skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
"would they have been able to without the support of the other half?" The evidence overwhelmingly, yes they would have been successful. You are correct that Gates, Jobs, and Buffett are not perfect examples of successful sole founders, but the question is, can a sole founder be successful? The 'rub' in this question is, can just one guy, alone, making all the decisions alone, do well? Then the examples of Gates, Jobs, and Buffett are quite relevant because each did great things essentially alone.

For Jobs, whatever might say about Woz and Jobs's first period at Apple, later Jobs did very well alone at Next, Pixar, and back at Apple. For those last three gigs, Woz was somewhere in the nickel seats. Yes, the success with Woz gave Jobs a lot of cash that was no doubt important for him in his last three gigs. So, then we say that Jobs is an example of a three time successful sole founder with cash. So, with cash a sole founder can work.

After the success of MS/DOS and Allen leaving Microsoft, Gates really had to reinvent, 'refound' the company. It is fair to say that he was a founder again. Yes, he was a founder with cash, but he was still acting essentially alone. Again, the issue is, can a sole founder do it alone, and that is what we are addressing. With the cash from MS/DOS, Gates did it alone. It's amazing what he did because he crushed IBM, Sun, Lotus, Netscape, DB2, and more.

For Buffett, no way should we count Ben Graham! He wrote a book and was a prof of Buffett at Columbia and possibly a friend. Graham had likely hundreds of students and millions of readers, but there was just one Berkshire. So, for Berkshire I don't credit Graham.

For Munger's role, that's just a judgment call, but my reading is that Buffett didn't much need him. Partly I draw that conclusion because it appears in recent years Buffett has been making his decisions essentially just alone.

Again, the main issue is, can a sole founder really get the work done or will he go off the deep end, for fast women, slow horses, cheap booze, wacko ideas, etc.? Well, Gates, Jobs, and Buffett didn't do any of these bad things.

There's another great example: Fred Smith at FedEx. I absolutely, positively guarantee you that there I know in fine detail just what the heck I'm talking about: FedEx was due almost entirely just to Smith, not Art Bass, Roger Frock, Mike Basch, ..., or me. Yes, it's true that Smith had a fortune from Southern Greyhound.

But with a fortune, it's easy, right? Tell that to Carly Fiorina, John Akers, Gil Amelio, Pat Dunn, etc.
You may want to add a section to your work history in which you're an independent contractor. You can fill it in with any technologies you encountered or developed (even if it wasn't paid work). That may make the job history seem less abrupt (if that's indeed what you think is the issue).

If you're in need of more references, you may want to ask a friend to provide one or do a small task on a site like elance/rentacoder/guru and ask the employer to sign a letter of reference (you can get some nice boilerplates online). That way you can present a glowing recommendation along with your resume.
Second all that, and adding: For everybody there is a spot where they will feel right at home and their personality 'issues' will suddenly turn into assets. It took me well over two decades to find my niche, I hope that you won't have to spend that much time searching but you can take some hope from that.

Oh, and I get along just fine with Colin ;)
Has anyone found the contest end date? I have a project I can't put down (unfortunately), but would really like to have time to enter.
Yeah I agree. Probably a video is the way to go.
When is the contest over? Last time I tried to do one of these things I only had about a week which was not enough time for me to come up with a quality program. Otherwise I would like to compete.
As far as I'm concerned, the onus was on us to make the world a better place... 20 years ago, we had the energy, the initiative, and - most importantly - the attitude, to grab the world by the balls and really shake things up. But we (Gen X) have let ourselves down by slipping into the rut of just going along with "more of the same." We let that bright spark of individualism, self-expression, and independence burn down to a dull ember; and now we have The 80's Redux, only with shittier music, an even bigger government, even more corrupt relationships between corporations and the government, and mandatory participation in yet another Big Government boondoggle.

We should all be wearing a f%!#ng albatross around our necks in the real world, to symbolize the metaphorical albatross we all wear for killing the dreams we had 2 decades ago. Yay us.
No, blogger doesn't add that stuff by default. You can add it to a template, or find a template that already has it.
Sensible people who don't think it's rational to internalise the arbitrary demographic categories invented by marketers for the purposes of selling mass-produced goods in the post WWII consumer boom are sick of your bullshit.

If human beings had a mating season once a decade, then this "generation X/Y/$foo" shit would make sense.
Hiring has picked up these days, and this is the time to get in. Get a job you reasonably like, keep your head down and build a positive track record. If the job is shitty, don't just get fired; act like an adult and keep them happy while looking for a new one. It is much easier to get a job when you already have one.
Good luck!
If you expect that more information will decrease performance, your algorithms are seriously borked.
http://nmap-online.com
I wish more than anything they would try to stop manufacturer customization. I recently learned that the "dialer" app on my Motorola Atrix is not the default Android one, which might explain some of its really odd behaviors that just drive me insane. The home screen, even the browser is modified (at least the icon).
You realize that in no way does this make Facebook registration non-voluntary.
German researchers break W3C XML encryption standard
I don't think it's that unusual. Woopra lets you see your users in real-time, and even start chats with them as they browse your site. http://www.woopra.com/features/live-map/
It looks like you can only upload code, and you aren't allowed to write any files, which means that your bot can't be self-improving between matches. Which IMHO is half the fun of an AI contest.

Or am I missing something?
You could start being nice to people. Seriously. When everyone around you is in conflict, look in the mirror. We're not all extroverts, but the fact remains that business requires dealing with other people effectively, so suck it up and learn how to make people feel good. Being right is a career killer.

More directly, start networking, and change your attitude. You will find something.
I started a business in college, by myself, and it had revenues of about 6 million by the time I hit 25. I'm now 30 and on my second business, which I also started and am now running by myself.

Why don't I elaborate on some upsides to your little list?

* You are the only one. That means if something goes wrong, you can't shift the blame. Not even subconsciously. It's always your fault. This guarantees problems get fixed and they get fixed fast.

* You are the only one. That means you don't have to get approval or dilute your ideas. It gets implemented. Now. If you're spouting bullshit, the market will filter and you will adjust, fast.

* You are the only one. You have to do everything. That means you understand every aspect of your business, because at some point, you did it. This helps you make effective decisions.

* You are the only one. etc etc etc

You get the idea. I can go on forever and you can go on forever listing wonderful things about co-founders. One way isn't better than another. They are different and the path you take depends on your goals.

If your goal is to build a business that grows into hundred-million+ entity so you can cash out or where you can garner a cult following (i.e. Steve Jobs/Bill Gates/Larry Ellison/etc), you need a co-founder. On the other hand, if you want a business where you can pour your unmitigated passion into, where it becomes a place that not only supports you, but where your ideas take form, a co-founder will just get in your way. To dumb it down, if the #1 goal on your list is money or status, bring somebody else on. You won't be able to compete by your lonesome. However, if the #1 goal on your list is the freedom to do things the way you want to do them ... the only way to accomplish that is to remove as many obstacles to that as possible. That means no co-founders, no investors, none of it. A structure where you don't have to check with anyone before you do something.

This, by the way, explains why most investors are completely against companies with no co-founders. It's not in their interest. The goals of the company do not align with their goals.
The challenge does not offer disk space for your bot to save data so it has to start from scratch every match (unless you supply it with a lot of offline training data).

There has been talk among the developers of the challenge of offering disk space in on of the future challenges.
Here's a tip from improv comedy: when you hear something you don't like, don't say "No." Say "yes, but..." This one little tip can really change how you interact with people. It won't change your world by itself though. Example interaction: your new boss says, "We should switch all the Linux servers to Windows." You say, "Yes, that would help with X, but have you considered the cost?"

Also, come up with a narative that explains your resume. I know a professional person who left a good job to take another good job in their home city. The new job evaporated for reasons out of their control in less than three months. This person came up with a narative that allowed hiring managers to see past the black spot on their resume: "I had family issues to take care of in my home city, they are resolved, and now I want to return to X city."

Good luck!
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I assumed he was referring to the large recession in the early 80's. Which would be about 20 years after the 60's.
I wish I could force this guy and his ilk to forever use the unoptimized first version of every product that benefits from user analytics.
Thanks for offering the discount to HN - I just purchased the collection and look forward to diving in.

I think it was a fantastic idea to scrap the 300-page book and focus on more bite-sized readings. Tackling a 300-page book can be a lot to ask of a reader, especially if they are spending a lot of their time producing products. A 50-page book makes more sense to me. I can work through 50 pages in a short period of time, feel like I've just learned a complete concept, and start implementing it right away.

Best of luck and great work!
Git shortcuts like you've never seen before
As a Gen-Xer, I have a certain sympathy for this, but objectively there's no comparing the early '90s recession with the economic situation today -- we're well into the third year of the crisis, the job situation is much worse today, and there's no end in sight. By the equivalent time in the '90s the economy was well on its way back.
From the rules:

> Any attempt to disrupt the normal operation of the contest software or the contest servers will result in the immediate involvement of law enforcement officials. Our policy is to always prosecute.

I get that people shouldn't be intentionally disrupting the servers, but that sounds like an awful policy.
Google: Motorola buy won't put us into hardware business
Right now, Generation X just wants a beer and to be left alone. It just
wants to sit here quietly and think for a minute. Can you just do that,
okay? It knows that you are so very special and so very numerous, but
can you just leave it alone? Just for a little bit?

I always considered myself "Generation X", born in 1980, but this is everything I hated about us. When I was younger, I used to think that our early weary discontent and constant barrage of bullshit endured (as outlined in this bit) would eventually lead to a head that erupted in discontent. I thought Seattle 99 was going to be our beginning, not a solitary moment. But now, the Occupation trends younger, all my contemporaries only visit Facebook, and we want some peace and quiet when others complain, saying how we had it worse, while calling them self-absorbed.

I can't think of a worse sentiment than to want to take some time and relax. But hey, here's a plus: maybe I'm younger than I thought.
Well, you're lumping a lot of things under the term "UI".

As a rule, Apple minimizes these kinds of things in the core interface and often moves quickly to reduce them as new features become common knowledge. For example, the "dock" in the original iPhone looked like a speaker grill - it was probably a useful convention to denote to people that had never used OSX that it was a special section at the bottom of the phone/screen. Now it's a glassy reflective surface that subtly denotes the dock area and nicely borders the screen (much more subtly than the ICS dock, IMO). The scrollbars in OSX were once colorful and rounded, but steadily and gradually became flatter, grayer, and then basically invisible. I wouldn't be surprised if the now prevalent "fabric" pattern sees a similar fate.

Apple tends to make the metaphors glaringly obvious and keep them around in a certain class of very simple apps (the compass and calculator fall under this). It's funny that Duarte mentioned wood because Apple nerds have been arguing about the wood trim in Garageband (a spinoff from the sleek, German designed Logic app) since it launched. For power users, these things are a stupid distraction, but for the %90 of the population that is boggled by the idea of using a completely new class of software, they denote that this is fun, easy-to-use software. Google, who've made plenty of great products that have gone relatively unused, could probably learn a few things here.

There's a certain logic to the anti-skeutomorph thing, but it gets weird when it leads to dismissing Apple offhandedly. Mastery of these metaphors is a good part of the reason Apple are where they are today. It's amazing how consistent these textures, gestures and animations are across three platforms (and how smoothly they reached this point) while the other platforms are having identity crises.

I should add that I'm enormously tempted to get the Galaxy Nexus, so please take this as pro-Apple, not anti-Google.
I have a similar challenge, and I've found psychotherapy the most effective intervention. If you can afford it, I recommend looking for a therapist who offers both individual and group therapy. Finding a therapist is not the same as finding an excellent therapist, and everyone needs the latter. I recommend looking for recommendations from the local chapter of the American Group Psychotherapy Association.

If you cannot afford a therapist, pick up a copy of "Don't Bring It To Work" by Sylvia Lafair. The subtitle is "Breaking the Family Patterns That Limit Success". And see if there are some low-cost/sliding counseling centers in your area.

You can change, and you deserve it.
This looks quite fascinating. Like something Blue Ant would subscribe to.

But From the wilds of Fayetville, Arkansas? Please.

This looks like it might be disruptive, and in particular to an area that needs disruption.
I've always squirmed when anyone uses the term "Generation X". Seems to have always meant ... "we're going to need a label for this younger demographic so we can market garbage to them". We don't understand them because we're too focused on getting that nicer car or watching the fake news or going to The Olive Garden. The phrase "Generation X" will also make them feel guilty for being "lazy". Pigeonholing is quasi-bullshit but it does sound cooler than "Baby Boomer", Generation Y ("the next letter in the alphabet"), etc. If a gun was held to my head I'd request something like "Atari Generation" or something else that would require you to remember something that stimulated your mind in 1979 besides DynoMutt®.
IOS 5: Checking Storage and iCloud Info
Sure. That's why he suggested blocking the Facebook domain. I have a Facebook account that I use regularly, so I block the Like buttons with Ghostery.
I think he's talking about the (relatively mild) early '90s recession. The core of Gen X are people born in the late 60s and early 70s -- people who would have been entering the workforce in the early '90s.
In this case, it's a problem of Apple being a regional company. They think only in regional terms, completely ignoring what people in other countries consider to be important.

And their market penetration suffers heavily as a result. If that's not enough reason to stop forcing compromise on your customers (ESPECIALLY with so many competitors in the space), I don't know what is.

They always seem biggest before they fall.
You're not. There are actual fictional languages that are constructed at the syntactic level instead of just as a series of shallow modifications to an underlying English sentence. This is a neat little project and dead-on for what it needed to do, but you're right in that it's not a whole language.

There are fictional languages, like Klingon and Na'avi and a raft of others, but they take more than a day and some Python to do right.
http://www.kenyaforexanswers.com/  
http://www.kenyaforexanswers.com/
Of course, these are all examples of piping the body of an HTTP GET response. There is no parsing going on. You'd need to parse the HTML to translate the links, if this is being served from your own webserver. If you're trying to mirror actual content, wget -r might be a better tool (and can translate the URLs).
Nice! Co-workers will be happy to have this.
All BlackBerry code is obsolete: New RIM devices will not support BB-Java apps.
HN London Meetup Videos: Housebites - September 2011
"I used "How to Win Friends and Influence People." These days it's terribly dated..."

People have been building relationships for millennia. HTWFAIP is barely 80 years old and a classic. I read it as a shy, introverted kid and it probably had a better effect on my life than any other book.

Something that had a huge effect was his theory that success is 15% professional knowledge and 85% communication skills. Didn't quite understand it as a kid but as I entered the professional world I saw how true that was. Not boot-licking, just the ability to explain concepts and show how what you're doing is useful to people puts you way above most, especially in heavily technical fields where communication is often lacking.

Leil Lowndes' "How to Talk to Anyone" is a more modern take on the subject that I found valuable.
The General Introduction to the Suitable SEO Service Company
Good stuff. Dealing with your co-founders indeed expands into a long list all by itself, to make it explicit is better.

Freedom is indeed the #1 reason I had when I decided to be a 'single founder' (in fact, it wasn't a conscious decision at the time, I only realized it after the fact) and getting an investor on board was the last thing on my mind.
Note: That's NLP as in Natural Language Processing, not as in Neuro-Linguistic Programming.
It's right there under "Location". You can search the page for "GLONASS" with Ctrl-F or Cmd-F depending on your OS.
Ctrl+F -> GLONASS. It's there.
> I used "How to Win Friends and Influence People."

This is an interesting citation. I haven't personally read it but I recall an interview on NPR wherein an author (I can't remember his name now) recalled a year of elementary school during which he read this book and attempted to implement its techniques. The result? Both his peers and the teachers were left confused and unsure how to react to his methods that he had garnered from the book. Some people seemed to think he was trying to manipulate them while others were just unused to such unnatural social interaction. So that's completely anecdotal, after all who knows what a kid really would know about the advice of such a book or how he might have (wrongly or rightly) interpreted the book. Still I found it fascinating, the reactions he described. It made me wonder if you can really create a so-called "blueprint" for social interaction?
Just curious if Dropbox had a MVP? If so, what was it? Was it ready and launched by Demo Day? Was it a purely free model, or were they already going with the freemium model at launch?
I second that. There's something to be said working a shitty job doing things you don't like to do and keeping your mouth shut (speaking as someone who's been there, done that). When you finally get the job that you love, you'll love it even more.
Blueprint Health Accepting Startup Applications
I don't know. Based on your track record, it doesn't sound like you really want to work for someone else.

I disagree with my bosses and don't want to work on projects all of the time, but part of working for someone else is that you have to make that person happy (or at least not piss them off). So you have to compromise, and give generous assessments even if they aren't totally warranted (because in turn, you will be given a good assessment).

As an introvert loner, you will never be fully comfortable being a communicative team player, but it is something that can be worked at. (Set up reminders/mantras to essentially brainwash yourself into remembering your goals of cooperativeness and willingness to get along).
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> It does not help that useful stuff from 3.x get backported to 2.x or available via __future__, and that IMHO Python 2.7 is awesome so the urge is not quite there

Part of the reason that the urge isn't quite there is because there hasn't been enough time for 3.x to diverge from 2.7, the end of the 2 line. 3.2 came out eight months after 2.7 and the feature differences aren't large, especially considering that 3.2 was developed at the same time as 2.7 so many of the newly added features are the same.

As 3.x continues on with the 3.3 release next fall, the differences will become greater, the feature sets will become different, and the urge may start rising. As was said before, this is all measured in years - we can't expect that 3.x (the interpreter and standard library, on its own merits) just suddenly jumps ahead.
I'm led to believe that culture wasn't always as fast as it is now. Some period in human history lasted thousands of years, then hundreds, eventually decades. Now things may be a constant stream, but looking in history, the marks of change in culture stand out like rings in a tree. It may still now and we're just too close to it... Or maybe things have truly changed. Maybe that's what hipsterism really is, an inability to differentiate from the immediate precursor.
there was a fascinating tedX talk about marketing of condoms in africa a while back. people in DR Congo were avoiding the free condoms given out by aid groups in lieu of the marketed commercial ones (with names like rough rider, pleasure maxx, etc). There was also something about guilt or displeasure with the free ones as well.

http://blog.ted.com/2011/09/21/selling-condoms-in-the-congo-...

this article gives some insight into that http://www.minnpost.com/globalpost/2010/11/19/23510/in_south...
(though not same one i was referencing originally)
Outside the MRI team, what the MRI team get up to only matters as long as the community pays attention to them.

If everyone decided to switch en masse to Rubinius, MRI might not go away, but it would definitely be sidelined into irrelevance.
Small firm wins $1 million X Prize for oil skimmer