skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
The "first cars" you've listed are (from experience, in some cases) expensive to maintain; the M's will also suck anywhere it gets cold, as will (heh) the Ferrari.
Which story, in addition to being apocryphal, was also debunked.
My dad drives a 4 year old Audi A6 and my friend drives an 8 year old A4; the A6 has had more maintenance issues than my (finicky) M3, but the A4 probably gets less than $200 of love a year and still runs fine.

If you drop $50k on a car, you don't get to complain how hard your startup is to fund. On the other hand, everything I hear says that now is a good time to buy silly cars, given the market.
A 99 'M3 (I own 1 now, and have owned 3) is not a late-model M3, and it hasn't held its value well.
I've always heard that quote as "Good artists copy; great artists steal."

Any idea which is correct?
Evolution of (video) game controllers
Yes and no. There's a lot of moderation (by human beings) is now going on, nonetheless we got our stuff on digg frontpage thrice without any "extraterrestrial" help, just submitted links. Last time it happened in Nov/2008.

Yet, it did not help much to grow visitors, in all the cases it just resulted in a spike and fall flat after that. Digg is totally useless as a promo service, same is true about Reddit, Stumbleupon & Co.
The App Store and Android are 1 and 2? Seriously?

That list needs to be rearranged and those two items need to be removed.
Metafilter has a $5 upfront signup fee and diligent moderators. I'm convinced that's ultimately the best way to keep out most trolling and other assorted malarkey.
I've never had trouble getting health insurance as an individual/family -- you just have to be willing/able to pay the premiums. It sometimes helps to incorporate as a small business, but that's easy to do and doesn't cost much.

If you can afford COBRA, you can usually afford to pay directly for a plan.

(BTW, I'm not suggesting that healthcare is screwed up in a number of dimensions, I just think the premise of the article is flawed).
Web Services Extend High-Performance Computing Grid Capabilities
Great post. One thing I found interesting about this piece was the blatant revisionism on display in the second paragraph of the article:

"less than two years ago, conventional wisdom dictated that the housing bubble would be painful but that global economic growth would remain stable."

Forgive me, Mr. Writer, but my recollection is that less than two years ago, few people in the mainstream were acknowledging that a housing bubble even existed. Hell, even a year ago, half of the mainstream press was essentially reprinting press releases from hacks like Lawrence Yun (widely quoted "expert" for the National Association of Realtors), who never saw a bad housing statistic that he couldn't spin for the positive. Those who were calling a bubble a bubble early on (as early as 2003) were labeled jealous curmudgeons who missed out on the easy-money party.

I keep trying to come up with a lesson from this, but the only thing I can think of is that our society doesn't reward dissent. No matter how insane and extreme the conventional wisdom, it doesn't pay to be the guy who vocalizes against the herd. If you're a contrary thinker, it's best to just keep your head down, your mouth shut, and do whatever you were going to do anyway.
At the heart of each joke is a grain of truth.
7 years ago I assisted a group of Shanghai government officials in a multi-city tour of America. They only wanted to eat Chinese food morning, noon, and night. I have found Chinese folks (especially anyone over the age of 40) to be highly inflexible in their dietary habits. In every city we visited, although most of those cities had famous China towns, we simply could not satisfy them. The food was never even half acceptable to them.

The trip was good from a business perspective. But they all came back to Shanghai sorely disappointed in America's ability to feed them well ;).

As to General Tso? I have rarely found a Chinese that has any clue who this famous person in history is. I'll take Jenny at her word that he's an important historical artifact.
Why two-seaters ? For $50k you can buy a fscking big SUV :-). I myself am a happy owner of 3-doors Mitsubishi Pajero (Montero) 3.2 turbo diesel with climat, GPS navigation, TV/DVD and rear-veiw camera. It fits everything in it pretty well, including my huge fridge I once tranported to repair-store :). And it's very moderate on fuel consumption as any other diesel made in japan.
Expensive to maintain -- agreed except on the Vette. And you'd want winter tires in a cold place. But for all of them, the difference is less than depreciation on a new $50k car. Ferrari is different of course, but $25k of depreciation (new car for 3 years) may cover even that.

The point is not that GT3 is a frugal choice, but that buying a new car is an extravagance, and for the same cost you could be driving a vastly better car.
It's times like this when I am glad that I can read comments here instead of being stuck with the comments on the actual blog.
I have a 1995 Tacoma at 135Kmi and a 2003 Corolla at 85Kmi. I'd buy either one again, but the damn things won't break. Recommended heartily.
For San Francisco people - noisebridge recently opened a few feet from 16th st. BART station.

https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/NoiseBridge
I (along with many of you I'm sure) have been listening to Peter Schiff's podcast since his predictions from 2004-2006 have materialized, and his outlook on the future of the US economy is very bleak. http://europac.net

Duh, no one knows exactly what will happen or how, but I do believe it is foolish to write off these 'bleak' predictions from analysts who have proven their credibility and can back up their predictions with logic and reason.

Plus, this article is self-defeating is it not? If we are supposed to ignore these 'bleak' predictions because of how innacurate predictions have been in the past, shouldn't we ignore the optimistic predictions like this one, too?

EDIT: I don't endorse everything Schiff says.
VWs are a good option for those with a more limited budget. They are fun to drive, hold their value, and some of the higher-end models (e.g., the Passat) offer similar drive trains and handling for much less. I've got a 4motion Passat wagon (4motion is exactly the same AWD system as Quattro) which cost several thousand dollars less than a (smaller cargo volume) A4 Avant. It's not quite as nicely appointed, but has all of the luxuries that one really needs. The VW Rabbit (and GTI, if you have a larger budget) is also a great vehicle. The GTI is far superior to the A3 (hatchback version of the A4) in everything but price.
You can start by not needlessly spelling cancer with a k.

My best however, to you and your family.
Sirius + StarLightXM + Airport Express + Airfoil = Streaming satellite radio anywhere
You don't want a rear-wheel drive car in a place where the roads get icey.
And russia now uses the space pen - as it has advantages over pencil (namely - the led doesn't break and float around)
You should get one of these http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/car/8426/ when you decide.
Hey J.P. here! I work in keegy.com, and help with the organization of PalermoValley.com

Glad to see that some of the folks (Llopatin, Diego) already gave you a nice welcome :-)

In just one HN thread you managed to meet some of the top Argentinean IT players :-P

I'll love to share a glass of wine with you and the rest of the guys that just commented, so drop me a line: JuanPablo(at)Keegy.com
"my recollection is that less than two years ago, nobody in the mainstream was acknowledging that a housing bubble even existed."

My recollection is different, because I was reading Business Week more than three years ago. The housing bubble has looked like a bubble for a long time to people who considered how much faster house prices increased than wages.

Michael Lewis's collection of articles, Panic,

http://www.amazon.com/Panic-Story-Modern-Financial-Insanity/...

includes articles that foresaw the housing crash more than two years ago.
I was very impressed with the MPS3 (Mazdaspeed in the US). I was expecting it to be like the SP23 line - sporty looking, but the same internals. Blew me away. It is FWD though - not sure if that's going to be a concern.

Surprised no-one has mentioned the BMW 135i Haven't driven one, but everyone I've talked to has been pretty impressed.
These bastards deserve nothing. Their software looks like garbage. It also seems really foolish to include Microsoft in this suit, as they are the most likely to have a competing patent. The Cygnus interface looks a lot like the Powerpoint slide sorter.
Damn, that is insane. I lucked out and made $110k my first year out of college and rewarded myself with an almost brand-new Camry that had a couple of scratches for $12k. Now I'm kicking myself after finding out about the Chevy Prizm through this thread.

I can't believe someone who was making $70k (~45k after taxes/social-security) would trade in more than a year of 8 hour days 5 days a week in some shithole development job just to be able to commute in style (though perhaps he just wants to engage in parking-lot dick waving for some girl at the office; fine, I can believe it).
How the Wall Street Bailout Plan Will Work
Are deliveries still getting through despite the weather or something? I've heard this a couple of times and it confuses me. It seems like I'd be more likely to use Amazon if the weather was beautiful because I'd rather not spend those days in the mall, since they're open 24 hours, but the whole thing hinges on fedex driving where you can't, which is weird to me.

Which is not to say that I question the premise of your comment, it's just that it seems like a bit of a nonsequitor in that while they correlate, it's not clear to me that there is a causal relationship at play, but then again, I've done no research, but as people have pointed out elsewhere, they are cheaper, and it seems that they are probably succeeding for the same reason Wal-Mart is.
I think the question skirted the bounds of HN - but I think you're just ok. For those complaining - this is likely (I haven't seen the stats) predominately male audience full of people who generally like gadgets/electronics/engineering/technology. There's going to be a lot of car-guy overlap into that.

I'm currently driving a Toyota Celica (and definately enjoy it) - although since toyota withdrew them a couple of years ago - your only choice is 2nd hand now.

And for my recommendations:
135i
Mazdaspeed 3
I've informally (but seriously) studied natural health for several years, and the natural health community is really quite opposed to most of mainstream medicines approaches to cancer treatment.

Depending on where you're located, you may be able to find naturopathic doctors in your community.

One of the best author's I've encountered in this space is Dr. Samuel Epstein -- http://www.preventcancer.com/about/epstein.htm who has a huge list of credentials/publications, and goes to great lengths to show why the structure of the cancer industry, including things like the American Cancer Society, at least in the US, isn't well motivated or well suited to promoting the most effective approaches.

The natural health community's approach to wellness is fairly intrusive on the normal American lifestyle. Unless you live in a city with a really good selection of restaurants, it often means cooking all your own food and drastically changing your diet. I personally avoid all of: sugar/substitutes, hydrogenated oils, MSG/yeast extract, homogonized milk, refined grains, artificial colors/sweeteners, anything where oils are heated above their smoke point. I mainly eat raw fresh produce, whole grains, and organic meat. I've come to enjoy cooking -- it's a useful skill, both pragmatically and socially. :)

Some things frequently mentioned as having anti cancer properties are maca root, and tumeric, especially when combined with black pepper. (all raw.) Some of the very high end multivitamin supplements that you find in health stores include these. Frequent sunlight without sunscreen is important too.

In general, the natural health community's perspectives on many things are often counter to mainstream medicine's positions. Be prepared to evaluate some core beliefs in undertaking this research. :)
Kind of nuts seeing that graph after just reading "Dear Hacker News, which 50k car should I buy" =P
I have been to Koh Samui, Lamai beach, many times. There is good "campus-like" wi-fi you can subscribe to easily. You should be able to rent a house south or north of the main beach area for a good price these days.
Yes, there were a few people who were calling the bubble early. However, their view wasn't in the mainstream two years ago. It certainly wasn't "conventional wisdom".

I have edited my post to replace the word "nobody" with "few". Mea culpa.
e46 m3
Have you thought about using twitter? I know it may sound hackneyed, but with a legitimate cause and a project they can rally around, social media types can really help get the ball rolling.
2003 acura 3.2tl type-s w/ nav
probably all those people running coworking facilities. There are people who pay, and there are those who just show up and mooch. But somehow they're able to stay alive. In SF, there's the Hat factory & Citizen Space. I've only been to Citizen Space as a non-paying resident, but it amazes me how those places manage to survive in general.
$299 Aspire One foreshadows Race to the Bottom for Netbook Pricing
Internet sites could be given 'cinema-style age ratings', UK Culture Secretary says
19th Premier League Result
This dude has consistently nailed it:

http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/beat_the_press
I really like cars but I'd find it hard to justify spending more than $35k on a new one unless it was a Porsche Carrera 4 or something like that.
My winter ride is an Xterra which I love; the summer car is a 350Z which may have the same luggage problem you ran into :-)

I have seriously considered selling the Z and buying a Maxima -- need more room. I've owned three absolutely trouble free Nissans and I'd happily buy a used one that had been well cared for.
I would tell your dad to stop being such a bitch. He needs multiple rounds of multi-agent chemotherapy, concurrent with radiotherapy. In addition, he should switch to a raw food diet and exercise as much as possible in order to boost his immune system - this will decrease the likelihood of metastasis.

Or, he could buy witchdoctor therapies from KancerKure.org. His choice.

Not to be harsh - I have given you the best advice given my background (one semester of Cancer class).
I'm not too impressed by this. You don't program C++ like you would C. Use vectors. Use RAII instead of new and delete. Use the STL.

Of course, most people that 'know' C++ learned it in college, which tends to be a lousy place to learn anything technical. They think of C++ as C with objects. In fact it's a language with all the power and nearly all the expressiveness of modern scripting languages, but tends to run everything a hundred times faster.

C++ is a multi-paradigm language. Its "objects," which tend to get more coverage than anything else during college courses, are actually the most uninteresting and least useful part of the language. Generic programming, on the other hand, is some pretty amazing stuff.
The gloom and doom shouldn't depress you unless you derive all your happiness from wealth. Believe it or not, there were happy people living through the Great Deppression, both rich and poor prior.
You don't want front-wheel drive, either. I drove a Taurus in New Hampshire for a couple of years, and it was downright unstable on snow. Geting out of a driveway turned into an adventure too often. A four-wheel drive car is wonderful in a place with some semblance of real winters. Subaru and Audi make great non-truck style cars with four-wheel drive.
How long do your crawl the Ycombinator once? Do you actually crawl every page on YC?
Rather than theorize about "trucks" or "high center of gravity" you should look at actual vehicles and their test results.

RDX, MDX and Legacy have the same safety ratings. Stopping distance difference is within 6%. Acuras are a lot closer to a performance sedan than to an F150 in terms of handling.
135i not mentioned because OP wants more room.. not something the 135i can offer. But it is a spectacular car. You know it has 6 piston brakes? Not even the new M3 has 6-piston brakes. And with an ECU tweak it can do 380hp.
My advice is to buy a used Volvo. I'm currently driving a 20 year old Volvo wagon and have to say there are not many cars that could be in such good shape for the age and miles, and same is true for my last Volvo.
With a car that old I'm spending more on maintenance than I would like but I reckon any Volvo up to 10 years old with a good service history is probably going to be the best deal around.
Great article. Read it some time ago too and decided to do just that - so right now I'm at Bangkok :). Thanks for reminding me on that link.
Short talk and demo with Emotiv EEG for consumers featuring Marvin Minsky
The fundementals of our role within the global economy are anything but sound. Our economy is fueled by consumerism and the service industry. When shit goes down, which do you think has a chance of surviving when countries like China decide to stop subsidizing our spending (by holding down their currencies) in order to enjoy the fruits of their own labor themselves? Forthcoming political unrest in some of these countries are significant factors that lie outside of our own control.

(I'm writing this on my iPhone so I apologize for not ellaborating with a more coherent response, but just think about some of these things. No one knows what will happen, but things could easily get pretty 'bleak'. I hope not. I hope we can figure out ways to prolong any mess from occuring.)
Dean Baker on "The Sin in Doing Good Deeds"
There are a lot of high-powered investment analysts who had proven their credibility with a string of years of success, guided, I'm sure, by logical and well-reasoned investments.

That's just not how it works pal. Everyone is bound to be wrong in the long run. Sorry.
Patent law inherently represents everything that is fucked up about how this country works when it comes to innovative rights and creative control. The ability to patent ANYTHING should have been killed decades ago.
This grand advertising machine is mainly responsible for free access to quality websites. Just a thought.
You can't measure credibility through success in the stock market, and that's not what I was implying.

Do you take any advice? By your logic it doesn't look like it. I wouldn't want you running our country right now, sorry.
A Google for [ "property bubble" site:news.bbc.co.uk ] will show many references to the British property bubble in the 2002-2007 timeframe.

However, your last paragraph is totally on the money.
This was a record year: up 2% over last year, which itself was a record year. It is just that "2%" is a smaller increase than ever before. That is actually surprising; last year everyone had huge, fake, bubble-wealth; this year they don't. And they still spent more.
Again, this isn't patent law messing up - it's overworked USPTO examiners not finding the prior art. Furthermore, Google, Microsoft, Apple et al could have challenged the validity of the patent application when it was public, before it was awarded.
I scrape only the front page once every ~4hrs (minimum)

Nearlyfreespeech.net doesn't have cron yet, so I'm using onlinecronjobs.com. If you want to scrape it on demand just go to http://hnweekly.watdahel.com/index/scrape
I keep saying it - things are fine. Real value has not been wiped out

actually $50 trillion in paper wealth was wiped out in the last twelve months alone.

The fundamentals of the economy are fine.

no they are not. the comptroller of the US govt estimates our own unrealized debt at potentially $70 trillion. outstanding derivatives total over one quadrillion USD. that is not a typo. global total debt is over one half of one quadrillion USD. the house of cards of global debt financing is only beginning to unwind.

take back the production

short of world war three, that manufacturing base is gone.
Just curious, with current imaging techniques, can computers even distinguish inhibitory neurons from excitatory neurons?
Do you realize that by suggesting to "keep your savings up" you are predicting stable purchasing power of US dollar?

It's entirely possible for someone to play it safe, stick to cash savings and then get burned if/when dollar is devalued by 75% simialr to Argentina 2001, Russia 1998 or Iceland 2008.
You pay in after-tax dollars as an individual, right?
In a previous job I worked, mostly remotely, with some engineers in China. On one occasion they came to the United States for a visit, and some local colleagues and I suggested to them that we order some Chinese food.

"We don't recognize anything on the menu," they told me.

They ended up ordering the restaurant's "house special", which turned out to be tiny bits of grilled chicken atop shredded lettuce and rice. A while later, I noticed they had only eaten about half of their lunch.

"This is too much for us," they said. "We can't eat it all!"

"It's too much for us, too," I assured them. "But we eat it all anyway."
Depending upon what stage the cancer is in and the prognosis for additional treatments, your father may have made a rational decision. In the end it's his decision.

Instead of creating a new forum I would encourage you to consult and contribute to existing forums devoted to nasopharyngeal cancer--and other available information sources--with a focus on helping your father. This has to be your immediate priority.

You might also consult http://www.clinicaltrials.gov it lists 115 new studies that are recruiting patients.
china will be as doomed as the rest. what do they hold? US debt. its toilet paper. their economy is coupled to US consumption. they are developing a domestic market but to do so will take another twenty+ years....the tidal wave of debt is crashing now
How would they go about spending 7 trillion? Serious question.

If money is given to citizens they will likely hoard it rather than spend. Instead Chinese government used to give the money to American citizens because those never really save anything and it comes all back to stimulate the Chinese economy. Now this meachanism is broken. The only option left is government spending - "the new deal for China". Indeed that's what they are planning to do, but I don't think the new deal can replace the employment opportunities lost.
$200/barrel is indeed wrong, its a lowball number. i expect $500 or more. where do you think all those trillions the Fed is printing up now will end up? what happened the last time the Fed printed up trillions in 2002? commodity bubbles! excess liquidity ALWAYS creates inflation, and inflation always chases up the value of finite stores of value, namely commodities. nothing goes straight up or straight down...the thirty year commodities ultrabubble is just getting started, and has experienced its first (of many) breakdowns towards an eventual higher price once this pocket of deflation is monetized. zimbabwe here we come!
I've seen maybe half a dozen articles that say "everyone agrees that this might be the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression" (so presumably there are far, far more than that, because I don't spend a lot of time reading that sort of article).

I haven't yet seen one that acknowledges the possibility that it might be worse than the Great Depression.

That seems to me to be obviously wrong. If what we're in is likely to be worse than everthing else since the 1930s, can it really be so clear that it's not actually worse than the G.D. too? It seems like the readily available journalistic cliches just don't allow for that possibility...