skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
My impression is that the main reason of your startup failure is that it ran out of money. It seems you have a valuable product in your hands and a potential for a successful startup, since you had significant user interest when the application was free.

If you manage to provide the service and run your startup at the cost of a reasonable fraction of your salary, you would never meet this "end of money" wall and your startup could run forever.

So first, check out to cut the costs to a minimum, eventually offering a more modest service, especially if it's free. User will understand this, as they will understand that an extended service would require sharing the costs of hosting. You should then make sure the benefit compensates largely its cost, from the user perspective of course.

You wrote that there was no need for such service. How do you know ? The users could come up with a usage, and thus a need, you didn't thought out before. This is what you can gain from offering the service for free. Collect feedback and suggestions, you might find gold gems and perls in it.

The freemium model would make sense, if you can keep the cost of free service to a minimum. It is preferable, if you can manage it, to provide the service without depending on fixed amount of investment money that will be running out soon or later. You can achieve this by reducing the cost to a reasonable fraction of your salary.

That's the plan for my startup. I will start by hosting the service at home and thus without hosting cost. If there is income, and its progression ensures break even may be reached, then I'll invest in the next step, and so on.

The trick is to make an investment only if a positive money flow balance is restored shortly after it, progressing by steps, minimizing the risks of "end of money" failure. With this policy, your startup can only fail because of bad luck, like being hit by lightning for instance.
Well, it's not exactly easy to Google for ^H. Punctuation is annoying like that.
It depends on what you plan to do with it, I suppose. I'm personally happy to pay merely for a decent chunk of performance improvements (isn't that what we do when we buy faster computers, after all?), but the new frameworks are also interesting—OpenCL, for example.
You are mistaken.

There is also station effecency, and market effecency, but from: http://www.eve-wiki.net/index.php?title=Refining

Player efficiency
Players have an efficiency rating that starts at 37.5% and is modified by the skills Refining and Refinery Efficiency, as well as by any specialized skill for refining that particular material.

Refining provides a 2% improvement in the player's efficiency rating per rank.

Refinery Efficiency adds a 4% per rank improvement.

Each class of ore (Omber, Kernite, Veldspar) has a skill that improves the player factor by 5%/rank. Reprocessing ships, modules, and other items falls under the Scrapmetal Processing skill, which provides a similiar bonus.

The resulting rating is calculated by:

Net Player Efficiency = 0.375
(1 + 0.02* Refining skill rank)
* (1 + 0.04* Refinery efficiency rank)
* (1 + 0.05* specific skill rank) *

Also: Station taxes
NPC stations will take a share of the proceeds amounting to 5% of the resulting minerals. This tax will be reduced by your standing with the corporation running the station. At a standing of about 6.7, the amount taxed will be zero.

So, if you really want to compete, you need to max the market skills, 3 refining skills, and have a standing of 6.7. But, in 6 months you can make other people wonder why it's worth more to sell the ore than refine it themselves.

PS: There are also a few stations where ore price is increased becaue of a quest.
The other way to look at this is that Apple gave themselves plenty of buffer to ship.
RethinkDB: Rethinking the Database using Modern Assumptions
Twelve Demonstrated Ways to Significantly Extend Maximum Mouse Life Span
The Coin Flip: A Fundamentally Unfair Proposition? - Coding the Wheel
Identify Code Structure Patterns at a Glance
Patents! I know of three in effect right now, and there are probably more. Might be a good idea to include.
True, but unlike practically everyone else they didn't allow their work to fit the expanded time available. Everyone builds in buffers and pads their estimates, but few people are able to work to their original true estimate.
Snow Leopard has always been described by Apple as a performance and stability upgrade.
From a very good screenwriting website comes this essay, "Impressive Failure":

http://www.wordplayer.com/columns/wp08.Impressive.Failure.ht...

"In plotting an action-adventure type film, how your hero fails is at least as important as how he succeeds. If the plot requires the hero to fail, try to figure out a way for him to fail as impressively as possible.

"Consider RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. Indiana Jones is perhaps the greatest action hero in the history of the movies. And in his debut film, he flat-out fails from beginning to end.

"He loses the golden idol. Marian is kidnapped and he's unable to rescue her. He finds the Ark, but it is immediately taken away. His bluff to destroy the Ark is called, and he gets recaptured. He can't even look upon the Ark when it is opened. And the government ends up with his long sought-after and much suffered-for prize.
This guy's an action hero?

"Yup. Because he fails so damn impressively, from start to finish. Indy fails so well, in fact, the audience is impressed as hell, and hardly aware of the fact that he's failing. The defeats are just setbacks that create more opportunities for heroism. As an added benefit, Indy wins the audience's sympathy -- the poor guy's trying so hard, you can't help but root for him."
I think it depends. If you have a first-gen MBP than you are better off getting the new OS. 10.4 "supported" Intel chips but it always felt like a hack between PPC and Intel platforms. 10.5, and each update since, has gotten progressively better for Intel chips.

I think you've fallen for the marketing trap where a list of features has to be present for it to be worth something. Not many lists include code and platform optimizations because it doesn't market well. I've used OS X since 10.1 and each update has gotten remarkably better. Things have mellowed out in 10.5 but the OS feels fully baked.
> No one knows who said "never attribute to malice what can be explained by incompetence"...

It is said to be Napoléon Bonaparte.

> ...but it is a powerful idea.

Yes anyway, this is what matters and this is "true".
When Apple first announce 10.6, they said it wouldn't have any end-user features, but just a lot of re-engineering under the hood. Well, they couldn't help themselves, and there are a bunch of smaller features, plus things like Exchange support across the board.

And there really has been a lot of re-engineering, most of it focussed on making things a lot faster and smaller.

I think Apple deserve our thanks for actually making performance and improved footprint an explicit goal of a major release, rather than larding on new feature after new feature in some kind of misguided feature war.
I've upgraded a few MBPs (1st & 2nd gen) and even some old powerbooks all of which perform perceivably better with 10.5 YMMV
Every other "system update" reboot I've made for the past 20 months seems to have included an update to QuickTime and Safari -- both of which, by the way, are available as free downloads -- and the prominent featuring of those two products as a component of a whole new version of an OS makes it feel like a service pack.
Even as a power-user, I can tell you it's confusing as hell. Can't you use PayPal?
Absolutely true, no contest there.

What I mean is this: there are literally millions of cases, there would have to be in order to have 2 million people in prison. Many more cases will not have made it through the prosecution process, I'm assuming there are still some level-headed judges and juries out there.

But 'woman exonerated for making breast feeding pic' does not make a very good headline, so you'll never hear about it.

Which is ok, because the system already took care of that one.

So, the media is on the right side in this one, but it still distorts the image.
This article leads me to wonder: could an individual engage in high-speed trading? Could this be a new way for hackers to make a profit?
who needs google:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/^H

And a hacker asking for control-h ? (this is hacker news, isn't it ?)
Right, since when is advertisement meant to give an accurate picture of reality.
With government contractors, gov employees, and union workers, they actively avoid helping anyone out if it is outside their specialty, even if they are severely under tasked. In fact, they will actively try to avoid doing their own jobs. I've seen it happen too many times. I've heard worse than I've seen from people I trust.

The disgusting part is this is accepted as normal behavior. There's rarely punishment because these people earn their employer serious money. Contractors tend to be paid 1/2 - 1/4 of the money they actually bring in. For gov't contractors, there go your tax dollars.

People complain about government workers being lazy. No, they are just as lazy as most regular Americans[1].

[1] I have no idea if this applies to other countries, but human nature tells me it probably is.
I agree. There's plenty of people that would call me a "hacker" (my non-technical friends joke with me about it), but I wouldn't describe myself as one.

Besides, I don't even know Clojure! o_O
So ATT don't say which apps Apple approve. It's simply that app store managers have to guess which apps would annoy their only phone connection supplier
In the US, "socialism" is one of those push-button emotional words that immediately ends a debate. There's probably a parallel to Godwin's Law: As the length of a conversation about US health care increases, the probability of labeling any change to the status quo as "socialist" approaches one.
Meetup in Boston
I'm in the process of looking for co-founders, and I thought it would be very constructive to organize some kind of meet up in Boston. Anyone out there interested in swapping experience, and maybe a beer or two?
> and the prominent featuring of those two products as a component of a whole new version of an OS makes it feel like a service pack.

point me to a page that only displays those 2 updates as the main features. In my browser Apple is clearly marketing the 64-bit, Grand Central Dispatch and OpenCL as the main reasons to upgrade.

Also stop referring to an OS upgrade as a service pack. Because it isn't. Microsoft releases service packs, just like Apple releases minor updates to their OS, (eg. 10.5.7)
Absolutely, that's why they get a second source. But you can run with a single leak as long as it's positioned as such and you give the other party a chance to respond. I don't recall how it was mentioned in the original article.
Vertical Farming: A Farm on Every Floor
Hindsight is 20/20:

http://daringfireball.net/2009/08/google_voice_story_wrong
Well, just because I've read the Jargon File doesn't mean everyone else has.
Is there anyone would like to share his or her experience working at Facebook? Do they have a hacker friendly environment?
Living on the Edge of Rails, Part 3
This is one of these "truths" that make you smile, but are actually not worth writing and reading. Sure, lots of people waste time unproductively in and out of offices, but these people are b.o.r.i.n.g. I much rather read about the few that actually accomplish a lot.
Does intelligence have a genetic component though? And how big is that genetic component?
renai42 doesn't appear to comment here but simply posts articles from keepingthedoor.com. Perhaps he reads these comments though.
Is anybody surprised about this? It was only a matter of time. In fact, I literally can't remember the last time I, or any of my friends, used the paper to find movie times. Chalk up another victory for the Internet.
It's hard to guess how many, how complex, and how fast 4nm cores are going to be. However, (45nm / 4nm)^ 2 * 4mb of L3 cache ~= 500MB of L3/4? cache. Which is just awsome.
ah, a blogspammer.
Waterfall Charts and Exits
OpenBSD has done it 26 times in a row:

http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/07/16/2322203/Why-OpenBSDs...

PS: This article was written before 4.6 has was minted; it will actually be released a full month early.
Emotions and Usability
I expect the prominent inclusion of the hinomaru (the red disk in the center of the Japanese flag) probably will get a raised eyebrow or two...

Heh... Check out the 1964 Tokyo Olympics logo: http://www.sportslogos.net/league.php?id=27
Twitter Injection
Pretty accurate. It just misses the part where I read the manual (if it's available).
Also stop referring to an OS upgrade as a service pack. Because it isn't.

Well, that convinced me!
Living root bridges
Seven Myths About Alternative Energy
Hi guys, I'm Langid founder. Sorry for getting the wrong flag, I changed the saudi with the one you provided.

http://langid.net/images/flags/48/ar.png

Thanks for feedback and have a great day!
Yeah you got that right. The more you type the more google apis should be accurate.
Is a Green World a Safer World?
Where Middle-aged Rappers' Careers Are Heading
The number of stars is not arbitrary, it is equal to the number of states. In fact the US flag has been changed whenever states joined the union. Before Hawaii's statehood in 1960, the flag had 49 stars.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usa_flag#Historical_progression...
1. You assume customers talk. Bad assumption in many, many markets. Why do you think chasm tells you to choose a niche with a network effect? Most markets aren't like this.

2. Network effects have specific rules to be useful. Most businesses can't take advantage of them, especially if they are charging money.

3. 5->30 is not a good basis to judge this on. You are still in the early adopter phase, and luckily for you this market must have a high word of mouth quotient.

The problem with just assuming things is that it stops you from looking objectively at your market, and you end up relying on luck. Most businesses I know want a repeatable sales process, not one based on faith.
Reader’s Digest Files for Bankruptcy Protection
Jeez. Looks like I’m not going to be interviewing Charles Stross any time soon!

Yeah, because not communicating is the best way to understand and resolve differences. :P
Pretty good book. Big chunks didn't apply to me (like the parts about mortgages, children or spouses). However, the author does provide some great step-by-step info on making the transition. I've recommended it to a few friends, and recommend it to the HN community too.
Might be useful to include your name, credentials, background, etc.
‘Skanks in NYC’, the Federalist Papers and a $15 million lawsuit against Google
Hi Frocer, sorry I missed this. can you ping me directly with mroe info? bradford dot n dot cross at gmail dot com
It means that I've built my startup upon the faults of the competition. My professional experience and MBA education has allowed me to very easily identify opportunity costs. My startup has tweeked the competition's "so-called" attempts, and speaks directly to their opportunities in pricing, available features, usability, user interaction and activity, fun, and site purpose.
The new Quicktime leverages various features in Snow Leopard, e.g. Grand Central.
I'd love to play with OpenCL on my i7. Since no Intel implementation exists, I'll stick to CUDA on my Tesla. I am not sure learning OpenCL is a worthwhile investment yet. I am skeptical about the ability of OpenCL to run efficiently on a very heterogeneous devices.

...then again...I suppose people said the same thing about OpenGL.
"Trying to define yourself is like trying to bite your own teeth." - Alan W. Watts

How do I know who I am? When I try a new food, what are my criteria for deciding whether or not I like it? If I wish to be a better person, why am I not already that better person?
Anyone know how those of us who bought an mac recently get it for $10? I didn't see a link on that page.
Ask HN: What's your least favorite tech word? Mine's "non-trivial".
Any time I hear someone mutter "non-trivial" a little piece of me dies inside. What other art/profession uses that word?

I can't imagine an automotive engineer describing a new car engine as non-trivial or a painter describing his work as non-trivial.

Anyways, what words wind you guys up?

Edit: Happy Monday, btw.
I hate to admit it, but I have never found a way to become comfortable with the name "Hacker News".

It violates one of the cardinal rules of business that I have tried to ascribe to: communicate exactly what you must with the right number of words, no more, no less.

The word "hacker" means many things to many people. Make no mistake about it:

I am a computer programmer.

I write applications for business. I have used many different tools over the years and have settled into the ones I like best. I love to learn, but most of all, I love to deliver software to my consumer so that they can make things happen.

I have written (what seems like) an infinite number of lines of code. I do it every day. I come to hn almost every day. (Imagine that, a programmer who works all day, every day, and takes his breaks by reading "Hacker News".)

I can't imagine doing anything else. I have considered other careers several times for a few microseconds, but quickly regained my senses.

I have a feeling that on my death bed (many years from now, I hope), my last words will be, "I love you, honey, and make sure that they check the repository for that new function I wrote yesterday."
paradigm shift

leverage
It seems so:

http://www.apple.com/macosx/uptodate/
Really simplistic answer, but should get you started: there is no single definable thing that is identifiably "you". If you lost a foot, would you still be you? At what point does the food you eat become a part of you? If you lost your memories, or changed your mind about something you believe deeply, or if you go to sleep, do you stop being you?
http://www.apple.com/macosx/refinements/ for all those who claims it's just a service pack.

But, as I said elsewhere, the major improvements are under the hood.
It's not limited to tech people, but I do hear them say it a lot: "irregardless".

edit: Oh and let's not forget Scott Adam's favorite: Synergy
I think a website that enabled VOIP on an iPhone would also fall under this exclusion.
I think the lawn (in the US at least) is just a holdover form the Jeffersionian agricultural utopia, where everyone is a farmer. Actually every complaint you have about lawns applies to most farming as well.
Interesting story, thank you for that. My own experience parallels yours with one big difference. Every couple of years I get totally sick of it and do something completely different for a while.

Travel, build stuff in 'the real world'.

It's a love/hate relationship, it is what I do best but I can't get over the frustrating feeling that we're doing this all completely wrong, there has to be a better way.

But I haven't found it yet.
On the whole "Don't call yourself a hacker thing," I say Bah! It stinks of false modesty, something like those hideously insincere statements politicians make when jockeying for position before an election: I am not running for office, but if asked to serve....

Sure I'm a hacker. I sincerely don't think I'm a good hacker and I have the lack of accomplishments to prove it. But sure I'm a hacker.
I wonder how its going to work. If you have Leopard and your hard disk dies - do you have to install Leopard and then upgrade to Snow Leopard (which would be a pain), or will the upgrade allow a clean install onto a blank hard disk?

Still on Tiger here too, which is my main reason for wondering if I can get away with the $29 version!?
Well done OpenBSD contributors and stewards!
Quantum, in almost any context. I do use non-trivial, but I'm a mathematician, and I refer you to Feynman's comments about tthe use of 'trivial'.
venturehacks.com
YAFI: yet another flightcaster interview
Another interview about Flightcaster. This time we get into more than just the Clojure and Hadoop infrastructure and talk about machine learning, data-fu, YC, and how predicting flight delays does or doesn't relate to financial modeling.
The End of Innocence
I reverted to 1.8 because I could not find documentation for the Standard Library of 1.9. Generating it myself also proved impossible (out of memory errors and other issues).
No M v S here. All posts are written by me. No use of Markov chain technologies.
Why some web apps are successful and others aren't
Not really, I just get shit done- sometimes that involves throwing together a quick app, sometimes that means designing a marketing site, sometimes that means coming up with new interface and product ideas, sometimes that means customer emails and sometimes that means going through our analytics to improve our sales funnel.

I'm no programmer, I just learn the minimum amount of programming to get what makes sense for me to do done.
Rock Band Game
The third game from the Guitar Hero series is here, and ready to rock your face off. Channel your inner guitar god as you thrash your way through all sorts of venues. In addition to standard Guitar Hero features you know and adore, this game features all kinds of killer new options, such as the new multiplayer action-inspired battle mode, grueling boss battles, a bevy of exclusive unlockable content and authentic rock venues. The expanded online multiplayer game modes will also allow axe-shredders worldwide to compete head-to-head for true legendary rock status. Best of all, check out the new songs! Fresh downloadable content will be offered on multiple platforms, and players can now shred to a set list from many of the greatest rock songs ever recorded. Featured hits include: Rock And Roll All Nite (as made famous by Kiss) School's Out (as made famous by Alice Cooper) Cult of Personality (by Living Colour) Barracuda (as made famous by Heart)This game comes with the all-new wireless Gibson Les Paul guitar controller, available for each platform for the very first time. The exclusive Gibson guitars will include innovative features such as removable faceplates that will allow fans to later personalize their guitars and make it their own, and a new button color design that will be integrated for an even greater authentic feel and rock experience. With Guitar Hero 3, you've got more than a game - it's a one-of-a-kind hard rock experience. New Les Paul customizable wireless guitar controller Thrash and burn through new venues and varying levels of difficulty New playlist with awesome new songs and unlockable content Multiplayer action mode Grueling boss battles Online multiplayer mode lets you battle other rockers worldwide For use on the Microsoft XBox 360 Game System
It's a love/hate relationship

For me, it's love. The only hate is when others mount speed bumps or road blocks to slow my progress.

it is what I do best

I suspect that's true for many of us here. We should be grateful we found our calling. (I remember once reading that Kareem Abdul Jabbar was born at the perfect time and place to become exactly what he was meant to be: a basketball player. I feel the same way about programming.)

I can't get over the frustrating feeling that we're doing this all completely wrong, there has to be a better way.

Yes, that's the meta beauty of it! I spend almost as much time working on how to develop better as I spend actually developing.

But I haven't found it yet.

Good. If you did, you'd probably die. They didn't name it continuous learning and improvement for nothing.
Thanks. Just found it as well.
> Yes, that's the meta beauty of it! I spend almost as much time working on how to develop better as I spend actually developing.

That's a good rule, I do that too, about 2:3, 2 days to learn and work on my 'environment', 3 days on actual work. Not exactly like that, but on average that's what it works out to.