skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
Some of these questions are simply stupid. I mean, if I'd be shrunk to the size of a nickel, I would have bigger problems than imminent blending. Assuming constant cell size, which cells would I lose? Or do they shrink the atoms too? Wouldn't the required pressure needed to pump blood through my veins go up? Terrible, terrible question (for computer scientists at least, might be great for biologists).

But I think 9, 13 and 16 are predictive of certain logic skills that you'd need for e.g. debugging. I hate to say that I failed 13 - the answer is so simple.
It would be interesting to know how Yahoo and MS responds - I wonder someone like ZOHO is still not yet bought - may be too expensive but definitely to look forward for as they also have project management (like MS Project) and CRM tools and apps ...
It depends, if you think you're getting worth what you have done till date then go for it - but then you're loosing your baby - but then you would be able to concentrate on next idea ... it's kind of give and take situation ...
You're right, Craigslist is a good example. But even there there's enough phishing going on that I'm not comfortable using the dating section. I've had success finding apartments though.

The difference with dating sites, though, is that they only work when members are active, aggressive, and open with their personal information. They work best in a way that spammers will rush to exploit, at which point everyone gets frustrated and stops using the service. This doesn't stop spammers, and pretty soon the ratio of valid profiles to fake ones is ridiculously small.
I was thinking of something like that, but I am not familiar with the copyright laws etc even for test listening music. How does last.fm deal with that? Loyalty fees to the big four?
Thought experiment:

I'm going to try and synthesize a strategy for facebook from Marc Andreessen's post on platforms from yesterday, the follow-on discussion on AVC, and this post from Bubblegen...

1. Getting "open": for the near/medium term, facebook needs to become a "level 3" platform, where complementary services are able to themselves capture value. (I suspect that the facebook people see this already, but, then again, they might be "evil" ;-)

2. In the long run, the Net itself is the "platform"; I don't know what the service they might provide in that world (5+ years?), but I suspect it's nothing like the facebook of today. Maybe something that manages the portability of your personal info/history?

Any thoughts?
to my knowledge this is the best tool for the job:
http://cofoundr.com
Free Labor Isn't Free at All (Part Two of Two)
It looks like a better designed site than http://www.emachineshop.com/
More importantly, Craigslist uses pay to filter spam in other ways: real estate and job listings.

In that case, it was "asked" for by the users.
The comparison between the Google interview process and the Voigt-Kampff test is pure gold.
If US visa is not possible then you can visit Australia - please visit following link ...

http://www.linkedin.com/in/randleebdutoit
"The iPod of water coolers, producing flat and bubbly water from tap water."

details here:
http://peterarmstrong.com/articles/2007/08/19/company-1-turn...
This may help you as well ...

http://www.business-standard.com/smartinvestor/storypage.php...
AVC: Tough Times Ahead for the Web (...or not?)
This is really cool, I hope it takes off.
MySpace to Discuss Effort to Customize Ads
AD revenue is the cow that gives milk forever (if you innovate continuously) ...
Start using it :)
So what's the solution?

(ah, this article describes Horizons' system: http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/378/378346p1.html )
ProfileBuilder Acquires social networking resource ZingFu.com
Search 'Hacker News'
Like most people here I thought that it would be nice to be able to search news.yc and after a few hours of coding, I have a working solution. It is not perfect, it is built on Yahoo's search api and should get better as it serves more results.Since I have already coded a Social search site, I reused most of the code and hence the page retains the social aspect of my Social Search Site. Firefox and IE7 users can also download a search plugin, which will enable them to search from the search bar in their Browsers (no toobar!). If someone is interested in tagging news.yc/building a human edited directory for news.yc, get in touch with me; I have already started doing it.
I have created a plugin, that can be used for searching ycombinator.It is available here: http://trk7.com/yc, on just needs to click on it to install in FF and IE7.
Touch screens can be good for a lot of things but a desktop just isn't one of them unless the monitor is laid flat on the desk. Having to reach out your arm to the monitor constantly is not comfortable.
not a good article. the "ponzi" theory is good, simply because the advertisers pumping $ into the network haven't gotten proven returns (lots of the FB networks that have venture backing are pumping in their own ad inventory and subsidizing their own networks - not sustainable). the whole "evil" thing is laughable though. wtf?
YC startup Xobni launches beta at TechCrunch 40
So this would work for people with no relatives, close friends or at least a lawyer? I imagine for most folks someone must know when they died and having some instructions for what to do when you pass away shouldn't be too difficult.
Processing is fun
The two ideas aren't mutually exclusive. Some presenters might do better in front of an audience, some might find they can do better the second time around. You could mix footage to redo certain parts, etc.
PreZentit, Our Startup (Online PreZentations). Asking for feedback.
We have been working on this for the last four months.
It's an online presentations editor that allows a team to edit the same presentation simultaneously.

Feedback is really appreciated.
(We will apply to YC this week).
How Much Does Your Commute Really Cost You? Calculate It... Then Kill It?
<I know exactly what my next thousand lines of code are going to be. I just can't bring myself to sit down and type them out for hours on end.>

What are you writing in? I felt exactly the way you just described when I was doing a lot of CRUD in Java. If you are experiencing this coding malaise, the kind where you've done your thinking and you know exactly what your fingers are going to be tapping for the next 12 hours, your tools are truly letting you down.

Your tools are also putting you in danger, because somewhere out there, a competitor is using a better set of tools to finish the task in a tenth of the time and move on, with better motivation as well.
That title seems deceptive. This is a Facebook app rather than something launched by facebook.
UC regents rescinded an invitation to Larry Summers
Lots of people have high hopes in location based advertising. For no reason, i think. at least not right now.

http://www.russellbeattie.com/blog/my-thoughts-on-consumer-l...
Survey: Executives less inclined towards entrepreneurship than 10 years ago
Email: The Once and Future King of Social Networking
Does increasing popularity of the facebook platform make Techcrunch less important?
in the same vein, buglabs is doing something cool.

http://www.buglabs.net/
TechCrunch40 Session 5: Productivity & Web Apps (Xobni's here!)
We were afraid of Google slides... but now not so much.
One of Umair's theories is that traditional industrial-era representations of the firm (i.e. crass commercial corporation) are headed towards irrelevance.

In their stead, firms which leverage the wealth of information/value outside the firm (i.e. GOOG) will create huge value.

GOOG leverages information outside the firm...and that info stays outside the firm (at least as far as search is concerned). This is generally referred to as "edge competency."

IN CONTRAST, facebook sucks information in from the outside world, and keeps it inside the firm.

Ergo, it is "evil."

He is right, in that this is not a sustainable strategy.
I think we're all trained to expect a downturn after a sustained run of good times. It does not appear that tech will trigger the downturn (if there will be one) this time, but the question is how much will tech be affected?

Personally I believe that the solid business models will continue to prevail since internet traffic will continue to increase. However, marginal ideas and products will have more trouble finding the quick cash they are looking for.
4 Rules for When and How to Spend Startup-Cash
We have been working on this for the last four months.
It's an online presentations editor that allows a team to edit the same presentation simultaneously.

Feedback is really appreciated.
(We will apply to YC this week).
Someone modded most of the posts down in this thread, which is just odd. Ideological disagreement about the ease of use of OS X?
That's true. The ergonomics of a laptop touch screen/tablet PC are better.
congrats guys! looking good.
who is Tommy Lee? oh... Pamela Anderson's ex-husband...

I can think of a couple reasons he is well-known.
when I say photons, I mean, using photos to measure the position of a particle.
Yes. I applied and got an interview with YC for what was more or less this idea... among other reasons for our rejection, one was that we failed the flexibility test by strongly disagreeing with Paul Graham's suggestion that the simplified subset of our problem to focus on was an "internet picture frame with email" which conflicted with our stated goals of not trivializing the internet appliance.

I would go so far as to not give the user access to low level storage, but only give them access to their files in the context of specific tasks that used them (unless they were in advanced mode). Email me if you'd like to talk about this more.
The goal of any startup is to find out early and often how customers will react to your vision. If you have a vision of charging for a service, and you give it away for free; you may find people leaving to a competitor.

If ads are your vision, then establishing trust with your consumer base is critical. They need to know that their information is not being used inappropriately.

You will also demonstrate value sooner to investors if you have an established revenue stream.

One option we have considered is establishing 2 brands, just for this purpose.

One can be ad based, and the other could be free or subscription based.
Is it heavily favored or weighted to have a demo or proof of concept?
An Event to Remember
Debugging Script: Dumping out ASP.NET Session Contents
5 Things every DBA should know like the back of their hand...
Finding A New Job, Week 2 - How to Waste Five Hours of My Time
Preparing for the Interview... What to ask employers
Startups that make what people really want are likelier to survive the downturn when it does come. For example, Peter Lynch has said that downturns are a good time to invest in companies that make breakfast cereal -- people don't ever stop buying that. A case in point are the Indian outsourcing companies that saw their stock skyrocket during the last recession -- at a time when American companies were using them as a means to cut costs.
I got what he's trying to say. The second I read about the fbFund I knew the ulterior reason wasn't to help out the apps makers, it was $10MM dollars to insure that Facebook can sell out for the highest possible valuation as they can.

Why does Facebook have to subsidize other apps? If the platform is as good and full of opportunities as they say it is, no one would need the extra carrot on the stick.
"in a world where few people are genuinely religious"

I would argue the vast majority of the world is genuinely religious.
Awesome. Now I can get back to reading Tom Friedman.
I am a native of Bangalore but work in Hyderabad currently. Do you mind giving me your email id? Mine is subramani.athikunte@gmail.com
plentyofish.com apparently does a pretty good job.
this isn't a startup, but i want it: a flashlight on my cell phone. i'm always using my phone's screen as a flashlight in the dark, but it's not very bright and drains the battery.

they've got those tiny, efficient, mega-powerful LED flashlight keychains -- can't be THAT hard to integrate one into a phone.
I wonder when they'll officially launch Adsense for RSS (currently in private beta)?
I agree in total with this take...

The Net isn't going to stop growing in traffic or utility, that's for sure.

My fear is that the glut of mediocrity will put a chilling effect on this "sector" from an investment standpoint.

Based on my recent experience, it's seems like it would be easy to spook Angel investors, and I don't think that would be good for seed-stage NetCo' [even the good ones].
Yes. Of course.

But there are many problems with your assertion that it's just knowing someone who will follow directions:

1) Many people do not know enough technology to be able to track all the accounts a user might have.
2) Many users don't want their families going through their accounts when they die (ie, cybersex and online fantasy issues)
3) Some people may die unexpectedly, with insurance but no directions as far as online presence
4) The average family memeber when left with an unexpected death, even with a list of online associates, will not know how to approach these people (what were their roles in the deceased life?) or what to say
5) It's just a hassle and is easier to have someone else do it
and 6) It's not something people think about a lot, but with the wired-up X Generation and tail-end-of-the-boomers getting older, it will become a more pronounced issue.
Looks great!

So, would the Hollywood Pitch be: Gmail features for Outlook et al?
Do the TechCrunch40 startups need a $50,000 prize?
That is a really awesome looking product. I wonder why they built it as an Outlook extension though. With everyone's focus on web applications I'm interested to hear why they felt an outlook add-in was the way to go.
a social network for couples. my married friends complain that they feel like hermits, because it's hard to meet other couples to hang out with.

you'd have a shared profile, which is matched with other local couples with similar tastes in movies, music, food, whatever.
This ties into a question I was going to ask as a discussion item... how far "ahead of the curve" is best for startups, in terms of maximizing chances of success?

Obviously one can be too far ahead of the curve, and the market, and run out of cash before you can get profitable, but neither do you want to be a me-too player in a crowded market where differentiation is difficult (and the best-funded player wins).

Where's the sweet spot?
prson is like my friend's idea -- an online marketplace for the contract killing industry. connect hits and hitmen. =P
Haha if only I had the money. I quit my job 4 months ago to do my startup. Someday ;)
Its called Nokia 1100. Its an incredibly popular phone in India.

Its cheap, sturdy, comes with a flashlight that you can operate by clicking one button. Very useful.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_1100#Features
HotorNot to become pay site again
When can I have the greasemonkey version? The thunderbird version?
The other things that you may ask your employer is like:

1. What is the vision and mission of your company and your IT organization? (this will give you the clear picture about the company and how committed they are to achieve their targets)

2. Do you offer flexihours? Can I work from home? (this will give you how much co. thinks about their employees and whether they are forward looking)

3. What are your plans for next 2 to 3 years? (this will give perspective of your growth in the company)

4, How many employees are you planning to hire in next 6months? (this will give you an idea whether company is growing)
Outlook has a lot of unhappy users!
Doesn't work too well. A search for "facebook" yields no voted results, and the display is all messed up in IE (yes people still use it).
The last downturn also saw some companies flourish that made stuff nobody would think of as "really wanting", though. HotOrNot, LiveJournal, FuckedCompany, Blogger, Del.icio.us.

I think the biggest predictor of success during a bust tends to be low costs. Recessions force honesty on business people: you are economically viable if you contribute more value (actual value, not predicted value) than you consume in resources. It's relatively easy for one guy working out of his home to produce more value than he consumes. If his product is at all useful, he's basically got it covered. It's relatively difficult for a startup with $20M of financing to produce more than it consumes, because his product has to be roughly 200 times more useful than the solo entrepreneur.
I'd like to see pg provide more info about Arc.

In particular, I want to know how Arc handles concurrency, e.g. native threads, Erlang-style concurrency, etc.
The Times they are a-changin'
Their investors use Outlook... Xobni is solidly targeted at the enterprise.
Pretty cool, guys. Any future plans for integration for Exchange? For example, if I click "Schedule time with (person)" and that person is inside my company, I might expect to have the Outlook "New Meeting Request" window open. The existing functionality is great for non-Exchange users, though.
How much equity for a web designer?
Yeah, almost without question if you advertise for PHP you'll get everything from a PHD who's mastered every language under the sun to a 14 year old kid who's total experience is hacking his wordpress page over the last month.

Developing in another language is important almost for this reason alone!
wow, according to that page, the nokia 1100 is the world best-selling handset. 200 million sold. (cf. 50M razrs, 110M ipods, 115M ps2s)

i'm guessing it's cause of the flashlight. ;)
How much of your success is due to his/her work?

Their position matters little.
Finally, a video of what Xobni actually does
Here is your email revolution, and actually, it will be televised.
"What does your organization do?"

This is a terrible question. No sane employer would hire somebody who can't be bothered to spend two minutes skimming the company's web site before the interview.
Hot Or Not Abandons Free Model
I have found in my last several startup attempts that I'm wasting (using) far more time on design-related issues than I would care to. It is the one obstacle that bars me from running full-speed with my ideas. Specifically, I think that if you look at giving equity to a designer justify it using the same <a href="http://www.paulgraham.com/equity.html">Equity Equation</a> it looks favorable. However the equity equation lets you figure out a max, but not what is typical.

In this particular instance, we have a working app running and the basic design is done, but it needs fine tuning and ongoing love. In general I'm wondering what a fair-shake would be for a partner in starting a new project. I'm also interested in the general case, too, of a brand-new startup.
Hijack that google image labelling game idea and apply it to something like WoW. Basically, make an open platform that encodes computer AI hard problems humans can solve easily into a MMOPRG format.
I would think that the question would be tweaked given a website read. I think the idea is that you're interested in the core business, not just being a IT drone.
change Cintributors to Contributors

http://prezentit.com/help/contribute

;-)
Viaweb was the first level 3 web platform according to the definition given by Andreessen?
'd like to point out that, as far as I know, Viaweb, an online shop system build by Paul Graham and Robert Morris, was the first level 3 web platform according to the definition given by Andreessen:
Generic combiner of web 2.0 apps. Not the same as a personalized homepage, e.g. google's homepage. The system would work with any web 2.0 app that provided an API, and would either give users an easy plug and play method of combining the apps to create something new, with easy app discovery; or use AI to resolve general goals. Basically, SOA on a global scale.
YC Ivy League Bias
I enjoy reading Paul Graham's essays. He's obviously a smart guy and usually has thought provoking and interesting essays. He often looks at things from a different perspective and I like that a lot, although I don't always agree with his conclusions. I've also followed along with his Y Combinator "seed investment firm." However, I've never applied to Y Combinator or even considered applying because I've always felt like he leans heavily toward the Ivy League crowd.
Can you put up a few sample presentations that I can just go and view right away? (I guess there will be some under Explore soon). The editor looks very professional and cool but I want to see the end result too.
changed (thanks)
autodidact - state the subject area you want to learn and it presents the best resources for learning the subject.
Looks like we have a winner. Best!
Interesting, but do you have any examples of something that would be useful and fun?
A follow-on to Writing, Briefly

http://www.paulgraham.com/writing44.html

Expand on "develop a nose for bad writing." What are some signs of bad writing that might not be obvious to hackers? What have you discovered as you write new essays and see how they work on your audience?
Pretty slick. Can anyone that used the real Zenter make a comparison?
Someone has to make sure the hackers aren't hacking things up.

(Btw, how about a couple synonyms for 'hacker?')
Just assume "yes". It'll make your case that much stronger.
The truth about flash in email
I think PG has said that he really likes screencasts, especially on the applications. It's probably a good idea to have both or just the screencast for the application if your demo only works in very specific circumstances.
Handy service.

http://numbr.com/

Highly recommended.
Here is a sample PreZentation.

http://prezentit.com/german/6

Hope you like it :P
TechCrunch40 Session 6: Revenue Models & Analytics
wow! i looked at the demo for the first time and i can see nothing useful or interesting about xobni.

this project has raised millions in funding?

a plugin that adds some functions to outlook? this project is as doomed as a project can be.

next in line:

etirovaf : a browser plugin that lets you search your bookmarks

rabksat : a plugin that displays all your applications right on the desktop

nwodtuhs : the easy power-off button - power off as its meant to be
Is there a way to go full-screen? I hit F11 but there is still a small bar at the top of the screen.
In TechCrunch 40's Hallway
Read more.. about progressive disclosure (GrandCentral & GCal case study)
I have to agree. I think many users will expect an on-screen fullscreen button as in youtube or er.. 'google presentations'.
6. Avoid all of this mess by rolling your own or using something simple :)
ok...here are some of my more traditional 'hacks'

negative margins ( margin-top:-5px; )
stylesheet switchers
<?php if(xbrowser) { include'stylesheet1.php';} ?>

and so on
No no no.

Fake profiles are still a huge problem. Facebook handled it early on by severely limiting their audience but that solution simply would not work for hotornot.

You tell me how to effectively solve this without driving your users away... I found some decent solutions but it's not nearly as easy as stopping spam.
Could work for singles too. Instead of a dating site that matches people to each other, it matches people to fun activities and events. Send a bunch of singles or couples to Cocktail-making or salsa dancing class and they've got a common ground to talk about and can still enjoy even if they don't find someone.
I give Microsoft 1 year or until the next release of Outlook Professional. By that time they will either buy Xobni or copy the functionality.

On a related note, you can see Bill Gates as one of the contacts of the test guy in the video.
IE7? No, that bar is for "security".
Firefox/Opera/etc: real fullscreen.
TVRss + Miro (formerly democracy) or utorrent, tutorial here http://lifehacker.com/software/bittorrent/hack-attack-get-yo.... You might also want to check out TV-links.co.uk if you prefer convenience over quality. As for a legal option, no idea, joost?
Someone please make the bubble die