skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
It's called an incubator. There is definitely a market for it; lots of companies would like incubator space. Good luck turning a profit though, especially assuming you are in an area with brutal real estate costs.
For an article about happiness these are not very uplifting comments! I am going to try a couple of the students projects myself.. anyone else?
Ask HN: Hackers Netbook?
Does anyone have a favorite? Why?
I do that myself. I buy a domain name on a whim (alcohol sometimes present...), and then later the project never materializes.

I've let a few expire, and a few I've "given" to charity by hosting something for them.

Question: how do you handle multiple people wanting it?

* First come first serve

* "Bid" => money to charities

* Fight to the death
Taser, Personal protection
The Absolute Most Useful Thing I've Done At My Job So Far
Get the current gen MacBook (MB466LL/A) if you can swing the price. The extra $200 over your budget is well worth it.

It's $1229.99 (1179.99 after $50 rebate) at Amazon.
Xkcd - I'm An Idiot (or the KISS principle)
Excellent point but I think it may still be useful to see a list of profitable sites that don't charge. Perhaps some common patterns can be found and we'd all learn from it.

That said: I mostly agree with you and I think we'll take a look at the list and realize that they're all extremely lucky and/or happened to be at the right place at the right time.
One of the mars probes crashed due to an error converting from Imperial to Metric.

http://www.cnn.com/TECH/space/9909/30/mars.metric.02/
I bet they were looking for extensibility.

I wonder if they ever thought of providing two interfaces.

1. The first is the common case.

Document doc = new DocumentBuilder().parse("test.xml");

2. The second is more cumbersome but provides options.

Document doc = DocumentBuilderFactory.newInstance(opts).newDocumentBuilder(opts2).parse("test.xml");
VMWare fusion is great. I received a copy from a recruiter, which came in handy when I took a course that required Quartus (Windows or Linux). I had no issue interfacing with the CPLDs we were using (I used XP).
Depending on timelines - don't forget that snow-leopard is coming out soon... Not sure if it's worth the extra couple of months waiting?
my advisor is charged a significant ~50% overhead on my stipend and a significant percentage overhead on all equipment (e.g. 100k laser systems). This is paid out of NSF grants and it is supposed to cover costs of building maintenance and utilities.
You can do 4 GB of RAM in the last gen. That's what I've got here. That said, a huge percentage of my friends that have had last gen models (including myself) have had a number of problems with the hardware, which wasn't true with the older PPC models.

The new ones are still too new to know if they'll be similarly problematic. I was disappointed with the new model not supporting firewire or more than 4 GB of RAM though, so I probably won't upgrade any time soon.
No matter how I look at it, it seems that every new startup "secretly" believes that somehow they will make money where others have not when using the same model (advertising). At the same time, online advertising is still young and maybe some of these startups will do well in the near future.
Not a bad idea at all, finding one that is affordable is critical. Also, I don't even own a mac other than my powermac G4 and I still check (macrumors is it?) that one site that has a guesstimate on when new models are due to come out. That way if I buy a new one, I don't get screwed.
Doesn't Mint charge its customers?
I'm always amazed by people who can go to school for ~16 years, work for five years, and then spend the rest of their lives to "managing investments", sitting on various boards, and collecting tanks.

sigh wish I could do that...
I'm pretty sure they stopped qualifying as a startup at least 5 years ago.
To echo what a lot of people are saying: It sounds like you really want a mac, so I'd say go ahead and swallow the cost and just get it.

Personal testimonial: I own a G4 Powerbook that I bought about 5 years ago, and a MacBook Pro that I acquired about three years ago. Both work really well, and their longevity has been more than worth the price tag. My Powerbook still runs Halo flawlessly on medium settings. Any time I've had a problem with either, I've gone to an apple store and they've fixed any and all problems I've had.
Yes, Mint does charge its customers, but their customers aren't who you think they are.

They automatically suggest [= scales with no marginal effort] financial products which they claim are good fits for the users (who are not the customers). For example, they might say "You're paying $X in interest a month with your current credit card Y. If you were to switch to credit card Z, you would only be paying $Q, saving you $P a month."

Credit card Z then pays them an affiliate commission for the lead. The issuer of credit card Z is the actual customer.
Sadly, this is just another Dvorak troll with no useful information. I would have loved (seriously, that is why I clicked) to read a detailed overview of what VisiCalc did, what it couldn't do, screenshots, features, limitations, quirks, effects on the industry, etc. Instead we get a "man, spreadsheets suck" essay, if one can apply that word.
Will Financial Services companies turn to open source?
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I just picked up a Sager NP7350 a few weeks ago, in part because Sager resellers like PC Torque or Xotic PC will sell you a laptop without a Windows license (and I'm going to use it entirely with Linux).

$1750 including 13" screen with LED backlight, and one of those Intel solid-state disks. Believe the hype, they are ridiculously fast. The machine is dead silent when the unfortunately loud fan isn't running.

Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid supported most hardware out of the box, aside from a nasty bug in the wifi support that will be solved in a kernel update, hopefully soon. No support for the fingerprint scanner and possibly the webcam, I haven't tried it.

Sager is essentially rebranding machines made by a Taiwanese company called Clevo, and cater mostly to highly technical users. Most tech support won't ask you to open up the back panel and reset the CMOS battery yourself before RMAing (true story), and I like that.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/forumdisplay.php?f=1017 is a big hub of information.

One thing I would watch out for, Intel VT is not yet enabled in the mainline BIOS. Clevo just recently enabled it, and Sager has yet to get their rebranded BIOS in stock yet. However, one BIOS flash will fix this.
> A caveat is that patents can sometimes remain secret for a number of years before being disclosed by the USPTO.

That's true only if "a number of years" is intended to mean "one year". With the exception of national security stuff, US patents are now published one year after application. That change happened several years ago.

> Besides that, patents are enforced at least back to their initial filing dates (not their issuing dates),

Since US Patents' term (if issued) also starts with their filing date, why is that objectionable? (Yes, if a US application takes 5 years to go from filing to issue, filing to issue time counts as part of the 20 year term.)
That was humor :)

The rest is funnier. Give it a try.
Send me an email at david927 at gmail dot com.
a well reviewed textbook online

Have any recommendations? Everything I see sets of bullshit-alarms of one sort or another...
http://www.tuaw.com/2008/01/15/accessories-for-macbook-air-u...

Possibly compatible, who knows.
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The Parallel Revolution Has Started: Are You Part of the Solution or Part of...
You're missing my point, very defensive developer. I'm not saying he's trying to find good developers. I'm saying PHP/MySQL might be a good set of magic words to find cheap developers. Actually, "might" is the wrong word there.
Yes! We (LOLapps) fall into this category. Lots of traffic + ads = $$$
Nah. Netbooks don't have enough CPU cycles or pixels to keep up.

Granted, I haven't owned one, but I do more than browse the internet. Netbooks typically can't provide enough horsepower to run all of the programs I like to run at the same time.
This depends on how urgent it is, but if you have some time and really want to save some cash, keep checking the refurbished Apple store a couple times a day for a week or two. The listings change regularly, but the good deals can be gone within hours.

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac
If you're dealing with a system outage affecting hundreds or thousands of users, it's probably impossible to say anything else but generics ("inconvenience", "issues", etc.).

Just say what went wrong, how you're dealing with it now and in the future, and what you're doing to make it up to everyone that was (potentially) affected.

If someone writes back with a specific incident caused by the outage, you can address it directly then.
Yeah, all he needs to do is sell just one to each person in China!

By the way, "All will be revealed upon enquiry!"... someone should "enquire" to find out what it is...
Free Darkroom, plus cross-platform.
http://www.codealchemists.com/jdarkroom/
The one I have personal experience with is this:

http://www.amazon.com/Human-Computer-Interaction-3rd-Alan-Di...

Which is not particularly well reviewed, but it is adequate, and you can apparently get the 2nd edition for $1.27 + shipping. It's major problem, as with most textbooks, is that's it's written in dry, overly qualified prose. But it should still be skimmable.

Honestly, these things are jam-packed with good, reliable information. I thought I knew a bunch after years of doing Donald Norman-esque analyses, but I still got a lot out of it. Just remember that it's less important to remember the theory than to have been exposed to it. It's enough just to have the concepts rattling around in your brain somewhere.
actually the new HP line is really really popular (HP has surpassed dell as the #1 PC maker) -- and the quality isn't bad at all. you can get the latest nvidia geforce 9800go with a 17 inch screen, dvd burner. if you get the really popular models, hackintosh is a snap (there's one hackintosh thing that makes it super easy, I dont remember if its iatkos or something else...) -- and linux is also.

keep in mind that on ANY computer, you can install windows and dual boot ubuntu with the WUBI installer, which is a REAL linux installation that uses your windows partition to run (so it doesnt use the extention filesystem). that solves the "hassle free linux" problem.

I personally have been using a Dell Precision M70 Workstation with a Quadro 1400go gfx (1920x1200 res) for the past 3 and a half years, which has been awesome. Like you, my system got old, and I customized a cyberpower laptop for 1 grand. I got geforce 8600gt (yes last gen I know but that was months ago), core 2 duo (the fastest I could afford at the time), minimum ram (I bought another 4gb later to install), dvd burner, and all that jazz.

Love it.
Optus prepares for Android G1
Hey hey hey, you spend $2k on a REALLY nice PC, and install Ubuntu via wubi for ZERO driver problems (granted you need to install windows beforehand but that doesn't look troublesome since you play eve online).

Who said macbook was the only way to go over 1k? ever read zed shaw's horror story? yeah.
I'd suggest thirty-foot high letters of fire

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Places_in_The_Hitchhiker's_Guid...
It sucks, sorry. :(
"...same thing we do every night. Try to take over the world!" Loved that show.
I do that too. Sounds like worth doing, for sure.
Nah, I know for a fact that works.
Customer Trust is Hard Won, Easily Lost
I can wait. If I do, I'll def. have the money for a macbook/macbook pro outright.
I dind't read all ur long post, but the only rational choice is a mac book pro 15" do bootcamp if you want windows or need to flip over to test something. all doors are open with the macbook, why even consider anything else? you wouldnt run mac os on a HP.

look, mac is about the hardware. it's superior hardware. run whatever OS you want on top of it, the hardware is the best in the industry, there just isn't any comparison.
"- No experience with an advertising startup - Old school software background - "

You would have said the same thing about Eric Schmidt in 2001.
Rock, paper, scissors.

Seriously though, the bid (to charity) idea makes sense, but I foresee original owners getting greedy when they see what they could've gotten. Then they may pull it and "sell" it instead. You'd have to somehow set it up so they "give" a middle man the site, and then the middle man transfers it. Interesting idea though, I'm in. I've got about 15 domains I don't need.
It's for Mac only right? Anyone know of something similar for Windows?
google is able to make their services free just because they are raking up billions of dollars through adsense...and it's through adsense the startups around are trying to break even! what an irony!
"I love my MBP 17" with 1900x resolution ... I had a 15" but couldn't develop on it. "

One of the things that pushed towards the Dell 830 and away from the MBP was that I was used to the 1920x1200 rez but liked getting that on a 15" screen. (That and a preference for a clit mouse.)

Bought it with the FreeDOS option, tossed on Kubuntu, and happily hacking away.
its tricky when users and customers can migrate back and forth between the roles (e.g., linkedin's freemium model)
I have an eeepc, but you couldn't do any serious amount of work on it. I'm not so concerned about the horsepower (if your software is so bloated it doesn't run at speed on an eeepc, which is way faster than my main development machine was only 4-5 years ago, you're doing it wrong.)

The main problem is the screen real estate and keyboard size. I just can't type at speed on the eee, I keep hitting all the wrong keys and it gets very frustrating. It's fine for the odd email, but no way could I crank out the code on it. The screen is also too small. My main laptop has a nice widescreen where I typically have 2/3rds IDE and 1/3rd documentation/consoles. Not possible on 7-8" screens.
This is fantastic. I am going to go meditate right now.
The Recession Will Drive Sales Farmers to Lead Hunters Again
If you have been in Sales with the same company since several years you have become more an account manager for your regular customers providing you with a steady income. Due to the recession, the outlook for 2009 is grim.
Casino profile details luxurious lifestyle of former Fry's executive
Free fonts
Font-Styles.com where you can see cool font styles and free downloadable fonts. Preview free fonts and then download for Mac or PC.
Maybe you could be paid in either cash or equity? Or a combination of both?

I know I'd love to get out of the house and work in a place like this.
Socialite is designed with a modular structure, making it possible to support other sites. It would be feasible to write a Hacker News module to exist alongside reddit support. If you'd be interested in hacking on it, I'd be pleased to work with you.

-C
Probably to make it easier for programmers who end lines with them as a knee jerk reaction. After a stint of java or javascript, I find myself doing it too.
Very good idea, I'd sooner give away a domain name to someone who was going to use it than let some blasted domain parking business get hold of it.

On the other hand, I have no idea how you'd stop domain parkers from actually using the service to get domains for free. With freecycle itself, it's probably quite hard to hide that you're abusing it to make cash on ebay or something, but I don't know how you'd prevent that with non-physical goods.
Heh, actually, I'm partial to Python and Javascript, myself.

My id is a bit misleading in that sense.
I am impressed that you keep reviving yourself from electrocution.

Anyway, I love my XPS m1330, and I picked up the 3GB RAM/250GB HDD/dedicated graphics version for $500 just over a year ago. If you get it on sale, it's excellent value.
While it would be great to have access to the lawyer, accountant, graphic designer etc. on call, the overhead cost of your incubator just went up $250k per year. There's a reason most incubators are subsidized (so they can bleed money all day long), or by successful people with really deep pockets.

As mentioned above, at the end of the day you spent a fortune and you're left with some stock certificates that are pretty much toilet paper. Certificates are worthless without liquidity events.

Just so you're clear, I think shared offices are an awesome idea, but you gotta get paid too, lights don't pay for themselves.
Yes. This (Penryn MacBook Pro) is absolutely the best developer computer available.

Amazon had the 2.5 GHz model (the one Apple was selling for $2500 a few months ago) for $1500, but it looks like that deal ended with December. Maybe it will come back.

You can still get the 2.4 GHz model (orig $2000) for $1400 from MacMall and maybe other places.
I've actually been working on training myself to use one space, and it's a hard habit to change. I was taught to use two spaces by typing teachers, but was recently given a bit of a lesson from a friend who studies typography and designs his own fonts that the correct form is to use a single space.

Two spaces emerged as a convention for reasons mentioned in other posts here, and typing teachers in particular seem to have jumped on that bandwagon. However, the effect on rendered type is that it leaves unpleasant gaps in paragraphs in most popular programs (Word, etc.), and so the correct form according to typography professionals is apparently one space (or slightly more, but then that becomes a rendering issue, not one for the typist to decide). Since I have a huge appreciation for typography (albeit, not enough knowledge of the art itself), I feel it's worth correcting my habit.
Are Your Sales & Marketing Teams Like Hamsters?
Are your sales amp; marketing team like hamsters? Here is how building strong role based b2b marketing list can help you drive home better results.
I've seriously had these 50/50 suggestions coming to me by e-mail, and about Facebook applications no less.
I'm using two HP/Compaq Presarios, both with Ubuntu v8.10 and Mac4Lin. I was going to buy a Mac, but considering the price differential the Compaq's are a better deal. Ubuntu upgrades also come at the right price.
Great response and I agree. I just recently wrote a blog post about how to make money in 2009 with your web startup/app... my advice? Charge people money.. plain and simple

http://www.fortworthstartups.com/2009/01/05/how-to-make-mone...
I've always done one space. Why do more work?
I strongly suggest looking on Craigslist. I got my last two laptops there and they were both way above what I could have gotten new at that price point.
You can lay for that in the gang of four book which recommended things like "abstract factory" - the odd thing was, I thought most of those authors were ex smalltalkers?
Good example, but more often than not, there is no clear answer to the 'brain' part of the UI, because people don't think the same way, especially for non-standard UI elements. In Ryan's blog post itself, the following design choices can be questioned:

1. The balloon image just below the post title (and to the left of the number of comments) is not clickable. Should it be clickable? If so, should it lead to the comments section? Should it lead to the post-new-comment form?

2. To the right of the comment count, in the 'Latest by John Doe' part, again, no links. Even though 'John Doe' is a link in the original comment if he has a web page. If we linkify it, should both 'Latest' and 'John Doe' be links?

I am, of course, picking hairs like Ryan, but that's precisely the point - when you start picking hairs, there is more than one way to see it.
But isn't it the characteristic of efficient markets when prices approach real value and the characteristic of a bubble if you can realize huge arbitrage gains by investing a bit in your education to get a top job? So the bubble the author is bemoaning is already gone and he is just longigng for it to reappear because he used to belong to the winners.

But then I am from the old world where education is a basic right and never understood why people would frame it as a purely economic question...
that sucks, I saw a special about him on CNBC and he seemed like a nice guy.

+ he was an actual gear head and knew how to work on his stuff + drove it...instead of being one of those collectors who goes to an auction and buys a completed project that someone else poured thousands of hours into
Great idea. I know I've definitely got some domains that I'm not planning on using anymore.
Are you saying you also want to give away pseudoactuality.com and questionablyvalid.com? (Not that I'm going to want them, just clarifying.)
wasn't there an article a few days ago that said that its hard won...but its much harder to lose it?
The key there is the shared past. You both had a lot of time to sniff each other out.
If ping pong balls don't do it for you, coffee may lead to hallucinations...
by making it a pain in the ass...no domain parker is going to spend 1 minute requesting each domain.

So just throw up a questionnaire that asks them who they are, what the domain is going to be used for, etc
Can Carol Bartz pull Yahoo out of its funk?
Forcing a UI redraw from JavaScript
Yes, I deal with that stuff every day. I've built what's probably one of the more complete implementations of the HL7 V2 messaging standard.
Wouldn't they just pay some Chinese sweat shop a dollar a throw or something? If they're saving money on registration fees, I don't see how making it a little awkward will deter them.
In the gig economy, everyone is a hustler
Actually probably not past the day you buy it, at least if you can put a dollar figure on the time you spend dealing with hackintosh-specific issues.
Well it'd be up to the user then. They'll get to see the questionnaire of each person who wants the domain...So if the user wants to give his domain to Landing Pages, INC instead of Blind Hungry Crippled Orphans Charity that's up to them.

+ You can let the user make their own questionnaire ...so they can make their questions be as relevant as they want. i.e. lets say you own something like newyorkjetsftw.com, you'd ask some questions that only a true Jets fan would know or someone who'd want to spend the 10 minutes hunting down the information
ebay?
I've seen it done before.
It was an amazing collection, and he had a team of people who really understood those machines. My favorite was a Russian radar system with giant water-cooled vacuum tubes that emitted radar pulses at some absurdly high power. That or the mobile bridge.
Yeah, you'd need a serious karma system like eBay or stackoverflow. Problem is it makes it hard for first-time users.
I'm the opposite. I've used one space all my life but my AP English teacher wants us to use 2 spaces.

Go figure...
In countries like India, most of the people still have the basic model of the mobiles which doesn't have GPRS or WiFi.
For them txting is the easiest and fastest way.
I really like the flexibility of the PTO system. As long as you leave yourself a buffer of days in case you get sick it works great.
In Paris, a Critic Criticized