Linkseed/hacker_news_with_comments · Datasets at Hugging Face

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41,074	41,044	s_baar	Prediction: YC's IPO is in the works.	rokhayakebe	The thing I hate the most about people's conception about businesses is the goal of IPO. I really don't understand it.	While we all waiting for the next YC startup to go public or get acquired, we forget about YC itslef as a company. I think there is an IPO somewhere down the line.	5	1	2007-08-09 23:48:07 UTC
41,075	41,051	german	Your Face To The World	marrone	I think it's also important on a webapp homepage a try it button (without registration). I think a lot of people want to try something before they start using it.	Good article on home-page design. I'm sure we can all agree on the importance of the home page, but the article goes into depth of the why and the how of it.Some summarized points (lots more in the article):"A home page's impact on a company's bottom line is far greater than simple measures of e-commerce revenues. The home page is your company's face to the world. " - Jakob NielsenThere are only two important functions for a home page: The home page delivers the content to [users] that they are seeking (such as the top story on CNN ) or The home page provides strong scent to those pages that contain the content the user seeks.What Do Customers Want?When customers visit your home page, their attention span is limited. They are busy and want to find answers quickly. They don't want unnecessary distractions and will immediately leave and go to another site if they cannot find what they want on your home page. They do not want to wade through marketing messages.When customers arrive at your home page, they expect to find what they want quickly. After all, the promise of the Web is to provide an efficient, alternative channel that complements other channels like bricks-and-mortar shops and corporate customer support.When customers visit a home page (whether for the first time or as repeat visitors) they might want to satisfy an information need quickly look for contact information like a phone number or email address autonomously complete a task, without needing customer support solve a problem * buy a product	0	6	2007-08-09 23:50:06 UTC
41,082	41,068	aaroneous	People-powered customer service	terpua	Just saw Daniel Burka mentioning Pownce had a page on the site. I think this is a great idea. So many startups have little to no customer service, it's great to see a resource for this getting setup.	We are beta testing with them and way cool. Startups needing a forum/q&a/faq/support need to try this.	0	3	2007-08-10 00:14:43 UTC
41,088	41,065	alex_c	How do you like our new way to fund software by teaming up? (microPledge public launch)	benhoyt	Very cool... I think I remember seeing this concept discussed on Slashdot a few years back.Two of the biggest problems in software development are - the client gives incomplete or wrong requirements, or the programmer doesn't implement them correctly. How are you going to keep everyone happy when the programmer decides the software is deliverable, but the client(s) disagree?	null	0	20	2007-08-10 00:39:49 UTC
41,090	41,027	nickb	Veoh Sues Universal Music	transburgh	About time someone stood up to these bullies!	null	0	5	2007-08-10 00:48:00 UTC
41,093	41,065	waleedka	How do you like our new way to fund software by teaming up? (microPledge public launch)	benhoyt	Congratulations for the launch. I remember this project being in development some time ago. Good luck.	null	3	20	2007-08-10 00:50:27 UTC
41,096	40,885	mechanical_fish	Naval on the Age Question: You Create for Sex	nivi	Most of the article is reasonable - except for the bit about the "sublimated sex drive". Did this guy just step out of a time capsule? Freudianism is past its expiration date.I call foul. The idea that nerds are nerds because they can't get a date - that serious math is something that the sexually satisfied wouldn't bother with - is a pernicious stereotype, and if you're gonna flirt with that argument in the 21st century then you're gonna need data. Real data, not one-shot anecdotes like the life of Paul Erdos. (I'll see your Paul Erdos and raise you the thrice-married Richard Feynman. Now it's your turn: name a celibate jazz musician.)If the urge to create software comes from a sublimated sex drive, why hasn't the world ground to a halt since we installed 24-hour vending machines for free porn on every programmer's desktop? Was reddit founded by eunuchs? How can YC possibly compete with all those live webcams and chat rooms?	null	0	11	2007-08-10 00:54:24 UTC
41,102	41,065	staunch	How do you like our new way to fund software by teaming up? (microPledge public launch)	benhoyt	Congratulations. I'm paying close attention and hope things go well for you guys. I'll be promoting this at the earliest opportunity.Couple things I noticed:1. It's not clear what's in it for microPledge. You should be open about the fact that you're a business and not an open source lovefest organization.2. Those JPEGs on main page should be replaced with GIF/PNG. The artifacts are nasty.3. Might want to change the humorous text on "I agree" checkbox to just say "I consent to the agreement" otherwise you're possibly weakening your legal protection. Also, you might want to monitor/search some mailing lists and _very_ tactfully suggest microPledge as a solution to "we don't have time to do that feature now/its not a priority" situations.	null	2	20	2007-08-10 01:24:22 UTC
41,108	41,100	pg	YouTube Killer Gets $100M in Funding	horatio05	Providence Equity Partners? $100m? This doesn't sound like a startup. And that means they won't get startup quality people to work on it. And that means they are doomed.	null	0	12	2007-08-10 01:39:05 UTC
41,109	41,064	Jd	"great scientists" Spock search returned 1 result	terpua	I'm a little confused why he 'likes my boyfriend.'	It's not even Einstein!	3	5	2007-08-10 01:41:24 UTC
41,112	40,949	acgourley	Disqus (YC) to launch new commenting features	brett	YCombinator::Disqus : TechStars::IntenseDebate	null	0	6	2007-08-10 01:49:27 UTC
41,115	41,064	chadboyda	"great scientists" Spock search returned 1 result	terpua	I've been very disappointed with Spock so far in my testing. People that are very easily found on other search engines hardly if at all show up on Spock. I hope they seriously improve the index.	It's not even Einstein!	2	5	2007-08-10 01:53:12 UTC
41,116	40,847	dood	College will kill your entrepreneurial spirit: A 9 year old's foray into startups.	rzwitserloot	I suspect a lot of the disagreement expressed here is due to the nature of the people who read ycnews (and the colleges they went to).Entrepreneurially-minded people view college as this wonderful opportunity to learn, experiment, develop... while, most students are there for a few years of leisure followed by a lifetime of wagework, and as far as I can see most universities do little to dissuade them of this notion	null	5	17	2007-08-10 01:54:43 UTC
41,117	40,886	dood	Do you live under the fear that a YC company is about to demo what you working on?	rokhayakebe	I would wager that the chances of two separate startups producing detrimentally similar websites is negligible, unless you are working on a totally unoriginal me-too type site (and even then...). [where 'detrimentally similar' is defined as 'so similar that the market can only support one of the two, assuming people actually want it']	null	5	9	2007-08-10 02:02:42 UTC
41,118	41,101	nickb	GDrive is Here	horatio05	Google just made lives of about 7 startups (that I know of anyway) absolute hell. :(Everyone knew the day was coming (remember Lighthouse in 2004?) but everyone hoped Google forgot about it ;).	null	1	19	2007-08-10 02:03:44 UTC
41,121	40,816	sudhirc	Outsource Tasks, GMail, Yahoo!, ZipCar, etc to India - $30/mo - Coupon BETA for a free month	vlad	$30/mo=INR1200/mo India is not that cheap yet ...	null	3	10	2007-08-10 02:21:34 UTC
41,124	41,100	blored	YouTube Killer Gets $100M in Funding	horatio05	Large corporations are not entrepreneurial, it's not in their nature. They're already throwing government-like money at it.	null	1	12	2007-08-10 02:27:36 UTC
41,125	40,783	swhnorton	Excellent start-up idea...	blored	It's actually being done. Can't say too much.	An app that let's facebook users create their own facebook apps.	3	2	2007-08-10 02:33:24 UTC
41,129	41,065	altano	How do you like our new way to fund software by teaming up? (microPledge public launch)	benhoyt	You need to find some way of seeding the current projects. The site looks baron as is. Perhaps you can pledge on a few projects that you could use internally.	null	4	20	2007-08-10 02:48:22 UTC
41,131	41,101	dhouston	GDrive is Here	horatio05	do you know how much of a fucking heart attack that link just gave me??haha. but this doesn't look like platypus (the real gdrive); just the ability to buy more storage for gmail, picasa et al.(not saying gdrive isn't coming, but this ain't it.)	null	0	19	2007-08-10 03:04:50 UTC
41,132	40,816	swhnorton	Outsource Tasks, GMail, Yahoo!, ZipCar, etc to India - $30/mo - Coupon BETA for a free month	vlad	While USD $30 is only 1200 INR, one agent can probably handle more than six or seven clients.	null	2	10	2007-08-10 03:20:56 UTC
41,134	40,897	jey	cookout at the anybots/yc office	Sam_Odio	Why's this post dead?	One of the few things I accomplished at anybots was to organize a weekly BBQ at the office every wednesday... Well, because of demo day, I thought I'd reschedule next week's BBQ to saturday (the 18th), and invite some News.YCers. Trevor says the YC crew will still be in town, so some of those guys might show up as well...Space is limited - I can't afford to cook for more then about 10. RSVP here. Cookout starts @ 12:30, arrive early if you want to hack / chill / check out the robots / whatever. Dexter & Monty will be serving the food.UPDATE: Please, no schmoozing. Don't come if you're only interested in pitching your business.	0	10	2007-08-10 03:27:30 UTC
41,136	41,100	mark-t	YouTube Killer Gets $100M in Funding	horatio05	You know, if they keep giving YouTube free advertising, they'll never kill it. Just look at cereal killers.	null	2	12	2007-08-10 03:32:40 UTC
41,137	41,133	jamongkad	Which database should my startup use?	chazwozz	For my startup I use MySQL although these days I'm checking out alternative DBs. But based on my research it seems MySQL gets the most support from hackers(correct me if I'm wrong). In terms of big companies that use it I do know Flickr uses MySQL.	We are looking at doing a startup website that will hopefully receive lots of traffic.I am interested to know what databases people use for their startups. Obviously MySQL or other open source ones are the cheapest options, but would these hold up a serious site like Digg, Facebook, etc? Or would it be better starting off with something like Oracle?	16	17	2007-08-10 03:35:20 UTC
41,140	41,133	dfranke	Which database should my startup use?	chazwozz	Start with PostgreSQL. Switch to Oracle if you need to and can afford it.	We are looking at doing a startup website that will hopefully receive lots of traffic.I am interested to know what databases people use for their startups. Obviously MySQL or other open source ones are the cheapest options, but would these hold up a serious site like Digg, Facebook, etc? Or would it be better starting off with something like Oracle?	20	17	2007-08-10 03:48:03 UTC
41,144	41,133	walesmd	Which database should my startup use?	chazwozz	Go with MySQL.Right now you have no startup, you should go with the option that will allow you to launch the quickest and cheapest. Chances are - you won't see 1/10th the traffic digg or facebook do.No trying to be mean - I'm being realistic. You can worry about scaling when the time comes - but it probably won't.	We are looking at doing a startup website that will hopefully receive lots of traffic.I am interested to know what databases people use for their startups. Obviously MySQL or other open source ones are the cheapest options, but would these hold up a serious site like Digg, Facebook, etc? Or would it be better starting off with something like Oracle?	4	17	2007-08-10 03:53:33 UTC
41,148	41,133	ctdean	Which database should my startup use?	chazwozz	MySQL and PostgreSQL are fine relational databases and you can build large systems out of them. You might also consider embedded DBs such as SQLite (relational) or qdbm (non relational). If it were me, I'd go with one of these. Good luck!	We are looking at doing a startup website that will hopefully receive lots of traffic.I am interested to know what databases people use for their startups. Obviously MySQL or other open source ones are the cheapest options, but would these hold up a serious site like Digg, Facebook, etc? Or would it be better starting off with something like Oracle?	17	17	2007-08-10 03:59:14 UTC
41,150	41,133	run4yourlives	Which database should my startup use?	chazwozz	This is the honest answer: It doesn't matter.(Assuming you're not considering MS Access)	We are looking at doing a startup website that will hopefully receive lots of traffic.I am interested to know what databases people use for their startups. Obviously MySQL or other open source ones are the cheapest options, but would these hold up a serious site like Digg, Facebook, etc? Or would it be better starting off with something like Oracle?	22	17	2007-08-10 04:01:44 UTC
41,156	41,133	staunch	Which database should my startup use?	chazwozz	Oracle shouldn't even be on the table. If you get popular at all they will try to rip you off and likely succeed. Not to mention it's a beastly system to manage and you'll never use most of its unique features.My preference is multiple systems. MySQL for most stuff and Postgres for reporting and financial data. It's easier to scale MySQL because so many people have done it and it's simple. Postgres has lots of nice higher end database features for reporting and I feel (a bit) safer having it handle money.When the purchase cost for both is $0 and managing them is easy it makes sense not to force yourself into making a decision about which camp you're in. More important than which you choose is learning to leverage memory well. Memcached being the easiest scalable way to do that.	We are looking at doing a startup website that will hopefully receive lots of traffic.I am interested to know what databases people use for their startups. Obviously MySQL or other open source ones are the cheapest options, but would these hold up a serious site like Digg, Facebook, etc? Or would it be better starting off with something like Oracle?	1	17	2007-08-10 04:13:35 UTC
41,160	41,133	mkull	Which database should my startup use?	chazwozz	Oracle and MSSQL are right off the table.Personally I prefer PostgreSQL, but if you are a database newb I would recommend MySQL. (I really don't mean that in a bad way, MySQL is easier to use as a beginner, and it has proven it can scale)	We are looking at doing a startup website that will hopefully receive lots of traffic.I am interested to know what databases people use for their startups. Obviously MySQL or other open source ones are the cheapest options, but would these hold up a serious site like Digg, Facebook, etc? Or would it be better starting off with something like Oracle?	10	17	2007-08-10 04:19:50 UTC
41,164	41,133	SwellJoe	Which database should my startup use?	chazwozz	Are you sure you need a database? Maybe "none" is the right answer.If it isn't, then maybe SQLite, PostgreSQL, or MySQL. At least, that's the order of preference for me, but I avoid databases when possible.Google uses MySQL heavily, so it obviously scales (but I'm given to understand they had to work hard to do it).	We are looking at doing a startup website that will hopefully receive lots of traffic.I am interested to know what databases people use for their startups. Obviously MySQL or other open source ones are the cheapest options, but would these hold up a serious site like Digg, Facebook, etc? Or would it be better starting off with something like Oracle?	12	17	2007-08-10 04:34:44 UTC
41,168	41,133	dood	Which database should my startup use?	chazwozz	If you're considering sqlite, you should read 'when to use sqlite' [http://www.sqlite.org/whentouse.html]. Also see this thread 'Thoughts on using SQLite?' [http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38287].	We are looking at doing a startup website that will hopefully receive lots of traffic.I am interested to know what databases people use for their startups. Obviously MySQL or other open source ones are the cheapest options, but would these hold up a serious site like Digg, Facebook, etc? Or would it be better starting off with something like Oracle?	11	17	2007-08-10 04:46:50 UTC
41,170	41,133	morselsrule	Which database should my startup use?	chazwozz	I would go with MySQL simply because so many big sites have used it: Facebook, Youtube, Digg, Yahoo, etc. If it's good enough for them, and free, it doesn't seem like you can go wrong.See a list of companies using MySQL: http://www.mysql.com/news-and-events/press-release/release_2...Or a talk from the guys at YouTube about how they scaled: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6304964351441328559 The only exception would be is if you are primarily handling financial transactions. Then perhaps Oracle would be the way to go, since your customers will be more conservative about the technologies they would accept.	We are looking at doing a startup website that will hopefully receive lots of traffic.I am interested to know what databases people use for their startups. Obviously MySQL or other open source ones are the cheapest options, but would these hold up a serious site like Digg, Facebook, etc? Or would it be better starting off with something like Oracle?	5	17	2007-08-10 04:49:48 UTC
41,174	40,993	parker	Watching Songkick Demo At Y Combinator	paul	Just a quick thought: does YC provide any presentation coaching before DD? I can't think of one topic that sends people into fits faster than public speaking! IMO, it's a skill that should be practiced as much as possible, but real opportunities are rare...	null	1	14	2007-08-10 05:09:08 UTC
41,175	40,847	weeblyrocks	College will kill your entrepreneurial spirit: A 9 year old's foray into startups.	rzwitserloot	If this person actually had a good college education they'd understand the concept of opportunity cost. The more well educated you are, the higher your opportunity cost. Having a top college in your pocket can also help build your network if you use it right. The author also misinterprets causation and correlation. Just because X% of the richest people in America are dropouts is meaningless. What % of the total population has a college degree? Probably something like 30%. That just shows this guy's article is poorly thought out.It's a nice sensational headline but it falls flat on its face in terms of logic.	null	10	17	2007-08-10 05:11:22 UTC
41,176	41,133	patrickg-zill	Which database should my startup use?	chazwozz	Out of the gate, I would recommend Postgres. However, choosing which database to use should come after you establish a few of the parameters that matter to you.There is little reason to use a for-pay database unless you are doing something special with the features. Oracle for instance has some interesting text-search stuff builtin to the DB. But if you know you need that, then you are already starting to narrow the list of candidates.	We are looking at doing a startup website that will hopefully receive lots of traffic.I am interested to know what databases people use for their startups. Obviously MySQL or other open source ones are the cheapest options, but would these hold up a serious site like Digg, Facebook, etc? Or would it be better starting off with something like Oracle?	6	17	2007-08-10 05:19:33 UTC
41,177	41,133	natrius	Which database should my startup use?	chazwozz	Don't listen to the people recommending SQLite. Use SQLite when you're developing or when you want a database for a desktop application. Don't use it for a production web application.	We are looking at doing a startup website that will hopefully receive lots of traffic.I am interested to know what databases people use for their startups. Obviously MySQL or other open source ones are the cheapest options, but would these hold up a serious site like Digg, Facebook, etc? Or would it be better starting off with something like Oracle?	13	17	2007-08-10 05:21:20 UTC
41,178	41,100	far33d	YouTube Killer Gets $100M in Funding	horatio05	Fluuuuush.	null	3	12	2007-08-10 05:25:38 UTC
41,181	40,993	palish	Watching Songkick Demo At Y Combinator	paul	What's Songkick all about? The title sounds cool.	null	3	14	2007-08-10 05:47:55 UTC
41,183	40,862	RyanGWU82	Good luck on demo day, guys!	aston	Wow, "dropbox" takes on a whole new meaning when you refer to them as "dropboxers"...	I don't know all the teams, but I'm hoping my boys the Dropboxers do well.	2	16	2007-08-10 05:50:41 UTC
41,187	40,584	parker	Zenter founders and YC grads share their Google acquisition story (audio interview)	scrollinondubs	Just finished listening... this clip is worth the time, a lot of good stuff in here. I just wish they touched more on how the Google acquisition unfolded, rather than the "we met some people, yadda yadda" approach. But I'm guessing they're not at liberty to discuss all the details :)	null	1	36	2007-08-10 05:56:27 UTC
41,189	41,133	stuki	Which database should my startup use?	chazwozz	Since no one else seems to be doing so, let me put in a plug for MSSQL. If you're using the Microsoft stack, it ought to be the default choice. The integration with the rest of the environment (LINQ, db process LCR, Visual Studio integration, async transactional queuing, one heck of a molap engine, a great etl tool and more) is just too good to give up. And it's a darned nice database to boot, with 2008 on the way being even nicer. Also, Microsoft has publicly assured customers they will continue to license per socket, not per core. While still more expensive than the free db's (duh), at least you're not stuck handing over all future Moore's law gains to Larry Ellison.	We are looking at doing a startup website that will hopefully receive lots of traffic.I am interested to know what databases people use for their startups. Obviously MySQL or other open source ones are the cheapest options, but would these hold up a serious site like Digg, Facebook, etc? Or would it be better starting off with something like Oracle?	7	17	2007-08-10 06:19:06 UTC
41,195	41,064	prakash	"great scientists" Spock search returned 1 result	terpua	"great scientist" : http://www.spock.com/q/great-scientistYou probably wanted these results....	It's not even Einstein!	0	5	2007-08-10 06:58:40 UTC
41,196	41,190	udfalkso	Any ideas why our site's getting 404s to the /undefined URL?	benhoyt	I think your javascript hunch sounds right. I see a few similar 404s in my logs on the 8th and the 9th. So, maybe it is Google Analytics?	It's really strange: we're getting occasional 404 page-not-founds at the URL /undefined on our site (micropledge.com). HTTP_REFERER is set, usually to our home page, so it's not some random guy typing into his address bar. We saw who it was once when it happened, so we contacted him, but he said he didn't see anything wrong in his browser -- so it's something behind-the-scenes.Haven't been able to reproduce it here, or find any answers on the web. Doesn't seem to be a specific browser. My hunch is that it's some JavaScript quirk, or possibly the Google Analytics JS code, but I'm not sure...	1	2	2007-08-10 07:06:01 UTC
41,197	41,133	davidw	Which database should my startup use?	chazwozz	Depends - if you just need data storage that's fast, and don't care about having 100% data integrity, Mysql seems popular. I wouldn't trust people's money to it, though.I've long preferred PostgreSQL, because it's always had those things that make a relationanl DB a relational DB - foreign keys, lots of consistency checks, things like that. I have to admit, though, that as of Mysql 5, with InnoDB, it has started to resemble a "real database".Of course, for some applications, data integrity really doesn't matter that much, and you'd prefer speed, so Mysql with its native db type might be faster.	We are looking at doing a startup website that will hopefully receive lots of traffic.I am interested to know what databases people use for their startups. Obviously MySQL or other open source ones are the cheapest options, but would these hold up a serious site like Digg, Facebook, etc? Or would it be better starting off with something like Oracle?	18	17	2007-08-10 07:08:57 UTC
41,198	41,064	wehriam	"great scientists" Spock search returned 1 result	terpua	I don't think it works like that. Try "scientist physics" and you get some meaningful results.http://www.spock.com/q/scientist-physics	It's not even Einstein!	1	5	2007-08-10 07:10:46 UTC
41,207	41,133	ratsbane	Which database should my startup use?	chazwozz	The database is only one of a list of important architectural choices. Are you going to use a *nix (Linux, BSD, Solaris...) or Windows? What programming languages? Perl, Python, Java, Visual Basic... Applesoft Basic? Are you going to use a framework or code everything from scratch?These answers are all important, but it is possible to do a good job or a bad job with any of those languages. Ultimately the choice of platform, languages, database, etc. are not as important as how you put the pieces together.You might also what other successful sites are using, particularly those with data structures similar to what you are planning. I believe Facebook and Wikipedia both use PHP and MySQL. FlightAware (which does a really super job with lots of real-time data) uses Postgres.While it is, I'm sure, possible to design a very effective site with almost any combination but Windows/.Net/MSSQL seems like a particularly poor choice. There are only a few big data-driven sites using that technology and most of them aren't technically very good. Myspace is one example - (I think they use MSSQL) - but they have horrible response times and frequent hiccups. Ancestry.com is another big .Net site but they have a lot of problems. Pages frequently hang while loading, response not quick at all and their UI is very awkward. Several of the big airline sites run .Net but they aren't very good either. Big companies whose primary business isn't IT seem to go with .Net a lot and it shows in the quality of their sites - but that's not so bad - it creates a lot of opportunities for people like us. While I'm sure it is POSSIBLE to do good work on the Microsoft platform it seems very, very unlikely.My personal choice after having worked, at one time or another, with all of the options discussed here is very clearly LAMP - Linux, Apache, MySQL, Perl\|PHP\|Python but I wouldn't object to substituting BSD, Lighttpd or Postgres.As someone around here said recently, "...anyone proposing to run Windows on servers should be prepared to explain what they know about servers that Google, Yahoo, and Amazon don't."	We are looking at doing a startup website that will hopefully receive lots of traffic.I am interested to know what databases people use for their startups. Obviously MySQL or other open source ones are the cheapest options, but would these hold up a serious site like Digg, Facebook, etc? Or would it be better starting off with something like Oracle?	0	17	2007-08-10 08:27:43 UTC
41,208	41,190	tuukkah	Any ideas why our site's getting 404s to the /undefined URL?	benhoyt	In Javascript "http://site.example/"+undefined produces "http://site.example/undefined".	It's really strange: we're getting occasional 404 page-not-founds at the URL /undefined on our site (micropledge.com). HTTP_REFERER is set, usually to our home page, so it's not some random guy typing into his address bar. We saw who it was once when it happened, so we contacted him, but he said he didn't see anything wrong in his browser -- so it's something behind-the-scenes.Haven't been able to reproduce it here, or find any answers on the web. Doesn't seem to be a specific browser. My hunch is that it's some JavaScript quirk, or possibly the Google Analytics JS code, but I'm not sure...	0	2	2007-08-10 08:53:00 UTC
41,209	41,133	Keios	Which database should my startup use?	chazwozz	I would recommend PostGreSQL and you probably won't need to switch to Oracle if you use PostGres properly. Importantly its free and has a usable and friendlier license than MySQL. I am working on a startup idea which will also have high traffic and I am personally using Schevo - which is a non-sql Object DBMS for python based on Durus. I like Schevo because SQL sucks and using Schevo is like you a programming language - in this case its Python. You can check out the Schevo project at www.schevo.org. This would work for you only if you are using Python (highly recommend). Schevo does not have very good documentation yet, but it has excellent support on the IRC and Google Groups from its creators - at least I have found them to give complete and quick responses.Hope this helps.	We are looking at doing a startup website that will hopefully receive lots of traffic.I am interested to know what databases people use for their startups. Obviously MySQL or other open source ones are the cheapest options, but would these hold up a serious site like Digg, Facebook, etc? Or would it be better starting off with something like Oracle?	14	17	2007-08-10 09:10:08 UTC
41,213	41,133	phuego	Which database should my startup use?	chazwozz	PostgresQL. It scales very well in my opinion, although I have yet to get to Face Book sized numbers :-)I second all the 'has real features and is more reliable' comments that precede this one; I add to those my number one favourite. I can develop on Win32 and deploy on Linux and apply backups, schema changes, what have you from one to the other without any pain at all. I started with MySQL but simply could not achieve the above. YMMV naturally.	We are looking at doing a startup website that will hopefully receive lots of traffic.I am interested to know what databases people use for their startups. Obviously MySQL or other open source ones are the cheapest options, but would these hold up a serious site like Digg, Facebook, etc? Or would it be better starting off with something like Oracle?	9	17	2007-08-10 10:27:51 UTC
41,215	41,133	jamiequint	Which database should my startup use?	chazwozz	don't you work for oracle??http://www.blogger.com/profile/01908257636257717349	We are looking at doing a startup website that will hopefully receive lots of traffic.I am interested to know what databases people use for their startups. Obviously MySQL or other open source ones are the cheapest options, but would these hold up a serious site like Digg, Facebook, etc? Or would it be better starting off with something like Oracle?	2	17	2007-08-10 11:06:10 UTC
41,218	41,133	pg	Which database should my startup use?	chazwozz	One viable option is: none. Desktop apps don't automatically have to include a database. Why should web apps?	We are looking at doing a startup website that will hopefully receive lots of traffic.I am interested to know what databases people use for their startups. Obviously MySQL or other open source ones are the cheapest options, but would these hold up a serious site like Digg, Facebook, etc? Or would it be better starting off with something like Oracle?	3	17	2007-08-10 11:53:48 UTC
41,221	41,210	ed	Easiest way to create cool logos	subhash	... in 1996.	It works with GIMP in the background. Many of the logo designs are intriguing enough. Definitely worth a try ..	0	4	2007-08-10 12:48:07 UTC
41,230	41,133	mpc	Which database should my startup use?	chazwozz	If you're doing a start up then the whole point is to launch fast. Why would you want to choose a technology that could get in the way with licensing costs and complicated bloat?Pick something that is free and good.	We are looking at doing a startup website that will hopefully receive lots of traffic.I am interested to know what databases people use for their startups. Obviously MySQL or other open source ones are the cheapest options, but would these hold up a serious site like Digg, Facebook, etc? Or would it be better starting off with something like Oracle?	19	17	2007-08-10 13:11:54 UTC
41,233	40,690	cmars232	Your issues with...	kyro	1. Facebook is decent but a lot of my real-life friends already use MySpace. I refuse to keep up with 2+ social networking sites, its a waste of time!If I could push/pull content thru one site, I'd be more likely to use social networking sites more.2. Internet TV = http://tvlinks.co.uk if the DVR missed a show or I discover a new series mid-season. I like amateur stuff like YouTube but usually get links to it from friends & other sources, never get content thru their portal.3. I've accepted that online news is a moving target, and the best I can do is keep my feedlist short and relevant to what I'm currently interested in. Social news sites are like bright burning stars that collapse under their own weight as they grow more massive. I agree, Digg is dead, Reddit may be dying... YC News is cool because its still small.	So, I have several ideas that have been brewing in my cerebral hemispheres for a while now. However, I am trying to develop them into more complete and though out ones. In doing so, I have been asking people a whole slew of questions trying to pry out issues and problems they've been facing with existing services, so that I may capitalize on such issues and use them in developing my ideas. I thought I'd do the same here, seeing as you guys are a helpful, critical, and insightful bunch.And here we go. What are your issues with...1. Facebook - more speficially, do you feel that the connections you make are meaningful. Does it help you create stronger ties with existing friends? Any issues with it's tendency to expose everything out in the open? etc.2. Internet TV - Why don't you watch it? Does it focus on the wrong content? What would make you watch it? etc.3. Getting your online news - Let's face it, Digg now is crap. I know many people will agree with that. It's crapiness isn't exclusive to Digg alone, but has spread to similar services. What do you hate about it, what would you fix? I also believe that news.yc is a great source of info. What do you like about it? Anything you'd add/change?I have more questions, but this seems like a bit much already.Thanks to all who contribute.	11	9	2007-08-10 13:28:12 UTC
41,235	41,133	codeslinger	Which database should my startup use?	chazwozz	You should not use any, if you can get away with it. Start with Hadoop (http://lucene.apache.org/hadoop/) and see if you can wrap your head around that first before tying yourself to the RDBMS lifestyle.	We are looking at doing a startup website that will hopefully receive lots of traffic.I am interested to know what databases people use for their startups. Obviously MySQL or other open source ones are the cheapest options, but would these hold up a serious site like Digg, Facebook, etc? Or would it be better starting off with something like Oracle?	15	17	2007-08-10 13:38:24 UTC
41,239	41,236	chwolfe	Need For Concern - Business Lending Tightening?	chwolfe	Will this hit tech startups looking for funding down the road?	Initially, this was a concern only to the housing sector but it seems to be taking a toll on the market as a whole. Is this something that will hit tech startups down the road?	0	2	2007-08-10 13:51:30 UTC
41,246	41,133	rzwitserloot	Which database should my startup use?	chazwozz	postgres is the most flexible option. e.g. the google hibernate shards team mostly works off of postgres, postgres is built with proper transactional support right from the ground up, instead of a table option as with MySQL, and it's more open source than MySQL.An article I wrote on postgres' scalability before, including some juicy links with shiny graphs:http://www.zwitserloot.com/2006/12/02/database-land-postgres...And as you seem to work for oracle, my 'endorsement' of the quality of that particular little blight on this world should make for something nice to report back to Larry.	We are looking at doing a startup website that will hopefully receive lots of traffic.I am interested to know what databases people use for their startups. Obviously MySQL or other open source ones are the cheapest options, but would these hold up a serious site like Digg, Facebook, etc? Or would it be better starting off with something like Oracle?	8	17	2007-08-10 14:14:31 UTC
41,255	41,241	tuukkah	Google Mistakes Own Blog For Spam, Deletes It	jkush	Be careful this doesn't happen to your blog at Blogspot or what not, it will be more difficult to right that.	null	0	6	2007-08-10 14:36:31 UTC
41,256	41,249	pg	Putting the Del.icio.us Lesson into Practice, Part II: Feature Creep	danw	Having high standards for graphic design can help. If you're determined to keep your front page clean and simple, that pushes back against the forces that drive feature creep.	null	0	11	2007-08-10 14:36:48 UTC
41,266	41,249	parker	Putting the Del.icio.us Lesson into Practice, Part II: Feature Creep	danw	It's much too tantalizing sometimes to think that this next feature idea will resonate with your users; before you know it, your subnavs are completely packed, and you're not even sure what you want your users to do anymore.Adopting the minimalist approach is both terrifying and liberating, but without question, is much more communicative to users.	null	2	11	2007-08-10 15:27:39 UTC
41,267	41,153	DougBTX	Lift Web Framework	nickb	Why all the italics?	null	0	6	2007-08-10 15:31:53 UTC
41,276	41,210	david	Easiest way to create cool logos	subhash	Web 2.0 meets Web 0.2...	It works with GIMP in the background. Many of the logo designs are intriguing enough. Definitely worth a try ..	1	4	2007-08-10 16:11:34 UTC
41,278	41,269	sherman	First look at YC Demo Day	rokhayakebe	Congrats to all the founders, the launched betas look promising.	null	2	25	2007-08-10 16:17:48 UTC
41,279	41,277	davidw	"Should a Start-up Focus on Going Global Right Away?"	ivankirigin	I thinks 'no'. Betters to dominate an initial niche rather than try and take on the whole world. That's the conventional wisdom, at least.	null	1	1	2007-08-10 16:17:52 UTC
41,292	41,130	sherman	Invite Users to Your Office For Pictures with The Staff	staunch	Not a bad idea, but how many users could you actually get to come to your office? This would definitely motivate your team. Seeing live people who actually use your product and express what they like about it is great. But in terms of user loyalty, I think there would be maybe 10-20 people who might actually make it down.	Some startups do user meet-ups and that's great. But there's another easy way to build user loyalty and motivate your team. Invite users down to your office to come have their picture taken with the staff. Post the picture on your site. It only takes 5 minutes and it's worth a lot.	0	1	2007-08-10 16:47:37 UTC
41,293	41,027	daniel-cussen	Veoh Sues Universal Music	transburgh	Solid.	null	1	5	2007-08-10 16:58:47 UTC
41,296	41,277	run4yourlives	"Should a Start-up Focus on Going Global Right Away?"	ivankirigin	I think that would depend entirely on the startup, no? You're not going to get useful answers unless you ask a useful question... perhaps some more info?	null	0	1	2007-08-10 17:14:05 UTC
41,304	41,065	mynameishere	How do you like our new way to fund software by teaming up? (microPledge public launch)	benhoyt	Good luck. I guess...how do I say this? There are some aspects to this that you're either missing or not highlighting.First, this page:http://micropledge.com/helpSHOULD explain exactly who owns what when software is made. Do the pledgers have any ownership? Just the coders? Do you force coders to use GPL? I'm sure you explain this somewhere, but it needs to be more clear, and I'm not going to do a lot of research...Anyway. More importantly...Software, as soon as you leave the YC forcefield [1], is extremely expensive to produce. My company's tiny projects are billed in the upper 6-figure range. Are you going to get anyone "pledging" USD 750,000 for anything non-trivial? [1] Remember that the 15,000 dollars or whatever YC gives people is just a token, maybe just a legal formality, to ensure their status as "investors". What they really give is exposure and advice and community. If you can get people pledging 15K, it still isn't enough.	null	1	20	2007-08-10 18:03:12 UTC
41,305	41,269	nickb	First look at YC Demo Day	rokhayakebe	Which team is doing video dating?	null	4	25	2007-08-10 18:22:06 UTC
41,309	41,303	ivankirigin	What's the best online payment processing solution?	jmpeters	People seem to like PayPal, and are used to the checkout process. I'd also like to hear about how customizable it is, as I'll be working on it in a few weeks.	I'm looking for an online credit card payment processing solution that can handle recurring monthly payments. I'm open to linking off of my site to a hosted provider, so long as I can sufficiently customize the look-and-feel. I'm also open to a lower-level code-it-yourself type of solution. Of course I don't want to spend too much time on this, and I want it to be cheap. :) Thanks in advance for sharing your experiences.	2	11	2007-08-10 18:45:22 UTC
41,310	41,308	rms	Inc. or LLC?	mcu	Startup implies rapid growth, which means you want to be a Delaware Class C Corporation so you can raise VC money.An LLC is fine for a business where you expect to make your money from profits rather than a liquidity event and aren't trying to raise VC money.	What would you suggest for a startup?	0	15	2007-08-10 18:51:45 UTC
41,312	41,302	german	230+ Tools for Running a Business Online	nreece	Wow! My startup is one of those! It's under Conferences, Presentations & Meetings...	null	0	17	2007-08-10 19:00:38 UTC
41,313	41,303	zviband	What's the best online payment processing solution?	jmpeters	amazon's new flexible payments system	I'm looking for an online credit card payment processing solution that can handle recurring monthly payments. I'm open to linking off of my site to a hosted provider, so long as I can sufficiently customize the look-and-feel. I'm also open to a lower-level code-it-yourself type of solution. Of course I don't want to spend too much time on this, and I want it to be cheap. :) Thanks in advance for sharing your experiences.	3	11	2007-08-10 19:01:23 UTC
41,314	41,268	zurla	Blueprint: A CSS Framework	danw	anyone care to compare this to something like the yahoo css framework? what are the best CSS frameworks out there?	null	3	23	2007-08-10 19:01:40 UTC
41,315	41,100	weeblyrocks	YouTube Killer Gets $100M in Funding	horatio05	It won't be a YouTube killer but this could be an intelligent strategic move to segregate their own assets and block them from YouTube.YouTube survives because most media companies don't have the balls to protect their own assets. By creating their own portal they can create what they can force people to the site because it has content people want to see. As long as it is free and easy to use, people will use it.All of you haters are just clowns who don't understand how the real world works. PG is flat out wrong here.	null	4	12	2007-08-10 19:02:20 UTC
41,325	41,303	epi0Bauqu	What's the best online payment processing solution?	jmpeters	See: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33322http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33505http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12010http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5303	I'm looking for an online credit card payment processing solution that can handle recurring monthly payments. I'm open to linking off of my site to a hosted provider, so long as I can sufficiently customize the look-and-feel. I'm also open to a lower-level code-it-yourself type of solution. Of course I don't want to spend too much time on this, and I want it to be cheap. :) Thanks in advance for sharing your experiences.	0	11	2007-08-10 19:52:57 UTC
41,329	41,303	iamyoohoo	What's the best online payment processing solution?	jmpeters	I've used authorize.net in the past. They were recently acquired by cybersource.	I'm looking for an online credit card payment processing solution that can handle recurring monthly payments. I'm open to linking off of my site to a hosted provider, so long as I can sufficiently customize the look-and-feel. I'm also open to a lower-level code-it-yourself type of solution. Of course I don't want to spend too much time on this, and I want it to be cheap. :) Thanks in advance for sharing your experiences.	4	11	2007-08-10 19:58:49 UTC
41,338	41,333	ivankirigin	Lessons for startup founders from Baseball home run stats?	sbraford	A lesson for those in consumer electronics: make something as good as your market can handle, and there will _still_ be something better in Japan. :PThis guy actually holds the record, with 868 home runs http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukuoka_Softbank_Hawks	null	0	1	2007-08-10 20:26:37 UTC
41,343	41,308	davidw	Inc. or LLC?	mcu	I went with an LLC, but I think it depends a lot on your situation. Mine is that I'm going it alone in many ways, and want to keep costs down, and don't foresee investments in the near future.	What would you suggest for a startup?	3	15	2007-08-10 20:55:32 UTC
41,346	41,269	weeblyrocks	First look at YC Demo Day	rokhayakebe	Pwned:http://techdumpster.com/2007/08/10/anywherefm-going-nowheref...	null	7	25	2007-08-10 21:10:35 UTC
41,348	41,261	randallsquared	Idea: Mechanical Turk for page usability testing?	tkiley	"Would any of you find mechanical turk-based usability testing valuable?"Quite valuable, yes. :) Perhaps the people that create forum traffic to jumpstart new sites could expand into this easily. I can't remember the names of any of them at the moment...	My company provides a very unique service -- one that is difficult to explain properly in a few words.As I've worked on designing our web site (particularly the homepage), it occurred to me that it would be nice to be able to do some simple testing with something like the mechanical turk: submit a web page to the service, which would flash it in front of a tester for 5-10 seconds, and then have the tester answer questions about their comprehension of the site's purpose and benefits, and perhaps their own objections or responses. (More in-depth testing processes wouldn't be difficult, but that's the first one that comes to mind for me)I'm working in a pretty unique environment right now -- the market is somewhat small and difficult to target, but ridiculously high-margin (we're looking at creating $500+ profit per user within 1 week of sign-up, essentially.).With low traffic, it's hard to get solid numbers out of page variation testing, and in a wholly new market, I don't even know if most visitors understand our service, so I see the value in turk-ish testing for myself, but I'm not sure if it would have a broad appeal. Would any of you find mechanical turk-based usability testing valuable?	0	2	2007-08-10 21:27:33 UTC
41,349	41,268	german	Blueprint: A CSS Framework	danw	I really think there's no tool like a text editor and firebug for css editing.	null	1	23	2007-08-10 21:30:43 UTC
41,350	41,303	augustus	What's the best online payment processing solution?	jmpeters	i have some experience with this.i researched a lot of payment gateways such as authorize.net but decided against it because they have a lot of fixed costs which you can only recuperate with high volume.Also online processors have a lot of procedures, credit checks etc. which is a lot of pain.I went with paypal but had a lot of trouble with theiragent when dealing with fraud.I would probably try amazon if I was doing it today.Once you have an established volume you can switch to a dedicated service like authorize.net. Until then it is better to pay per transaction.Regards.-Augustus	I'm looking for an online credit card payment processing solution that can handle recurring monthly payments. I'm open to linking off of my site to a hosted provider, so long as I can sufficiently customize the look-and-feel. I'm also open to a lower-level code-it-yourself type of solution. Of course I don't want to spend too much time on this, and I want it to be cheap. :) Thanks in advance for sharing your experiences.	1	11	2007-08-10 21:35:04 UTC
41,353	41,308	mcu	Inc. or LLC?	mcu	This will be a small to begin with, I just finished school and owe too much in student loans to quit my day job. An LLC is attractive for the low record keeping and tax paperwork requirements. One concern is that I see no legal framework for vesting built into LLCs, I'd rather not roll my own.Has anyone looked into filing an operating agreement in Nevada instead of Delaware? Among other benefits, a cursory glance at the facts seemed to indicate that the tax burden would be lower in Nevada. Am I missing something obvious?	What would you suggest for a startup?	1	15	2007-08-10 21:47:13 UTC
41,354	41,290	myoung8	Fitts' Law: A Usability Quiz	joshwa	wow. everyone should read this. i had one of those "holy crap i just learned something new and interesting" moments. what it has to say will probably surprise most of you. my only question is, what's the best practice for designing websites using Fitt's Law? We can't use the upper or lower screen edges because of the OS's menu bars and it seems like it would look odd to have the menu aligned flush with the left side of the screen...Thoughts?	null	2	15	2007-08-10 21:53:39 UTC
41,366	41,308	weeblyrocks	Inc. or LLC?	mcu	The reason most attorneys advise Delaware is that the precedents are strongest there. Furthermore, it makes long-term legal costs lower because most corporate lawyers are familiar with Delaware's nuances.All corporations are C by default. You have to file a special from with the IRS to become an S Corporation. S Corporations are flow-through entities which are not taxed at the corporate level. The reason VCs require you to be a C Corporation is two-fold:1. VCs like to have unilateral rights and terms to give them downside protection such as liquidity preference and preferential stock classes such as Preferred Shares. S Corporations are simpler entities which only allow a maximum of 40 shareholders - as your company grows and you give stock grants or options, this won't work. LLCs only allow 75 shareholders. 2. VCs will claim that a C Corp structure gives you more flexibility. This is marginally true, but LLCs give you the same flexibility with slightly higher administrative cost but you can maintain the flow-through status which is advantageous.The real reason is they want preferred shares and special rights. Stay an LLC or S Corporation if you don't need institutional investors. Angels are happy to invest in well structured LLCs or standard subchapter S Corporations.	What would you suggest for a startup?	4	15	2007-08-10 22:43:23 UTC
41,372	41,269	ashu	First look at YC Demo Day	rokhayakebe	I just don't understand why some of these guys are so hell bent on disparaging YC. Whether YC is right or not, time will tell and it's YC that has to worry about it. But, what do _these other people_ gain out of it?	null	3	25	2007-08-10 23:06:03 UTC
41,376	40,576	especkman	Should I be concerned about putting my code on a 3rd party server?	gatorade	Concerned why? Are you concerned about someone stealing your proprietary code? Or are you worried because you have made unreleased proprietary modifications to GPLed code and you are worried that running your modified version on another parties servers might be considered "distribution," and give the host the option of distributing it to other parties?	null	2	5	2007-08-10 23:26:47 UTC
41,381	41,367	sherman	Finish the sentence...	ctingom	not here	When I arrive at the office in the morning, everyone else is usually _____.(inspired by http://www.brainfuel.tv/finish-the-sentence)	4	2	2007-08-10 23:48:51 UTC
41,384	41,367	donna	Finish the sentence...	ctingom	sleeping in	When I arrive at the office in the morning, everyone else is usually _____.(inspired by http://www.brainfuel.tv/finish-the-sentence)	1	2	2007-08-10 23:52:43 UTC
41,386	41,290	rms	Fitts' Law: A Usability Quiz	joshwa	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fitts'_lawSome great background here... apparently Fitts' Law is why Xerox introduced the mouse in the first place.	null	3	15	2007-08-10 23:56:33 UTC
41,389	41,269	bootload	First look at YC Demo Day	rokhayakebe	"... The companies were much higher quality than I expected. The founders were nearly all coders and hackers but did a surprisingly good job at presenting their idea, target market, and business model ..." ~ Don DodgeIs YC being embraced by the larger VC community? If so, this is a further tick of approval of the YC techniques used to get startups to market. The quoted comments are a remarkable turn-around in opinion from Don Dodge ('Since when does growing $4 Billion a year = Dead?') and It's great to see the candidates flexing their skills of persuasion. Selling the idea(s) as much as building it. How much effort went into making sure other VC's could also see the new recruits?	null	1	25	2007-08-11 00:05:57 UTC
41,391	41,133	bootload	Which database should my startup use?	chazwozz	"... Obviously MySQL or other open source ones are the cheapest options ..."do you need a database?	We are looking at doing a startup website that will hopefully receive lots of traffic.I am interested to know what databases people use for their startups. Obviously MySQL or other open source ones are the cheapest options, but would these hold up a serious site like Digg, Facebook, etc? Or would it be better starting off with something like Oracle?	21	17	2007-08-11 00:19:55 UTC
41,392	41,367	epi0Bauqu	Finish the sentence...	ctingom	not in my house (where my office is).	When I arrive at the office in the morning, everyone else is usually _____.(inspired by http://www.brainfuel.tv/finish-the-sentence)	0	2	2007-08-11 00:21:10 UTC
41,394	41,367	iamyoohoo	Finish the sentence...	ctingom	two hours into their day.....	When I arrive at the office in the morning, everyone else is usually _____.(inspired by http://www.brainfuel.tv/finish-the-sentence)	2	2	2007-08-11 00:24:43 UTC
41,395	40,472	bootload	Age and the entrepreneur, part 1: Some data	terpua	Is "enthusiasm" the same as "determined"?	null	9	40	2007-08-11 00:36:22 UTC
41,396	41,360	rms	What are you thoughts on the FishEye menu?	myoung8	Here's an example but I don't have java installed. Are there any non-java versions?http://www.cs.umd.edu/hcil/fisheyemenu/fisheyemenu-demo.shtm...Edit: Here's one in Flash. http://www.samuelwan.com/downloads/com.samuelwan.eidt/fishey...	After reading this: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41290it got me thinking that using a FishEye menu (e.g. using jQuery & the Interface plugin) positioned flush with the left side of the screen would be the most useable type of menu for a website.What do you guys think about doing that? Good idea? Bad idea? Good in theory, bad in practice?	0	1	2007-08-11 00:36:58 UTC
41,397	41,277	epi0Bauqu	"Should a Start-up Focus on Going Global Right Away?"	ivankirigin	If it is easy, why not? You never know where your startup is going to take off.	null	2	1	2007-08-11 00:37:51 UTC
41,401	41,308	ajmoir	Inc. or LLC?	mcu	I just inc'd in CA, I looked at LLC but that's a partnership and I'm doing this alone.I went for the quick and easy route. I'm looking to build a good product not a big corporation. The less time I spend having to futz with the lawyer/Accountants and Tax man the happier I'll be.	What would you suggest for a startup?	2	15	2007-08-11 00:48:22 UTC

41,074

41,044

s_baar

Prediction: YC's IPO is in the works.

rokhayakebe

The thing I hate the most about people's conception about businesses is the goal of IPO. I really don't understand it.

While we all waiting for the next YC startup to go public or get acquired, we forget about YC itslef as a company. I think there is an IPO somewhere down the line.

5

1

2007-08-09 23:48:07 UTC

41,075

41,051

german

Your Face To The World

marrone

I think it's also important on a webapp homepage a try it button (without registration). I think a lot of people want to try something before they start using it.

Good article on home-page design. I'm sure we can all agree on the importance of the home page, but the article goes into depth of the why and the how of it.Some summarized points (lots more in the article):"A home page's impact on a company's bottom line is far greater than simple measures of e-commerce revenues. The home page is your company's face to the world. " - Jakob NielsenThere are only two important functions for a home page: The home page delivers the content to [users] that they are seeking (such as the top story on CNN ) or The home page provides strong scent to those pages that contain the content the user seeks.What Do Customers Want?When customers visit your home page, their attention span is limited. They are busy and want to find answers quickly. They don't want unnecessary distractions and will immediately leave and go to another site if they cannot find what they want on your home page. They do not want to wade through marketing messages.When customers arrive at your home page, they expect to find what they want quickly. After all, the promise of the Web is to provide an efficient, alternative channel that complements other channels like bricks-and-mortar shops and corporate customer support.When customers visit a home page (whether for the first time or as repeat visitors) they might want to satisfy an information need quickly look for contact information like a phone number or email address autonomously complete a task, without needing customer support solve a problem * buy a product

0

6

2007-08-09 23:50:06 UTC

41,082

41,068

aaroneous

People-powered customer service

terpua

Just saw Daniel Burka mentioning Pownce had a page on the site. I think this is a great idea. So many startups have little to no customer service, it's great to see a resource for this getting setup.

We are beta testing with them and way cool. Startups needing a forum/q&a/faq/support need to try this.

0

3

2007-08-10 00:14:43 UTC

41,088

41,065

alex_c

How do you like our new way to fund software by teaming up? (microPledge public launch)

benhoyt

Very cool... I think I remember seeing this concept discussed on Slashdot a few years back.Two of the biggest problems in software development are - the client gives incomplete or wrong requirements, or the programmer doesn't implement them correctly. How are you going to keep everyone happy when the programmer decides the software is deliverable, but the client(s) disagree?

null

0

20

2007-08-10 00:39:49 UTC

41,090

41,027

nickb

Veoh Sues Universal Music

transburgh

About time someone stood up to these bullies!

null

0

5

2007-08-10 00:48:00 UTC

41,093

41,065

waleedka

How do you like our new way to fund software by teaming up? (microPledge public launch)

benhoyt

Congratulations for the launch. I remember this project being in development some time ago. Good luck.

null

3

20

2007-08-10 00:50:27 UTC

41,096

40,885

mechanical_fish

Naval on the Age Question: You Create for Sex

nivi

Most of the article is reasonable - except for the bit about the "sublimated sex drive". Did this guy just step out of a time capsule? Freudianism is past its expiration date.I call foul. The idea that nerds are nerds because they can't get a date - that serious math is something that the sexually satisfied wouldn't bother with - is a pernicious stereotype, and if you're gonna flirt with that argument in the 21st century then you're gonna need data. Real data, not one-shot anecdotes like the life of Paul Erdos. (I'll see your Paul Erdos and raise you the thrice-married Richard Feynman. Now it's your turn: name a celibate jazz musician.)If the urge to create software comes from a sublimated sex drive, why hasn't the world ground to a halt since we installed 24-hour vending machines for free porn on every programmer's desktop? Was reddit founded by eunuchs? How can YC possibly compete with all those live webcams and chat rooms?

null

0

11

2007-08-10 00:54:24 UTC

41,102

41,065

staunch

How do you like our new way to fund software by teaming up? (microPledge public launch)

benhoyt

Congratulations. I'm paying close attention and hope things go well for you guys. I'll be promoting this at the earliest opportunity.Couple things I noticed:1. It's not clear what's in it for microPledge. You should be open about the fact that you're a business and not an open source lovefest organization.2. Those JPEGs on main page should be replaced with GIF/PNG. The artifacts are nasty.3. Might want to change the humorous text on "I agree" checkbox to just say "I consent to the agreement" otherwise you're possibly weakening your legal protection. Also, you might want to monitor/search some mailing lists and _very_ tactfully suggest microPledge as a solution to "we don't have time to do that feature now/its not a priority" situations.

null

2

20

2007-08-10 01:24:22 UTC

41,108

41,100

pg

YouTube Killer Gets $100M in Funding

horatio05

Providence Equity Partners? $100m? This doesn't sound like a startup. And that means they won't get startup quality people to work on it. And that means they are doomed.

null

0

12

2007-08-10 01:39:05 UTC

41,109

41,064

Jd

"great scientists" Spock search returned 1 result

terpua

I'm a little confused why he 'likes my boyfriend.'

It's not even Einstein!

3

5

2007-08-10 01:41:24 UTC

41,112

40,949

acgourley

Disqus (YC) to launch new commenting features

brett

YCombinator::Disqus : TechStars::IntenseDebate

null

0

6

2007-08-10 01:49:27 UTC

41,115

41,064

chadboyda

"great scientists" Spock search returned 1 result

terpua

I've been very disappointed with Spock so far in my testing. People that are very easily found on other search engines hardly if at all show up on Spock. I hope they seriously improve the index.

It's not even Einstein!

2

5

2007-08-10 01:53:12 UTC

41,116

40,847

dood

College will kill your entrepreneurial spirit: A 9 year old's foray into startups.

rzwitserloot

I suspect a lot of the disagreement expressed here is due to the nature of the people who read ycnews (and the colleges they went to).Entrepreneurially-minded people view college as this wonderful opportunity to learn, experiment, develop... while, most students are there for a few years of leisure followed by a lifetime of wagework, and as far as I can see most universities do little to dissuade them of this notion

null

5

17

2007-08-10 01:54:43 UTC

41,117

40,886

dood

Do you live under the fear that a YC company is about to demo what you working on?

rokhayakebe

I would wager that the chances of two separate startups producing detrimentally similar websites is negligible, unless you are working on a totally unoriginal me-too type site (and even then...). [where 'detrimentally similar' is defined as 'so similar that the market can only support one of the two, assuming people actually want it']

null

5

9

2007-08-10 02:02:42 UTC

41,118

41,101

nickb

GDrive is Here

horatio05

Google just made lives of about 7 startups (that I know of anyway) absolute hell. :(Everyone knew the day was coming (remember Lighthouse in 2004?) but everyone hoped Google forgot about it ;).

null

1

19

2007-08-10 02:03:44 UTC

41,121

40,816

sudhirc

Outsource Tasks, GMail, Yahoo!, ZipCar, etc to India - $30/mo - Coupon BETA for a free month

vlad

$30/mo=INR1200/mo India is not that cheap yet ...

null

3

10

2007-08-10 02:21:34 UTC

41,124

41,100

blored

YouTube Killer Gets $100M in Funding

horatio05

Large corporations are not entrepreneurial, it's not in their nature. They're already throwing government-like money at it.

null

1

12

2007-08-10 02:27:36 UTC

41,125

40,783

swhnorton

Excellent start-up idea...

blored

It's actually being done. Can't say too much.

An app that let's facebook users create their own facebook apps.

3

2

2007-08-10 02:33:24 UTC

41,129

41,065

altano

How do you like our new way to fund software by teaming up? (microPledge public launch)

benhoyt

You need to find some way of seeding the current projects. The site looks baron as is. Perhaps you can pledge on a few projects that you could use internally.

null

4

20

2007-08-10 02:48:22 UTC

41,131

41,101

dhouston

GDrive is Here

horatio05

do you know how much of a fucking heart attack that link just gave me??haha. but this doesn't look like platypus (the real gdrive); just the ability to buy more storage for gmail, picasa et al.(not saying gdrive isn't coming, but this ain't it.)

null

0

19

2007-08-10 03:04:50 UTC

41,132

40,816

swhnorton

Outsource Tasks, GMail, Yahoo!, ZipCar, etc to India - $30/mo - Coupon BETA for a free month

vlad

While USD $30 is only 1200 INR, one agent can probably handle more than six or seven clients.

null

2

10

2007-08-10 03:20:56 UTC

41,134

40,897

jey

cookout at the anybots/yc office

Sam_Odio

Why's this post dead?

One of the few things I accomplished at anybots was to organize a weekly BBQ at the office every wednesday... Well, because of demo day, I thought I'd reschedule next week's BBQ to saturday (the 18th), and invite some News.YCers. Trevor says the YC crew will still be in town, so some of those guys might show up as well...Space is limited - I can't afford to cook for more then about 10. RSVP here. Cookout starts @ 12:30, arrive early if you want to hack / chill / check out the robots / whatever. Dexter & Monty will be serving the food.UPDATE: Please, no schmoozing. Don't come if you're only interested in pitching your business.

0

10

2007-08-10 03:27:30 UTC

41,136

41,100

mark-t

YouTube Killer Gets $100M in Funding

horatio05

You know, if they keep giving YouTube free advertising, they'll never kill it. Just look at cereal killers.

null

2

12

2007-08-10 03:32:40 UTC

41,137

41,133

jamongkad

Which database should my startup use?

chazwozz

For my startup I use MySQL although these days I'm checking out alternative DBs. But based on my research it seems MySQL gets the most support from hackers(correct me if I'm wrong). In terms of big companies that use it I do know Flickr uses MySQL.

We are looking at doing a startup website that will hopefully receive lots of traffic.I am interested to know what databases people use for their startups. Obviously MySQL or other open source ones are the cheapest options, but would these hold up a serious site like Digg, Facebook, etc? Or would it be better starting off with something like Oracle?

16

17

2007-08-10 03:35:20 UTC

41,140

41,133

dfranke

Which database should my startup use?

chazwozz

Start with PostgreSQL. Switch to Oracle if you need to and can afford it.

We are looking at doing a startup website that will hopefully receive lots of traffic.I am interested to know what databases people use for their startups. Obviously MySQL or other open source ones are the cheapest options, but would these hold up a serious site like Digg, Facebook, etc? Or would it be better starting off with something like Oracle?

20

17

2007-08-10 03:48:03 UTC

41,144

41,133

walesmd

Which database should my startup use?

chazwozz

Go with MySQL.Right now you have no startup, you should go with the option that will allow you to launch the quickest and cheapest. Chances are - you won't see 1/10th the traffic digg or facebook do.No trying to be mean - I'm being realistic. You can worry about scaling when the time comes - but it probably won't.

We are looking at doing a startup website that will hopefully receive lots of traffic.I am interested to know what databases people use for their startups. Obviously MySQL or other open source ones are the cheapest options, but would these hold up a serious site like Digg, Facebook, etc? Or would it be better starting off with something like Oracle?

4

17

2007-08-10 03:53:33 UTC

41,148

41,133

ctdean

Which database should my startup use?

chazwozz

MySQL and PostgreSQL are fine relational databases and you can build large systems out of them. You might also consider embedded DBs such as SQLite (relational) or qdbm (non relational). If it were me, I'd go with one of these. Good luck!

We are looking at doing a startup website that will hopefully receive lots of traffic.I am interested to know what databases people use for their startups. Obviously MySQL or other open source ones are the cheapest options, but would these hold up a serious site like Digg, Facebook, etc? Or would it be better starting off with something like Oracle?

17

2007-08-10 03:59:14 UTC

41,150

41,133

run4yourlives

Which database should my startup use?

chazwozz

This is the honest answer: It doesn't matter.(Assuming you're not considering MS Access)

We are looking at doing a startup website that will hopefully receive lots of traffic.I am interested to know what databases people use for their startups. Obviously MySQL or other open source ones are the cheapest options, but would these hold up a serious site like Digg, Facebook, etc? Or would it be better starting off with something like Oracle?

22

17

2007-08-10 04:01:44 UTC

41,156

41,133

staunch

Which database should my startup use?

chazwozz

Oracle shouldn't even be on the table. If you get popular at all they will try to rip you off and likely succeed. Not to mention it's a beastly system to manage and you'll never use most of its unique features.My preference is multiple systems. MySQL for most stuff and Postgres for reporting and financial data. It's easier to scale MySQL because so many people have done it and it's simple. Postgres has lots of nice higher end database features for reporting and I feel (a bit) safer having it handle money.When the purchase cost for both is $0 and managing them is easy it makes sense not to force yourself into making a decision about which camp you're in. More important than which you choose is learning to leverage memory well. Memcached being the easiest scalable way to do that.

We are looking at doing a startup website that will hopefully receive lots of traffic.I am interested to know what databases people use for their startups. Obviously MySQL or other open source ones are the cheapest options, but would these hold up a serious site like Digg, Facebook, etc? Or would it be better starting off with something like Oracle?

1

17

2007-08-10 04:13:35 UTC

41,160

41,133

mkull

Which database should my startup use?

chazwozz

Oracle and MSSQL are right off the table.Personally I prefer PostgreSQL, but if you are a database newb I would recommend MySQL. (I really don't mean that in a bad way, MySQL is easier to use as a beginner, and it has proven it can scale)

We are looking at doing a startup website that will hopefully receive lots of traffic.I am interested to know what databases people use for their startups. Obviously MySQL or other open source ones are the cheapest options, but would these hold up a serious site like Digg, Facebook, etc? Or would it be better starting off with something like Oracle?

10

17

2007-08-10 04:19:50 UTC

41,164

41,133

SwellJoe

Which database should my startup use?

chazwozz

Are you sure you need a database? Maybe "none" is the right answer.If it isn't, then maybe SQLite, PostgreSQL, or MySQL. At least, that's the order of preference for me, but I avoid databases when possible.Google uses MySQL heavily, so it obviously scales (but I'm given to understand they had to work hard to do it).

We are looking at doing a startup website that will hopefully receive lots of traffic.I am interested to know what databases people use for their startups. Obviously MySQL or other open source ones are the cheapest options, but would these hold up a serious site like Digg, Facebook, etc? Or would it be better starting off with something like Oracle?

12

17

2007-08-10 04:34:44 UTC

41,168

41,133

dood

Which database should my startup use?

chazwozz

If you're considering sqlite, you should read 'when to use sqlite' [http://www.sqlite.org/whentouse.html]. Also see this thread 'Thoughts on using SQLite?' [http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38287].

We are looking at doing a startup website that will hopefully receive lots of traffic.I am interested to know what databases people use for their startups. Obviously MySQL or other open source ones are the cheapest options, but would these hold up a serious site like Digg, Facebook, etc? Or would it be better starting off with something like Oracle?

11

17

2007-08-10 04:46:50 UTC

41,170

41,133

morselsrule

Which database should my startup use?

chazwozz

I would go with MySQL simply because so many big sites have used it: Facebook, Youtube, Digg, Yahoo, etc. If it's good enough for them, and free, it doesn't seem like you can go wrong.See a list of companies using MySQL: http://www.mysql.com/news-and-events/press-release/release_2...Or a talk from the guys at YouTube about how they scaled: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6304964351441328559 The only exception would be is if you are primarily handling financial transactions. Then perhaps Oracle would be the way to go, since your customers will be more conservative about the technologies they would accept.

We are looking at doing a startup website that will hopefully receive lots of traffic.I am interested to know what databases people use for their startups. Obviously MySQL or other open source ones are the cheapest options, but would these hold up a serious site like Digg, Facebook, etc? Or would it be better starting off with something like Oracle?

5

17

2007-08-10 04:49:48 UTC

41,174

40,993

parker

Watching Songkick Demo At Y Combinator

paul

Just a quick thought: does YC provide any presentation coaching before DD? I can't think of one topic that sends people into fits faster than public speaking! IMO, it's a skill that should be practiced as much as possible, but real opportunities are rare...

null

1

14

2007-08-10 05:09:08 UTC

41,175

40,847

weeblyrocks

College will kill your entrepreneurial spirit: A 9 year old's foray into startups.

rzwitserloot

If this person actually had a good college education they'd understand the concept of opportunity cost. The more well educated you are, the higher your opportunity cost. Having a top college in your pocket can also help build your network if you use it right. The author also misinterprets causation and correlation. Just because X% of the richest people in America are dropouts is meaningless. What % of the total population has a college degree? Probably something like 30%. That just shows this guy's article is poorly thought out.It's a nice sensational headline but it falls flat on its face in terms of logic.

null

10

17

2007-08-10 05:11:22 UTC

41,176

41,133

patrickg-zill

Which database should my startup use?

chazwozz

Out of the gate, I would recommend Postgres. However, choosing which database to use should come after you establish a few of the parameters that matter to you.There is little reason to use a for-pay database unless you are doing something special with the features. Oracle for instance has some interesting text-search stuff builtin to the DB. But if you know you need that, then you are already starting to narrow the list of candidates.

We are looking at doing a startup website that will hopefully receive lots of traffic.I am interested to know what databases people use for their startups. Obviously MySQL or other open source ones are the cheapest options, but would these hold up a serious site like Digg, Facebook, etc? Or would it be better starting off with something like Oracle?

6

17

2007-08-10 05:19:33 UTC

41,177

41,133

natrius

Which database should my startup use?

chazwozz

Don't listen to the people recommending SQLite. Use SQLite when you're developing or when you want a database for a desktop application. Don't use it for a production web application.

We are looking at doing a startup website that will hopefully receive lots of traffic.I am interested to know what databases people use for their startups. Obviously MySQL or other open source ones are the cheapest options, but would these hold up a serious site like Digg, Facebook, etc? Or would it be better starting off with something like Oracle?

13

17

2007-08-10 05:21:20 UTC

41,178

41,100

far33d

YouTube Killer Gets $100M in Funding

horatio05

Fluuuuush.

null

3

12

2007-08-10 05:25:38 UTC

41,181

40,993

palish

Watching Songkick Demo At Y Combinator

paul

What's Songkick all about? The title sounds cool.

null

3

14

2007-08-10 05:47:55 UTC

41,183

40,862

RyanGWU82

Good luck on demo day, guys!

aston

Wow, "dropbox" takes on a whole new meaning when you refer to them as "dropboxers"...

I don't know all the teams, but I'm hoping my boys the Dropboxers do well.

2

16

2007-08-10 05:50:41 UTC

41,187

40,584

parker

Zenter founders and YC grads share their Google acquisition story (audio interview)

scrollinondubs

Just finished listening... this clip is worth the time, a lot of good stuff in here. I just wish they touched more on how the Google acquisition unfolded, rather than the "we met some people, yadda yadda" approach. But I'm guessing they're not at liberty to discuss all the details :)

null

1

36

2007-08-10 05:56:27 UTC

41,189

41,133

stuki

Which database should my startup use?

chazwozz

Since no one else seems to be doing so, let me put in a plug for MSSQL. If you're using the Microsoft stack, it ought to be the default choice. The integration with the rest of the environment (LINQ, db process LCR, Visual Studio integration, async transactional queuing, one heck of a molap engine, a great etl tool and more) is just too good to give up. And it's a darned nice database to boot, with 2008 on the way being even nicer. Also, Microsoft has publicly assured customers they will continue to license per socket, not per core. While still more expensive than the free db's (duh), at least you're not stuck handing over all future Moore's law gains to Larry Ellison.

We are looking at doing a startup website that will hopefully receive lots of traffic.I am interested to know what databases people use for their startups. Obviously MySQL or other open source ones are the cheapest options, but would these hold up a serious site like Digg, Facebook, etc? Or would it be better starting off with something like Oracle?

7

17

2007-08-10 06:19:06 UTC

41,195

41,064

prakash

"great scientists" Spock search returned 1 result

terpua

"great scientist" : http://www.spock.com/q/great-scientistYou probably wanted these results....

It's not even Einstein!

0

5

2007-08-10 06:58:40 UTC

41,196

41,190

udfalkso

Any ideas why our site's getting 404s to the /undefined URL?

benhoyt

I think your javascript hunch sounds right. I see a few similar 404s in my logs on the 8th and the 9th. So, maybe it is Google Analytics?

It's really strange: we're getting occasional 404 page-not-founds at the URL /undefined on our site (micropledge.com). HTTP_REFERER is set, usually to our home page, so it's not some random guy typing into his address bar. We saw who it was once when it happened, so we contacted him, but he said he didn't see anything wrong in his browser -- so it's something behind-the-scenes.Haven't been able to reproduce it here, or find any answers on the web. Doesn't seem to be a specific browser. My hunch is that it's some JavaScript quirk, or possibly the Google Analytics JS code, but I'm not sure...

1

2

2007-08-10 07:06:01 UTC

41,197

41,133

davidw

Which database should my startup use?

chazwozz

Depends - if you just need data storage that's fast, and don't care about having 100% data integrity, Mysql seems popular. I wouldn't trust people's money to it, though.I've long preferred PostgreSQL, because it's always had those things that make a relationanl DB a relational DB - foreign keys, lots of consistency checks, things like that. I have to admit, though, that as of Mysql 5, with InnoDB, it has started to resemble a "real database".Of course, for some applications, data integrity really doesn't matter that much, and you'd prefer speed, so Mysql with its native db type might be faster.

We are looking at doing a startup website that will hopefully receive lots of traffic.I am interested to know what databases people use for their startups. Obviously MySQL or other open source ones are the cheapest options, but would these hold up a serious site like Digg, Facebook, etc? Or would it be better starting off with something like Oracle?

18

17

2007-08-10 07:08:57 UTC

41,198

41,064

wehriam

"great scientists" Spock search returned 1 result

terpua

I don't think it works like that. Try "scientist physics" and you get some meaningful results.http://www.spock.com/q/scientist-physics

It's not even Einstein!

1

5

2007-08-10 07:10:46 UTC

41,207

41,133

ratsbane

Which database should my startup use?

chazwozz

The database is only one of a list of important architectural choices. Are you going to use a *nix (Linux, BSD, Solaris...) or Windows? What programming languages? Perl, Python, Java, Visual Basic... Applesoft Basic? Are you going to use a framework or code everything from scratch?These answers are all important, but it is possible to do a good job or a bad job with any of those languages. Ultimately the choice of platform, languages, database, etc. are not as important as how you put the pieces together.You might also what other successful sites are using, particularly those with data structures similar to what you are planning. I believe Facebook and Wikipedia both use PHP and MySQL. FlightAware (which does a really super job with lots of real-time data) uses Postgres.While it is, I'm sure, possible to design a very effective site with almost any combination but Windows/.Net/MSSQL seems like a particularly poor choice. There are only a few big data-driven sites using that technology and most of them aren't technically very good. Myspace is one example - (I think they use MSSQL) - but they have horrible response times and frequent hiccups. Ancestry.com is another big .Net site but they have a lot of problems. Pages frequently hang while loading, response not quick at all and their UI is very awkward. Several of the big airline sites run .Net but they aren't very good either. Big companies whose primary business isn't IT seem to go with .Net a lot and it shows in the quality of their sites - but that's not so bad - it creates a lot of opportunities for people like us. While I'm sure it is POSSIBLE to do good work on the Microsoft platform it seems very, very unlikely.My personal choice after having worked, at one time or another, with all of the options discussed here is very clearly LAMP - Linux, Apache, MySQL, Perl|PHP|Python but I wouldn't object to substituting BSD, Lighttpd or Postgres.As someone around here said recently, "...anyone proposing to run Windows on servers should be prepared to explain what they know about servers that Google, Yahoo, and Amazon don't."

We are looking at doing a startup website that will hopefully receive lots of traffic.I am interested to know what databases people use for their startups. Obviously MySQL or other open source ones are the cheapest options, but would these hold up a serious site like Digg, Facebook, etc? Or would it be better starting off with something like Oracle?

0

17

2007-08-10 08:27:43 UTC

41,208

41,190

tuukkah

Any ideas why our site's getting 404s to the /undefined URL?

benhoyt

In Javascript "http://site.example/"+undefined produces "http://site.example/undefined".

It's really strange: we're getting occasional 404 page-not-founds at the URL /undefined on our site (micropledge.com). HTTP_REFERER is set, usually to our home page, so it's not some random guy typing into his address bar. We saw who it was once when it happened, so we contacted him, but he said he didn't see anything wrong in his browser -- so it's something behind-the-scenes.Haven't been able to reproduce it here, or find any answers on the web. Doesn't seem to be a specific browser. My hunch is that it's some JavaScript quirk, or possibly the Google Analytics JS code, but I'm not sure...

0

2

2007-08-10 08:53:00 UTC

41,209

41,133

Keios

Which database should my startup use?

chazwozz

I would recommend PostGreSQL and you probably won't need to switch to Oracle if you use PostGres properly. Importantly its free and has a usable and friendlier license than MySQL. I am working on a startup idea which will also have high traffic and I am personally using Schevo - which is a non-sql Object DBMS for python based on Durus. I like Schevo because SQL sucks and using Schevo is like you a programming language - in this case its Python. You can check out the Schevo project at www.schevo.org. This would work for you only if you are using Python (highly recommend). Schevo does not have very good documentation yet, but it has excellent support on the IRC and Google Groups from its creators - at least I have found them to give complete and quick responses.Hope this helps.

We are looking at doing a startup website that will hopefully receive lots of traffic.I am interested to know what databases people use for their startups. Obviously MySQL or other open source ones are the cheapest options, but would these hold up a serious site like Digg, Facebook, etc? Or would it be better starting off with something like Oracle?

14

17

2007-08-10 09:10:08 UTC

41,213

41,133

phuego

Which database should my startup use?

chazwozz

PostgresQL. It scales very well in my opinion, although I have yet to get to Face Book sized numbers :-)I second all the 'has real features and is more reliable' comments that precede this one; I add to those my number one favourite. I can develop on Win32 and deploy on Linux and apply backups, schema changes, what have you from one to the other without any pain at all. I started with MySQL but simply could not achieve the above. YMMV naturally.

We are looking at doing a startup website that will hopefully receive lots of traffic.I am interested to know what databases people use for their startups. Obviously MySQL or other open source ones are the cheapest options, but would these hold up a serious site like Digg, Facebook, etc? Or would it be better starting off with something like Oracle?

9

17

2007-08-10 10:27:51 UTC

41,215

41,133

jamiequint

Which database should my startup use?

chazwozz

don't you work for oracle??http://www.blogger.com/profile/01908257636257717349

We are looking at doing a startup website that will hopefully receive lots of traffic.I am interested to know what databases people use for their startups. Obviously MySQL or other open source ones are the cheapest options, but would these hold up a serious site like Digg, Facebook, etc? Or would it be better starting off with something like Oracle?

2

17

2007-08-10 11:06:10 UTC

41,218

41,133

pg

Which database should my startup use?

chazwozz

One viable option is: none. Desktop apps don't automatically have to include a database. Why should web apps?

We are looking at doing a startup website that will hopefully receive lots of traffic.I am interested to know what databases people use for their startups. Obviously MySQL or other open source ones are the cheapest options, but would these hold up a serious site like Digg, Facebook, etc? Or would it be better starting off with something like Oracle?

3

17

2007-08-10 11:53:48 UTC

41,221

41,210

ed

Easiest way to create cool logos

subhash

... in 1996.

It works with GIMP in the background. Many of the logo designs are intriguing enough. Definitely worth a try ..

0

4

2007-08-10 12:48:07 UTC

41,230

41,133

mpc

Which database should my startup use?

chazwozz

If you're doing a start up then the whole point is to launch fast. Why would you want to choose a technology that could get in the way with licensing costs and complicated bloat?Pick something that is free and good.

We are looking at doing a startup website that will hopefully receive lots of traffic.I am interested to know what databases people use for their startups. Obviously MySQL or other open source ones are the cheapest options, but would these hold up a serious site like Digg, Facebook, etc? Or would it be better starting off with something like Oracle?

19

17

2007-08-10 13:11:54 UTC

41,233

40,690

cmars232

Your issues with...

kyro

1. Facebook is decent but a lot of my real-life friends already use MySpace. I refuse to keep up with 2+ social networking sites, its a waste of time!If I could push/pull content thru one site, I'd be more likely to use social networking sites more.2. Internet TV = http://tvlinks.co.uk if the DVR missed a show or I discover a new series mid-season. I like amateur stuff like YouTube but usually get links to it from friends & other sources, never get content thru their portal.3. I've accepted that online news is a moving target, and the best I can do is keep my feedlist short and relevant to what I'm currently interested in. Social news sites are like bright burning stars that collapse under their own weight as they grow more massive. I agree, Digg is dead, Reddit may be dying... YC News is cool because its still small.

So, I have several ideas that have been brewing in my cerebral hemispheres for a while now. However, I am trying to develop them into more complete and though out ones. In doing so, I have been asking people a whole slew of questions trying to pry out issues and problems they've been facing with existing services, so that I may capitalize on such issues and use them in developing my ideas. I thought I'd do the same here, seeing as you guys are a helpful, critical, and insightful bunch.And here we go. What are your issues with...1. Facebook - more speficially, do you feel that the connections you make are meaningful. Does it help you create stronger ties with existing friends? Any issues with it's tendency to expose everything out in the open? etc.2. Internet TV - Why don't you watch it? Does it focus on the wrong content? What would make you watch it? etc.3. Getting your online news - Let's face it, Digg now is crap. I know many people will agree with that. It's crapiness isn't exclusive to Digg alone, but has spread to similar services. What do you hate about it, what would you fix? I also believe that news.yc is a great source of info. What do you like about it? Anything you'd add/change?I have more questions, but this seems like a bit much already.Thanks to all who contribute.

11

9

2007-08-10 13:28:12 UTC

41,235

41,133

codeslinger

Which database should my startup use?

chazwozz

You should not use any, if you can get away with it. Start with Hadoop (http://lucene.apache.org/hadoop/) and see if you can wrap your head around that first before tying yourself to the RDBMS lifestyle.

We are looking at doing a startup website that will hopefully receive lots of traffic.I am interested to know what databases people use for their startups. Obviously MySQL or other open source ones are the cheapest options, but would these hold up a serious site like Digg, Facebook, etc? Or would it be better starting off with something like Oracle?

15

17

2007-08-10 13:38:24 UTC

41,239

41,236

chwolfe

Need For Concern - Business Lending Tightening?

chwolfe

Will this hit tech startups looking for funding down the road?

Initially, this was a concern only to the housing sector but it seems to be taking a toll on the market as a whole. Is this something that will hit tech startups down the road?

0

2

2007-08-10 13:51:30 UTC

41,246

41,133

rzwitserloot

Which database should my startup use?

chazwozz

postgres is the most flexible option. e.g. the google hibernate shards team mostly works off of postgres, postgres is built with proper transactional support right from the ground up, instead of a table option as with MySQL, and it's more open source than MySQL.An article I wrote on postgres' scalability before, including some juicy links with shiny graphs:http://www.zwitserloot.com/2006/12/02/database-land-postgres...And as you seem to work for oracle, my 'endorsement' of the quality of that particular little blight on this world should make for something nice to report back to Larry.

We are looking at doing a startup website that will hopefully receive lots of traffic.I am interested to know what databases people use for their startups. Obviously MySQL or other open source ones are the cheapest options, but would these hold up a serious site like Digg, Facebook, etc? Or would it be better starting off with something like Oracle?

8

17

2007-08-10 14:14:31 UTC

41,255

41,241

tuukkah

Google Mistakes Own Blog For Spam, Deletes It

jkush

Be careful this doesn't happen to your blog at Blogspot or what not, it will be more difficult to right that.

null

0

6

2007-08-10 14:36:31 UTC

41,256

41,249

pg

Putting the Del.icio.us Lesson into Practice, Part II: Feature Creep

danw

Having high standards for graphic design can help. If you're determined to keep your front page clean and simple, that pushes back against the forces that drive feature creep.

null

0

11

2007-08-10 14:36:48 UTC

41,266

41,249

parker

Putting the Del.icio.us Lesson into Practice, Part II: Feature Creep

danw

It's much too tantalizing sometimes to think that this next feature idea will resonate with your users; before you know it, your subnavs are completely packed, and you're not even sure what you want your users to do anymore.Adopting the minimalist approach is both terrifying and liberating, but without question, is much more communicative to users.

null

2

11

2007-08-10 15:27:39 UTC

41,267

41,153

DougBTX

Lift Web Framework

nickb

Why all the italics?

null

0

6

2007-08-10 15:31:53 UTC

41,276

41,210

david

Easiest way to create cool logos

subhash

Web 2.0 meets Web 0.2...

It works with GIMP in the background. Many of the logo designs are intriguing enough. Definitely worth a try ..

1

4

2007-08-10 16:11:34 UTC

41,278

41,269

sherman

First look at YC Demo Day

rokhayakebe

Congrats to all the founders, the launched betas look promising.

null

2

25

2007-08-10 16:17:48 UTC

41,279

41,277

davidw

"Should a Start-up Focus on Going Global Right Away?"

ivankirigin

I thinks 'no'. Betters to dominate an initial niche rather than try and take on the whole world. That's the conventional wisdom, at least.

null

1

2007-08-10 16:17:52 UTC

41,292

41,130

sherman

Invite Users to Your Office For Pictures with The Staff

staunch

Not a bad idea, but how many users could you actually get to come to your office? This would definitely motivate your team. Seeing live people who actually use your product and express what they like about it is great. But in terms of user loyalty, I think there would be maybe 10-20 people who might actually make it down.

Some startups do user meet-ups and that's great. But there's another easy way to build user loyalty and motivate your team. Invite users down to your office to come have their picture taken with the staff. Post the picture on your site. It only takes 5 minutes and it's worth a lot.

0

1

2007-08-10 16:47:37 UTC

41,293

41,027

daniel-cussen

Veoh Sues Universal Music

transburgh

Solid.

null

1

5

2007-08-10 16:58:47 UTC

41,296

41,277

run4yourlives

"Should a Start-up Focus on Going Global Right Away?"

ivankirigin

I think that would depend entirely on the startup, no? You're not going to get useful answers unless you ask a useful question... perhaps some more info?

null

0

1

2007-08-10 17:14:05 UTC

41,304

41,065

mynameishere

How do you like our new way to fund software by teaming up? (microPledge public launch)

benhoyt

Good luck. I guess...how do I say this? There are some aspects to this that you're either missing or not highlighting.First, this page:http://micropledge.com/helpSHOULD explain exactly who owns what when software is made. Do the pledgers have any ownership? Just the coders? Do you force coders to use GPL? I'm sure you explain this somewhere, but it needs to be more clear, and I'm not going to do a lot of research...Anyway. More importantly...Software, as soon as you leave the YC forcefield [1], is extremely expensive to produce. My company's tiny projects are billed in the upper 6-figure range. Are you going to get anyone "pledging" USD 750,000 for anything non-trivial? [1] Remember that the 15,000 dollars or whatever YC gives people is just a token, maybe just a legal formality, to ensure their status as "investors". What they really give is exposure and advice and community. If you can get people pledging 15K, it still isn't enough.

null

1

20

2007-08-10 18:03:12 UTC

41,305

41,269

nickb

First look at YC Demo Day

rokhayakebe

Which team is doing video dating?

null

4

25

2007-08-10 18:22:06 UTC

41,309

41,303

ivankirigin

What's the best online payment processing solution?

jmpeters

People seem to like PayPal, and are used to the checkout process. I'd also like to hear about how customizable it is, as I'll be working on it in a few weeks.

I'm looking for an online credit card payment processing solution that can handle recurring monthly payments. I'm open to linking off of my site to a hosted provider, so long as I can sufficiently customize the look-and-feel. I'm also open to a lower-level code-it-yourself type of solution. Of course I don't want to spend too much time on this, and I want it to be cheap. :) Thanks in advance for sharing your experiences.

2

11

2007-08-10 18:45:22 UTC

41,310

41,308

rms

Inc. or LLC?

mcu

Startup implies rapid growth, which means you want to be a Delaware Class C Corporation so you can raise VC money.An LLC is fine for a business where you expect to make your money from profits rather than a liquidity event and aren't trying to raise VC money.

What would you suggest for a startup?

0

15

2007-08-10 18:51:45 UTC

41,312

41,302

german

230+ Tools for Running a Business Online

nreece

Wow! My startup is one of those! It's under Conferences, Presentations & Meetings...

null

0

17

2007-08-10 19:00:38 UTC

41,313

41,303

zviband

What's the best online payment processing solution?

jmpeters

amazon's new flexible payments system

I'm looking for an online credit card payment processing solution that can handle recurring monthly payments. I'm open to linking off of my site to a hosted provider, so long as I can sufficiently customize the look-and-feel. I'm also open to a lower-level code-it-yourself type of solution. Of course I don't want to spend too much time on this, and I want it to be cheap. :) Thanks in advance for sharing your experiences.

3

11

2007-08-10 19:01:23 UTC

41,314

41,268

zurla

Blueprint: A CSS Framework

danw

anyone care to compare this to something like the yahoo css framework? what are the best CSS frameworks out there?

null

3

23

2007-08-10 19:01:40 UTC

41,315

41,100

weeblyrocks

YouTube Killer Gets $100M in Funding

horatio05

It won't be a YouTube killer but this could be an intelligent strategic move to segregate their own assets and block them from YouTube.YouTube survives because most media companies don't have the balls to protect their own assets. By creating their own portal they can create what they can force people to the site because it has content people want to see. As long as it is free and easy to use, people will use it.All of you haters are just clowns who don't understand how the real world works. PG is flat out wrong here.

null

4

12

2007-08-10 19:02:20 UTC

41,325

41,303

epi0Bauqu

What's the best online payment processing solution?

jmpeters

See: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33322http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33505http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12010http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5303

I'm looking for an online credit card payment processing solution that can handle recurring monthly payments. I'm open to linking off of my site to a hosted provider, so long as I can sufficiently customize the look-and-feel. I'm also open to a lower-level code-it-yourself type of solution. Of course I don't want to spend too much time on this, and I want it to be cheap. :) Thanks in advance for sharing your experiences.

0

11

2007-08-10 19:52:57 UTC

41,329

41,303

iamyoohoo

What's the best online payment processing solution?

jmpeters

I've used authorize.net in the past. They were recently acquired by cybersource.

I'm looking for an online credit card payment processing solution that can handle recurring monthly payments. I'm open to linking off of my site to a hosted provider, so long as I can sufficiently customize the look-and-feel. I'm also open to a lower-level code-it-yourself type of solution. Of course I don't want to spend too much time on this, and I want it to be cheap. :) Thanks in advance for sharing your experiences.

4

11

2007-08-10 19:58:49 UTC

41,338

41,333

ivankirigin

Lessons for startup founders from Baseball home run stats?

sbraford

A lesson for those in consumer electronics: make something as good as your market can handle, and there will _still_ be something better in Japan. :PThis guy actually holds the record, with 868 home runs http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukuoka_Softbank_Hawks

null

0

1

2007-08-10 20:26:37 UTC

41,343

41,308

davidw

Inc. or LLC?

mcu

I went with an LLC, but I think it depends a lot on your situation. Mine is that I'm going it alone in many ways, and want to keep costs down, and don't foresee investments in the near future.

What would you suggest for a startup?

3

15

2007-08-10 20:55:32 UTC

41,346

41,269

weeblyrocks

First look at YC Demo Day

rokhayakebe

Pwned:http://techdumpster.com/2007/08/10/anywherefm-going-nowheref...

null

7

25

2007-08-10 21:10:35 UTC

41,348

41,261

randallsquared

Idea: Mechanical Turk for page usability testing?

tkiley

"Would any of you find mechanical turk-based usability testing valuable?"Quite valuable, yes. :) Perhaps the people that create forum traffic to jumpstart new sites could expand into this easily. I can't remember the names of any of them at the moment...

My company provides a very unique service -- one that is difficult to explain properly in a few words.As I've worked on designing our web site (particularly the homepage), it occurred to me that it would be nice to be able to do some simple testing with something like the mechanical turk: submit a web page to the service, which would flash it in front of a tester for 5-10 seconds, and then have the tester answer questions about their comprehension of the site's purpose and benefits, and perhaps their own objections or responses. (More in-depth testing processes wouldn't be difficult, but that's the first one that comes to mind for me)I'm working in a pretty unique environment right now -- the market is somewhat small and difficult to target, but ridiculously high-margin (we're looking at creating $500+ profit per user within 1 week of sign-up, essentially.).With low traffic, it's hard to get solid numbers out of page variation testing, and in a wholly new market, I don't even know if most visitors understand our service, so I see the value in turk-ish testing for myself, but I'm not sure if it would have a broad appeal. Would any of you find mechanical turk-based usability testing valuable?

0

2

2007-08-10 21:27:33 UTC

41,349

41,268

german

Blueprint: A CSS Framework

danw

I really think there's no tool like a text editor and firebug for css editing.

null

1

23

2007-08-10 21:30:43 UTC

41,350

41,303

augustus

What's the best online payment processing solution?

jmpeters

i have some experience with this.i researched a lot of payment gateways such as authorize.net but decided against it because they have a lot of fixed costs which you can only recuperate with high volume.Also online processors have a lot of procedures, credit checks etc. which is a lot of pain.I went with paypal but had a lot of trouble with theiragent when dealing with fraud.I would probably try amazon if I was doing it today.Once you have an established volume you can switch to a dedicated service like authorize.net. Until then it is better to pay per transaction.Regards.-Augustus

I'm looking for an online credit card payment processing solution that can handle recurring monthly payments. I'm open to linking off of my site to a hosted provider, so long as I can sufficiently customize the look-and-feel. I'm also open to a lower-level code-it-yourself type of solution. Of course I don't want to spend too much time on this, and I want it to be cheap. :) Thanks in advance for sharing your experiences.

1

11

2007-08-10 21:35:04 UTC

41,353

41,308

mcu

Inc. or LLC?

mcu

This will be a small to begin with, I just finished school and owe too much in student loans to quit my day job. An LLC is attractive for the low record keeping and tax paperwork requirements. One concern is that I see no legal framework for vesting built into LLCs, I'd rather not roll my own.Has anyone looked into filing an operating agreement in Nevada instead of Delaware? Among other benefits, a cursory glance at the facts seemed to indicate that the tax burden would be lower in Nevada. Am I missing something obvious?

What would you suggest for a startup?

1

15

2007-08-10 21:47:13 UTC

41,354

41,290

myoung8

Fitts' Law: A Usability Quiz

joshwa

wow. everyone should read this. i had one of those "holy crap i just learned something new and interesting" moments. what it has to say will probably surprise most of you. my only question is, what's the best practice for designing websites using Fitt's Law? We can't use the upper or lower screen edges because of the OS's menu bars and it seems like it would look odd to have the menu aligned flush with the left side of the screen...Thoughts?

null

2

15

2007-08-10 21:53:39 UTC

41,366

41,308

weeblyrocks

Inc. or LLC?

mcu

The reason most attorneys advise Delaware is that the precedents are strongest there. Furthermore, it makes long-term legal costs lower because most corporate lawyers are familiar with Delaware's nuances.All corporations are C by default. You have to file a special from with the IRS to become an S Corporation. S Corporations are flow-through entities which are not taxed at the corporate level. The reason VCs require you to be a C Corporation is two-fold:1. VCs like to have unilateral rights and terms to give them downside protection such as liquidity preference and preferential stock classes such as Preferred Shares. S Corporations are simpler entities which only allow a maximum of 40 shareholders - as your company grows and you give stock grants or options, this won't work. LLCs only allow 75 shareholders. 2. VCs will claim that a C Corp structure gives you more flexibility. This is marginally true, but LLCs give you the same flexibility with slightly higher administrative cost but you can maintain the flow-through status which is advantageous.The real reason is they want preferred shares and special rights. Stay an LLC or S Corporation if you don't need institutional investors. Angels are happy to invest in well structured LLCs or standard subchapter S Corporations.

What would you suggest for a startup?

4

15

2007-08-10 22:43:23 UTC

41,372

41,269

ashu

First look at YC Demo Day

rokhayakebe

I just don't understand why some of these guys are so hell bent on disparaging YC. Whether YC is right or not, time will tell and it's YC that has to worry about it. But, what do _these other people_ gain out of it?

null

3

25

2007-08-10 23:06:03 UTC

41,376

40,576

especkman

Should I be concerned about putting my code on a 3rd party server?

gatorade

Concerned why? Are you concerned about someone stealing your proprietary code? Or are you worried because you have made unreleased proprietary modifications to GPLed code and you are worried that running your modified version on another parties servers might be considered "distribution," and give the host the option of distributing it to other parties?

null

2

5

2007-08-10 23:26:47 UTC

41,381

41,367

sherman

Finish the sentence...

ctingom

not here

When I arrive at the office in the morning, everyone else is usually _____.(inspired by http://www.brainfuel.tv/finish-the-sentence)

4

2

2007-08-10 23:48:51 UTC

41,384

41,367

donna

Finish the sentence...

ctingom

sleeping in

When I arrive at the office in the morning, everyone else is usually _____.(inspired by http://www.brainfuel.tv/finish-the-sentence)

1

2

2007-08-10 23:52:43 UTC

41,386

41,290

rms

Fitts' Law: A Usability Quiz

joshwa

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fitts'_lawSome great background here... apparently Fitts' Law is why Xerox introduced the mouse in the first place.

null

3

15

2007-08-10 23:56:33 UTC

41,389

41,269

bootload

First look at YC Demo Day

rokhayakebe

"... The companies were much higher quality than I expected. The founders were nearly all coders and hackers but did a surprisingly good job at presenting their idea, target market, and business model ..." ~ Don DodgeIs YC being embraced by the larger VC community? If so, this is a further tick of approval of the YC techniques used to get startups to market. The quoted comments are a remarkable turn-around in opinion from Don Dodge ('Since when does growing $4 Billion a year = Dead?') and It's great to see the candidates flexing their skills of persuasion. Selling the idea(s) as much as building it. How much effort went into making sure other VC's could also see the new recruits?

null

1

25

2007-08-11 00:05:57 UTC

41,391

41,133

bootload

Which database should my startup use?

chazwozz

"... Obviously MySQL or other open source ones are the cheapest options ..."do you need a database?

We are looking at doing a startup website that will hopefully receive lots of traffic.I am interested to know what databases people use for their startups. Obviously MySQL or other open source ones are the cheapest options, but would these hold up a serious site like Digg, Facebook, etc? Or would it be better starting off with something like Oracle?

21

17

2007-08-11 00:19:55 UTC

41,392

41,367

epi0Bauqu

Finish the sentence...

ctingom

not in my house (where my office is).

When I arrive at the office in the morning, everyone else is usually _____.(inspired by http://www.brainfuel.tv/finish-the-sentence)

0

2

2007-08-11 00:21:10 UTC

41,394

41,367

iamyoohoo

Finish the sentence...

ctingom

two hours into their day.....

When I arrive at the office in the morning, everyone else is usually _____.(inspired by http://www.brainfuel.tv/finish-the-sentence)

2

2007-08-11 00:24:43 UTC

41,395

40,472

bootload

Age and the entrepreneur, part 1: Some data

terpua

Is "enthusiasm" the same as "determined"?

null

9

40

2007-08-11 00:36:22 UTC

41,396

41,360

rms

What are you thoughts on the FishEye menu?

myoung8

Here's an example but I don't have java installed. Are there any non-java versions?http://www.cs.umd.edu/hcil/fisheyemenu/fisheyemenu-demo.shtm...Edit: Here's one in Flash. http://www.samuelwan.com/downloads/com.samuelwan.eidt/fishey...

After reading this: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41290it got me thinking that using a FishEye menu (e.g. using jQuery & the Interface plugin) positioned flush with the left side of the screen would be the most useable type of menu for a website.What do you guys think about doing that? Good idea? Bad idea? Good in theory, bad in practice?

0

1

2007-08-11 00:36:58 UTC

41,397

41,277

epi0Bauqu

"Should a Start-up Focus on Going Global Right Away?"

ivankirigin

If it is easy, why not? You never know where your startup is going to take off.

null

2

1

2007-08-11 00:37:51 UTC

41,401

41,308

ajmoir

Inc. or LLC?

mcu

I just inc'd in CA, I looked at LLC but that's a partnership and I'm doing this alone.I went for the quick and easy route. I'm looking to build a good product not a big corporation. The less time I spend having to futz with the lawyer/Accountants and Tax man the happier I'll be.

What would you suggest for a startup?

2

15

2007-08-11 00:48:22 UTC