly to high level management.
I don't pity Dilbert - he whines constantly yet makes no effort improve things. He is very cynical, and has no interest in improving his lot of those around him, so he gets what he deserves.

I wonder if that is part of Scott Adams intent - people pity him, yet he is not really worthy of pity (which most people wouldn't realise).
5 reasons why focus is the toughest thing to do for any startup
There are sites that do auto-refreshing with other ad networks. AdSense may forbid it, but they're not the only network. I'm certainly not suggesting it as a sneaky thing to do. Some webapps are opened for hours at a time (as the OP stated). Acting as if that multi-hour page view is equivalent to a regular page view and showing only a single ad is ridiculous.
Definitely don't ignore them. Learn from them. Do all you can to see what works for them and what doesn't. Pay close attention to what users (and blogs) are saying about the product. What do they like? What do they dislike? What features are they asking for? This competitor will give you they best market research money can buy - for free.
Of course it's normal. Ask everyone from Pepsi to Burger King. :-)

That being said, from the sounds of it, the competitor seems to be very visible in the market. Given that, can you see that there is something that they're not doing? Is there are group of users that are under-served? Do you figure one might surface? It looks like they've got you beat feature wise, but can you go the other way even further? (Super simple?) These are areas that you can explore.

At any rate, keep going. You idea has been validated. It's a big world out there, odds are in the next two months you'll understand that there will be room for you, them, and probably a few others.

Good luck.
I've been reviewing web apps recently for accounting within my startup, there's a lot of offerings and most of them cover all the same functionality.

But even though they all do the same thing, its the way that they've implemented the functions that makes each app different, and has ultimately influenced my decision.

At this point, I have no idea what one came along first, that doesn't matter to my decision, and I didn't just pick the first one I found, I reviewed 5-6 before making a choice.

Another point is, that after your initial release hopefully you'll get a user base who will provide you with feedback and ideas, its up to you how you act on that feedback. You may react to your users differently than your competitors, and ultimately that too will distinguish you from them further.

Good luck!
If the market supports a number of competitors that are doing OK, and you are fine with working in that market, then go for it.

If you were wanting to be a category-killer then it doesn't sound like your market is suitable for that. So if you're playing "Go Big or Go Home."; you should find another market.
Heh, didn't another company get sued for that kind of crap?
Large markets almost always have room for a #2. However, unless you can make substantive improvements over their product or target a different niche that they are missing, you could be in for a hard slog.
Windows Isn't For Gamers Anymore?
Shanghai surprise
Right. The good thing about markets is that there are always options. There isn't one brand of dish detergent, one brand of cookware or one brand of bacon. "Go big or Go Home" is a bad mentality to get into because you're going to find yourself worried more about what other people are doing, worried about failure, instead of worrying about what you should be doing.
I created a complex paper-based system once. Then I got bored with the tedium of retyping big strings of characters off a sheet of paper and started just using 1Password for everything.

You can use 1Password to create passwords that aren't associated with websites and stuff them into the equivalent of encrypted notes. When I need one I just pull up 1Password using Quicksilver and do a cut-n-paste. It's a little bit tedious, but not as tedious as paper -- and, as you say, I don't do it that often. I use ssh-keychain for most of my logins.

If you're freaked out about the probability that 1Password will somehow leak your bank password... don't put your bank
password into it. Use paper for that. I avoid allowing my laptop's copy of 1Password to know any password that could be used to harm my finances.

If you have a need to log in to registration-required sites on other machines... carry a piece of paper with the passwords you need. 1Password will print things out for you (also good for emergency backup -- stuff a paper log of your passwords in a safe deposit box).

1Password also has an iPhone app. I avoid using it because my need for portable, secure passwords is low compared to my fear of losing the phone and having to change all my passwords.

Really, you shouldn't type secure passwords into random other machines, anyway, since any of them could be compromised. Keysniffers. Rootkits. If you often log into security-sensitive accounts from strangers' machines... perhaps you should consider getting a laptop, an iPhone, a Nokia, or an EEE?

95% of my passwords are of scant interest to anybody, such that the (tiny) risk of allowing a piece of software to remember them for me is nil. I advise getting the software, and letting it go to work on the 95%. If you don't want to trust it with the remaining 5%, don't trust it.
Do you remember this photograph?: The Falling Man
I give you the alternative: Linux package dependency nightmare.
The Browser as an OS
Congrats and dugg!

Is a domain name change in the future? Drop the word get?
Was this really worth writing a blog post about?
My own personal experience. ;)
Please try to avoid these "interesting factoids" genre in HN.
I had the very same experience recently. I tried a couple of different web and desktop apps for time tracking before settling on Harvest, which I like. Harvest isn't obviously better than the others, but there are subtle ways in which it works that fit me well.

Web apps are easy for users to try out for a while. So build a couple of differentiating features and see if a subset of the (apparently lucrative!) market tries your site and sticks with it.
Two things:

1. Respond to all user emails within 24 hours or less - even if it's just to say "thanks" or "this should be released next month". Not only will you know exactly what your users want; they'll tell your friends how quickly you responded. And of course, don't ever ever use form responses/letters.

2. Keep your burn rate super low. If you do that you're a cockroach - no one can kill you.
The right to criticize programming languages
For leeks, you mean. :)

The biggest thing I learned from Forth is that if I'm about to add a comment inside a function because something needs clarification, I should probably try breaking it out and thinking up a descriptive name instead.
Actually reading this on Yahoo made it so much more enjoyable.
Go for it. One of the projects I am working on is Yet Another Photo-sharing Site. Here in SF the first thing people ask is "Why? Why not just use Flickr?"

But when I leave SF, I tell people "I am making a photo sharing site, kind of like Flickr, but how I want it." The response I get is "Sounds Cool - what is Flickr?"

Sites like Fotolog and Photo.net and Photobucket eventually sold for way more than Flickr.

The point I'm trying to make is that if the market is big enough, there will be people who want to use your product, even if there is an entrenched competitor. In fact, your competitor may not be as entrenched as you think.
I see a couple ways you could introduce encryption securely.

1. At the very least, encrypt data being transfered using SSL, to prevent sniffing on WiFi and other public networks. Public key cryptography (like SSL) certainly can be secure, and does or doesn't require "cooperation" depending on your definition.

2. Your client could somehow integrate with something like TrueCrypt, but leave it up to the user to manage their keys.
I'm not sure. I think it just means that the recording industries (like all major corporations) will always be behind the times on new ways of doing business by some years.

It took Apple to pull them into digital music sales, long after they should have been doing it. It took YouTube to pull them into making Hulu.

At some point it will be obvious that new ways of making money have completely eclipsed the old, or that the old just can't be kept alive by lawsuits anymore. But they'll fight the changeover for as long as they can, rather than making large investments in it and waiting a few years for those bets to pay off.
Wait, this guy is actually advocating replacing the googlebot with an army of humans, just to make sure some people don't over-react to an old news story?
Every time you make any change to the image it needs to sync the whole thing, right? Seems wasteful to me, there must be a better solution.
If all you're doing all day is writing wrapper functions you need a better language or a better job.
Would you mind highlighting what features you liked from harvest that were unavailable in different apps?
Don't blame this on poor, sweet Livingston you knave!
I actually don't know anyone that doesn't touch type that is under the age of 35 (but perhaps I need to pay more attention). Anyone that went and did an engineering level degree surely would be able to (due to thesis writing at least).

Even when I was in high school (back pre 1992) we learned by having a tea-towel over our hands and having to type without looking.
Wrong. Just asking if he was sure.
The words are throwing me off. Not because I can't type them fast enough, but because I can't read them as fast as I type so I need to slow down and pay attention to the letters.
VMware Workstation vs. Sun xVM VirtualBox
We definitely do use encryption for both data transfer and storage. I didn't mean to imply that those things happen in the clear.

And yeah, hopefully we can find a way to help users along the path of managing their own keys.
Nontechies, This One’s for You
Couldn't say better.
And as soon as they will feel your competition they might buy you. That's probably the quickest way to exit?
Debunking Google's log anonymisation propaganda
F# to join VB & C# in Microsoft language stable