skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
I like it. Very very cool. Kudos to Mozilla.
I'd be curious to know why you're writing a DBMS from scratch. That seems like kind of an odd thing to do, from a value-for-effort POV, in this day and age.
What is your excuse? Making the most of what you have
"Superstar" is a word that should be reserved for a select few. For example, the hackers who built the Google search engine are superstars. I somehow doubt people of such caliber send their resumes to Fog Creek Software seeking opportunities to maintain aging enterprise bug tracking software.

This article reads to me like a thinly veiled recruitment effort. "Work for me and I'll appreciate your contribution, only ask you to work 40 hours a week, and even call you 'superstar'!"

I'd rather start a startup.
We're using tsearch2 right now. It's not very flexible, and it has lots of irritating gotchas - or I'm not a competent enough sysadmin to use it properly.
"... but it does seem contrary to the startup mentality. ..."

Joel is a pretty smart businessman and a lot of the articles are written within the management of an established software company frame of mind. Remember that:

- FogCreek is not a startup

- FogBugz has a long ship cycle

- products developed are mature

- code base is being used over a long time frame

- good software takes 10 years anyway ~ http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000017.html

Quite the antithesis of what you might associate with Startups discussed here.
Entrepreneurship is an adventure! You're young yet, give it a shot, and you'll learn a lot. You're team may not be superstars, but if they have the drive to see the project through, and can bring your idea to fruition, it's worth pursuing.

If you feel your idea is a truly radical innovation, and you're willing to give your heart and soul for it, then it might be worth seeking out an ideal team. However, given what you've said, it sounds like you've made this decision on a whim. I'd say, go for it if it feels right.
Not from scratch. I'm building it on top of Hadoop and HBase.
I suspect IDEs are like Bail Bondsmen. It may be a good sign if you don't know what they're for.

Do you have a special satchel full of these apt analogies? I I envy your analogical ability.
nice.
I like python a lot. Needs some tighten-ing up as a language, but it is very easy to get started.

Python 3000 (coming next year), seems to be very promissing.
Notice the cheek of the adobe guy for musing about supporting offline storage as being non standard, then pimping the very proprietary and platform limited AIR (let alone flash).
A good IDE, with good autocompletion features increases productivity a lot, plus it makes much easier for begginners to get started.

When you first starting, you don't know much of the API/features of a language, hence IDE features such as "Autocompletion", "Open Declaration", "Find References"... are extremely useful.

One of my frustration with working with Python is that none of the IDEs are that good, and methods/language features are not commented that well.

In the Java world, Eclipse + lots of code commenting = makes it insanely easy to get learn new APIs.
Also, IDE's help a lot with debuging, running external tools, some automation...etc.

IDEs usually have higher learning curve (vs. a normal text editor), but make it up with the features that they provide.
Eat with them every day for a week. You will find out a lot about each other.

> ...because I know emotions can fog up the intellect and really mess up your decisions.

Is there a particular emotion that's giving you trouble? I wouldn't distrust all of them...
And we have universities full of specialists.
So let me ask everyone who reads this, why would you not want to work for Scribd?

As clear by this ad, Scribd doesn't seem to be your typical company (which is a good thing). The boss is someone social (ie. actually wants to talk to people with real, live speech), they've got balls enough to tell you the truth ("We'll either all get rich or we all won't"), and even if Scribd is the worst failure in business history, you probably met/know some pretty cool people.

To many YC-wannbes focus on the code, the image, the company, the money but have no understanding that the best thing in a startup is always the people. If people stop taking everything so fucking serious, you might actually unclentch and have fun.

I wish there were more companies like Scribd, and yes I definently wish I worked for one (sadly I'm in the Navy). Trust me when I say if your <25, apply; don't think, just do it.
Get Your Hands Off the Web!
25 Unexpectedly Useful  Websites for the Uncommonly Curious
NASA - Missing Black Hole Report: Hundreds Found
I have been wondering whether enjoying life has anything to do with startup failure. I can imagine programming 12 hour days in Reno, but in Las Vegas?

Is there a huge difference between how people work in the Valley, which seems like a suburban wasteland, and 10 miles away in San Fransisco, which seems like one of the most amazing places in the world.
Peter piper picked a peck of alliteration, eh?
SanDisk Sues 25 Companies for Patent Infringement
FAQ: Getting ready for the leap to Leopard
"A system only reflects the business"

Working on a few large projects I have realized that a system is never perfect, but a crappy business always has a crappy system. Happy company = happy system.

My 2 cents an most probably said by someone before me.
A former employer once got a present from I-don't-know-who. It was a bunch of magnetic labels with "empowering" words, with which the employees were supposed to build "motivating" sentences. These are the ones I can remember from the drinks fridge:

WHAT DIFFERENCE CAN YOU EVER MAKE!

DISCIPLINE ME.

THE EFFORT IS TO (sic) GREAT!
Tallstreet.com
Why recent Rise in Traffic and users?
I think Mike's absolutely right. There's nothing inherently better about Mozilla's efforts simply because they're non-profit.

You gotta hand it to Mike Chambers though; if there's one thing he's good at, it's spending all day on the internet googling Adobe.
Three Reasons Microsoft Paid so Little For Facebook
find something you disagree with some of them about, and then resolve your disagreement.
Yes. Which is why this deal might end up being much worse for the facebookers than they might think it is right now.

They've basically created a 2-tier employee system.
As lon as we have startup hubs, we will only experience 5% of all innovation.
I mean can't we use what we know (technology) to break that "hub" barrier. I am not even sure it is one, but if is something can be done.
Sadly this article describes my job perfectly. Thankfully, monday is my last day.
YC discriminates on age at least (else why do they ask?).
A Three Fingered Salute to the Code Scouts
Why every developer has a few lessons to learn from our kerchief-toting friends...
The idea that people hack or create startups because they have nothing more interesting to do is pretty laughable. Many people who could retire from work entirely (and move to a tropical island) find it extremely compelling. That should tell you something, even if you don't feel the same way.
> This is anecdotal evidence.

Actually it's well-established. The best-known example is ancient Greece. Here's a general roundup of some historical figures: Socrates, Alexander the Great, Lord Byron, Edward II, Hadrian, Julius Caesar, Michelangelo, Donatello and Christopher Marlowe.

> Recall that is is a conversation about bisexuality and homosexual behavior,

The conversation is about whatever people discuss. Funny to see you try a dodge when I completely skewer your "sperm is expensive" faux-pas! :)

> I said 'interfacing,' which was meant as a euphemism for fucking.

Yes, your example is incorrect, as societies in which men were not "highly focused on interfacing with females" still managed to keep the birth rate up. Cf. 300.

> not homosexuality which is obviously not evolutionarily helpful to a homosexual man

Sure it can be -- especially when it's the norm. It's not even disadvantageous to his genes as long as he's not exclusively homosexual. Even if he were, from his genes' perspective, he can still fulfill a useful role by protecting and benefitting his close kin, who have a lot in common genetically.

Homosexuality is rampant in the animal kingdom. Numerous studies have discovered this surprising result. In humans it persists despite widespread modern cultural condemnation, so it's a bit of a sticky issue. It's not as simple as a blanket "selected for" or "selected against" situation. There's no such thing as universal fitness; just adaptations that are useful in a particular time and place.
Video of Aaron Swartz discussing the Open Library
The Nobel Prize in Literature from an Alternative Universe
You know what I mean. Having sex often is not something we need to do, vs eating and sleeping.
You've set out the requirements you want in your cofounders
- smart
- talented
- a strong personality (perhaps you mean fortitude)

Ask them to tell you stories about themselves that exemplify these traits.
The Art of the Start (by Guy Kawasaki)
I never get tired watching this. Please enjoy.
You might want to try that math again; it doesn't work for spheres.
"ordinary actions, ordinary results"
what's he staring at? the hand gestures are kind of distracting too. should have used apple remote with that keynote.

oh and as an aside, i'm starting to notice that "structured wiki" might be the new buzzword of 2008. hey, what you making? i'm making a web 2.1 app that's a structured wiki with digg style voting to help you find a babysitter ONLINE; i'm going to get microsoft to value it at 15 billion.
Thanks for bringing up that equation, Alex. When I said a "cake walk", Paul, I was talking about the opportunity variable. And I absolutely agree with you that culture drives the other two variables, which would otherwise be static across large populations (ability in terms of education, not raw ability). But that's my point. I'm blaming the culture. I'm saying that China and India and many other "first generation" cultures have more motivation to learn than this current "fourth generation" American culture, and that's driving their abilities.

Don't get me wrong, America has a top 10% which is incredibly well-educated and motivated. My concern, and I think the concern in the article, is not for that 10% but instead for the other 90% who are leaving high school with neither abilities nor the motivation to get them. Worse, the opportunities which came so easily for their parents and grandparents are waning. This leaves 90% of a generation about to face a situation where the performance they can expect from their lives is: little times less times not much at all.
Good point.

Apparently they also have enough common sense to prevent their ISP's from logging their traffic and sending it to compete.com ;)

http://tinyurl.com/2rvfxu
to this day, what impressed me most about dexter wasn't his legs, but his hand(s). for some reason i just never realized the complicated beauty of human hands until i took a look at dexter's hands. it's tricky to build something with a strong grip, yet simultaneously not crush everything it holds (not to mention keeping the weight low)...

I really hope anybots makes it one day, because it has an even harder road ahead since they're not willing to even think about showing it off to the military for ethical reasons (which i respect them for)
Rails UI Widgets Plugin (even less work now)
Autocompletion is only possible in languages that are excessively verbose. In a good language, the next token requires thought to produce.
upmod for the title relevence
There are different kinds of IDE autocompletion. Sometimes it is for generating the verbose statements in a language like Java. Sometimes it is a way of having API documentation integrated into the editor.
I don't think investors are subject to employment discrimination laws -- they've said that they prefer people of college graduate age or higher, and the older people are the more likely they are to have commitments that make them less mobile. I'd say the YC age sweet spot is 23-30.
Common stock is generally given a lower valuation than preferred, but this will nevertheless cause that number to increase dramatically (probably 10x what it was a few months ago).
lol ! Yes some people are just everywhere.

Well its was more the use of words that offended me. There is something "better" in that mozilla is a non profit committed (and with a track record) of delivering free (in every sense) software. They would only go beyond a standard when they really really really had to (and only until standards caught up).

I do respect adobes chops in the user interface space though, I just think their attitudes to open source (rather, their current leaderships attitudes) are a little pre-historic.
Can I buy some shares? I will bring you oranges.
>"There's a good chance that the machines will be smarter than us. There are two scenarios. The optimistic one is that these new superhuman machines are very gentle and they treat us like pets. The pessimistic scenario is they're not very gentle and they treat us like food."
hehehe
Tax revenue as a % of GDP.  Sweden is highest.
I think its hard to give general advice in response to your question "Whats best way to evaluate your idea", but here's a data point for your consideration. Here is how 2 friends and I ended up leaving our jobs to pursue our ideas:

- About 2 years ago, I decided that a major goal in my life was to start a new enterprise that created something new that people (customers / investors / users) would value and would make a difference. I teamed up with 2 other friends who I knew felt the same way and were getting tired of their day jobs in big IT corporates

- We decided to spend time trying to scientifically evaluate one idea with a working title "Travel Friend Finders". Think WAYN or dopplr, but this was before either were released. We thought of business models, and came up with a spreadsheet model which told us that users of the service would not be in the same place often enough to make it useful. So we decided to bin the idea and brainstorm others. Since then WAYN has been launched and is profitable, and dopplr has secured angel funding from the likes of Saul Klein, so this perhaps wasn't a great call or method of evaluating the idea!

- We built a prototype of another service which sent notifications about share price movements via SMS. It worked and we got some trial users, but we gave up on it because we didn't think the market was big enough (after some very cursory market research amongst financial PR firms) and getting real time data on stock was too expensive. This was all evenings and weekends.

- Over time the team changed as peoples' interest waned and other things took priority, but others with the same interest in creating something new took their place. However, it seemed incredibly difficult to get anywhere just working evenings and weekends because, to have an objective basis to evaluate a business idea you need to be out there talking to your potential users and customers. And that's difficult to do on evenings and weekends.

- 3 months ago, I took the plunge and left my job to work on the idea we were considering at the time. I did not leave because of the idea itself, but because I had engineered an opportunity to bring in some money with part-time contracting and realised that the time, money, flexibility and lack of IP assignments that big corporates ask for would put me in a far better position to evaluate and improve our ideas. My colleagues joined me and we secured another contract to bring money in and now it actually feels like we are at the start of something and can make real progress. I took a major cut in income, but it was the best decision I have made in my professional life (my best in personal life was marrying my wife!)

Amir Nathoo
We're only about 10^25W of usable power away from surpassing the Christian God in strength.
so its still vi + copy/paste into the top level? (or have you given in to the dark seductions of vim)? ;)
mathematics comes to mind as an area with many obscure specialties. i think the problem is that its abstractedness makes it very easy to place stakes in horrible places. unfortunately there's no sign of whether or not even the most obscure construct will have a practical application later on, and there have been countless surprises

i guess we have to let the kooky math guys play with whatever they want :-\
Private P2P now the best file-sharing alternative
Google's SearchMash Adds Snap Shot Previews. But Why Is It In Flash?
"I wish there were more companies like Scribd, and yes I definently wish I worked for one"

I echo the regret! The startup scene in Bangalore(ideas, people , funding etc) is utterly pathetic. The options are to suffer years of yucky jobs in the USA (all the while praying for the green card to come through) or work in one of the local outsource farms.
Digg Images On The Way
Yes, but as someone who has lived in Sweden for 7 years, I can tell you that these taxes benefit Swedish society.
Also the corporate tax rate is reasonable and you don't need to purchase private health insurance for employees. Also in general there is less litigation.

I think America should consider being a bit more above board and just increase the income/corporate tax rate. The current American taxes are mostly hidden inflation - print more money when you need it... But that game will be over soon.
The American government is not competent enough to make use of higher taxes. I'd be delighted to live in a slightly socialist liberal democracy or a truly conservative society... unfortunately, America seems to get the worst of both sides of the political spectrum.
i would go for it. if it doesn't work out, then still, it will be a good experience. risks, i think is a part of entrepreneurship
I'll give you my own translation of Goethe: "sowing is not so hard as reaping"
I think this is one of the main reasons that Lisp isn't popular; many in the community don't want it to be. This fact, along with sparse documentation and until recently, a lack of accessible editors have hampered growth. For a long time the only thing going for lisp seemed to be the language itself.
Relocating to the US, Part I (before you move)
I don't really see what problem is solves... maybe I don't have such a passion for books.

Sounds like unless you want really detailed information on out of print books, what already exists is good enough.

Am I missing the killer feature?
Berkeley going solar - city pays up front, recoups over 20 years
Photos: Robots for all occasions
I have a dozen business books (only the best) on the shelf, available at all times. This is one of them:

http://www.amazon.com/Art-Start-Time-Tested-Battle-Hardened-...

(I especially like one of his 2 word phrases: "Make Meaning")
What math?
Robot development conference hits Silicon Valley
Just do it. You'll know what you've got, one way of the other, soon enough. Where will you be if you don't do it?
Julien LeRunning CPU Intensive JavaScript Computations in a Web Browser
Find a small project (1-2 wks of work) you can work on together and make it clear that it is a trial process to see how you will all work together; something other than your startup (for possible legal reasons in the future). If any of them are unwilling to do this, that should be your first signal that that person isn't right for you.

Also since they came up to you after the presentation of the idea I would definitely make sure they know that whatever you are doing isn't the "one true idea" as it stands now, since it is likely to change significantly as you continue to work on it.

The "just go for it" is advice lite and I wouldn't take it, at least not for choosing your team, which is likely far more important than your idea.
"The world tends to work out for me. I try to give it reason to."
The funny thing is that, for once, most people probably agree with Balmer's original statement.

I don't see how Facebook could not be a fad. Unlike Google or even Microsoft, they aren't solving any real technology problems. They are providing a service that is essentially a limited version of the internet at large. I'm not saying they won't be around at all in five years. Just that the noobs will eventually tire of poking each other and paying to send each other icons.
F11. There, done.
Best Recruiting Methods in SF?
Hey guys, we're a startup looking to recruit talent! Any tips on where to find smart, passionate people? Specific job boards we should look at, other channels :)?

Oh and shameless plug: www.esgut.com/careers.html.
Aaron Swartz is the "killer" feature. How long before this goes the way of abandonment?
I've read the first half of it but I have mixed feelings about it. Yes, the advice is sound but the tone is dry; it lacks enthusiasm. The Bootstrapper's Bible by Seth Godin (and, generally, everything Seth writes or talks about) is much better.
I have just create a Greasemonkey script that replaces the contents of a page with the words "Get back to work!". Not perfect (you see a flash of the website before the content is replaced), and not as elegant as a firewall perhaps. But it might be easier to manage (Tools->Greasemonkey->Manage user Scripts -> enable/disable or add/remove site).

To be found at http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/13290
Oops! Guess that's a movie to go on my list.
There you go, dissing IDEs again. A lot of us like emacs!
Maybe we don't understand each other. I love hacking. But, it is harder, at least for me, to work all day and late into the night if there is something more interesting to do. I think it is harder to work the hours many startups require if there are distractions.

I think that if I was rich, I would absolutely not be eager to work 12 hour days again. I remember Paul Graham citing his aversion to having to work too damn hard for years and years as the primary reason he did not launch a second startup. Philip Greenspun seems to agree.

The point of all of this is to make a great deal of money. Find me a coal miner who showed up to work the day after winning the lottery.
Can anyone point me to a good tutorial for widgetizing a web app? Everything I find when searching is related to Mac desktop widgets or something else specific, like Google gadgets or Wordpress.
F11 also resizes the window to fullscreen. The aim of this project seems to be slightly different: Run Firefox without toolbars.

Still, it sounds crazy to have a dedicated project for this. I would think a commandline-option for firefox would be enough.
[PDF] The Next Version of the Next Big Language
Google: How can I use spreadsheets to answer some of my many questions about the world?
Why In Rainbows may not be the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow
Fans may have been saying thank you for good work. But in a time where the record industry is pulling some incredibly (and also not-so-incredibly to by fair) haywire moves, its important to try to normalize for all the "thank you" they were getting for the good will (which if what they do becomes the norm, won't get thanked for quite so often).
except that the free download link for the pdf mentioned has since been removed.

inurl:javascript.the.definitive.guide filetype:pdf
Wow. Very nice changes since v1!

I STILL think you need to pare down the amount of text on your page. Underneath the two highlighted sections, the only text should be "How it Works".

The Provider Identity Authentication section was confusing to me. I'm sure it makes sense once you're signed up, but it's too much to have on the front page.

You guys are really going in the right direction though. Good work.

EDIT:

The two highlighted sections. You have three bullet points for each: use one.

On the left: "Talk to qualified information sources"

On the right: "Share your knowledge"

On the bottom: "How it works"

Seriously, I think if you can pare it down to that you'll have an incredibly clear message.
Mac OSX Leopard: Worth The Wait
Closer, but you still need to chop more out. This is what I think you need to shoot for:

http://wufoo.com/
What To Buy an Entrepreneur for the Upcoming Holidays
a humorous look at shopping for an entrepreneur