skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
I'd really be interested in seeing the published research. I do however agree with the point that there are too many practitioners and advocates who see microfinance as a panacea - and in many ways it is a radical departure from the way aid has previously been provided as it provides a real potential for being a sustainable way to deliver financial services to the poor.

This being said, it is difficult to isolate the effects of finance - and you can't generalize microfinance globally as it really depends on the local regulatory environment as to how successful it can be. To generalize as the Boston Globe has done is to say that the banking sector in Canada, US, Britain, France, etc. are all the same - when we know (the hard way) they are not. Microfinance - like all finance is a great and important step for businesses (and it's not just credit, but other access to bank accounts,etc that the poor in these countries previously had no access to), but it's just one component to building wealth.

For a broader view of development - I'd point to the world bank's doingbusiness.org study - the latest of which just came out a week or two that looks at all areas of business like how easy it is to legally set up a new business, close an old one down, etc.: http://doingbusiness.org/
I'm willing to bet that there is a huge overlap for iPhone and Twitter users, and for that subset, Tweetie can most definitely be considered a killer app. I get what you're trying to say with them mentioning a killer app be geared towards the user of a specific site, but really, that could be said about any killer app. The fart app is geared towards iPhone users AND fart sound lovers. iMob is geared towards iPhone users AND mob-style game lovers. All these apps have done wonderfully, and are apps I would consider killer. The point is, an iPhone app is killer because it appeals to a subset of users really really well.

Additionally, I see nothing wrong in them pointing out Tweetie, even though it is one of billions. Design and user interface is a very important layer to take into account, especially with these iPhone apps, and Tweetie's design is very intuitive, in my opinion. Design has much to do with an app being killer as its underlying technology.
> The problem is that doctors charge ridiculous amounts even for simple treatments.

Assuming you are a programmer, why should I pay to use your software? I would prefer to pay nothing because it doesn't "cost anything" to copy it. Oh, well, ok, I'll pay for my 10 minute share of your time at $40 / hour. You have to eat, too.

> If I have Bronchitis I know exactly what I need and the doctor knows it too.

Great. Go visit a counter clinic and get exactly what you need ---though I'm sure you know that you have acute viral bronchitis and you only needs some over-the-counter drugs to treat symptoms. Then, you can go reinvest your "shitload" in something more intelligent like car insurance or a new graphics card. Like, your lungs are fine. I'm pretty sure all lungs have been fine forever for everybody, and if not, well, you can buy a new lung from the lung store and swap it in for all those shitloads you saved in ten minutes years ago. It will probably even be a better lung than your old obsolete one.

"The same with medical tests – the doctors draw blood and send it to a pathologist. They then charge you a 400% mark-up on that and make pure profit."

You're right. Health care should be like sex. Free only, illegal otherwise, immoral regardless. There should be laws to enforce this.

"Then it is the unnecessary x-rays (if the doctor happens to have a digital x-ray machine that he is itching to use)."

Say no.

"If a doctor prescribes anything he will prescribe the most expensive antibiotics ever – even though a much cheaper run of the mill one will work as well (I don’t know why they do that)."

Did you ask?

Also, doctors prescribe generally prescribe what will be most likely to work the fastest because ---if you remember from a century ago--- bacterial infections kill you and then spread to your friends and family to kill them. They don't care that you can save $30 with some similar drug they don't know much about.

"Why do they want routine appointments (once a month) for chronic medicines?"

Because

"No offence, but I think modern day doctors focus on ripping off medical schemes because there is no apparent victim."

If you know some rip off scheme perpetuated by licensed medical doctors, write it down and submit it to a medical journal. I think modern day people focus on engorging distractions while they mindlessly spawn and decay because there is no apparent victim. No offense.
I recorded and produced an EP of original songs by my brother. They're mostly acoustic guitar and voice, although we throw in harmonies, electric guitar and bass, light percussion, and an accordian(!) as well.

You can find it at www.lukewilliamsmusic.com

We used Pro Tools and 3 mics (sm57, sm58 and a condensor which I've forgotten the name of) to do the whole thing.
You may also be interested in another study done a few years ago that was based on random samplings of high interest rate loans to the poor: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119388104410378595.html?mod=...

Excerpt: "The lender charged its normal rate: 200% APR. The remaining, just-below-the-normal-approval-bar applicants (the "control group") were rejected in line with the lender's normal credit policy. We then tracked both groups over the next six to 27 months, measuring their well-being based on a range of economic, social, health and mental health measures. Applicants who were randomly approved for a loan had higher incomes, less hunger, better credit scores and more positive outlooks than their control group counterparts -- even after paying the high interest rate. Though they had higher than normal default rates, the borderline loans were also profitable for the lender."
Ok. So you are a real coder looking for a real coder.
1 : Take no care to the resumes. Do not let anyone filter postulants.
2 : Recieve yourself everyone
3 : You'll know in a matter of minutes if he's a real coder or no. Well, if you're a Real Coder.

=> Anoying but small invest of your time. That pays.
Ok, you caught me. I was thinking of Target. Silly me.
Number 2 got me moved from a center seat into a bulkhead position with twice the leg room on a 9hr flight from Germany. Do it.
The Long and Short of It
Well, last time I checked microlending had a repayment rate over 90%, so it certainly must have some impact. If it wasn't effective in fighting poverty, I doubt you'd see such a high repayment rate. Will microlending alone solve the problem? No. But it's one of the best tools we've got so far.
It does seem a bit too convenient that they are reporting on and reporting the researcher conclusions without feeling the need to actually publish the underlying research and opening themselves to scrutiny - but hopefully that will come out soon enough.

The difficulty of doing this in the field is trying to figure out what the appropriate methodologies to use are. It's not like it's easy to collect this information over time and ensure people are forthcoming (and in many regions where microfinance thrives, the poor are especially and legitimately suspicious of authority and people wanting personal information). Collecting information often becomes a messy process in collecting objective and comprehensive data.
> Here is a dirty little secret, don't expect overnight success, you'll have plenty of time to grow into needing that big server, but there is no point in wasting money on something you don't need.

Definitely true. One remark though: "plenty of time" won't be entirely true. When you first need to scale up you probably don't have any kind of server monitoring set up. There's more important stuff to be done. This means that you will notice far too late that you're out of capacity. It will be hard work and it will be painful for you and your start-up.
One side note: Instapaper pro is rated “17 and up” for “Frequent/Intense Mature/Suggestive Themes,” which is an indication of Apple’s bizarre and arbitrary approval and rating policies.

Not a big deal I suppose, but this is perverse to the point of obnoxiousness. This is slanderous, when you think about it.
I've always preferred "waltz, bad nymph, for quick jigs vex", as it's the shortest one that uses simple words and has a straightforward sentence structure.
Why would anyone answer the phone from a random number? You go to voicemail, then the person either ignores it or listens just long enough to get the name of the person they need to put on the shit list. Don't call, especially someone who has written a blog post specifically saying "don't call".
I would really ask the question, ‘Why did we expect all these things to happen?’ If you give people access to a financial instrument, it’s like any other instrument. It’s useful, but it’s not like the miracle drug to end poverty.

A rough reality. I trust that MIT will publish the research with the same conclusions. It is really unfortunate. I was really excited about millions of people digging themselves out of poverty. Alas, it is much more complicated than that.
IMHO, entrepeneurial skill is not a 'human trait', gift or anything - it's just a skill, like any other - you can develop it if you absolutely need it to survive (usually the case for microlenders). I'd say the reason why there are usually less entrepeneurs than 'normal' people is more on taste than 'talent': if you're doing just fine with a paycheck, why bother?
You've been voted up for a post that is ambiguous in its asertion. What did your grandmother do? How old was she at the time?
yes I create electronic music http://soundcloud.com/codekat
http://www.thesixtyone.com/codekat/ and this is my experimental ambient project http://rizomasessions.com
Tweetie is good, but it's not a killer app. A killer app's something that annihilates its competition. Tweetie doesn't annihilate anything.

The iPhone is killer, but when Wired is making the argument of "Instapaper justifies your owning an iPhone", it hurts the argument a lot to add "just as much as this Twitter app will". Tweetie is nothing ultraspecial. Instapaper might be. It hurts to compare it to a web site client.
Your question-answer format reminds me of Cornell Notes.
Allergies of many kinds lower dramatically the body's first defenses (they make the respiratory tract much easier to penetrate by various bugs). Also most colds and flus, although technically airborne in practice are almost always transmitted by touch. Wash your hands more often and always before eating, and clean the keyboard once in a while.

You may want to look into flu shots. I've heard a lot of opinions pro and against, but if it's a real problem for you then they're probably worth it.
Well, this is a bit arrogant isn't it?

"We've decided that your site design stinks, and we've decided that we will fix it for you - in a way that brings attention to us. "
I'm assuming the effects on humans are different for different types of radiation and different types of exposure; as I recall, lung cancer deaths are significantly higher in regions where radon (an alpha-emitter) emissions from granite are above average.
Tweetie is by far the best twitter client I've used. And 100% worthy of such high and arbitrary accolades.
Don't know if this answers question, but there's lots of erlang vs. scala analyses, many of them address: number process/threads you can spawn, message size, async vs. synch, ..

http://www.vijaykandy.com/archives/59

http://blog.ribomation.com/2009/08/06/generating-prime-numbe...

http://weblog.hypotheticalabs.com/?p=452

http://rosettacode.org/wiki/Dining_philosophers
You are talking about two different things here, which I think it goes to everybody's benefit to learn about.

There are lifestyle businesses and there are VC-backed businesses.

Lifestyle businesses usually operate in safer, more pre-established markets. You can access already existing customer bases and in general the VC and the entrepreneur don't need each other because the entrepreneur can get to some level of revenue that enables him or her to cover operating costs. The VC isn't interested however because the market is already established and the returns and likelihood of you taking over the entire market are quite small. They are called lifestyle businesses because there is less pressure, so you can maintain a life outside of the startup (at least after you have stabilized revenue). Some people enjoy these startups: they are relatively less risk and they allow you to get decent returns. It's akin to starting up a cornershop. Just don't pretend you are starting an empire. fnid: it sounds like you are in such a market.

VC-backed businesses are there because there is a new and potentially huge market to be found and VCs put their cash into these companies so they can move quickly, out-perform competitors, and get a large chunk of that market before it gets too fragmented. Growth explodes because they have found a new market capable of sustaining that growth, not because of some magical entrepreneurial powers.

We should all be happy there are more lifestyle businesses developing on the internet: it means these markets are growing and bringing more people into the fold. But don't trick yourself if you are in such a market that you will be the market leader as you have probably already missed the boat or the market size is too small for you to ever realize massive potential. The smart entrepreneurs and VCs leave quickly to refocus on more promising opportunities once they figure out that something is not as big as they once thought (hint: when people are jumping ship, it is not necessarily because you won).

These two types of businesses are not mutually exclusive.

What's cool and new about the internet is that it is continually getting shook up by new markets. The permutations seem endless.
The best bet is to just use the cloud, like AWS. Sure it's not as fast as a dedicated server...but honestly is it really that bad? You might get 90% performance, and chances are your users won't even notice.

It scales for you, and you only pay for what you use. So if your site starts out slow, you'll be paying similar costs to a shared server. If your site takes off, you'll be paying similar costs as a dedicated server. But the important thing, is that you won't have to bother guessing which will be the case for your site.
Can a daily pill really boost your brain power?
Here's the original paper: http://www.jpands.org/vol9no1/chen.pdf
CourseSmart (http://www.coursesmart.com) seems to do what you're looking for. I think it's either run by, or is closely affiliated with a bunch of the major textbook publishers.
Maybe it is possible for lesswrong to be less wrong after all.
Understanding _ in Scala
This journal seems to have a definite political agenda.

http://neurodiversity.com/weblog/article/91/strange-bedfello...
Volume Up, Bottoms Up: Why Bars Blast the Music
"When I point out that they’re all business people, and wonder who’s going to build the product, they almost always fall back on “we’ll get a couple of undergrads to do it,” or, “we’ll outsource it.” If I hear either one of those, I know the startup’s already dead."

God, ain't that the truth. It's an unrecoverable error. Learned that one the hard way.
And content providers have a choice, too. No one is forcing them to put their stuff out on the Internet, in a wide open format, where anyone can just take it.

But ad-supported pages are equivalent to selling newspapers in giant heavy boxes, where you can't just get the newspaper, you have to take all the crap in its box. Well what if you don't want to carry a whole box? What if it would take you 10 times as long to bring the newspaper home by carrying the box? Would you not be tempted to rip open the box and just take the paper? Or, tempted to just go away, and not take the box or the stupid paper? At some point, the obnoxious mechanism outweighs the value of the content.

Instead, there could be a stack of papers on a table, with a cup and a sign "please deposit 50 cents". Some people will take a paper and leave nothing. Others will leave 50 cents. Still others will leave a buck or two, because they want to. You might even see people drop off a new stack of papers for you, and not care if you get the cash. Maybe somebody else sees your stuff (because it's not locked in boxes), and that leads to other opportunities. So maybe it isn't "fair" that some people pay more than others, but this is certainly does not spell doom for the content provider.
I really don't see how low-level radiation can be good for us. If it is then cell phones should also prevent brain cancer.

http://www.globalchange.com/radiation.htm

I agree with eggoa who said that this article must have a political agenda.
I'm curious to see your evidence. I have noticed in life many businesses that pay the salary and the rent, but I wouldn't count them as entrepreneurial - they lack the explosive upward trajectory, and I don't think I was just seeing the slow part of the exponential. Real skill as an entrepreneur seems to me more like perfect pitch - a mutation.
Break the Shell - Sell Social Media internally
http://www.myspace.com/giraffeincognito

I use mainly pro tools and reason to power my drums. Most instruments other than drum samples and synth I record myself.
Well I was bored so I created one: http://www.webmynd.com/look/designs/by_id/126
I know there are plenty of physical book rental services, such as:

http://www.chegg.com/

However, I really don't know of any ebook rental service. I guess it sounds like a good idea, but as a college student myself I prefer real books.
No matter what how much damage we do to this planet, we are still the only species who have a chance of making it off the planet before it smashes into the sun.

What about animals used in farming, plants used in agriculture, pets, useful bacteria etc.? I'm quite sure they will not be left behind.
There is some fairly fascinating experiments discussed in this article:

The Russians began by breeding a group of foxes according to one simple rule: they would walk up to a cage and put a hand on the bars. Foxes that slunk back in fear and snapped their teeth didn't get to breed. Ones that came up to the scientists did. Meanwhile, the scientists also raised a separate group of foxes under identical conditions, except for one difference: they didn't have to pass a test to mate.

More than 40 generations of foxes have now been bred in Novosibirsk, and the results speak for themselves. The foxes that the scientists bred selectively have become remarkably doglike. They will affectionately run up to people and even wag their tails.

The article attempts to explore the intelligence of canine creatures and how they were originally tamed by humans.
So true, especially #1. I'd highly recommend the book "How to Win Friends & Influence People", where this (and other) ideas are discussed.
Nice and funky!
I disagree. But I can admit that it depends on your definition of entrepreneurial.

My definition is simply someone who goes into business for themselves as opposed to getting a job. Taken that way, most people will be entrepreneurial given a good enough reason; and it's far from rare.

Also, it's surprising how many people work full time and have small side businesses they run part time. I believe I read a report that said the majority of US businesses are part-time, one-person only.
That graph looks TOO good to be true.
Ughhh..... I apologize in advance to any who may have designed a custom Google theme but I'm not impressed by any of them. None of the themes were anywhere near as clean and ergonomic as the plain Google theme. Give me plain text any day. Fancy pictures just slow page load times and strange background and text colors just make it hard to read.
Musharraf may have continued the trend of not caring about the purpose towards which the US aid was used.
http://www.hindu.com/2009/09/14/stories/2009091458281100.htm

How credible can the current Pakistan govt be? Even with a strong base in Pakistan, US had no idea this was going on back when A Q Khan had his job.
How my netbook taught me to love xmonad
Cancer death rate goes down to zero when everyone dies from other illnesses.
Better is always the enemy of good enough. If you hold out forever waiting for 'better' to come along you might end up with nothing.

So, if you decide to go for the first one, stick with it, tough it out and make it count. Remember that if you are looking for long term relationships that there always will be a better. Then when something much better comes along (not just a bit better) make your move with proper notice given.

I know it's a dog-eat-dog culture out there, but especially in the current climate a reference (a good one) can make all the difference between getting the next gig or being on the dole.

This goes against the grain, no doubt, but I've found that in the long term the more ethical people come out on top. After all, there are only so many bridges you can burn, a CV with a bunch of holes in it does not look very good and it is a smaller world than you probably think it is.

If and when a much better offer comes along you can always give your current employer the chance to match it. That way if they can't match it they will know that they lost to a party they could not outbid, they're not going to blame you for moving up. But they will blame you for not showing up when you first accept. After all, what's to stop you from doing that again and again ?
This is probably off-topic so deleting.
That graph looks like the half-life curve of Co-60...
I write music for hobby video games using Garageband: http://www.steveasleep.com/music
My friend's band: http://www.myspace.com/pulse22
Check it out if you like Pink Floyd, psychadelic, melodic music
Funny. As I'm reading HN, I'm also watching Ghost Rider on TV and practicing flute during the commercials.

Trust me, you don't want to hear anything I'll be playing for quite a while :-)
...that doesn't change the fact that their app operates in a grey area of copyright infringement.

Like I mentioned earlier: I'm not as informed in copyright law as I would like. Would you mind pointing out to me where this is a grey area? Since I'm personally an American citizen, where - in the US Code, the DMCA, or some other law that we have - is this a grey area?
IMO, entrepreneurialism is an inate human trait. However, this doesn't mean it's expressed in everyone you meet, day-in-day-out. It clealy isn't. It's possible technology is simply an accidental expression of this trait. Which is interesting yet terrifying if true.
It seem to me like you are trying to jam a square peg into a round hole. Trash collection, at least in major cities in the US, is done either by some branch of civic government (for example New York's Department of Sanitation), or by a private contractor, usually on a long term contract (Greenwaste Recovery in San Jose).

It's pretty far removed from what could be considered a free market. Yet it's not expensive (at least compared to things like phone service, water, or cable), its employees tend to be reasonably fairly compensated, and as you mentioned, it works. ...even if that reality might not be popular in libertarian circles.

If anything trash collection in Cairo sounds more like something approaching a free market than what large cities do in the states.
I've no new stuff to post but here's some old stuff:

http://www.jamesbritt.com/chinese-forehead/

There are some links on there to some mp3s. I keep meaning to stick more stuff up on archive.org.
Part of being an entrepeneur is the ability to exploit information from not only prices, but also non-price information that would be hard to find from simply looking at prices.

Another part is the ability to marshall resources to capture these opportunity. That may take a perfect pitch, an eye for talents, or something else entirely.
"Radiation" means a lot of different things. Decay of nuclear materials != cell phone emissions.
Thanks a lot, jacquesm. Well said. I agree with you that given the current economic situation, it would be wise to accept whoever offers first than play cat-n-mouse games.