skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
"Here's how Eric defined MVP:

<< First, a definition: the minimum viable product is that version of a new product which allows a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customers with the least effort. ...

Second, the definition's use of the words maximum and minimum means it is decidedly not formulaic. It requires judgment to figure out, for any given context, what MVP makes sense."

In other words, the definition is so broad and stretchable that any successful effort can be retroactively called an MVP, just like all successful software projects are claimed to be "agile" in some fashion (or lean or whatever the latest fad is).

MVP, pivot, Lean Startup(TM) - all this sounds like something tailored primarily to sell books and seminars, not what successful startups do. Now that Drew is successful, I am sure what he did will be held up as an example of the latest faux methodology. I am waiting for the Eric Ries post that portrays Steve Jobs as a "lean startup" visionary.
Spoilers: I don't think SAT measures "intelligence" any more then IQ tests do. That's what this sub-thread is about - IQ tests don't measure what they purport to either.
Maybe I can bee your technical co-founder. Web developer from Nicaragua. E-mail me
That's not a bad idea. Like Martey said, there are probably many similar things.

My advice would be to focus on technology (like you are doing) as much as possible. That is your niche and that might be why you are successful. (Speaking of success, how many units have you been able to sell to date and how long have you been operational?)

I would suggest marketing at technology events. Maybe walk person-to-person and hang out with people waiting to buy new iPhones. They would be glad to shell out the dough to make sure they do not lose their expensive new gadget.

Send some free samples to gadget bloggers. They might give you a plug and use it / discuss it in gadget blogger circles.

Good luck with it!
I dunno... I compose a ton of emails on mine... some of my "best". I read all the time: books (not a lot), emails, social networks, and web pages and I'm still, years later, a little shocked at how rarely I get up off the couch for a bigger device. It seems unlikely to me that we'll ever plug our phones into our laptops because... nearly nobody really would like that. So... what's left of this article for me? Smartphones should move toward letting people do something "meaningful"? There seem to be apps for doing nearly anything I can imagine [that makes sense on a ~4" screen] and tons of things (more every day) that I wouldn't.
Wantful
That's a very compelling feature. When having to read mail comes up it's usually out of the ordinary from whatever I'm doing but if I could just make a page to process what's in it then that would be interesting.
Teenagers have written novels on dumbphones and recorded albums on primitive tape decks. Complaining about imperfect tools and circumstances is the refrain of the wannabe.

If you don't like the screen, download an Audible book or buy an $80 Kindle.
No; the difference between pseudonymity and anonymity is consistent identity over time. When you have two actions by anonymous actors, you can't correlate them as being initiated by the same actor. With a pseudonym, you can. Correlation with an underlying "real" name is independent.

(Misrepresentation and misattribution aside.)
Bottes ugg
CALL-151 - oh the memories

So try this - CTRL+C then type

CATALOG

HGR

TEXT

HGR2

TEXT

ehhehehe
Is it the same class though, as the one in 2008? And if you watched the lectures available so far, did you think they're a good choice for supplementing the ml-class.org's lectures? I was thinking about starting on the 2008 lectures for that exact purpose.

Thanks for the link, by the way!
All Bengali Newspaper | Bengali newspaper | Bangla News | Bangladesh Newspaper |
Great. Another opinionated post with no substance that reaches number one. What is this garbage? It's not like this person even has any first-hand knowledge of anything with regards to the cited excerpt. Why would anyone upvote such a short, speculative rant?
I image keeping my development tool in Redmond ensure I keep paying fees but what does this do for developers?
I'm mostly in agreement, but maybe it's just because I don't have much use for a smart phone.

I don't text. I don't IM except at work, and emails can wait till I get home. It is handy to have a web browser for when you absolutely must look up something on the go, but honestly that doesn't happen often enough to warrant a hefty data plan. Yeah, I don't have a data plan. I look for free WIFI if I need internet.

So what else is there? Reading books? I do read books on it (while on the go), but it's generally an unpleasant experience because the screen's so small that it renders everything at the subpixel (read: blurry) level and I spend all my time either squinting or doing zoom-in-and-pan.

Tablet? No, thanks. If I wanted to lug something big around, I'd take my laptop with me. It's far more versatile.

Games? Meh. I still haven't found any really compelling smartphone games. And really, if I wanted to play games, I'd just play them on my laptop or desktop, which have better specs and bigger screens and better input systems.

Camera? Well, I've taken some photos with it, but I don't use it often. I suppose it could come in handy for that one time when i REALLY need to take a picture.

The things I DO like are:

* note taking
* voice recording
* learning apps
* Being able to transfer stuff onto and off the phone without too much hassle

Aside from that, there's not much I find compelling.
As far as I know, the scientific community agrees that IQ is not a strong predictor of true "intelligence"...

And yet the start of this thread is a scientific study that looks at variations in IQ.
Don't know about best, but www.fastmail.fm/help/overview_features.html is pretty cool. It is what it says, fast. No graphics, clean web interface, runs quick on anything, including crappy old hardware or phones. Opera recently bought them so if you run Opera on your phone it is especially nice. Very reliable, hardly ever down and on the rare occasions it goes down it's usually back up within minutes. You can hook up pretty much any client you like, of course. And they don't read your mail to serve you ads.
What does MVP mean in this context?
There is definitely a chicken/egg problem at work here that will be hard to break early on. In the long run I'm hoping for a pool of users large enough that reaching the end isn't likely for your average signup, but for now you're completely right. I worry that repetition could be worse than blatant running out since a big part of the site is variety (whereas seeing the same girls over and over feels more like helpless stagnation), but I'll try and come up with a better way to engage new users while we're still really young. Thanks for taking a look!
1: if I were going to roll out a product like this and I had google apps admins that are, almost without exception, total product advocates for google apps, I'd get them on board asap and give them a fat packet of training materials. Google has the resources to do this. The fact that they didn't do it shows lack of strategic vision. Let admins hold a half day session, give them video, handouts, whatever. They will sell the heck out of it and look like superstars if it's a decent product.

2: While Google+ appears to compete primarily with facebook, it also had the chance to cement the business market early on. Salesforce and others have been aggressive in pursuing this (chatter, et al). Would/will be a big differentiator for Google.

3. Additionally, apps wasn't always so aggressively positioned for just business and personal use. Early on it was very poorly positioned (looking back at some of the early how-to posts shows lots of "what exactly is google apps for your domain" type posts). There were certainly many, many power users that signed up in those days before it became clear just how poorly coordinated service rollout was between google and google apps.

4. Finally, regardless of what Google Apps is "meant for", what it is "used for" includes lots of users that are, indeed, excellent beta testers.
Demonize it? Wow man, you really do live up to your username.

> "This allows people with probably no other way to access the internet to be able to have the same luxuries through there phone."

And that is an excuse for poor engineering... how? Your point is that, if Google didn't "cut these corners", this free product may very well not exist, and thus unable to provide these benefits to the developing world at low cost.

Which is, again, a non-sequitor, since there is no evidence whatsoever that Google treats Android like an exercise in budget engineering for the developing world. They are banking practically the whole company on it, and throwing top talent at Android, with a seemingly bottomless budget.

Suffice it to say, if Google spent some more time optimizing and improving UI responsiveness, the developing world will not suffer, and in fact will get a better product for the same price they're currently paying: $0.

This is the same stupid argument that people used with Nokia years ago, before (surprise!) Android came in and ate their lunch. Those budget candy bar phones sure did bring mobile telephony to the masses, and any attempt at critiquing the phones' hardware or software was rebuked with claims of "well if it was better it wouldn't be affordable you elitist".

And of course, then Google came in with Android and now we have touchscreen smartphones in the developing world. And people continue to jump on criticism of Android with the same lame-duck excuse.
I personnaly use Fastmail and I'm very happy with it. As any other serious competitor, it's not free, though, around $50 a year for the best plan (10gB, custom domain and file storage, among other goodies).
Agreed. That piece reads a bit too much like a HuffPost 'article'.

The idea that industrial workers' skills would become obsolete is not only wrong, it's also an idea that far predates Drucker. The skills aren't obsolete as much as they are under competition from previously unreachable pools of labor in other parts of the world.

As the comment above notes, a real problem with income distribution in American society comes more from a tax code that allows/favors corporations over small businesses and passive income over income derived from labor of any sort. This is not just about money - it is about personal control.

It isn't even enough to compare wages; the picture is much worse when one considers personal debt load in relation to earnings. What emerges then is really two parallel countries - rapidly drifting apart. On one hand you have the wealthy and super-wealthy insulated from economic shock and personal debt. On the other hand you have a class of people who seem 'middle-class' but who are in hock for housing and education and stand a small distance away - a job loss, a serious illness - from disaster. Earnings supported the birth of the middle-class in post-war America but, sadly, it is only debt that has sustained it.

That kind of state-within-a-state is not unique to post-industrial economies at all - which makes the author's closing opinion rubbish. That situation - whether in Russia or Brazil or Colombia or even Israel - is much more a result of social and economic policies and the OWS group is instinctively correct in feeling like such policies are not in their favor.
"Imagine if you could just resume your browsing session on your laptop or desktop from your phone."

my first thought exactly -->
i use chromeToPhone all the time.
This seems so obvious in hindsight. Despite "The Social Network"-generated interest, startups are simply too boring to make for great ratings without some manufactured drama.

I feel for those who applied to TechStars NY, not knowing about the circus they were getting into. Startups are hard enough without additional, external distractions.
Well then, it may have served its purpose!

Seriously though, there's maybe a dozen ultra-important people in the world for whom I could tolerate a reply like that. But anyone that important really should have their secretary sorting through their email anyway.

A reply like that from someone of lower (or even equal) status would be incredibly rude.
oh very cool.
The Major Source of China’s Economic Competitiveness? It’s Not Labor Prices
This doesn't surprise me considering how it's clear they were trying to play up the drama angle in some of the other startups on the show. I honestly thought after seeing it that she was starting a Groupon like thing for fashion and found that it didn't work. That LinkedIn thing was particularly weird too. It's good that she wrote this because the show sort of made her look foolish.
Simple Long Polling Example with JavaScript and jQuery
If you are reading this article, you are not a bad programmer; you are a programmer learning to master your craft.
DropZap 2 v2.1.2 released and is free for a limited time.
Check it out:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dropzap-2/id378977964?mt=8

Any feedback would be appreciated.
SDN as the future of Networking
Thanks for making me waste an hour of my time reading about digital holography ;) Pretty cool.
Am I correct in thinking that the signup page does nothing? The POST action just seems to submit to the page you are currently on. I figured script.js might be picking up on the form submission, but it gives a 404 if you try and go to the file. What I can't figure out where the thank-you message is coming from as the page looks to be just a plain html file.
People don't' like it when you develop your "open" software behind closed doors.

Sure, there are good reasons for it, but so long as you fly that "Open" banner, you're going to get shit when you do things that seem contradictory to that message.
On corporate personhood - not a big favtor as far as I know. It exists in a lot of European countries much as it does here. A lot of the EU rights are rooted in the social contract ideas of Rousseau and the like, tempered by experience of war, the iron curtain and so on.
Do you have some examples of the cases you refer to?
this is the the same class. having taken it last year (and taking Stanford's version of ml-class), this is a great choice for a more thorough exploration of the (mathematically) finer points of the methods covered in ml-class.

Although I'm hoping to stop doing that soon, I have been able to avoid watching many of the videos so far since they seem to be very similar to the concepts covered in the class last year. Prof. Ng's notes for this class (available at http://cs229.stanford.edu/materials.html) are also quite helpful for refreshing the finer points of algorithms.
My smartphone means I have instant access to a map that will have a shiny blue dot that means "you are here" at all times. And then I can ask "How do I get there?" and it can tell me. And if I get somewhere and realize I forgot to write something down, I can Google it. Or look up the email that had the information. Or I can text the person I'm meeting that I will be late, or maybe they can tell me where they are and I can meet them at the new location.

Basically, my smartphone gives me easy access to information at all times. That it's not useful for work is besides the point - it's useful when I'm doing things other than work.
This is a ridiculous assertion. I believe it's the kind of attitude that keeps our profession from gaining respect among other professional groups.

I've cooked meals for people that were impressed and happy, does that make me a great chef? Perhaps the people I fed are easy to please, have a simple tastes, spend most days eating unflavored oat meal.

If i'm capable of changing a car's spark plugs, and it continues to run well does that make me a great mechanic?

People having low or incorrect expectations does not change the overall quality of something you create or deliver.
Pandora Jewelry
This is why I'm excited about Windows 8. I can potentially have a pocket-sized/e-reader-sized device that is a real computer. When on the go, use it in its slate mode. Then plug a keyboard into its USB port and a display into its mini HDMI port and it's a full blown computer. No compromise.
mod_rewrite?
This actually reflects poorly on TechStars that they gave so much access to a media source without proper negotiaion and/or enforcement.

To the OP I say "what did you expect?". If you are not versed with the media and yet agree on giving them hours and hours of access, you will get some twisted final product more times than not.

Also why PR firms still exist.
Electric Delorean - build to order
Apple has built a certain brand image about people who use their products. There are many people who will gladly choose Android to avoid being identified with that image.

That is not to say that Android has no virtues of its own. I prefer Android for more than just brand identification.
I agree with you about a lot of things, but this isn't one of them.

That title implies a number of things. Personally, I read it and thought "RTM managed to jailbreak Siri and teach it how to interact with a third-party API!!"

That was a very disappointing click-through because that's one misleading title, dude.
I would find a show about start-ups without drama interesting. There are reality shows that seem to be fairly drama free like "19 and counting" (so I'm told anyway). I honestly feel like the producers of the show weren't giving the audience enough credit and just made up normal reality show nonsense.
Steve Jobs: The Origin of the Apple Logo/Secret History of Silicon Valley
I guess "ends justify the means" would be another article.
Do people here think TechStars is somewhat to blame in this? they are the ones who are running the incubator and hosting the companies. Why would they bring in this sort of outside factor into an already challenging environment. If they were unaware of how the show would turn out, I suspect all they needed to do was speak to reality tv producers (other than those who produced this show), and they would have been told about the story writers, story developers, etc. etc.
Why would they be? They're immensely useful tools.
Geartaker 2nd Freebie--$1 Halloween Mystery Blowout
This is a great step by step tutorial leading to the Todos example. http://arturadib.com/hello-backbonejs/

Including it or something similar would be beneficial for beginners. As someone else mentioned, an official collection of good tutorials will be really helpful.
My smartphone means I can no longer make reliable phonecalls to anybody, ever, even if I'm standing below the cell tower.
My smartphone has comparable voice quality of two tin cans and some thin wire. I tested. (to be fair, the smartphone has better range and it's network is more scaleable).
My smartphone, whether verizon, sprint or at&t (I've gone through all three in five years) always manages to cost about $130 per month because they force me to pay $30/month for data and $20/month for texting. I never managed to go over on my minutes though, see my first point.
My smartphone meant any hope at privacy or anonymity I might still harbor would be destroyed.
My smartphone can be turned on remotely and tapped if the DHS decides to investigate my pakistani roommate from 11 years ago because he wrote "this policy is unfair" and then posted a cat stevens video on facebook. True story.
My smartphone means I feel the urge to obsessively check facebook, twitter, linkedin, and my 8 email accounts every 3 seconds or else the world will end.
My smartphone breaks the moment I drop it from 6 inches above a surface and costs $600 to replace.
My smartphone(s) are smashed into pieces and disconnected.
My smartphone has driven me to attempt to live without a mobile phone.
My smartphone liberated me through frustration.

I now have a landline I rarely pick-up.
I think removing yourself from Google is a mistake. It will give anyone with malevolent intentions the opportunity to remake your account with the same name, pictures and possibly misrepresent you. A better way to boycott them is to maintain a static account. Simply take ownership of your identity but not give them any personal data about yourself or your friends. There's nothing they hate more than a user who doesn't +1.
Speaking of Bravo, they're looking for people to be in their new Silicon Valley reality TV show, I submitted a story about it a week ago: http://www.psfk.com/2011/10/bravo-seeking-young-professional...
You look at it wrong. Nothing manipulates anything here. It’s a different technology with different properties.
It's possible to make "process" and "strategy" interesting without twisting facts: "The War Room" is a great example. It's unfortunate that the producers of this series weren't up to the task.
I think it's still a reasonable "BS" call. If you support pseudonyms, you stop kicking them off.

That doesn't take first-hand knowledge to notice.
I would pay for number one right now
You are right - this is exactly what I DID expect would happen - even though it was sold to us as a documentary on a business channel. Unfortunately, every company in our TechStars class was forced to participate. So, the decision for all of us was: drop out of TechStars or do the show.
I agree with some of the points, but it's all about user experience. If I want to use Twitter, my smartphone is great. Even replying it's great, because it's a short message. If I click on a link to a web page that has a mobile version, it's also great. Even though the screen is small, the site is designed so the clutter is gone and it's still easy to read.

Where my smartphone isn't so great is when the user experience breaks. I click a link and I end up on a site that isn't mobile friendly, is filled with junk and I need to pinch and zoom all over the place, I hate that. Or if I want to type in more than a sentence, I really hate the onscreen keyboard, or any small keyboard. Trying to do more involved things can be frustrating as well because it's never as fast as my desktop.

So really I think it's an evolving issue. Some things work great on it, many others not so much, but it's just a matter of time for many of these things to get better. When all sites have seamless mobile versions, when speech recognition is good enough that we won't need to type anything, we'll see smartphones be much better.
In my case, I have a Garmin for GPS, which is much more reliable than any phone GPS I've used.

If you compare the quality of a point and shoot digital camera vs a smart phone, the digital camera will blow it out of the water. For me, it's about the quality of the photo, not the convenience.

We're lucky to have choices. That's the beauty of it.
Lennart Poettering pops to mind: http://0pointer.de/blog/projects/google-doesnt-like-my-name....
Because an accurate headline wouldn't manufacture any controversy.
A fair cop. :) I used to ask it as a follow-up to a much harder, less "ah-ha" question, to see how candidates approach probability.
There are only two things wrong with the header: the RIFF chunk size is invalid, and the data chunk size is invalid.
Why would it be more impressive? Because paying customers vote with their money. Money is a better validation than "you're great!".
It's a policy that's nearly impossible to implement well on a global scale, though, at which point I think that blaming the policy is appropriate.
Melanie,

Props to you for showing up at the reunion show despite how you were portrayed.

I guess that last show was part of the contract too right?
To me, Techstars owes you an apology more than Bloomberg.
It's a bit like a business that takes horrible risks with fire. The business burns down and the fire takes out most of the town.
The business borrows money from the town to rebuild itself and pays what it borrowed back with interest.

How do you think the rest if the town's citizens feel toward the fabulously wealthy business owner when he states: "I paid you back with interest!"