skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
Where is the best Usenet index these days? Newzbin doesn't accept new memberships and the other services I found half a year ago were terribly sketchy in their coverage. I just concluded that Usenet wasn't an option for me any longer.
I'd definitely go for #3. It's such a pain and companies will generally pay in a way that users hate paying. I know I get driven nuts!

#1 would be neat, but one problem would be that you'd have to price it cheaper than better hardware. For example, if your product costs $500/year and I can just double my RAM from 1GB to 2GB for $20/mo, well, I'm just going to double the RAM and save $250. Or likewise any other attribute of the system. It just seems like it would be a lot harder to sell this since most people could probably put the money into hardware and get a better result.

#2 seems interesting, but with postage, is it still a good deal? Personally, I don't see anything wrong with parallel importing - in fact, I'd argue it's a good thing since it stops manufacturers from exploiting market segregation. You're talking about doing it on things like clothing which means problems will be lower. Things like autos or electronics often have regulatory issues. If you're going this route, you might want to consult an attorney.
Google and Facebook battle for your friends
One thing he mentions is inaccurate: jQuery IS limited to it's own built-in functions; however, it defines functions that utilize a few Array methods using apply (e.g. Array.prototype.map.apply(this, arguments) where this is the jQuery object ).

This is possible because jQuery defines it's contents inside each object numerically:

var jQueryObj = $(".someClass");
alert(jQueryObj[0].innerHTML);
> ...people have built up Google in their minds

If that was the case, shouldn't the exact opposite happen? The Subject-Expectancy Effect states that a person's expectations directly influences their views.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subject-expectancy_effect

I don't think expectations has much to do with it. Very few people (Issara, Lilly) actually referred to expectations at Google. There is a recurring theme of employees complaining about management/bureaucracy, salary, hiring, and job satisfaction.

Even though you said "basically", it seemed to me like you are generalizing too much (sorry if I'm wrong and hypocritical). Some people (search for Aaron on the page) got a job there out of necessity, not purely open choice.
The "Guitar Hero" Answers Your Questions - Freakonomics Blog
I like it, I too was looking for something like this just the other day.
There's a repeatable principle in the PHP story: Know who the real customer is. In this case the real customer was shared hosting providers. In other cases you'll have to figure it out for yourself.
dfens: Cool site - I will be using it a lot.

I do agree with the first two items FraaJad pointed out. Nice work.
You could probably start by doing some consulting, with an agreement in place that you own the tools you create.

I agree with everyone who says you should do the one that interests you most.
A former VP at my previous employer quit and started shangby.com, a live shopping platform for pearls, silk and china around shanghai sitting in your living room. I think they failed. But you should check out their live shopping experience, pretty interesting.

To note: branded goods, standard stuff - remote shopping or exchanges would work. Essentially one is safe when you have a fair idea what is going to be in your package. Else it is a strict no for online buying and more for remote buying.
I sure wish there was a NH filter that would enable me to /ignore any TechCrunch sourced articles…
THANK you. Fluff pieces like this in big media make me sick.
Thank you for that very thorough critique. I have internally summarized it as "do not post comments after a night of heavy drinking." I trust this is in keeping with the spirit and overall theme of your follow-up.
So monads are essentially decorators with method chaining?
Re: (3):

* There are at least 20 products in the regulatory compliance (GRC) category, and more in the system scanning category.

* What's more, IT security teams resist buying from tiny companies, because they need to integrate their purchases into their processes and need to know that they're going to get long-term support.

* Most GRC products are sold via direct sales teams (pinning their price to over 50k/sale), which makes it hard to compete without a direct salesperson. Security is a category where low price connotes low quality.

* The sales cycle on new security products is very long --- 2-4 months, with high engagement through the process.

I wouldn't do (3) unless I had a really good idea about how to do it in a new way; that idea should be better than "good looking UI", because as soon as customers express a preference for good UI, all your competitors will drop 20k on a designer to get the merit badge.
See also the <a href="http://www.losanjealous.com/nfc/">Nietzsche Family Circus</a>.
We do have them, but a lot of people either don't notice them or would prefer to buy from a person. We also sell lesson packages, redeem special discount vouchers, do will-call, and answer questions.

However, I do wonder sometimes if the offsite windows are economical.
That's a wreck in Ethopia where the hijacker grabbed the controls at the last moment before ditching and crashed the plane.
3100 Keypad Ways Problem
3100, 3100 keypad buttons problem, 3100 keypad jumpers, 3100 keypad problem, 3100 keypad tracks, 3100 keypad ways, Nokia
You're not using it to replace a container ADT. You're using it for a low-overhead fast membership test. When things only store integer keys, usually that implies that you have a fast integer-keyed store for the rest of the information. Most trie implementations work the same way.
Interesting thoughts. I still think you can do both. Even passionate early adopters prefer not to see the same annoyances over and over.
Maybe it's time for a new monitor/glasses? Contrast is fine for me on several machines. Couldn't hurt though to make some more separation, although I'm not a huge fan of true black text.
This seems, to some extent, like a self-fulfilling prophecy. Part of the reason that VCs need a 10x return is that they block a 3x return. Clearly if every investment was a 3x return in a fund lasting 10 years, they'd be incredibly successful.

Mathematically speaking, a good VC should aim to get the most value out of every individual startup. To pass on a 3x return, if it consigned the startup to failure, because they need a 10x return is idiotic. Either the VC was a moron, or he thought the company could do better. He didn't block it because he needed 10x, he blocked it because he thought his expected value was higher than 3x by doing so.
The menus are cool but for practical use this kind of reference information is better presented using pre-ajax techniques such as a single page of html (or possibly a frameset) with the appropriate hyperlinking. The way it is now you can't use the browser's text search.

You should also add a NOSCRIPT tag with the appropriate message. All I got when I visited your site was a big empty window since I keep JavaScript disabled by default.
A Review of the Best Robots of 2008
The invisible-hand of the market selects the good strategies, Matt. If your strategy worked, it would be used by the VC's that did not fail.

To pass on a 3x return, if it consigned the startup to failure, because they need a 10x return is idiotic.

Paasing on a 3x return does not consign a startup to any given thing. However, it does allow a startup to continue to have a potential to provide a 10x return. Cashing out at 3x ruins that potential.
I had the same thought, especially after reading this part:

The management team was eager to sell because much bigger players were moving into their space and they had concluded that it would be much harder to win new contracts in the future. They also believed that because the big players were getting excited about their space, they would probably get the best valuation now.

I know VCs talk about the 3 buckets (big winners, getting investment back, belly-up) but it seems crazy they'd turn this down that just happened to fall somewhere in between. It's possible (probable!) that we don't have all the information available to them at the time. Maybe they foresaw some opportunity for it turning into a big winner.
Up-modded for the multiple THGTTG references :)
Is there a way to show an indented list? I can't find a markup guide for posting.
http://garfieldisdead.ytmnd.com/
really really awesome. Thoughts:

* allow us to link to exact references

* when you click a link (eg "title") - make it scroll the page so the entire next menu is on screen.

* enlarge the buttons that can be clicked, add a rollover color.

* change the tags " " blank dropdown to "all" - also when selection "all" it should reset the menus

* I think it'd be handy to somehow a "go to top" button on the page somewhere - scroll to "var" then try look up "a" faff :)

* also clicking the "Elements" box at the top should reset menu

* can you make the example box wider? (and more of them, they're awesome!)
Steve Wozniak on Steve Jobs' Health
I typically like to link to the source - but macblogz is intollerably slow right now.
Well, the article makes it pretty clear that at least the founders thought things were going to get worse, not better, due to the situation in that market at the time, unless they got bought out. Assuming this was an accurate assessment, I fail to follow your reasoning. And I suspect Matt made the same assumption. (and why not? the article is all we have to go on, and was written by an investor who has seen both sides of the story)

Just because there is a simple strategy or "rule" doesn't mean there aren't cases where it isn't optimal.
I worked and left Microsoft in the past two years.

For some background -- I was always the 'linux guy' in school/college, trying my best to use non-MS alternatives, just out of purse spite for the 'big corporation’ I guess.

Anyway, I got a sweet offer straight out of college while I was rejected by Google (might have something to do with me having low GPA).

I worked at Microsoft for about 18 months. For me, the work environment, compensation and benefits were simply amazing.

The main reason I left was to pursue goals of doing independent software development which worked really well for me when I was in college. I found that work more satisfying and I wanted to do more of that.
It varies according to whether the plane is climbing, cruising or descending. From flying gliders, I'd guess about 50/50 during cruise. The sounds occupy different parts of the spectrum - wind noise is pretty white, but more in the higher part of the spectrum. Engine noise is a very deep, black-ish noise. You can hear the difference between a jet in climb and approach - the former makes a much louder, deeper noise. The latter sounds just like a skydiver, incidentally - if you stay at a quiet drop zone, you'll often wonder if there's a jet somewhere high up in the sky.
#4 keep thinking of ideas

I'd love to see #2 as a way to open up more choices, but I can't imagine ever using it. Just the shipping charges alone would keep me away.

#1, aren't there plenty of tools that do this already? Or at least they have been built already using Cacti and Ganglia in concert with other tools (Nagios comes to mind).

#3 Maybe. You can compete with very large companies if you find the right viable niche that they aren't interested in.
Sorry to hear about your friend.

I've personally decided that my skull and its contents are worth protecting, and worth protecting well, and feel naked riding without a good and properly-fitted helmet.
Apple Shows Us DRM's True Colors
It's (just) one of the usages of monads, but it's not what monads 'are'.
You're right, there probably should, but we just liked the octocat. It's friendly, it's dripping, it's an abomination against nature.

Just so we don't seem like we're spamming the board, I'll add:
* We're VERY interested in "buffs" and levels. Girl scout badges sometimes have little gold doohickeys that attach to a main badge with a chain. We think that would be cool. Also, we think that meaningful border-colors would be awesome. So far, we're thinking of black-bordered DEmerit badges: "Destroyed non-backed-up data." God, I've earned that one.

Your suggestions are absolutely welcomed. Twitter us at @nerdmeritbadges. Right now, we're working on the Regular Expressions merit badge.

Oh, and the best place for a sash? Your laptop lid, naturally! :)
I may have misstepped using the word pulp as it surely would be conflated with the genre. I was using it in a more general purpose way. I will (try) to refrain from that in the future.

Let me find another example which can't be confused with Shakespeare. The Beatles wrote music to be enjoyed by the masses, popular music if you will in much the same way Vanilla Ice did. I do assign one more value over the other simply for longevity of the it's presence in and impact on western culture. I will let you guess which one. There's a good reason I can assume which you will guess.

I hardly fault pulp (I tried) for aiming at culture. I am simply rating its aim and potency. What is PHP influencing? How are PHP developers going to advance programming? In 50 years will we be using it? Will there be 30 newer programming langauages that picked up the choice bits from PHP?

It probably doesn't matter and definitely not for programmers today but in conversations evaluating the success or failure of languages these topics will be prime.
Pulp is a genre. One of the characteristics of the genre is that it is written to sell (rather than eg. to achieve litterary recognition or to explore the limits of language or whatever). But just because something is popular does not make it pulp.
Based on what you said in that first paragraph, I predict that in five years the average ski resort will have less than half as many employees as it does today. People may tend to prefer to deal with in-person people, but this competes against the value provided by automation and tele-help (e.g. questions can be routed to centralized, inexpensive call-centers).
There is cost in overhead, too. Beyond getting the drive:

- Connecting it to the internet so you can access it from anywhere
- Setting up iTunes to stream properly
- Setting up a mechanism that caches recent/popular files locally
- Develop an iPhone app to access the drive
Very nice. I can finally add Hackaday back to my RSS Reader.

I've occasionally thought about making a feed summarizer that determines the relative popularity of each item in a feed and only passes along those that pass a certain threshold, but never got around to actually doing it.

Incidentally, this seems to reject feed:// URLs.
3 shortcomings of Twitter
Actually, potatoes aren't as bad as people make them out to be. Some of the starches in potatoes are very similar to fiber, and they do contain quite a few vitamins and minerals (the article doesn't mention B6, thiamin, riboflavin, folate, niacin, magnesium, phosphorus, iron, or zinc that potatoes have). The important thing is to leave the skin on and not fry them.

Sweet potatoes are known to help stabilize blood sugar levels.
man, now my site is really worthless: http://www.millionzimbabwedollarhomepage.com

instead of all this nonsense, they should just release a $1 Zillion dollar note and then they won't have to change it all the time.
the founders thought things were going to get worse, not better

This is speculation about the future. The market has tested its value, and the value must have been found to be poor, otherwise exit decisions would be based upon it. In other words, what the market tends to weed out is micro-management. If a consistent strategy of blocking 3x exits -- -- rather than an inconsistent micro-management strategy involving speculating on the value of speculation -- works, then it works.

The critical question remains:

Why are there no successful VC's that follow your and Matt's "founders can reliably predict the future" strategy?
There are a limited subset of the jQuery core functions which function much like a monoid (though not strictly a monad), but the lack of strictness means that you can escape the "monadic" container at any time. Utility functions, global assignments, etc., further compound the issue.

That being said, presenting monadic designs in this fashion could well help understand the basics, which is to be applauded.
If you're on a low-carb diet, potatoes are verbotten, but for most people, a nice baked potato eaten with skin, and a very small amount of fat, is quite healthy. http://nutrition.about.com/od/askyournutritionist/f/potatoes...
"Error establishing a database connection" is not much of a robot.
Funny, I've heard of that before, but the correlation didn't strike me until I reread it. I remember it from when it was mentioned in the book "The Tipping Point".
A beautiful quote:

"Just as natural selection’s constructive capacity did not prevent mass extinctions, one of which, 251 million years ago, eradicated over 96 per cent of marine species, so the market’s ability to build order cannot prevent crashes"

Then again, should it?
msn cache: http://cc.msnscache.com/cache.aspx?q=%22http+singularityhub+...
Why are there no successful VC's that follow your and Matt's "founders can reliably predict the future" strategy?

Because you're assuming that I'm saying that all 3x valuation situations are the same. Obviously the founders (especially first-timers) will usually be much keener to exit at 3x than risk crashing and burning, because there's more on the line for them personally than for the VCs. And it's understandable that VCs (need to) protect against that, as it probably happens a lot.

However, the author (an investor himself) deemed this case sufficiently noteworthy to write about it. The impression I got wasn't that this was as clear cut a case as the usual "hold out until 10x valuation". But I suppose it comes down to the fact that we know very little about this specific case.
Startup Interview: Café Gadgets – Online shopping store for gadgets
According to news reports about him, Chesley Sullenberger is an excellent pilot. Yesterday's Times article about him (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/17/nyregion/17pilot.html) says that he won the Outstanding Cadet in Airmanship award when he was at the Air Force Academy.
> Local resources are idle most of the time. I wonder if that's economically sustainable in the long run.

Economic sustainability is a function of cost and benefits, not utilization.
My post got a bit out of hand so I submitted a new topic: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=439515

It's somewhat related to keyboard layouts and efficiency...
You're fighting a straw man. I never said things weren't worthy of thought, or that there is shame in thinking about really stupid things. I said that I disliked the attention it was receiving on Hacker News. To take it to one extreme, while I'd never tell somebody that writing fanfiction was bad, I wouldn't nominate it for a Pulitzer. I wouldn't give the writer awards. I recall reading something wherein a fanfic writer was complaining that the lack of published fanfiction novels was "censorship" on behalf of publishers. Similarly, is it censorship for my to say I don't want awful, nonintellectual papers on Hacker News? No.

The problem with your statement (I won't call it awful) is that the flip side of intellectualism is that there are standards to be had. It means that while I can't deny people thought, I can choose to rebut the things that they say, which I attempted to do. I didn't just say "Garfield, shit, censor." I said, "I dislike this, because it makes it look like analysis is merely bullshitting about really simple things."

This article isn't thought-provoking. It doesn't teach anything unless you've never seen these comics before. Even now, I doubt anybody gets anything out of the article - all they get, they get from the comics. The article is fluff. By criticizing it, I wasn't denying high schoolers the right to critique! Far from it: I was saying that while high schoolers may not be smart or discerning in the crap they write, Hacker News is, and I dislike that so many people are voting up a crap story. There's no intelligent discussion coming up. The big talk is about whether or not Garfield Minus Garfield ripped off other things (which it did). People aren't discussion the fine art of comic craft, or anything interesting comics-related. This story's taking up a slot it shouldn't, and it's absolutely one of the worse Hacker News stories I've seen. It ticks me off because it's indicative of the community.

And for that matter, it ticks me off that you think it's right to bend and twist what I said. You make me out to be an intellectual Nazi. "Send me a box of matches." All the suggestions of censorship. I mean, come on. You've been here longer than I have, and still you see it necessary to respond so childishly?

It annoys me that this is what this site's becoming. And my original point was, calling this intellectualism is insulting the real intellectuals. It's like calling XKCD a physics teacher.
Don't forget the strip Arbuckle, which used the same idea a long time ago. And the first G-G strips weren't originals, they were plucked from the Internet.

Kind of worrisome that G-G is what passes for genius online nowadays. It's clever, it's humorous, but it's a one-off joke that got old really fast. No?
That sounds too much like slashdot. I do not want to see "RTFA" enter the HN lexicon.
is captcha really that big of an issue?

i have a fix
You might want to check out http://scottmeetsfamilycircus.tumblr.com/ in that case. Quite funny.
I think you're right about focusing on brands - it makes the benefit quite apparent for potential customers - but I'd like to avoid targeting a brand directly as it invites legal hassles.

Your second suggestion is spot on - I'd pitch it as an ínternational buying service' much like very wealthy people have. You could even tie in beta testing with Éxclusive' invites, etc.
Almost all of the objections to #2 also apply to on-line auctions. EBay is a relevant existence proof.
I'd enjoy all of them in different ways.

1 scratches a personal itch of mine.

2 I enjoy because it involves (traditional) creative industries.

3 I'd enjoy because I know that 'enterprise' software is so bad it's almost fraudulent, specifically in this area, and I'd enjoy eating these guys lunch.
Upvoted for having a crossword puzzle.
What about a kernel hacker badge? For getting a patch accepted into an open source operating system kernel. One step up from the OSS badge.
And I'd never have bet on doing a sexual crossword in my life...
HP TX2Z Laptop Reviews
The parenthetical indication of source domain after every submission to HN works pretty well for me. Some sources I ignore regularly, and others (TechCrunch is one) I ignore selectively.
The joy of the hack
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=414298
Not sure how my little resource site got noticed, 'cause it is about a year out of date, and was not promoted at all, but cool! Thanks for listing guys! -E
Google is very flat by reputation, but that is not an unequivocal good. If your manager is also managing 50 other people, to the extent that you would benefit from management you are probably not getting those benefits.
"You will fail in a boring and project specific way"

Corollary: and then you will blame it on something else

I mean, who really quits their job because of the copayments on their health insurance?