skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
Researchers say mankind is to blame for The Little Ice Age, too
>All of their "flagship" products have a terrible reputation right now

You're ignoring Office, SQL Server, Exchange, .NET, and SharePoint, among others. Your list of 3 "flagship" products is quite selective.
Scribd Had A Blowout Year, And So Did the Web Document
Are simple 'net services considered startups? If so, mine launched today.
I also think google will have some hard time in 2009
Man! I got all excited. This is the same post I found years ago ;)
http://www.dawdle.com dropped from a 6 to a 5. Not happy, since all our inbound links are from October 2008-onwards. They're not that old.
Beating the PS3 doesn't say much though.

If only a better manufacturer entered the hardcore console market. Apple? Google? Anyone? Having a choice of 2 just sucks.
Maybe the brain has ruts.
World's oldest profession, too, feels crisis
With $1.0 billion you could invest $10K into 100,000 startups or $100K in 10,000 startups. Surely you could change the world, leave a legacy, and simultaneously generate a profit on that kind of investment, no?

Why doesn't somebody do this?
Ask HN: eye care.. how long do you wear your contacts, etc
Hey HN, just got back from the eye doctor. I've got perfect peripheral vision and pressure, but the doctor is taking extra precautions to make sure the slightly enlarged nerves in my eyes are not a precursor to glaucoma. He compared pics of my eyes from two years ago and it has grown a tad bit. I told him I'm usually on the computer and wear my contacts up to 18 hours per day.

I'm too young for glaucoma (22), but there are always exceptions. So the point of this post is to see how you guys deal with being on the computer 24/7.

How do long do you keep your contacts/glasses on, how do you deal with eye stress et cetera. My vision isn't terribly bad, -1.5, but I should probably take better care/precautions considering my career revolves around working on computers.
The idea is terrible. But to play along... wouldn't it be cheaper and easier if they just recorded the miles driven during inspection each year and taxed you on that?
Are you friends with David Steinberg?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0240900/
it's a copyright violation to use OS X on any non-Apple manufactured computer, so this isn't a great idea. nice cheap computer though, and it was interesting to read the steps the guy had to go through. I don't think HN advocates copyright violations, do they?
Well, it's not a legal precident or anything, but at least the party bringing the suit decided it would be best to not try it before a court.
Private firm may track all email and calls in UK
I don't know if you're soliciting advice or not; but a privacy policy probably wouldn't be a terrible idea.
And mankind is to blame for traffic. I hate getting stuck in traffic!
The potential problem with the current tax on fuel to fund road maintenance in that a driver's fair share of road maintenance may not correspond to the amount of fuel she consumes. This can be unfair. For example, Bill Gates, who can afford to drive a $100,000 Tesla electric car, may drive a around a lot and wear out the road much more than a poor person who commutes in an old, cheap gas guzzler. Yet because road maintenance is allocated by the gas tax, Bill Gates, whose electric car consumes no gas, would pay nothing for road maintenance, while the poor person with the gas guzzler would pay too much.
Flagged for bogus title. I know it's the same as the title of the linked article, but hypotheticals and predictions ought to be clearly marked as such.
Nope, still at zero for me... really need to work on that ;)
Or, you know, log out.
His health isn't anyone's business. However, investors have a right to be concerned if a company is too dependent on one person. (This is true even if the person is perfectly healthy; there's always the "hit by a bus" scenario.)

Company executives should be responsible for showing their investors that all critical duties can be handled by at least 2 different people.
Does Xcode run on this? Does the iPhone emulator work? Can you do iPhone development with this setup?
Hmm... in 1997 I was writing software for a living and cursing having to deal with Internet Explorer issues.
Woops, my bad. Fixed. I just assumed the title was so preposterous that folks would get the joke. It wasn't meant to mislead. Thx for the note.
Used genuine Macs are available if you want cheap (or cheaper, at least).
You don't have any interest at all as to what would cause an entire product line to fail essentially simultaneously?
But the odometer doesn't track where you drove, say, to California, Washington or Idaho. Why should I pay for Oregon's roads when I drove 2,000 miles in another state?
i wonder how many of those visits resulted in a comment on the referring page complaining about scribd and asking for the actual pdf...
I created an account here just to comment on this. I am not aware of the whole story here, specifically if he did the game development on his own time (i.e. while not at work). However, I employ several software developers for the development and maintenance of a billing system which we deploy using a SaaS model. I would be very upset, and would in fact view it as fraudulent activity, if one of those developers built a competing product, especially while they were at work and I was paying them to do work for me. And, even if the developer did all the work at home, I would still have IP concerns. How would I know he was not ripping off a bunch of ideas or code from work?

I know that hackers are a fiercely independent lot, as I am myself, which is why I started my own company. However, we have to be careful that we don’t go too far with the “stick it to the man” attitude. Put your self in the employer’s shoes. What if you started a company, put in a bunch of money and time, only to find out that one of the people you hired was developing a product very similar to yours on the side. How would you feel about that?
Yes, with all sorts of things.

The same can be said of workplace safety regulations, minimum wage laws, child labor, drug safety, environmental laws, and on and on.
Hmm, would pulled-up-by-their-own-bootstraps, Mac-loving, RoR-open-sourcing, 37signals really want to sell to Microsoft?

To be fair, that's why the prediction is for a $300 buy even though 37signals' revenue is 'only' ~ $8million.
"The Mob Wars game goes to Maestri, but SGN will have rights to create similar style games itself. SGN also received an undisclosed financial settlement."

He won? Then why is he paying a financial settlement to SGN?
This is so absurd. The government installing GPS tracking devices on every citizen's car? Reducing the incentive to drive an efficient car?

No thanks.
I should have said consumer products. I should have also included Internet Explorer on my list.
Advice is always welcome :). We're working on a privacy police as I type this.
Thanks, I've unflagged the story now. :-)

The title was preposterous, and when I saw it I was very skeptical -- but I've seen stranger stories which turned out to be true, so I wasn't completely sure.
10 Technology Predictions From The Startup Whisperer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Good_Privacy
see Phil Zimmerman's Why I wrote PGP article
This is sad news. Just when you thought flash was dead for all but video, it's now being used to show text.
I don't really envision a hacker stealing his employer's code. If he's going to build a competing product it's likely because he's up with the code at his day job.

As far as I can gather, the most that SGN has against Maestri is the possibility that "his success with Mob Wars was his insight into the company’s infrastructure and intelligence." I see no mention of it being developed on company time.

So he learned from his experiences, was bored, and made something on his own. If he was my employee then I'd say "good for you (and you can leave since you obviously don't need this job)."
Public Data Sets on Amazon Web Services
I realize that someone, somewhere, is running webtv and would love a service like Scribd. That person is not able to use it because it's a flash and javascript nightmare.

The rest of us, who have regular PCs with the modern software that scribd requires, have document readers for all of the various file formats. The very worst of these readers is faster and more pleasant to use than the best scribd rendering.

Lastly, as usual, TechCrunch measures success in terms of users and investor capital. Ask yourself: Does it really make sense to measure the success of a free hosting service in terms of unique users?
The New Pop Music Revolution - Pitching Products
New visualization techniques yield star formation insights
MIT Regular Action Deadline Extended to January 3
Well, let me know if you ever raise a bunch of capital and start a successful company. I will come work for you, gain a bunch of "experience", and re-create your company on the side. When I get the "atta boy" from you, I will move on.
The claim that "mankind" was responsible for the Little Age ignores the fact that one particular man, George Bush, was responsible. Now you know.
both my parents are entrepreneurs; my father is in the import/export business and my mother opened and ran a fine watch and jewelry for a few years.
If you buy a copy of OS X it's probably not copyright violation.

At worst it is breach of contract (possibly attracting actual damages of as little as $0, as you bought the software), but that depends on your legal jurisdiction.

Not that I advocate installing OS X at all. It seems churlish to insist on using something the creator doesn't want you too when there are free alternatives that benefit from a large user base.
Tech Predictions from Seattle's Startup Whisperer
Doesn't this ring false to any reasonable reader?

When the "white man" came to North America, at least by all accounts I've read, it was nearly entirely virgin forest (the old "a squirrel could travel from the Mississippi to the Atlantic without touching ground" chestnut). So where was this mass deforestation?
How Deal Sites/Forums Got Started, Their Business Models and Why They Are Successful
Simple. This allows the state to charge BOTH gas taxes and GPS mileage taxes.

No one is proposing the gas tax be eliminated, or promising that it won't be raised in the future. Asking for the 'defect' in the current system is like asking the question of why we need sales taxes, property taxes, inheritance taxes, gas taxes, tariffs, telecom taxes, corporate taxes, sin taxes, license fees, alternative minimum taxes, and capital gains taxes when we already have personal income taxes.

The fact is that we never need another tax; we already have plenty enough. But the more places that you insert the taxman, the more total revenue you can extract without people noticing and raising a fuss (cf. VAT).

"L'art de l'imposition consiste à plumer l'oie pour obtenir le plus possible de plumes avec le moins possible de cris."

("The art of taxation consists in so plucking the goose as to obtain the largest amount of feathers with the least possible amount of hissing.")

Jean-Baptiste Colbert
Although an old article, it's still probably the best reference for Google's Feed APIs out there. I considered using the APIs some time ago for a project in which I need to pull tens of thousands of feeds, but Google's TOS limit it's use to not-for-profit projects. I ended up using the SimplePie PHP library, and I'm very happy with it.
Actually, the strongest criticism that I've heard about the Monty Hall problem is that the game show didn't actually work like that.

I've tried explaining the problem to both people who've seen the show and those who haven't. My experience is that if you've seen the show you'll never accept the question, let alone the answer. Meanwhile, those who never watched the show can be convinced.
Happy New Year HN! Let 2009 be successful for everyone here.
Official Fix for the Zune 30 Fail (aka "Time Heals All Wounds")
Both of them?!
Behind Vermont's unlikely ploy to attract online businesses
I think you underestimate the amount of goofing off that happens in the world, whether at work, or traveling for work.
Why I Don't Work In Information Security
blame "web 2.0". the VC firms swallowed it lock stock and barrel. where's the "beef" in ning, facebook, scribd, yelp, or slide? and these are the ones that have viable products! lets not even get into the hundreds of small plays in the valley alone whose company name is known only to the VC and the employees. none of them are bringing home the bacon...lets face it, the mid-size independent website gig is not profitable and will not last. in ten years, 99% of this content will come out of google because they are the ones who can make money on it.

it will be amusing watching this fade to white over the minutes as the johnny-come-latelys on HN try to reconcile their revulsion with the lurking suspicion that the train has indeed left the station and the 90s are not coming back
The Product Guy's Great in '08
I like empirical papers describing experiences of applying ideas in real situations, in which they tend to expose unsuccessful approaches they have tried before finding one that works. It is not only useful but also enjoyable to read.

I'd like to see more of those papers, especially from industry. But to write such kind of paper, you usually have to devote to a successful project all the way through, which usually takes a few years or more, and then you can write just one paper. Not very efficient way to produce publications, and you might have to write a paper in your spare time, for your employer wants you to write code instead....
What is the size of the subsidy of a 99 cent McDonald's hamburger?
You are misinformed. See this fantastic diagram: http://i33.tinypic.com/2yor21y.png
By that logic, why bother doing anything? All you get is a pat on the head and a few slips of paper that happen to be assigned arbitrary values of worth by a body outside of your control.
A placebo works even when you know it's a placebo.

Otherwise it would be a drug that works even when you don't take it...
More recent scholarship suggests the Americas, before the arrival of european plagues, were far more densely populated, and the environment more shaped by native agriculture, than you might expect. A good summary of the ideas is Charles C. Mann's article "1491":

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200203/mann

One estimate is that in the first 130 years of contact, 95% of a prior American population of over 100 million died.

Those 130 years happen to be about the first half of the 'little ice age', and the natives often used large-scale burns to clear and prepare land. So while IBD mocks the idea that the depopulation of the Americas caused the little ice age, it's at least plausible.
The stuff you need to know to hack osx on your own isn't something you can read on a forum randomly. Buying -> hacking isn't an option for many people.
Why is stuff like is on Hacker News?

I come here to get away from the pointless arguments about stuff like global warming.
because you could never assess the viability of that many startups. people would end up coming up to you with made-up business plans just to soak you for 100k. frankly you would be better off just seeding college scholarships.
and that's supposed to be where we hit an infinite loop and crash.

Since the other person is a figment of your imagination their claim to be conscious is no different - a figment of your imagination. There's no need to crash, it's all your subjective reality.

(or, really, my subjective reality).
I think it does, IF your goal is acquisition. Adobe must be their prime target in my opinion, google wouldn't (too much js focus).
thank you for writing my comment for me. it is worth noting that the US dollar bubble (which is the generalized case since the death of treasury notes implies the death of the dollar) contains many huge independent ponzi schemes, the most significant is the $50 trillion social security pyramid scheme. lets not forget the $20 trillion medicare pyramid scheme, or the $15 trillion or so due by 2015 for iraq, afghanistan, and the bailouts. and how much of the global derivative pyramid of ONE QUADRILLION is valued in US dollar?

there is no way these schemes can be unwound gracefully. when the US dollar goes, THE US GOES. no US dollar == no USA.

USA gone by 2025 at the latest.
Man, you guys are harsh. Even if it isn't a service you yourself would use, why bash a service useful for others? The first goal of many Y Combinator startups is to make something people want, and Scribd clearly fits the bill if millions of people are using it.
Has there ever really been more than 2? It's a tremendously tough market to succeed in. It's seriously impressive that Microsoft has been able to get into 2nd place for 2 straight generations now, and this time third place isn't even close to them.

Not to mention, what more could you want in a console? Both seem to be able to provide games all the horsepower they need to do whatever developers can dream up at this point. They're tremendously extensible platforms. The Xbox 360 even uses USB ports, meaning you can develop whatever hardware you want for it with ease, as Rock Band and company have.

I would say that the state of console gaming now has less to do with them than the game developers.
The end result isn't an alternative with a 1% gain over cookies. The end result is a system that writes & reads to all possible data stores available simultaneously. The gain from that is a site where an "always logged in" can be potentially much, much longer.

There are still a large number of people who have terrible problems managing web site logins. Reducing the barriers to using your site for returning visitors is definitely a goal with a lot of value and clear ROI.
The new units are a lot more reliable.
I don't have any deep knowledge of the case, but I think it's worth noting that he apparently built the thing while working at the precursor to SGN, FreeWebs, which has a different business entirely.

It's possible he built it while they were in the process of retooling/spinning off as a gaming company (which would be pretty questionable), but if he built the app in question beforehand, it seems ethical to me (legal or not.)
This is perhaps where the truth is. As long as we can tax a little bit from many places people won't complain as if we tax a lot from one place.

The problem with the GPS tax is that the Government knows where you are all the time. I don't feel that big brother will only do good with that information.

The problem with gas tax: They want the revenue but as electric cars become a more and more realized potential, you can't tax solar power!

However in the great state of... well anywhere mid-west... EVERYONE needs to use the road. Either it is by car or by bus. How the hell do you get around in that state? You can't walk to work if work is 15 miles away! So make a larger income tax that will tax everyone for roads. Because EVERYONE needs them, so it does not matter who pays, everyone will, and more fuel efficient cars = less gas tax. Then again the post I am replying to states correctly, tax too much people complain, tax too little people complain to lack of services. Taxation is an art form and apparently we don't have good artists at the moment.
Small surprises while grading programming languages exams
Yes, millions of people are using it for reading pirated ebooks.
12pm day before New Years
My zune resets in the dark
The loading bar
Logo screen is freezing
My music is sleeping
I am numb

Press up and back it isn't working
It just lies there on the couch
Microsoft went down to Charlotte
They're not home to fix this bug
And we wait
For the next bugfix
I'm feeling more alone
Than I ever have before

It's a brick and I'm drowning slowly
My zune's a ghost and I'm headed nowhere
It's a brick and I'm drowning slowly

I call tech support at 12:30
I pace around phone lines are busy
Then I plug it in nothing happens
This shitty gift that I got
Can't you see
It's not me you're dying for
Now I'm feeling more alone
Than I ever have before

It's a brick and I'm drowning slowly
My zune's a ghost and I'm headed nowhere
It's a brick and I'm drowning slowly

As Hours went by
It showed that it was not fine
They told me, "son, it's time to tell the truth"

It broke down, and I broke down
Cause I was tired of waiting
Let the power drain
For the moment we're alone
Yeah Its alone
I'm alone
Now I know it

It's a brick and I'm drowning slowly
My zunes a ghost and I'm headed nowhere
It's a brick and I'm drowning slowly

PS: huge apologies to Ben Folds for this irreverence.
Oh no... not... software piracy!

Also, stealing/not-stealing blah blah blah.
I don't have the exact numbers on hand, but the game I worked on saw a similar 10-20% increase in daily pageviews as an immediate result of making the site faster. I would optimize a few core pages or add more capacity and, like magic, traffic would jump the next day.
I still don't have my flying car... but Happy New Year!
As an employee, I assure you that we are fully allowed to criticize the company internally.
Microsoft's response is great:

Q: What fixes or patches are you putting in place to resolve this situation?
This situation should remedy itself over the next 24 hours as the time flips to January 1st.

Q: What's the timeline on a fix?
The issue Zune 30GB customers are experiencing today will self resolve as time changes to January 1.

Q: Why did this occur at precisely 12:01 a.m. on December 31, 2008?
There is a bug in the internal clock driver causing the 30GB device to improperly handle the last day of a leap year.

Q: What is Zune doing to fix this issue?
The issue should resolve itself.

http://gizmodo.com/5121822/official-fix-for-the-zune-30-fail
Does anyone here use grader.website.com on Hubspot? It perplexes me that my site receives a much higher grade then my competitors, yet their page rank is higher (we have more inbound links then they do).

Is Hubspot's grader reliable?
Tech predictions for 2009
Interesting. And it comes after I realized how slow Salesforce was (for my dev account at least).

What would be the things to work on to increase the performance?
The article mentions mostly the size of the files. I also understand that the lower the number of different files is, the better. What else should be taken into account on the front-end?
For example, if I were to use jQuery only for a couple of things, would it be better to have a bigger but simpler JS file? (as in: I rewrite what I need myself but can't match the file size)
I disagree.

ONE person decides to use scribd to show some text on techcrunch, and suddenly the whole readership of techcrunch are "users" of scribd? Measuring success in terms of pageviews in a passive widget isn't a good measure.
It was modded down because it has nothing to do with the statistical riddle, read the other comments and you'll see why it's 66%.
Bound and free variables: when I was taking a programming languages course, these concepts popped out at me as being incredibly important. But I had been programming for years without understanding that there was a distinction. Are they important for programming, or just for understanding how programming languages are implemented?

Regarding bound and free variables, I was reverse engineering Python's scoping semantics and discovered this little gem:

def a(x):
def b():
print x
x = 5

b()

a(3)

What do you expect? Prints 3, right? Nope. UnboundLocalError, because 'x' is referenced before it was assigned. It turns out that variable bindings in Python are all lifted to the enclosing 'scope' (usually a function block). So x is not a free variable in the 'print x' line... even though the interpreter claims it's not bound, either.

(This behavior is a royal pain to implement in an interpreter. You can't just recursively execute expressions; you have to scan the scope you're about to execute for free variables which are later bound in that scope.)