skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
The current heat in the startup market is largely due to the Fed pumping money into the economy by setting interest rates so low that large institutions can borrow nearly for free.

While most of that money is going into less risky things like firms who are expanding rather than contracting thanks to the supply of capital, lax regulatory landscape, etc.

The extra employment and associated consumer spending, along with the optimism obtained from a large number of people feeling like "owners" thanks to crowdfunding programs, helps create a culture of ideas and optimism.

And of course if you're rich enough you want to have some money in some highly leveraged, risky bets, and so VCs and LPs are refining that market substantially, helping money flow into it efficiently. Mattermark is an example of serious analytics to help with deal flow that is growing in number of deals far out of proportion to the total dollar amount.

Similarly, "financification" is happening in areas of real estate that have previously been slower markets driven by insider knowledge and minimal transparency.

Financification is actually the broader trend. Companies like Mattermark realize that and are applying it to what they know (startups) but it's also being done at Farmlogs, Reonomy, and many, many others.

Such businesses are pro-cyclical in that they lose value if deal flow slows, not to mention the inevitable liquidity assumptions that underly all such predictive analytics.

I think that the financial instruments needed to truly make these things work medium term are obscure or even banned, so it will be interesting to see how that plays out.
The kimberlite limpet strikes again, with long, trailing 1:1:0 chitin radula honed on unremarkable lay press graphene moss... Okay no, high fraction of goethite (FeO(OH)) nanofiber inclusions, per scary-looking inclusion inset d in figure 1.

http://rsif.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/12/105/201413...
Let's “date”  Orange County StartUp Weekend Mar. 27
I'm an entrepreneur, designer, & engineer who is still looking for that "rock star" team to start something new with.

If you're in the SoCal area and "dating" around for co-founders, let's talk! Perhaps we can test out our compatability as partners at March 27th's StartUp Weekend.

My email: aguerra14@gmail.com

About me:
I'm an Environmental and Mechanical engineer with specialty in thermodynamics, thermal sciences, and clean energy.
I love Adobe Illustrator and making things look good.
I've been told many times that I'm "a fantastic presenter/pitcher".
I'm goal oriented and passionate.
I like crossfit and afro-cuban dancing.
Indian food is my favorite.
Laughing is a hobby of mine.
Yep, Cuban glosses over that obvious detail when it comes to median net worth individuals ($50k - $100k).

Like when ordinary people invest into the stock market, and buy a company like Adept Technologies (ADEP) that goes from $21 to $6 in ten months (ADEP has been publicly traded for 20 years).

Or buy into a company like Dendreon (DNDN) which goes from $40 / share and a ~$10 billion market cap, to literally worthless in 36 months.

A person with $1,000 can easily lose all of it in the public markets. There's nothing stopping them from drowning in their own ignorance.
I am not trying to be cynical, but if software is eating the world, does it make sense to build hardware?

It seems to me that sticking an iPhone on any bike via an attachment would do everything this bike does. It has an accelerometer for pothole detection. GPS for speed and navigation. You could even charge your phone in the process!

The two things that can't be replicated are blind-spot detection and theft protection. There is no shortage of small devices on Kickstarter that can duplicate these features. A small IR sensor that bolts to the back of the bike. And for theft protection to work as expected, there needs to be hundreds of such bikes on the street. At the $1200+ pricepoint, I find that unlikely..
Either a drink is super expensive where you are, or Uber is very cheap.

Hanging out at a place within walking distance of home really is the best bet. Sadly a lot of American cities don't seem to have bars anywhere near where people live, unlike European ones where you can throw a rock from your window and hit a pub.
Girl who loves dance and u can see it..must WATCH❤️❤️
Journaling typically implies that there is a separate log of operations/changes, but the main data file (the BTree) is still updated in-place. You can then use the journal to roll back the changes if necessary.

RethinkDB's storage engine doesn't have a journal -- the main data file is essentially journaled, which is quite different from the traditional meaning of the word.
The future of phones looks like Yo
Yes he is wrong. This is a non-sequitur. He is offering a conclusion that does not follow from his argument. Why should the lack of liquidity cause a bubble? Usually lack of liquidity acts in the opposite direction. It causes prices to go down not up.

Furthermore, the bubble dynamic usually requires liquidity. The bubble dynamic happens when prices are going up so much that participants do not care about an underlying valuation but are certain they will be able to sell in the near future for a higher price due to the market momentum. This whole way of thinking, requires liquidity.

If there is indeed a bubble, I do not see how it can logically be caused by lack of liquidity.
So Cuban started (what became) Broadcast.com, ramped it up to $13.5 Million revenue per quarter [1], and sold it to Yahoo for $5.7 billion (in stock, but we'll disregard that fact for now). On track to do $54 million in a year, means he sold for 1,000x one year's revenue.

15 years later, Facebook brings in $3.2 Billion in revenue and has a market cap of ~$41 Billion, or about 12.8 times one year's revenue. [2]

And we won't mention Google, despite the fact that they're the most obvious tech company to compare the likes of AOL to, because they make more money than God, and it would harm the argument. Uber, Twitter, etc. may be overvalued, but they bring in cold hard cash, and they're barely getting started.

Things are frothy right now, for sure; there are some really high rounds being raised that are justified by portfolio theory, and some no-product seed rounds at really high valuations. There will be some major catastrophes, and people will lose a lot of money.

But I have no idea how Cuban could possibly make the argument that it's worse than 1999.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Cuban#Business_career
[2] http://ycharts.com/companies/FB/market_cap
Find yourself a partner who is great at winning people over. You can make the best product in the world and it'll be useless to you if you can't even successfully pitch it to somebody. Soft skills are just as important as technical brilliance. That just seems to be the way of the world.
I once thought having to "compile" into Javascript was a small price to pay for the great benefits that Dart provides.

I now believe compiling to JS is actually a feature: You're only targeting a single "VM" implementation. All the hard work is done for us, and I'm able to use every feature of the language without worrying if a particular browser supports it. Also, you have an optimising compiler and tree-shaking thrown in for free.
American drivers are bad, some especially bad, but none of them are as outrageously bad as you get in countries like Saudi Arabia.
> "[snip] than in the rest of the world."

Considering the role of environment on intelligence, I would consider that to be extremely unlikely. If you restricted your statement to "other developed nations", that might be a bit more plausible.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environment_and_intelligence
> Of these, the biggest and most insurmountable problem is the first one: Random exploration of actions. As humans we have complex intuitions and an internal model of the dynamics of the world. This allows us to plan out actions that are very likely to yield a reward, without flailing our arms around greedily, hoping to get rewards at random at some point.

In fairness, we weren't born with that model; we have to laboriously acquire it over a period of several years. An infant's flailings can look pretty random :-)
I've seen the Wayback Machine used in court cases, I was pretty amazed the first time I saw it mentioned in a court case.
The last mile costs are significant even for running some wire to every house. Can you imagine what they'd be to run a multiple inch tube?
Broadcast.com is only sort of comparable to WhatsApp (in terms of roles in a bubble).

And WhatsApp was all set to be the primary social network for a billion people, not yet another video site.
Stories like these are so tragic. I'm very optimistic about self driving car technology, primarily due to it's ability to reduce these types of unnecessary deaths.
London Go Gathering
I saw a girl on a bike get hit and killed by a taxi trying to beat a light. She was going across even though the light was red, as is common in China. I'll never get the "crash" out of my head.

I don't really blame the driver, but the whole system is crazy: you have tons of cars and tons of non-cars (bikes, electric bikes, pedestrians) mixed up all together with limited infrastructure, these things are just bound to happen. I can't wait for self driving cars to be a thing, they'll be able to handle this much better.
First Impressions (2006) [pdf]
The challenges have been solved already. The article talks about splitting it into 42k 500GB chunks. BitTorrent Sync will happily deal with 500GB, and open trackers are available that can report the counts of users in a swarm.

To complete it, just build a web front-end that provides the least-populous BTSync key from the pool. People can then paste it into their client and contribute.
Yes, it is an expression usually used to refer to relatively poor innocent people. This does not apply here, poor people are not getting into the private funding rounds of top tier start-ups. So even if you use the expression figuratively, he is still making up a victim.
They should really look at using permacoin to store the archive.

Permacoin is a cryptocurrency that uses proof of storage instead of bitocoin’s proof of work:

https://www.cs.umd.edu/~elaine/docs/permacoin.pdf
> why you'd want to do this is another question. (And one I'd be happy to answer, if you're curious.)

If you would, please.
AMD LiquidVR Technology
It looks like there Free Cash Flow in 2014 was about $4MM positive so they aren't really burning cash
no you are taking it out of context. Read :

In a bubble there is always someone with a “great” idea pitching an investor the dream of a billion dollar payout with a comparison to an existing success story. In the tech bubble it was Broadcast.com, AOL, Netscape, etc. Today its, Uber, Twitter, Facebook, etc.
I also see the cog and am noticing the lag. I just sent you an email detailing my observations as well as a video of the issue.
>What about evolution is "high" or "low"? Which is a higher form of life, the housefly, or the Neanderthal?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partially_ordered_set

>If aliens with FTL travel and psychic powers were to visit us and start wiping us out, would their xenophobia[1]

>[1]And if they were the ones wiping us out, somehow I doubt they'd have much of a phobia.

you're right - FTL and xenophobia are incompatible. A xenophobia indicates intellectual capabilities level not sufficient for FTL. The same about "wiping out".

>Evolution is not always "up." For that matter, "up" isn't always "up."

"up" has a pretty clear direction on many axes. For a given axis it is the direction of higher degree of symmetry breakup whatever it means on that given axis. Complexity/specialization and sentience level for biological systems. Managed energy density for technological civilization. Violence control for social organization.
Sorry--you probably won't see this now (much like I didn't notice for a bit!), but you took the time to reply, so I figured I should, as well. I was (a bit tartly) hoping to get you to unpack why, in a very deep sense, you can't help but feel that way.

Does this have to do with how you perceive men and women? Does it have to do with how you perceive these various vocations? Is this feeling rooted in personal experience(s) and memories? Can you locate those in space and time?

It's important to challenge the ways we can't help but feel, because those are stumbling blocks when it comes to understanding what motivates other people--especially people who aren't like us. Our personal experience is always a fairly small slice of human life, and I'm concerned that you're projecting things you "can't help but feel" onto two of the largest populations.

I posted this elsewhere in the thread--I don't know if you saw it, but the Harris poll actually released some numbers not too long ago on the notion of prestige in various occupations: http://www.harrisinteractive.com/vault/Harris%20Poll%2085%20...

But still, even though it cuts against some of your assertions about what is and isn't prestigious--it's a poll. It's messy. Hidden within its aggregations are the differences between what parents (of both genders) think would be prestigious for their boys, and for their girls. It hides differences between what is seen as prestigious in different ethnic, religious and regional communities. The way you "can't help but feel", whether about the people picking these occupations or the occupations themselves, is located in the messy middle of your own experiences.

There are communities where the most prestigious thing a woman can do is be a stay-at-home mother. There are communities where any occupation that doesn't pay at least six figures is an embarrassment. There are communities where going into finance is like selling your soul. There are communities where you aren't a real man unless you get dirty for a living. There are communities where academics are exalted regardless of pay, and communities where they're disdained for class, religious and political reasons.

This is all to say: The NPR article doesn't feel that way at all to me. But the way I read it doesn't mean your perceptions of the relative prestige of occupations are "wrong". They're probably quite right, given your experiences. Be open to the likelihood that your experiences don't generalize to others. Be open to the likelihood that the decisions other people make are better understood through careful consideration of their experiences than your own.
Clinton’s E-Mail System Built for Privacy Though Not Security
Of course this post ends up at the top. Keep patting yourself on the back, HN.
Yes.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/mexican-militiaman-and-h...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1375578/Drug-cartels...
HBO in talks with Apple for standalone streaming service
If this was only about judging how people interact with each other (i.e. do they get along) I would agree the control and feedback might be helpful.

But having the ability to judge if someone is a good or bad person or has a good or bad character is the part I can't wrap my head around. The inherent bias is overwhelming as this is an entirely subjective barometer) and the ramifications of playing G-d or Santa sends a screaming message that is counter to everything the post wants me to believe about YC Culture.

My definition of a good guy is someone who accepts me for who I am and doesn't pass judgement on me. I suspect most peoples judgement of good or bad character is more a relfection of how they see themselves and how the other person fits into that narrative (i.e. people want to be consistent with their beliefs, so the good/bad evaluation is based on how you perceive yourself and if this person fits into that story), versus any real indication if they are good or not.

I guess I'm saying that I am very suspect of the character and judgement of someone who thinks they are good at judging peoples character.

Edit: Just to be clear, everything I have ever heard about JL has been wonderful...but this comment about being able to judge character really rubs me the wrong way.

Edit2: Grammar, and some elaboration in ().
I really respect Matt for stepping back financially, as well as operatively. If he's not actively working on it, he wants that money to go towards better moderation and other expenses. Yes, he still owns the site, so anything could happen in the future. But it's yet another example of why Metafilter is the best community on the Internet.
The Code of Federal Regulations definition of "natural flavor":

"The term natural flavor or natural flavoring means the essential oil, oleoresin, essence or extractive, protein hydrolysate, distillate, or any product of roasting, heating or enzymolysis, which contains the flavoring constituents derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or similar plant material, meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products thereof, whose significant function in food is flavoring rather than nutritional. Natural flavors include the natural essence or extractives obtained from plants listed in 182.10, 182.20, 182.40, and 182.50 and part 184 of this chapter, and the substances listed in 172.510 of this chapter." [1]

"Natural flavor" is a nightmare for me. The above definition allows huge numbers of substances that most would not regard "natural". Among those, autolyzed yeast (autolysis is a kind of enzymolysis), hydrolyzed soy protein, and numerous other sources of free glutamic acid (aka "MSG") appear to be permitted. These wreak havoc on my stomach. Thus any food containing "natural flavor" is instantly suspect and has the chance of causing me incredible digestive distress.

For those interested in MSG intolerance, I have found the list at [2] to be reliable.

[1] http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/cfrs...

[2] http://www.truthinlabeling.org/hiddensources.html
Stopping drunks from driving is a political/social problem, not a technical problem. IIDs have been around for a long time, but mandating their installation on every sold car is political suicide in most places (though it seems some countries like Sweden are considering it).
$10,000 paid per user. Damn.
$100K Seed investment for 3% equity in company – Convertible Preferred Stock
I'm giving this $100K seed investment as a bridge funding to the company to help them financially. In return, they are giving me a 3% equity in the company.

1. Can someone proof this for any loopholes and let me know how and from where can I generate the legal Convertible preferred stock document?
2. Does the Anti-dilution protection clause ensure my stocks will never dilute in any future event?

TERM SHEET

Investment Security: Seed Convertible Preferred Stock will be issued at the closing of this transaction

Investment Amount: Investor will lead the round of $100,000

Pre-Money Valuation: $20.3 Million

Ownership: The investor will own 3% of the Company for the $100,000 invested

ESOP Pool: 20% ESOP pool included in the pre-money valuation

Minority Protection Rights: The Convertible Preferred Stock issued to the Investor will carry rights of being shares are corporate fixed-income securities that the investor can choose to turn into shares of the company's common stock (up to 3%) after the closing of a Series A financing round, a merger or acquisition of the Company or Company revenues that exceed $10 million, whichever comes first.

Liquidation Preference: In the event of the liquidation of the Company, the Convertible Preferred Stock issued to the Investors will have liquidation rights pari-pasu to all other outstanding preferred securities of the Company. Seed liquidation preference:
The Investors will have a liquidation preference pursuant to which they will be entitled to receive, in preference to all other outstanding securities of the Company, an amount equal to 100% of the aggregate purchase price paid for the shares of Convertible Preferred Stock of the Company purchased in the transaction contemplated hereby, plus any accrued or declared but unpaid dividends on such shares

Anti-dilution Protection: All Investors will have a broad based and equal weighted average anti-dilution protection
Ask HN: What is the demographic of people attending YC?
Not sure this has been asked before.
An answer in quora mentions that its mostly white and male. Is this still correct ?

http://www.quora.com/What-are-the-differences-i-e-strengths-weaknesses-between-Y-Combinator-TechStars-AngelPad-and-500-Startups
Transport is something like 30% of the world economy isn't it?
There is a second problem with reading people. When they come from an "alien" background and exhibit the characteristics of that background down to differences in movement, people make some poor assumptions.

As an example, I've had some sorrow watching some DC folks who are "amazingly good at reading the mood in a room"[1] badly misread a group of Native Americans. It was scary broken since they had no frame of reference. I would imagine a person who spent a lot of time jumping cultures[2] would get the feel, but I worry from experience.

1) direct quote

2) "a particular society that has its own beliefs, ways of life, art, etc." definition
> And yet pop cans travel halfway around the world daily

Empty pop cans? Several stories tall?
I live in Seattle and work in Redmond and do both solely via public transit and walking. Redmond has a large number of bike lane miles (as does Seattle, and many of Seattle's are protected, separated bike lanes) along with fast, frequent, and long span-of-service transit to places like Seattle and Kirkland and Bellevue. Microsoft has even helped with that by funding things like Overlake Transit Center, a street and pedestrian bridge over highway 520, an upcoming pedestrian-only bridge over 520, pushing for light rail to Redmond, and even both providing tap-to-use transit cards to everyone who holds a badge and partially funding the switch to that system (the ORCA card ). Yes, the property improvements benefit Microsoft in addition to the public but Microsoft was under no requirement to help pay for them.

People take transit a lot in the Puget Sound region but it, like many places, still has a stigma associated with it. Seattleites voted last year to tax ourselves more to provide over 200,000 hours per year of more transit service; the rest of the county had its chance before that and voted no. It's not that transit doesn't exist, it's that getting people to use it and agree to make the investment in it (beyond billion dollar light rail lines, because buses are apparently "icky") is difficult even if the system does work well for the commuter crowd. I don't even commute regular hours and I can get everywhere I want to go via our transit system.
Etsy files to go public with $100M IPO
> But you know, deep down, its still going to be relatively slow and massively verbose.

Why do you think it will be slow?
BT Sync was considered for a related Archive Team project [1], but was ruled out as it is (currently) proprietary.

1: http://www.archiveteam.org/index.php?title=Valhalla#Non-opti...
You've got a trusted central authority here (the Archive itself), so why deal with some coin guff if you don't have to?
Hey guys, founder here, our team (in addition to our shortlisting algorithms) curates candidates through technical interviews by checking and verifying an engineer's github accounts and code repos- article was a tad unclear on the process. The human touch is just an add-on- through technical in-person interviews we are verifying that the automated process has not missed out on talent being shortlisted.

Think of it this way, we are aiming to find engineers that can immediately plug in to a company's code base as soon as they join, by verifying their current contributions on github.

(Full disclosure: we built recruiting software that hired for 1,500 companies prior to the current gradberry product).
Happy to take any more of your questions!
P.S. And yes we are focusing on the US market