skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
> It is a perfectly rational phenomenon that history depends on generational cycles.

Then why isn't it taught in mainstream history courses?

> If generations are "arbitrary constructs" then I take it you do not think "boomer" means anything?

Not really, no. To begin with, you'll never find a full agreement on when that generation (or any other) begins and ends.

> this "all these cycle-meisters (a subset of woo-meisters or just plain frauds) always say that the crisis is near. Always. Their magical cycle theories never predict a distant crisis" is pure, unfounded name-calling.

Actually, it's a place where you could rebut me with solid evidence that disproves my statement, if you actually had such evidence.

Instead, how about this: What predictions did Strauss and Howe make that have actually come true?
The time that it takes to get back into the flow of whatever you were doing.

http://www.atlassian.com/time-wasting-at-work-infographic
You're interrupting whatever else you were doing, for a start. That'll throw your efficiency off.

Plus composing a reply is time-consuming in itself- you often need to look up something, check a document, etc. etc.
Cheers, we tried contacting TC twice but no luck. Hopefully this push could get their attention.
His post is mistaken. His account isn't banned. I banned it temporarily while waiting for a reply to my email, then unbanned it. (I often do this when I ask people to stop doing something, because I've found that some people keep resubmitting otherwise.) I don't remember exactly how much later that was, but usually it's less than a day; if it were longer I'd forget. If he'd replied to my email I would have unbanned him immediately.

I told him this when I came across that blog post a while ago, but he seems to prefer his more colorful version of the story.
You're being needlessly pedantic.

It's pretty obvious that by "service" he means a business where you are paid per hour you work: all freelancers, consultants, and all other businesses where the owner is a critical daily employee.

Yes, that's not a typical word for the distinction, but you know what he means.
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4451556
I know of someone who would steal bikes just to get back home from the bar. He was too cheap for a taxi. He had a huge stash of them in his basement because he didn't know what to do with them. So when he had parties at his house he started giving them to people so they could get home.
Exaggerating your connections to others to try and hustle favors and more connections is one thing, but photoshopping yourself into photos with celebrities is pretty damn creepy no matter how you look at it.
In my very limited experience, the biggest question is if you will be having outside investors. This usually means you will need a C-corporation. It seems like that won't be an issue here. An S-corporation (which is still a corporation - just a different tax status) is a way to structure yourself as a corporation without having double taxation - taxed on profit for your business, and taxed on the wages you pay yourself. I don't recommend a sole-proprietorship because they have limited protection as a corporation (it's like personally guaranteeing a loan). Also, you may have trouble with having it in two people's name.

The way I've learned about this is through various blogs, and Quora. Here is one of the first ones I began reading, that very clearly explains legal startup issues, and is very available in terms of time and discussing things on the phone.
http://walkercorporatelaw.com/startup-issues/choice-of-entit...

Good luck! It's not too hard to wade through this after reading for a couple of days.
Name one that says they were defrauded? And shouldn't they be suing over that? More innuendo not backed up by any proof in the article. Not even one quote from anonymous CEOs to be had.
Www.jordan7olympic-retro.org
Four Recruiting Lessons From Grandpa
> Do not vote.

Wonderful way to be lazy while pretending to take a moral stand: Claim they're all crooks, that you can't see any difference between them, and that you refuse to participate.

It's laziness mixed with condescension and moral outrage. Perfect!
Such a shock to hear this. I was lucky enough to have worked with John at TL. He was a generous and kind man, always happy to help a novice programmer advance his or her Python skills. He will be missed. My sincere condolences to his loved ones.
Patent: How Google May Trick Search Spammers
That's awesome - any chance you could pay it forward? My email is also in my profile. Thanks!
Remember reading it a while ago and half the front page was RoR circlejerk, seemed to have gotten much better lately.
Will HTML5 Change the Way Games are Made?
I'd like to cite the Nader Principle: Groups of people with similar ideas should look for ways to compromise instead of splitting their effort.

There has always been value in collecting very different people with similar goals in one place. Greater diversity of perspective, backgrounds and points of view. I'm always a little sad to see a group of people split over a minor dispute or philosophical difference. It's taking what could be a great combined effort and diluting it.
Just did the same myself. Had been mulling it over for a while, but this pushed me over the edge. Let's see how it goes
I’ll invite you, but you’ll have to put your email address in the “about” section of your HN profile first. (The address in the “email” section of your profile is not publicly viewable.) Or you can just write your email in a comment reply if you’d prefer.
Wow that looks pretty awesome. I'll bet it would be really nice with Jellybean on it. What are you using to make the touch screen work?
This happened to me all the time in my upper level math courses (linear algebra, calc III, but not real analysis). Most of the time problem lied on my end, as I did not immediately understand the elegance of the proofs I was reading. But in several textbooks I found faulty proofs disguised to look complete.
His point was that it is a sustainable business, which is not something that can be said of most Silicon Valley startups (in his opinion).
New Java 7 exploit can potentially affect Macs
Believe me, this comes up every time we talk about product. A better onboarding experience is coming, with better subreddit discovery.
Indeed you can distribute data to multiple independent RDBMS, but balancing when new nodes are added is probably a manual process (or a lot of custom code) that is likely to require downtime. To avoid downtime, your application would need to write to both chunks while it is balancing/migrating (and then delete the old data/chunks once it is migrated to a the RDBMS). Essentially, you would need to write what is already in MongoDB.

You would also have to write a parallel query engine.

I too am a fan of simple designs, but I think rolling your own sharding on top of a RDBMS would likely be a massive chunk of time.

There are really expensive commercial products working on horizontally scaling RDBMS... but personally, I prefer open source and document oriented databases :-)
Some of my friends follow, "no email checking" hour everyday at their work for focus. It's working really well for them and I'm thinking of giving it a shot too.
Amazon to offer eBooks to Rival eBook Stores
Put more straw on that roof.. it is not rocket science
Q&A with Airbnb’s mobile platform lead, Andrew Vilcsak
On windows, a fairly high success rate? This must be a joke. Try installing a graphics card without driver, you will see how well it is supported under windows. I consider that basic functionality. Same for wifi dongles, they usually need drivers to be installed in windows, while this is all taken care of at the kernel level in Linux.

In Linux you very rarely have to install any driver. True, some hardware remains unsupported, but the list of compatible hardware without any installation required is pretty long. On windows, you'll need to install stuff for most of new hardware you try to plug in, no matter what.
Absolutely amazing and a rare voice of reason in our industry. If only more companies would adopt this kind of mentality of building sustainable businesses.
>> Outsiders often have a valuable viewpoint on other groups, because they are not emotionally invested.\

I wasn't discounting outsider's opinions, I've traveled the world several times, America is great because we are all outsiders. I was addressing the nature of his comment which sounded to me like he was intending to represent all Europeans, rather than a European expressing his view.

Bush should have acted sooner to restrict the door Clinton opened which allowed many people to get loans who had not the finances nor shown the responsibility to own a home.

If common sense regulation should be required of big banks and "wall street"; then we should require it of ourselves as individuals.
I'd call it good enough, I was of the understanding that SQL database geo plugins were usually miserable. I'll add a mental exception for Postgres.
So thick client development with tools that can't or aren't setup for remote use — eg. coding an iOS app — is usually done on site?
Very interesting write up Harj. I too deleted my Gmail sometime back but my motivation was different: I want to build an app with which I could write to anyone on email but vice-versa was not true.

Well it kind of started that way and after a few months of agony (unable to connect smoothly) and joy (better concentration) I am now with something interesting that you should see: http://bubbleideas.com
Oracle’s latest Java version could be vulnerable to hackers: report
How to deconstruct a goal into manageable layers
If I were running Twitter.
Not related to the content of the post (which, it seems, is mostly a rehash of already-available data), but I must say, the comments over at zdnet must really be going downhill-- there are some truly horrific examples at the end of the article.
That's what I was thinking. I've seen this headline on a few sites in the last few days and the commenters all seem to be talking about Linux in the past tense. Apparently I didn't get the memo because my laptop with Ubuntu on it is still working fine and the projects that I make use of haven't missed a beat. That's some kind of "dead".
I think he/she accurately pointed out its flaws.
One thing I would really love in an email client is a strong separation between reading and writing email. During productive hours when I'm sitting at my desk, I would really like to be able to 1) open GMail, 2) read old email 3) Write new email.

I absolutely do not want the ability to read new email during that time. In fact, I would really like to set up GMail so email only arrives on a fixed schedule, say 2-4 times a day.
A $199 Surface? I Will Wear a Mullet
Thanks for changing this. You didn't have to, but it really helps, and I'm looking forward to really giving it the close read it deserves tomorrow.
You should stop doing stuff like this. I know managing this site is an enormous pain, but these personal hellbans are terrible for the community.
I'm relatively new to HN (<1year) and the one thing I notice on here is a HEAVY amount of cynicism. Perhaps the tech industry needs that to keep itself in check, but I feel like a lot of argumentative comments can sometimes be REALLY nasty.

I understand that in a competitive, fast paced and big money industry there will be massive egos, but I could sure do without some of the jerks
Who is Microsoft Hiring?
I switched to only using a basic cell phone (one that only does calls and texting) at the beginning of the year and have thoroughly enjoyed it.
Here is my system of not wasting too much time on e-mail: I only have one client application set up to access my various accounts - Zimbra Desktop, which I don't have any entries for in the OS menu, and I don't know any passwords myself as they are randomly generated and stored in KeyPassX.

Every day a cronjob starts up the client at 4pm, which starts minimized (thank you, KDE), proceeds to fetch new mail, apply various filters (e.g. CCs marked read and archived), and maximizes the window 2 minutes later.

Half an hour later another cronjob does a 'killall' on it - that way if I wasn't at my desk at 4, I wouldn't have to come back to be greeted by unanswered e-mails.

And, as the article says, there is always a mobile phone for anything truly urgent.
Have you tested how long it would take your redis instance to be usable again after it finishes replaying the commitlog (AOF)?
How to Ace Your Kickstarter Campaign
Not really. I've built an AK with a parts kit, a hammer, a flat, and a vice in a parking lot. There are myriad screw-built AKs out there where even the hammer for the rivets is dispensed with. [0]

If you want to dismiss AKs from consideration, making an AR15 lower out of flat chunks of aluminum and a drill press is easy enough; they aren't much for looks, but they are quite functional. [1]

This is setting aside completely home-built weapons; while unpleasant, a functioning STeN-type MG is no challenge to build from scrap.[2]

[0] http://www.ak-47.us/build/Matt_Screw_Build.php
[1] I'm searching the ar15.com archives for the pictures, will edit in soon
[2] http://www.thehomegunsmith.com/
There's a startup campus in SOMA. Bunk-bed dorm style, mostly devs + startupers, $35/night if they still have space (I think they're almost filled with the Disrupt coming up). I've heard good things, message me and I'll put you in touch with the organizer.
"Then why isn't it taught in mainstream history courses?"

Perhaps because mainstream history teachers don't know everything? Perhaps because knowledge grows?

"a place where you could rebut me"? What are you talking about? "woo-meisters or just plain frauds" IS name-calling, refute that.

"What predictions did Strauss and Howe make that have actually come true?"

Well, how about I just refer you to the Amazon page, since you OBVIOUSLY haven't read their book?

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0767900464?tag=thebur01-20&camp...
I want to see a blog post about someone who decides to stop reading blog posts about people who stop reading their email/twitter/facebook.
If she had only photoshopped herself into a picture with one person, I would have been more inclined to see it as malice. This is because it would have been more believable that she was trying to mislead people in power. With several different people I get the idea she was trying to mislead only gullible people. This is scandalous in a Hollywood sort of way. Some people think it's awful that Silicon Valley has gone this way, but I gave up worrying about Silicon Valley culture a long time ago. I'm not a fan of this type of behavior but neither do I appreciate a tabloid getting indignant about something that's so unsurprising.
Worked for me... Mountain Lion 10.8.1.

1) Opened TextEdit
2) Started a document
3) Closed document (Cmd-W)
4) Switched to Chrome
5) *poof* TextEdit disappeared
It doesn't. It's a fantasy held by those with large amounts of stock in companies with lots of spare cash lying around in their foreign subsidiaries.

The last corporate tax amnesty on repatriated earnings did absolutely nothing to benefit the economy; it actually resulted in a net loss to the U.S. economy b/c the corporations repatrited the money without paying taxes on the repatriated...and did not pay the income out as (taxable) dividends. Many corporations still have this cash lying around.
I totally agree there are a lot of big apps running on Sparc... but I think that it would be much cheaper to buy new x86 hardware for a all products/systems going forward (i.e., those written for MongoDB). Sun (errr... Oracle) also sells x86 Solaris servers (a platform MongoDB supports).

I would like to see ARM support :-)
Pretty sure I wanted an analog tuner/video VLB-card in the 90s. Couldn't afford one, but I imagine the people who bought them, did this stuff with them.
* Write date in journal first thing in the morning when you wake up and keep the journal open next to you while working. This reduces the friction of starting.

* Look back at it at the end of the day and see what you've done that day. This is your reward for using it. Alternatively you could have your own reward.

* If you forget to do it today, restart tomorrow without any fuss. Don't worry too much about the lost day, like I used to.

In the beginning I was pretty excited about it and it was real easy, but after couple months it got a little old. Eventually I got around to the point where if I don't write in the journal while working I feel uneasy.
What Americans Actually Do All Day Long
Dude!! 2013 is the year of the Linux desktop.
I am not convinced that this makes a useful point. "The problem is corruption" - sure. But adding monitors doesn't seem to address that issue; actually, adding bureaucrats and regulators (which India has in abundance) seems to exacerbate the problem by establishing petty fiefdoms. How many bribes do you have to pay to open a business?

Short of a massive cultural shift (the kind that only happens when millions of people get murdered), Indian society is what it is. Think of this as a game theory problem - you can't change the players, you can only change the rules of the game, and even that with only limited authority. What approach will accomplish the desired goals?

As an outsider, I get the feeling that an awful lot of Indian public policy starts with the assumption that humans are dutiful and honest. That seems like a problem.
You need to classify this based on what type of work you do. For a developer, checking email would knock him off the zone. For a different job, one email answered late would mean a lost business for example. (the OP is a YC partner)
Very sad to hear. His contributions to the Python community will never be forgotten.
The only numbered notebooks I've seen are daily planners. Moleskines are leather, though not sure about the quality.

Edit: Saw these in comments: http://www.leuchtturm1917.com/de/content/startseite
How to make presentations for Bad News
Presenting bad news to a group of people can be challenging for most presenters. However, sometimes it is required to present bad news where there is no room for good news. We can learn from some expert presenters who recommend tips about how to present bad news to an audience.
It amuses me that only the very last item on the list is about making money, rather than spending it. Yes, if I had a billion billion dollars and a fantasy pony castle then I would also have a team of super hackers that would make my every twitter wish come true.

Other than that: yes, that would be an awesome way to run a company. But it seems that the bigger the companies get, the more they shy away from that structure (obvious exception: Valve).
Lazarus Free Pascal RAD IDE 1.0 is released
How are they simpler and more efficient?
Bummer, didn't know..any chance on a follow up? I'll shout you a beer :)
What a strangely fascinating now-arcane bit of internet lore.
Proud Ubuntu user here. Ubuntu 12.04 is not bad at all. Supports the fancy font he used on his blog. Flash is working. WebGL is working. LibreOffice opens Word docs when I need to. Audio is working.

I have Windows 7 on the other partition mainly to play games.

There was a minor issue with Ubuntu trying to melt the CPU in my laptop the other day, but its not so bad since I upgraded, and I found this powertop thing that also helps.
My guess is that he accidentally posted it internally first and then posted it externally. And so, both times he posted it, he meant to post it externally.
OSX seems to have had this design paradigm: 'Make everything work in the most streamlined way possible for the default use case (80%). Give some limited options for a few more specific use cases (18%). Cover everything else with CLI integration / defaults system, such that the final 2% can get around with a bit of googling'

This has been highly successful, only I'm afraid that the Unix people inside Apple are loosing influence. The sandboxing in ML looks like a mess to me. Not that its a bad idea per se, but look what it did to our beautiful '~/Library/[ApplicationSupport|Preferences]'! It's tacked on and it's obvious that this has been a political decision from management rather than engineering. Makes me angry.

On a different note: I've never really used it extensively because I switched to macs in '05, but wasn't Ubuntu pretty close before they switched to Unity? I remember last time I installed it that for the first time I could have a Linux that worked out of the box, including network and graphics drivers.
I have never bothered upgrading to a 'smart' phone - I am happy with my flip phone that is great at making calls and texting. I don't need games, I don't need email access and I don't need the poor battery life a lot of those phones suffer from. I charge my phone once every 3 or 4 days and I am happy.

Should the need arise, I generally carry my netbook with me everywhere I go - and it only comes out if there is an emergency. At least then I have internet access and all the tools to actually make a difference as opposed to just being able to respond to an email. If it isn't an emergency, then it can wait.
It is satire with a twist (tweet?) of truth behind it. My point is that I would focus on exploiting the user base in order to find ways to be profitable. That takes lots of hackers, and less middle managers. It would be an awesome way to run a company, and I wish someone would give me the chance to even work in one like that.

You rlast sentence is true. Bigger companies seem to mostly focus on themselves. Guess its a side-effect of bureucracy, dilber-style management, and MBAs.
Undeserved FUD of dubious origin.

I have practiced calorie restriction for several years, and neither myself nor any other CRONies I know, personally or impersonally, are subjected to any of the dreadful symptoms you prescribe to - supposedly - us. I am also physically active and exercise regularly at the gym. Yes, I am slim and lean but nowhere near to being anorexic.

Human mind is quite amazing at painting dreadful pictures of starvation and all sorts of miseries and suffering when it comes to depriving one of their favourite food(s). Food as reward (or addiction), a subconscious concept, is what drives many people into the misconceptions of calorie restriction.
Are your Twitter followers fake, or just quiet?
just have your secretary print your email twice a day (1). you can read it at your leisure (2), and dictate your responses whenever you want. (3)
This has been the most useful post for me all month. Man, I need to stop checking reddit, email, twitter, and HN. See you in a month!
Latest Java software opens PCs to hackers: experts
It sounds like you might not be familiar with the author Jason referred to right before his critique of the current focus on size: Ricardo Semler.

In his books he develops a very humanistic look at the role of businesses in our lives. As entrepreneurs, employees, and as customers. I won't be able to do the ideas justice here, but I will try:

A business obsessed with revenue and growth is like a person obsessed with how many breaths they have taken, or how much food is in their pantry -- these are means to an end, not ends in themselves. Food is required for life but it's not the purpose of living. Businesses as conceived by Semler and Fried aren't designed to maximize revenue so much as make the world a better place (#include your essay about google being almost a nonprofit).

It may be that stories of plumbers, barbers, and cafes wouldn't be interesting to you. I like to hear about people living enjoyable lives, delighting their customers, and making their corner of the universe a better place. It's a lot more psychically healthy than reading about people trying to gain the most while providing the least (the tech crunch articles Jason refers to)

So many people seem obsessed with getting a large quantity of money, and only then trying their hand at building a fulfilling life. I have always thought of Semler as running things in reverse: how do we design a seven day weekend that is cash positive?

(Semler's book, The Seven Day Weekend, is highly recommended to anyone who wants to hear more)