skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
US National debt is 9 trillion which means only a 2% reduction in national debt if Google were cashed in and donated. But hey, in the textbook Benjamin Bernanke wrote used for my intermediate microecon class he said that old models said that a government can't operate with continually increasing debts and trade deficits, which led him to conclude that the old models are wrong instead of concluding that the US economy is facing an impending collapse.

This guy literally wrote the book on Economics so he can't be wrong, right?
Vera++ - Programmable verification and analysis tool for C++
Out of the top ten companies on the Fortune Global 500, Wal-Mart (#1) is the only one that's not a car or oil company. That seems reasonable, since there aren't many industries besides automobiles where you can do such huge volume on products that cost tens of thousands of dollars each. And then someone's got to fuel all those cars.
What host would that be? url please? :D
How do they control the social graph?
Whoa, you work a lot! I would never manage that. Currently working maybe 30-40 hours a week on our start-up (or maybe spin-off would be a more appropriate term), and I feel I could not really be that productive for much more hours per week.

Of course I am often processing the problems in the background while doing something else...
I guess "that analyst" (can't remember who) is laughing on the other side of his face at the $600 price he predicted.
Agreed Symfony is nice to look at nice to work in as well.
"Planning" is highly overrated. The best performers seesaw between "ideas" and "actions."
I was half expecting this to be a story about Lisp.
Riddles for Programmers
Is it just my being aware of it, or is this current of thought popping up in more places lately? "The Black Swan" comes to mind, "The Wisdom of Crowds" is along these lines. It's certainly not new - it seems to be one of Hayek's central ideas.

One of the things that greatly attracts me to startups is the ability to work like this... I loathe rigid schedules and attempts to plan out things in minute detail. What I prefer is an aggressive schedule (you need to set some dates, lest you wander), and a general plan of attack, and quality people that can change tack if needs be.
I have yet to find a use for a tape sorting algorithm. ;-)

Yes, TAOCP is comprehensive and thorough. It's a useful resource, but pedantic and difficult.
The first thing that struck me is that this visually looked like joelonsoftware.com - is there some template that people use or something ? It even has the same sort of links on the left hand side.
M-x no-thanks
I love this philosophy. I first realized this while writing essays. I used to stare at the "Keyhole Method" diagram and conjure an intro, examples and a conclusion. They always sucked but the diagram made it seem so easy. When I started writing on my own for fun I would just launch right into the examples and find a pattern as I went. It almost always turned out that the last paragraph I wrote, the moment of clarity that tied it all together, would become the introduction.
What if you fail, how are you going to repay the debt?
Plan A) Don't fail. If we are able to bring in a moderate level of revenue, we could probably cover the costs of repayment, even if we had to halt further development.

Plan B) Suck it up, and pay for it for the next 5 years. Obviously, this plan sucks, but it's better to have tried, isn't it?

I'd love any other ideas for financing- We want to make this happen; I'm just looking at it, and seeing a loan as the most achievable option. I'd love to be wrong ;)
The hard part of working that much is trying to balance work and Family. Mostly I've given up sleeping- I know it's not ideal, but I'm down to 3-4 hours a night.

In full honestly, the 65 hour figure only comes in when I include travel time. (about 2 hours/day)

My typical day is:

Get up at 5am, and head to work.
Work from 6-4, then head home.
Drive home.
Family stuff from 5-7 until my partner gets out of work.
7-1, Startup stuff.

1-5, sleep.

On the weekends, I try to get a bit more family stuff in, but then I usually end up going to work for another 3-4 hours on Sat/Sun, and put in the rest of the day on the startup.

I wish I had time for a 2nd job, but, really, the startup is the 2nd.. and the 3rd. ;)

I'd love any ideas to raise additional money for the startup- If we could work on it full-time, we'd really be doing something special.
Open Source sysadmin staple and massive Perl codebase by YCer Jamie Cameron turns 10 today
Wow, this is a really amazing concept, even if it's still a little rough around the edges. I think it's going to take a while for people to see the value here but honestly this rocks.

<braindump>

You're gonna need to support more libraries. I'm making a util to turn a page of thumbnails into a page of inline full-sized images and am going to need re to do it. At the very least create a whitelist of allowed imports; I'd really like to be able to use urllib2, re, some HMTL/XML parsers, etc...

The best use of a service like this appears to me to be writing little web clients to interact with existing web services, kinda like you're writing shell scripts for the web. And branding aside, I think you're going to need a new definition for "utility." It's a little too ambiguous.

I think there's a lot of potential value here but am also wondering about possible revenue models. Maybe restrict system resources for free accounts or offer additional libraries for premium members? Seems like this would be a sub-optimal site to monetize through advertising.

</braindump>
The API is interesting (to me at least) because it allows you to write glue code between existing web API's. It would be really cool to chain (pipe) Utilities, too.

Sounds pretty similar to Yahoo Pipes. On the other hand, this site actually works.
Ultimate Geek Racer Drives by Guts, Instinct and Algorithms
Can a 'virtual world' sustain itself economically?
What book ?
Fadnation: Why Steve Ballmer Could Be Right
bugs:

if i click on a picture and go back before it's finished loading, a page shows up momentarily, saying "The image [...] cannot be displayed, because it contains errors." nice formal english there btw

the button onclick action triggers from clicking on the text of the button (for example, "Privacy") but nowhere else. i'm using firefox

private frames can have the object border around them even though they can't be edited

ideas/suggestions:

those sample pages need to be actual pages. currently they're images. i saw a working version of one so i'm guessing that's currently the only way to link from a picture

a "settings" control for widgets (alongside the font/color stuff) for configuring widget-specific things such as links. i'm guessing you're already working on something like this

a few templates would be good to start people off

what's "Blank Button?"

some might find it useful if the top frame of the google custom page could be edited, to put links in for example. making the frame persistent might also be desirable -- hide/show on hotkey? drag & drop from host page? into a "look at later" box?

a text widget that automatically shifts/hides/tabs/scrollbars text when resized. supporting multiple entries would make it a nice blog widget

when clicking on a picture, show the enlargement without leaving the page

allow movement of multiple items by click & dragging a selection box around them

-- just some heuristics. i like the site so far. gl
It's from a journalism school in Arizona, I think. (The original post on a site that was taken down after being dugg, mentioned the school by name.)
"I only watch it for the music."
Seems odd that there are only black Macbooks and no white Macbooks.
Have flipped through the pdf, and especially the ajax bit is well explained.
Software Branching and Parallel Universes
This looks pretty interesting. Like most code-generating programs, I wonder how much excessive code will be added or if Adobe can step it up to a minimum.
Hilarious video, I guess it's Recruitment backwards (tnemtiurceR).
Making adding inputs AJAX-ified (sorry for the buzzword) would make it quite a bit more usable. Other than that, great site. I'm sure I'll be finding more and more uses for this...
The 'Black Swan' is indeed a bit of mind-bender. I am reading it for the second time. I just noticed, that I have underlined something, in practically every page.
i think knowing a system by playing with it gives a much better perspective than simply theorizing about it. generally, if you "know" the system, you don't have to do much theorization -- the solutions are obvious

unfortunately, not everyone is suited for that sort of learning. and in fact i would say most people aren't able to "know" using any method. for these people a decent plan can be beneficial, but technical subjects require a minimal degree of playfulness. their capricious details aren't very forgiving to fine plans, and you'll probably find most of these people don't become programmers :)

... or they become java programmers?
Google E-Mail Service Targets Corporate Market
Yeah and the rest are gigantor Pros.
"Why most things fail" by Paul Ormerod is pretty good too, although the writing style isn't quite so direct, and it leaves you wondering a little bit more than the Black Swan.
Akihabara (Tokyo) in Decline: Alienating the Geeks Who Made It Great
I have an engineering degree, both undergrad and masters, so I am well versed with proofs. After all the suggestions fellow hackers have put in (including you), I am convinced to pick up "Introduction to Algorithms" and take it from there.

Thank you (all of you). Though I think this was the answer I was looking for.
Do You Know Your Googleganger?
I was wondering when someone would finally make a comment about Lisp. In fact, this could very easily be a story about Lisp. Using Lisp to create grammars to read and execute specification files. This developer was forced by the client to write entirely in Java, but would probably have used Lex and Yacc, plus Java, if given a choice. I suspect, folks around here could get the exact same results in Lisp. The key is, Lisp programmers have likely been taught to think about the problem in a similar manner. The key is how you think about the problem, not the specific tools you use.
Wow. I like this article a lot. I think it captures the essence of what we're all talking about.

Having said that, it's not a one-size-fits-all kind of deal. I certainly wouldn't want my brain surgeon saying "Hey. Let's just cut this schmuck's head open and see what we get, okay? Where's that can opener?"

A startup looking for user desires and aligning them with economics is a simple system. Act more and plan less to do it right. Brain surgery, creating the space shuttle code, or integrating all of GE's client software is not a simple system. Here's the kicker: some of these are complex because of the underlying nature of the problem (brain surgery) and some are complex because of the underlying nature of the _people_ (GE). Still, the end is the same. No amount of fast prototyping and "users love me" is going to fly in a complex environment. Now you might invent it and sell it to GE, but that's a different story. Simple environments mean you have to plan to answer simple questions, like "am I making something that users want?". Complex environments mean you have to plan to answer all kinds of other questions, like "How do I communicate what we're doing to 30 important stakeholders, some of whom may not like our project?" BTW, I hate complex environments.

So yes, by all means make something quickly and adapt. But know when that strategy works and when it doesn't.
It seems like the key point of his idea is that induction is the key to success. Edison used a massive amount of induction (experimentation) and prototyping while exploring the big idea of a light bulb - and things worked out well for him :). I think you can also argue that a plan based on prior induction makes for a much cleaner, faster, and better built prototype.
Actually, I would bet that brain surgery is difficult, rather than particularly complex. Indeed, your scope for action is probably pretty limited compared with writing a huge program.

And... brain surgeons probably practice (start doing) on animals or something else before trying it on people. At least I hope they do.
Finding angels isn't as hard as you think. Someone you know or someone your founders know has a connection that can be used. Find it and use it. Angels tend to know other angels, so all you need is to find one. Even if that investor doesn't want to invest, there's a good chance they'll be really excited for you (having been there themselves).

If they don't help you out financially, they might connect you with angels they know.

The short version: if you already have traction and are passionate, find an angel.
I've always heard the brain was the most complex thing that we know about. And I've always heard that brain surgeons spend a considerable amount of time planning some operations due to the complexity involved (although I am sure not all operations).
"If you have to ask about operating system limits, you're probably doing something wrong"
I like to take this kind of thinking a step further...

Planning to code: good.

Coding in a garage: better

Developing in a living breathing organization: best

No matter how much time I spend on my startup, I always keep an active consulting gig on the side. Routine situations come up every single day that I would have never conjured up in my "ivory tower". The value of fresh ideas and feedback from live users far outweighs the income.
Facebook Announces Test Accounts for Developers
The brain being incredibly complex is probably right, but my guess is that our ability to slice and dice it in beneficial ways is probably much more limited.

Still though, yes, in some activities you must do your utmost to get it right the first time.
Where'd Pownce Go?
Bubble 2.0: Google worth $750 billion? And we thought Facebook was overpriced
Justin.TV Teams Up With On2 And Opens Network
It's also not an either-or choice. Sometimes you can plan to do two weeks of work, then observe, then do it again.

I think it's a mistake to view the spectrum as only having two spots, total planning and completely inductive. Learning how to mix and match is probably a better skill than blindly following either extreme, imo.
7 Ways to Overcome the Fear of Failure
The fear of failure is perhaps the strongest force holding people below their potential. In a world full of uncertainty, a delicate economy, and countless misfortunes that could happen to anyone, it's easy to see why most people are inclined to play it safe...
Startup founders likely to be replaced if company thrives
Jeff Bezos, president and chief executive officer of Amazon.com, is an anomaly among modern-day entrepreneurs. He still has his job.

Unlike Bezos, many founders are replaced after launching a successful company, say Warren Boeker, a professor of management and organization at the University of Washington Business School, and graduate student Rushi Karichalil. Ironically, the founders who do remain in control usually launch only moderate performing ventures.
S.F. moving to catch up with European bike-share programs
Google opens office in SF's South of Market for 800 (Scroll Down)
I work with the guys who have developed SesameVault; thanks for the post!

We have been working on the service for quite some time and are very excited to begin offering it to everyone and anyone via SesameVault.com. Just a little background and as hinted on the home page, we got our start working with large corporations who also use the same SesameVault service to power their exta-/intranet apps and services.

Look forward to hearing how you find it!
a lot of "Mizzou" fans in Arizona
Tips on Finding a Technical Co-Founder (for the non-programmer)
I love this sentence:

"Talking about a software development schedule more than a year out is like talking about where we go after we die."
Flexiscale: UK competitor to S3 and EC2 with SLA
Thanks ed. I'm really glad you like it.

There are allowed utilities currently: "calendar, datetime, difflib, math, random ,re, string, time, and urllib are already imported."

I did strip out things that connect to other websites though. I'm not sure how I could allow outgoing connections, and still prevent a malicious user from sending spam, or other bad things? But I'll add that down the road perhaps.

I'm aiming to change the security system so that the entire Python interpreter is open to users within a few weeks. (I'm still not sure about outgoing connections though).

Any ideas for the branding? Why is utility too ambiguous?

For revenue, so far I'm thinking having premium accounts someday with cool features like download desktop app version of any utility, or standalone CGI script.
The article suggests that the correlation between corporate success and founders being replaced is due to the influence of investors; I think there's another far more innocent explanation: Many of the replaced founders WANTED to be replaced.

I recently found a bug on the Yahoo website (a graph was being drawn incorrectly) which could be fixed in a startup in about 15 minutes; but because Yahoo is such a large company and has so many users, individual developers can't go in and make even a trivial, obviously-correct fix to the live website -- instead, it takes three weeks for the fix to go through QA (along with all the other changes which have been prepared since the last QA cycle).

A founder who has spent three years building a startup -- and being able to fix bugs and see the results 30 seconds later -- isn't likely to be happy working with a 3 week QA cycle. There's nothing wrong with either approach; they're just suitable for different people.

Do what you're good at doing, and let someone else do what you're not good at doing. If you're a startup hacker, then go do a startup; but once your company is successful and not a startup any more, bow out and let someone else take over. Staying around to do a job which you're neither interested in or good at doesn't do any good for either you or your company.
Good point. That's pretty much how I'm envisioning the widgets would work. Maybe with a very small logo? Or maybe not.

Data collection would be trickier since so far I'm seeing that as outside the scope of a utility. I'm trying to avoid making it into a general purpose build-a-web-app site since I don't want a huge learning barrier for new users. I could be wrong though, maybe that is what people want.
I'm looking forward to seeing what uses you find. Let me know any feedback you have along the way. If something is confusing or you're stuck without some feature, let me know right away.

For the AJAX, how do you see that working? I guess you're talking about the input builder on the utility editing page?
Yahoo pipes doesn't work?
Why You Need a Line of Credit and How to Use It when Starting Up
If we got picked (my group) for YC.

We'd definitely want to do a Justin.tv feed!

That thing is awesome!
Could it also be that he is selling illegal drugs over the internet (and linking to the site from his news.yc profile)?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kratom#Legal_Status
nickb, you are a machine!
i agree. this study is similar to Kaplan's horse/jockey analysis:

http://www.vcconfidential.com/2006/04/horse_or_jockey.html

but both studies ignore the fact that there are massive differences between a good start up CEO and a good public company CEO...
Freakonomics: The law of unintended consequences
I installed Scribes some months ago and you are completely right.
I keep using Gedit.
My partner uses Geany, have you ever tried it?
Great Book on Legal Issues Affecting Entrepreneurs
Companies With More Women Board Directors Experience Higher Financial Performance
I wonder how many startups have female board members?

"Fortune 500 companies with the highest representation of women board directors attained significantly higher financial performance, on average, than those with the lowest representation of women board directors, according to Catalyst's most recent report."
Agreed. This advice was candid and valuable. Hacker News and the community of people here is a really great resource. Good luck in the future rms. We're about to submit our application for Winter 2008, so we'll see how it turns out...
I hate, no I HATE that language...
Microsoft as Media King?
A picture of the new office:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/indexn?blogid=19
In the context of software development, the ideas expressed really fall into alignment with incremental, Agile development. While I have been fortunate enough to spend most of my career so far in an Agile environment, I have had some time in a more traditional waterfall environment as well. In comparing the two, it seems like a key benefit of an Agile environment is that momentum much more quickly builds upon itself. It's much easier to work with something tangible, tweak it and improve it, than it is to abstractly imagine what it needs to be like, and get it right the first time.
Its Creators Call Internet Outdated, Offer Remedies
I mostly was referring to having your partner cosign or put up some assets himself, instead of you taking it all on yourself. Honestly, though, a lot can happen in 3 months. Be careful not to get in over your head and get yourself in a position where you're subject to financial hardship if something goes wrong. Of course, a 10K loan isn't really that much, and split two ways, it could be paid off inside of a year without too much trouble, so it doesn't seem to me like your risk is too high.

That said, you might want to take a little bit more just to give yourselves some leeway. That would allow you to use a portion of the loan to make the initial few (6 or so?) payments. If you think you're going to need to support your partner for 3 months full-time, I'd shoot more for 4, and allowing yourself a full-time month (in case it becomes necessary) might not be bad, either. Finally, I'd suggest using some of it for the operating costs you mentioned, so that you can work your other job a little less and spend more time on the startup.

One last suggestion: sit down for some time with your partner and discuss what the loan will need to pay for, how much is needed, and how it is going to be allocated. Leave part of it unallocated as a contingency fund. Discuss how to split the responsibility for the debt in the event of a failure. In other words, get everything on the table now so that there are no surprises down the line.
I think his list needs some additions:

"4. Start Without Your Co-Founder."

Learn to program while you start developing the idea. One of the main fears/complaints of programmers in startups (without funding) is "will I be doing the majority of the work while everyone else is sitting pretty?" Even if you (think) that you still suck - it'll still win you respect, not to even your start is off and running.

Personally "programming" to me includes good knowledge of UI related stuff like css AND javascript, both of which the typical hacker knows little of (at least in my experience hackers typically suck at implementing and designing UI). If you have knowledge of that - probably no real need to learn python, ruby, or x language...

"5. Bring Something With You"

Expertise in the domain of your industry is a given... funding (or your own money) if you're not willing to even try to program is even nicer.

If you don't have any of the previous things I just mentioned then your name better be recognizable at least in the blogosphere (say Merlin Mann, Om Malik, ...) because if not, the hacker is going to question your value proposition...
Causation != Correlation

Maybe companies with higher financial performance tend to add more women board directors later on, as they grow in employees and revenue.
I find it incredibly annoying that every conversation about virtual worlds focuses solely on Second Life.