skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
This essay really strikes a chord with me. In fact, I followed Paul's advice about three weeks ago when I left Charlotte, NC to move to Sunnyvale, CA in hopes of starting a start-up (or at least working at one). In non-hub cities, I would hear all the time about how I needed 10-15 years of experience to start my own company; maybe 1 out of 20 people would take me seriously. (To tell the truth, most people would assume I was starting some sort of manufacturing-like company. They would ask me where I was going to find the capital for such a huge investment). That sort of negative energy can weigh on anyone, and I knew I had to get to a place where I felt more accepted for this ambition.

On that topic, now that I have left my job (for the move), I would really like to get involved at a start-up out here. I loved working my tail off while I was at college and hated (barely) working at work for the past year. I really want to get back into nose to the grindstone working to build something cool. Anybody have a good idea how to get the ball rolling. I am teaching myself a few extra programming languages, but I feel like I need to get with the right people to get things off the ground.

Anyway, great essay Paul. Sometimes I wonder if the start-up companies will revolutionize "work" in a way that factories and unions changed the landscape of America during the 19th and 20th centuries. Are we that far away from a start-up being the norm? I suppose not everyone could work at a start-up, how could a start-up expand to a larger corporation if everyone is working at a start-up? But, I could see the mentality switch such that students work for/start a start-up for 2-3 years after college, if it succeeds, great, if not, they go work for a larger company or go to grad school. Either way, it sure would be nice to live in a society where everyone "takes their shot" before settling in to a nice, steady, safe career.
This is good, real good.
It takes guts to tell Boston VCs that they just don't know startups the way SV VCs do. Way to call it like you see it.
Internet2 Reaches 100 Gbps
:)

http://news.ycombinator.com/jobs
The Future of Web Apps
Hm, is it just me or, is this the first of Paul's essay that contained little/no new content? I've definitely heard most of these points before...

Nobody likes moving, so this is an issue that people are going to grumble about no matter how sound the advice is, or how often it is repeated.
Valuing facebook apps and social media companies
Bold title. What if we calculate footprint like opportunity cost, where we compare with alternate configurations with the smallest possible footprints that accomplish the task.

A bicycle would probably be a big win. Insulation would be another.
you should do it them. i don't have the time to do it myself, but would be a willing first customer.
Indistr Relaunches -- A 360-degree View On The Upgrade
market validation. you should be their competition.
In the case of plantfood, a bin with worms and a bit of DIY beats shipped products. Recycle and generate your own compost: http://www.amazon.com/4-Tray-Compost-System-Factory/dp/B0007....

Though I'd love to see a real economic analysis of environment saving tech that incorporates time saved/spent, and what the money gained/lost in that time could buy.

Curb-side recycling is horribly inefficient if you factor in collective lost productivity.
The main reason to move to a startup hub is that you have much more chances to succeed if you burned all the briges after you.
Would there be value in encouraging startups to move to Boston to eventually create another, rival hub?
Update: Wrong url, this one works: http://mondhandy.de/wordCount.user.js

And by now it also updates the wordcount on the fly, no update/reload required.
Cool startup, but I call bullshit on the OP's headline.
A Tech Chief Reviews the Apple iPhone
There are plenty of iPhone reviews out there, but this one was performed by the technology chief from Direct Energy, a multi-billion dollar retail energy provider. The guy manages some 500 smartphones, and he knows his stuff.
"I've definitely heard most of these points before..."

Yes, but not everyone's homepage is http://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=pg
I know that you're using the term "west-coast VC" to mean valley VCs, but it's probably important to emphasize that the valley is unique, even on the west coast of the US.

From what I can tell, VCs in Seattle are approximately as conservative as those in Boston. In this part of the country, it almost seems like your "fundability" is tied to your reputation as an ex-Microsoft employee....
I believe once you have been bought out, you should try to leave as early as possible. The people who bought you want you to code not think, they will do the thinking from now on. I couldn't stand that proposition, would rather train a few coders on the system and take my money and figure out what I am going to do next.
iRobot is one of the top 3 companies I would love to work for - I'm sure you guys will stay as one of the major players in the coming years when autonomous robotics comes around. Have you ever considered starting your own company though, or do you plan to make youre career at iRobot?
I did not get his definition of "you will win". What would I end up with in the end? Yet another browser that does exactly what FireFox does: reliably displays web content.
So how is Portland as far as starting a startup. I wanted to move to the valley, but it is somehow to damn expensive and I honestly do not like noddles, I am already skinny enough, SO how is portland?
It's not the start ups, but the investing circles that make the hub. Start ups can move pretty freely, but angels and VC's appear to be more set in one location. If you can convince gutsy angels to move from San Fran to Boston, or get Boston angels to be more bold with their investments, then Boston has a chance. Otherwise, it's not worth it for innovative start ups to stay in Boston.
I'm willing to bet NY VCs are not as conservative as Boston VCs, yet NY is no Silicon Valley.
Like they say "It is what it is" , the evidence is there to show that SV favors startups, if any one wants to do their startup in Newcastle-upon-Tyne , they are welcome to try.
So suppose one were to move to the valley out of the blue. How long would it take to feel the effect (ie be socially connected or whatever it takes)? What are the monthly costs of living there?
I'm an entrepreneurship major at a business school, and starting to work for a web-based startup. I can confidently say that i'm a on par with or better than many hackers who graduate from various comp-science universities.

Having a degree didn't get me my job, knowing people who recognized my skills did.
The thing is that inflation is outpacing these numbers. With official inflation numbers hovering around 3% and real inflation (except in housing) being much stronger than that, Actual earnings haven't increased for the majority of the workforce in roughly 15 years.

I'd hardly call a 4.5% increase a surge either. Removing the cut for inflation puts this more at 1.5% at best, hardly an increase worth mentioning.

I think Ars Technica is just trying to drum up interest.
Summer YC: Fuzzwich Politics Cartoon builder
Best Facebook feature ever!
This looks more like using a new rendering engine as an excuse to develop a new programming language. Which doesn't sound too unreasonable, but if that's the goal ROC should be upfront about it.
Great idea, killer execution.

I definitely see this going places. Amazon job, guys :)
Presumably the parallel browser would be faster and maybe even BeOS-smooth. It's not clear that this is enough justification for a new browser.
Hahaha! How did that even happen? M.C.Hammer? Where did you find him?
Yikes. Is this a worry?
http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/09/myspace-platform-to-lau...
Maybe a person could suggest they keep there system "pure" the way they want it and let you setup some "enhancements" that people would pay for or would be ad supported (by google adwords (ads on the ads, I know that sounds kind of strange)) then share the revenue.

I believe they just don't want to lose control but at the same time they want to keep there system "pure".
still a classic:

http://www.fuzzwich.com/minivid/index.php?vid=400&;
Extra domain names? Offer them to fellow news yc'ers here.
Mathematics is not a game...
At some point I was thinking of building a quick site to allow people to list/give/swap domain names with a small community of developers. My rational is that many of us sit on a pile of them we bought for past or never-to-be completed ideas, and we could help each other out by making them available. It would be cool if someone did build that side one day, but for now it probably makes more sense to just piggyback on an existing community.

Of course I just had several names expire before I thought to do this, but I'm willing to part with:

dealray.com
mobophile.com
mobozen.com

I'm not looking for money, but I will ask that you actually plan on using the domain for something cool somewhat soon. The transfer of a domain off 1and1 is a mild pita after all.
This is the most amazing place to get domain names
http://www.tdnam.com.

Some of the recent ones I have registered using tdnam are ShareCircle.com, RealtyGoLive.com, SharedList.com, SoftwareOutpost.com, UserLinks.com, and AskShare.com. All of them cost $10+$8 to register. People who say good domains are gone are not totally correct.
Some of it seemed new to me. The reductio argument is new; the list of reasons not to move is new; the proposal for a startup founder visa is new; the comparison of SV and Boston investors is new, and particularly the simple explanation of the latter's conservatism; the point that startup hubs are markets is new, and in fact only occurred to me for the first time in the middle of writing this.
PG is a pink bunny?

Do you guys know something we don't?
check out http://rightcart.com/
Funny you should mention that, I'm building this semantic search engine...
The spam has historically been a problem with this but how about an OCR capable component where the contributor is able to upload a picture of their check (not available to the public) thereby becominge 'confirmed'. That might keep out the riff raff enough to get good results.
The Odyssey Years
Thanks - this is useful. I will check out the Causes app.Any ideas on what this kind of setup might cost? Would an ad-network targeted at facebook apps need this much hardware or less - or more even? I have no idea.
that's a really cool company with a really cool story. there was an article in the times or something about them a while back. i was skeptical at first, but what they're doing is really cool.
Ask YC: Best areas for startups to relocate to Silicon Valley?
PG, I'm convinced. I'm putting to put my house up for sale and moving to Silicon Valley. I have only visited SF/Bay Area a few times but spent most of my time near Berkeley. What are the best areas to move to for startups?
Thanks but it is just as hard to forecast how many concurrent users the app will get as it is to predict costs.
If you really like visual mathematics, then there is a book called "Proofs without words":

http://www.amazon.com/Proofs-without-Words-Exercises-Classro...
K-12 education through Computer Games
Free Barcode maker (Advanced Features)
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Compatible with any editor that supports True Type Font

http://barcodemaker.freehostia.com
i hope someone answers this as i plan to move there soon myself
My sentiments exactly. I am continually amazed that this company continues to exist, so it's downright shocking that they are attracting this kind of interest.
i really liked the reply
Awesome stuff guys.

But you need to make it known the next time you're hanging with the Hammer.
Imagine a bullseye with Palo Alto at the center.

Palo Alto's very expensive, unfortunately. Mountain View might be a good bet. Not crushingly expensive, and has something of a downtown.
It may just be me, but it seems that many Europeans are more nationalistic than Americans when it comes to certain things. Not in a negative sense, but as if more of a cultural thing. It does not surprise me that PG speech about startup hubs might have offended many in the audience, even though the offense was obviously not intended.

If the situation were reversed and PG came from the UK to give that talk in SV, I dont think many would have been offended on terms of national pride. I suspect many startup entrepreneurs from SV would not hesitate moving to a different city in another country if it greatly increased their prospects of success. I for one do not have a problem moving somewhere else, and I consider myself to be at least somewhat of a patriotic American.

Again, not meaning any offense to European citizens in general, just sharing my observation.
YC application word counts - Firefox plugin (read comment)
How to create a good enough website
GenderLens: news filtering system that customizes news based on the gender of its reader.
I have fixed my Greasemonkey script and compiled it into a Firefox extension. It will display the word count after each text area in the YC application 2008.

I have compiled the script into a firefox extension using this online tool: http://arantius.com/misc/greasemonkey/script-compiler

So I can't guarantee for the insides... I recommend using the Greasemonkey script directly, which is under the (now working url) http://mondhandy.de/wordCount.user.js (must have Greasemonkey extension for Firefox installed).

Just in case anybody finds this useful ;-) I had some fun writing this, and I could not find any other word counting plugin that worked.
so is techcrunch but that doesnt stop anyone
Paper here:

http://www.cs.unt.edu/~rada/papers/liu.icwsm07.pdf
More importantly, every science has its branch(es) of bias and hard sciences are no exception.
Picnicmob brings like-minded people together at public parks
More than half the YC startups in the Bay Area are in SF I think. and about half of them in the yscraper :).

There are quite a few startups in SF and quite a lot tech stuff happens here. Some benefits to moving to Palo Alto, since it can be cheaper their and less distractions.
techcrunch 40. He has a startup for online video battledancing or something.
I've heard of the famed 'Y-Scraper', where in SF is it?
actually we bumped into each other at one of conway's gatherings.
I own buzztricks.com; whatilooklike.com; alterpay.com; legitmp3s.com and peerquit.com.
The pensinula is probably best. It's the area that extends south from SF to San Jose. Home of Palo Alto, San Mateo, Mountain View, Los Altos, other towns you've heard of. Nothing in the SF area is cheap, but if you're renting, you can find things you can probably afford.
North Beach, IIRC. Google around and you'll find it.
Hammer's MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/mchammer

It's gonna get even pimper
http://www.dancejam.com
Who do you think the press is going to go to for "the opposing view"? Isolatr?
KnowledgeBid - YC applicant - looking for feedback
That is a good point. Off the top of my head, at 25 you should move, while at 35 connections might be enough to compensate for the difference between, say, Boston and SV.
I'm willing to give up:

getretarded.net
smsfiend.com
safemortgagesource.com
strategic-mortgagedata.com

but I want at least one in return.
I thought it said queerpit at first glance...lol
Wishful thinking backed up by flimsy anecdotes

http://finance.google.com/finance?chdnp=1&chdd=1&chd...

Offshoring is alive, here to stay, and has made permanent changes to the IT industry in America. Why do you think IT contracting rates haven't gone up in the last 7 years?
When did you launch?
not really. we see it as complimentary -- and we'll be using myspace's platform to generate ad revenue from profiles, eventually, anyway.
The Inside Story of a Small Software Acquisition (Part 2 of 3)" Software by Rob
the site has been live for a couple of weeks but we haven't told anyone except potential sellers/consultants. we have a small number of buyers and are limiting to that for the time being.
I really like your tagline. It immediately framed what the site is about. I know that's the point, but still, I really like it.
Getting a Visa is next to impossible.

Now imagine if your name is Mohammed (not that mine is)
DUDE strategic-mortgagedata.com????
I've been waiting for that domain since 1994! Woot!
hey thanks! that's great to hear. we played around with a bunch and thought those were best.
And, sadly, they don't come every day.
i did too! like 3 submissions ago...
my guess, those "plain jane" women, have wealth. and i don't mean puff daddy "i just bought a lexus in cash" rich, i'm talking about "i own a silver mine in colorado" wealthy. this woman is getting exactly what she's putting out, being treated like a cheap hooker. no one is going to marry you if you act like a hooker, unless you're one hell of a successful hooker.

you're not much of a challenge for someone who's interested in insurmountable challenges if you can simply be bought.
you might fare well for a couple of years but dont be surprised when the tarnish wears off if you're not simply replaced.
Steve is a bison? Or is that a buffalo?
No problem. I suppose you want some real feedback too. From what I can tell about YC backed sites, they are usually very, very, very clean. What I mean is: your homepage is too busy. Going along with my original comment, you should drive your tagline home.

Chop out everything that isn't necessary. In fact, the only thing you probably need to have is exactly what it means to sell and what it means to buy information using your site.

Make it as clear and simple as you possibly can.

From the way your design looks now, it seems that you're trying to have all your bases covered. It's a good impulse but you can do that in better ways.

But anyway, good luck on your application.
Where did the current listings come from?
The best people on Facebook (Michael Arrington is #1!)
Some of the best people on Facebook as determined by my app @ http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=5469363031 :

Overall:
Michael Arrington,
Robert Sanzalone,
Richard MacManus,
Brian Greulach

Internet:
Robert Sanzalone,
Muhammad Saleem,
Eric Nagel,
Jimmy Wales

Blogging:
Michael Arrington,
Robert Sanzalone,
Richard MacManus,
Alex Iskold,
Svetlana Gladkova,
Josh Catone,
Michael Beck,
Sam Sethi,
Robert Scoble,
Phil Butler,
Stowe Boyd

Funny:
Alex Baca,
Jessica Gormann,
Keith Busch,
Renato Rosas,
Brittany McDonald,
David 'd-Co' Cohn,
Mandy Dowdall

Technology:
Robert Sanzalone,
Richard MacManus,
Kimbal Musk,
Dean Steadman,
Josh Catone,
Alex Iskold,
Barney Pell

Organization:
Svetlana Gladkova,
Angela Beesley,
Pete Cashmore,
Eileen Boutilier

Power Drinking:
Brittany McDonald,
Jessica Gormann,
Alex Vidal,
Andrew Oneal,
Mark Mulligan,
Andrew Bee,
Olivia Barnes

You can find lots more when you use my app.
I wondered that too, and also wondered if there is some sort of template which the buyers use. If that's true, the template approach hurts because it blurs all the buyers together when they probably need help differentiating their request.
and on digg and reddit . . .
I could tell you what I think about your app, but that would be $250.

Seriously, looks like a combination of KM and one of those bid-to-program sites. Beats me what the market is like. I like the general grid layout you have, but like others have mentioned, perhaps a little cleaning up is in order.
Ask PG: Do you still see value in traditional PR?
After reading your article on PR, I was wondering if you still see any value in trying to court print publications. You spent $16,000 a month on your PR. Would you advise people to hire PR firms today?

http://www.paulgraham.com/submarine.html
awesome feedback. you are 100% right about trying to cover all the bases. our testing has shown that people don't read anything unless they have to, so putting the actual guts of the market in front of people helps them figure out what is going on.
there's amazon widgets and blinkcart

http://widgets.amazon.com/
http://www.blinkcart.com/
I hate comics. Hate 'em. And OMG, that was the funniest thing I think I've ever read. Little Bobby Tables. I love it.
about half of the current listings came from our beta group of buyers, the other half we put up and are based on what we came across in our market research. we are only promoting the listings that are from our buyers though. if we received a legit bid on one of the other listings, we probably would accept the bid and talk to the person about how they happened across the site, what was confusing, what they liked, etc.
It's more like 1/10 of DRAM speed, which is still awesome.
there's a set process buyers go through to create a listing. not sure if that's what you mean by template...also not sure what you mean by blurring buyers together...
Neither China, nor Japan, nor South Korea, nor Singapore were colonized by any western power. (Singapore, or for that matter, Hong Kong do not count, since they were tiny fishing villages before the British moved in.)

Furthermore, the colonial influence was restricted, in the case of the larger nations, largely to the control of trade (mostly, Opium).

The colonization of Northern India was fraught with centuries of oppressive rule, rebellion, civil war, an eventual overthrow, and then a massive schism and religious conflict. Millions died. India was the crown jewel of the British empire for much of it's history, and brought massive profits to, if not the empire that large, than certainly the merchants running the show.

China was decimated, first by the Taiping rebellion (in part instigated by Christian missionaries), then by the Opium trade, then by Japanese imperial ambitions (which, I may remind you, were completely non-existent until the USA force open the ports of Japan), then by the civil war, then by the Maoists and the ill-conceived and executed model of western modernization. China has been the manufacturing center of the world for decades now, benefiting, largely, so called first-world nations such as ours and as a result the population is suffering the consequences of a terribly polluted land.

The leadership of Japan lead it into world war 2, and millions of it's people died because of it. In the era immediately preceding the opening of Japan to trade, it was one of the most peaceful countries in the world, having no major external conflicts, and no major civil wars since the Sengoku period.

I don't see why your examples imply that jsnx is false. On the balance they seem to support the statement, and it wasn't claimed that all or even most of them would, simply many.
what about santa clara, sunnyvale and san jose city ....
With enough Gaussians, we can say anything!
Surely it depends on the audience. When we get the resources we need, we'll certainly use PR -- the people most in need of our service are possibly a hundred times more likely to read the Sunday paper than to browse Slashdot.
From Child on Street to Nobel Laureate
About the site I personally don't like to see all that text displayed right away, it looks too crowded for me.

Good luck.
Same problem as usual with that kind of idea: what stops companies from spamming in the name of their competitors?
It's still valuable, especially for larger companies, but no longer critical for newly founded startups. You probably shouldn't pay for PR till you have enough money that it doesn't hurt.
Thanks for the feedback - definitely a consistent message here that it's too busy.