Datasets:
Linkseed
/
hacker_news_with_comments

Dataset card Data Studio Files Community
id
int64
2.3k
8.36M
parent
int64
2.29k
8.36M
comment_author
stringlengths
2
15
title
stringlengths
1
173
⌀
author
stringlengths
2
15
comment_text
stringlengths
1
99.1k
⌀
text
stringlengths
1
23.4k
⌀
comment_ranking
int64
0
524
score
int64
0
4.34k
time_ts
stringlengths
23
23
42,996
42,702
Andys
Why Paul? Why Did You Change It? (About Hacker News)
transburgh
I think the new algorithm is going to make the site less adaptable to new concepts and ideas in the future, if a just few of the big users vote them down. The type of stories voted up high will get stuck at a local maxima in story space.
null
7
37
2007-08-16 12:21:27 UTC
43,003
42,933
rickcecil
Why is it hard to startup a company outside of Silicon Valley?
ahsonwardak
It may very well be easier for startups in Silicon Valley, but so what? Focus your attention on the specific problems you have, not on comparing your situation to other people's situations. Having a hard time finding a co-founder? More difficulty getting funding? Look at the resources available to you in your community and take advantage of those. Don't have any resources? Create some yourself. Many times, problems can be solves with the right network. Read /Never Eat Alone/ and start building yours.And ultimately, if you think a move out to SV will solve your problems, move out to SV. But realize that the grass is never greener--just different shades of brown that, from a distance, look greener. Out in SV, you're likely to have a different set of problems: greater competition for talent (both partners and employees), higher cost of living, greater competition for angel and VCs. It all comes down to the realization that there are trade-offs to every situation. Challenges to every startup, no matter where you are. Focus on the challenges you're facing and find creative ways to solve them. That's when you'll be successful. Not when you're lamenting about how easy other people have it compared to you.
This may sound like a dumb question to some, but I need to be edified. I'm in DC, and it seems more and more that you're probably working in something government or defense related. In other cities, like Dallas, it used to be telecom related (The Telecom Corrdior). How do these clusters start, thrive, and/or die? How does it continue to thrive in Silicon Valley after some 20 to 30 years of startup success stories?
2
26
2007-08-16 13:07:19 UTC
43,004
42,881
avehn
How JavaScript is Slowing Down the Web (And What To Do About It)
brett
Good things to keep in mind as I write out my front end. I never knew about defering.
null
1
18
2007-08-16 13:17:25 UTC
43,005
42,835
JBiserkov
Why do most social networks make it so hard to move from viewing one friend to the next?
david
"Back Is the Only Way Forward"I liked the quote, but I really hate what it means. Scalability should not be an excuse for lack of important features.
null
0
10
2007-08-16 13:29:40 UTC
43,006
42,835
Goladus
Why do most social networks make it so hard to move from viewing one friend to the next?
david
Firefox or IE7 users don't have this problem.
null
1
10
2007-08-16 13:40:21 UTC
43,014
42,933
transburgh
Why is it hard to startup a company outside of Silicon Valley?
ahsonwardak
The first mistake startups make is they need VC or angel funding to get moving. The mindset in SV is bad enough, it does not need to bleed to the rest of the country.
This may sound like a dumb question to some, but I need to be edified. I'm in DC, and it seems more and more that you're probably working in something government or defense related. In other cities, like Dallas, it used to be telecom related (The Telecom Corrdior). How do these clusters start, thrive, and/or die? How does it continue to thrive in Silicon Valley after some 20 to 30 years of startup success stories?
8
26
2007-08-16 13:59:34 UTC
43,019
42,892
ratsbane
An idea
cellis
It would be quite neat to be able to do that. Ancestry.com is another site that should offer something like that... enter your family tree and then pick some random person who also has a family tree on file and show how you're related. They can't even do that within your own family tree (e.g. pick a person in your family tree and tell you "Augustus is your fourth cousin three times removed" or "Myrtle is your great-grandmother."It is an example of the traveling salesman problem but there are ways of optimizing that... think about chess, or how google maps and the other map programs give you a route to a destination. If they had to check every single intersection it would be NP-complete. Instead they use the distance between two points as a weighting factor and try to find major arteries near both points.I think you could do the same thing with Facebook et al - first look for common groups between people and then look for people who have pairs of common groups which would help to connect the people.But you would have to have a reasonably complete set of Facebook data to work on. I wonder if they'd mind if you crawled their entire network and then did it again every few days, just to keep things current?
ok, so yeah I have this idea. And I don't mind telling people about it. If you want to do it, go ahead, but first let me know what you think.I'm sure everyone has heard of this, and I'm pretty sure this has already been thought of (what hasn't, right?) but I haven't seen it in my feed pop up in the myriad facebook apps my friends have added. The pitch: facebook app/six degrees of separation game (find out how many steps to a random person (if possible)). Just had this idea like two minutes ago. Any thoughts??
2
6
2007-08-16 14:21:32 UTC
43,020
42,933
samb
Why is it hard to startup a company outside of Silicon Valley?
ahsonwardak
We're running a startup from Chicago and Birmingham, AL. We're not finding it particularly difficult. We're not interested in outside money right now, but if we were it wouldn't be particularly hard to find. We were approached before we had seriously considered outside funding.I think the main difference is the types of companies that get funded in The Valley. Twitter, for example, wouldn't get funding in Chicago and certainly not Birmingham. Facebook and Google wouldn't have gotten funding either.But there is money for the right product outside of The Valley.
This may sound like a dumb question to some, but I need to be edified. I'm in DC, and it seems more and more that you're probably working in something government or defense related. In other cities, like Dallas, it used to be telecom related (The Telecom Corrdior). How do these clusters start, thrive, and/or die? How does it continue to thrive in Silicon Valley after some 20 to 30 years of startup success stories?
9
26
2007-08-16 14:21:48 UTC
43,021
42,884
appleVnokia
Why the iPhone doesn't have copy+paste
david
because is the not the nokia N95apple repeated the same mistake they made with the mac 20 years ago, thats why the will never lead the mobile market.
null
2
27
2007-08-16 14:26:59 UTC
43,022
42,884
nanijoe
Why the iPhone doesn't have copy+paste
david
I think it is retarded that I have to manually re-write stuff that is already in an email into a text message or vice versa. At least several times every day I wish my iphone had copy and paste
null
3
27
2007-08-16 14:31:23 UTC
43,023
42,933
rokhayakebe
Why is it hard to startup a company outside of Silicon Valley?
ahsonwardak
Flickr, Zoho, Flirtomatic. It is not hard to start a startup outside the valley, it is simply "harder". It won't be easy no matter where you are.
This may sound like a dumb question to some, but I need to be edified. I'm in DC, and it seems more and more that you're probably working in something government or defense related. In other cities, like Dallas, it used to be telecom related (The Telecom Corrdior). How do these clusters start, thrive, and/or die? How does it continue to thrive in Silicon Valley after some 20 to 30 years of startup success stories?
16
26
2007-08-16 14:33:05 UTC
43,024
42,839
ivankirigin
This could be your fate if you don't do a startup
menloparkbum
Sorry folks: this is hilarious. I love it.Perhaps you'd like to make a competing rap about your place of work? What's the phrase I'm thinking of for the folks at VallyWag? strap on some plums.I wonder if a reaction to this can be considered a Rorschach test for how much you actually support user generated content :-P
welcome to the crushing grind of mediocrity, yahoo! style.
0
11
2007-08-16 14:37:25 UTC
43,026
42,933
sethg
Why is it hard to startup a company outside of Silicon Valley?
ahsonwardak
I work for a small company in Cambridge, Massachusetts (we have about 60 employees and were founded in 1999; I'm not sure if we count as a startup any more), so it's certainly possible.My impression is that high-tech startups in the Boston area tend to sell products or services to larger companies, so that each customer brings in five or six figures worth of revenue. All the Valley startups I hear about, by comparison, aim for the mass market.I know that PG doesn't like the idea of starting a consulting firm and using the consulting revenues to bootstrap product development, but I worked for one company and interviewed at two that did exactly that. (The one I worked for, Kenan Systems, never took a dime of outside investment, until the founder sold the company to Lucent for $10 billion. Things went downhill from there. But I digress.) Maybe the knowledge and contacts such entrepreneurs gained from consulting helped them make their first five-figure sales?...
This may sound like a dumb question to some, but I need to be edified. I'm in DC, and it seems more and more that you're probably working in something government or defense related. In other cities, like Dallas, it used to be telecom related (The Telecom Corrdior). How do these clusters start, thrive, and/or die? How does it continue to thrive in Silicon Valley after some 20 to 30 years of startup success stories?
3
26
2007-08-16 14:41:37 UTC
43,028
42,954
ivankirigin
What is Two Dot Ooh?
c1sc0
Marketing. I wouldn't call it good marketing, because like AI in the 80s, if you promise more than you deliver, people stop trusting you.
What's the hacker perspective on 'Web 2.0'? Is it just a crossroads of technologies that have matured? Is it about the community aspects? How would you defined Web 2.0?
0
1
2007-08-16 14:43:45 UTC
43,034
42,854
nostrademons
news.ycombinator meetup - Cambridge, MA
bokonist
I'll probably be there. May be a little late.
We did a news.ycombinator.com meetup this past June and the turnout was great. Let's do another. It would be great to have a mix of summer ycombinator startups and people thinking of applying this October.For a time/place, how about: Sunday, August 19th at 7 PM 1369 Coffee House in Central Square 757 Massachusetts Ave. Cambridge, MA 02139Leave a comment if you are interested.
12
20
2007-08-16 14:58:40 UTC
43,035
42,854
bobmah
news.ycombinator meetup - Cambridge, MA
bokonist
Not sure I can make that time, but I am interested and will try to be there.
We did a news.ycombinator.com meetup this past June and the turnout was great. Let's do another. It would be great to have a mix of summer ycombinator startups and people thinking of applying this October.For a time/place, how about: Sunday, August 19th at 7 PM 1369 Coffee House in Central Square 757 Massachusetts Ave. Cambridge, MA 02139Leave a comment if you are interested.
8
20
2007-08-16 15:05:25 UTC
43,041
42,839
joe
This could be your fate if you don't do a startup
menloparkbum
I'm eagerly awaiting the Google response.
welcome to the crushing grind of mediocrity, yahoo! style.
4
11
2007-08-16 15:39:27 UTC
43,042
42,933
pg
Why is it hard to startup a company outside of Silicon Valley?
ahsonwardak
The number one reason is the lack/timidity of angel investors. But there are a lot of others. In startup hubs like SV (and to a lesser extent Boston), everyone gets startups. Not just investors, but employees, landlords, suppliers, girlfriends' parents. In a startup hub you're going with the grain to start a startup, and elsewhere you're going against it.
This may sound like a dumb question to some, but I need to be edified. I'm in DC, and it seems more and more that you're probably working in something government or defense related. In other cities, like Dallas, it used to be telecom related (The Telecom Corrdior). How do these clusters start, thrive, and/or die? How does it continue to thrive in Silicon Valley after some 20 to 30 years of startup success stories?
7
26
2007-08-16 15:40:16 UTC
43,044
43,039
eposts
Finance geeks: what's behind this odd chart?
davidw
Interestingly I was looking at this chart and then came to news.yc and saw your post. I don't understand your question. Are you asking why there are lows and highs for each day? It is because the its traded just like stocks are traded and have intra day lows and highs.
This is strange looking:http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=EURUSD=X&t=5dNot the fact that it's trending downward, but the very regular looking stairstep each day. Any idea what that is?
5
6
2007-08-16 15:46:38 UTC
43,046
43,039
dpapathanasiou
Finance geeks: what's behind this odd chart?
davidw
Market prices as fractal patterns? Where have I seen that before?Ah, yes, here: http://www.amazon.com/Mis-Behavior-Markets-Fractal-Reward/dp...
This is strange looking:http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=EURUSD=X&t=5dNot the fact that it's trending downward, but the very regular looking stairstep each day. Any idea what that is?
2
6
2007-08-16 15:49:02 UTC
43,050
42,854
edgeztv
news.ycombinator meetup - Cambridge, MA
bokonist
Sounds good. I just wanted to suggest Andala Coffee House nearbly because they have free WiFi in contrast to 1369.Here's the link: http://www.yelp.com/biz/QAbqOn5VhO4k15_wfSQdvg
We did a news.ycombinator.com meetup this past June and the turnout was great. Let's do another. It would be great to have a mix of summer ycombinator startups and people thinking of applying this October.For a time/place, how about: Sunday, August 19th at 7 PM 1369 Coffee House in Central Square 757 Massachusetts Ave. Cambridge, MA 02139Leave a comment if you are interested.
3
20
2007-08-16 15:55:12 UTC
43,051
42,825
almost
CIA, Vatican busted for Wikipedia edits
farmer
Isn't it most likely true that most people who edit Wikipedia do so from work? And when they do they probably edit things they know (or think they know) about. Given that, you'd expect these sort of things to happen without any intention on the part of the organizations in question.
null
1
5
2007-08-16 15:58:11 UTC
43,056
42,854
knewjax
news.ycombinator meetup - Cambridge, MA
bokonist
Theres i also Diesel Cafe in Davis Square. Much Much bigger space with lots more tables and even a pool table. Also has WiFihttp://www.yelp.com/biz/c67rQbz3CEXyI0nd5kG-Uw
We did a news.ycombinator.com meetup this past June and the turnout was great. Let's do another. It would be great to have a mix of summer ycombinator startups and people thinking of applying this October.For a time/place, how about: Sunday, August 19th at 7 PM 1369 Coffee House in Central Square 757 Massachusetts Ave. Cambridge, MA 02139Leave a comment if you are interested.
4
20
2007-08-16 16:03:02 UTC
43,063
43,049
ACSparks
Amazon S3 and offline development
ACSparks
Nevermind, I can just use htaccess to redirect image paths when I am developing on my local computer.
Let's say I want to use S3 to serve all of the images for my site; I also do alot of my developing offline on a local setup.Do I just have to bite the bullet and have the page layout broken when I am not online?
0
1
2007-08-16 16:13:05 UTC
43,064
43,016
zach
How to write a book - the short honest truth
omouse
Self-publishing is easy. Self-editing is hard.
null
1
31
2007-08-16 16:14:11 UTC
43,065
43,007
vlad
USAToday's Social Network Experiment May Not Be Paying Off
terpua
For me, the simplest and logical conclusion about the site is that there's way too much text on the top of the page, and when you visit the site, a screen-size ad opens up that you have to close. When you do, a popup ad shows up as well. It's insane. Users leaving because they're annoyed at the ads, not the social features, is the best and simplest and most obvious conclusion.But I do agree with this comment:"I think this was a valiant effort to provide a more interactive user experience to a website whose users have no interest in it."
null
0
3
2007-08-16 16:16:44 UTC
43,067
42,887
tocomment
Javascript or Flash Widgets debate. Help me choose what to use.
thomasswift
Any advice on making widgets in general? I'd like to make one for my site in a few months and I don't know the first thing about them. How can a javascript widget even work with the browser restricting javascript to access other domains?
What are your thoughts, tips, and/or best practices for either?
2
8
2007-08-16 16:18:53 UTC
43,068
42,839
Tichy
This could be your fate if you don't do a startup
menloparkbum
Any chance to see this on YouTube? I learn from this that jumpcut doesn't work very well...
welcome to the crushing grind of mediocrity, yahoo! style.
3
11
2007-08-16 16:23:28 UTC
43,069
43,039
nostrademons
Finance geeks: what's behind this odd chart?
davidw
Your link goes to the 1 year chart, but I think you meant the 5 day chart. I dunno how to hotlink to specific ranges in the new Y!Finance charts; viewer should click on 5D.Anyway, the stairstep is at 4:00 AM GMT, which happens to be midnight EDT. I don't know about the intricacies of currency markets, but I'd imagine there's some sort of daily currency balancing where the main banks buy all the currency they need to settle international transactions on behalf of customers. Note that there's a sharp gap downwards between 9:00 PM and midnight GMT (when European banks would presumably be buying dollars to settle international transactions), and a sharp gap upwards at midnight EDT (when U.S. banks would presumably be buying euros to settle international transactions.)
This is strange looking:http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=EURUSD=X&t=5dNot the fact that it's trending downward, but the very regular looking stairstep each day. Any idea what that is?
0
6
2007-08-16 16:25:29 UTC
43,071
42,933
electric
Why is it hard to startup a company outside of Silicon Valley?
ahsonwardak
Good ideas and products are born everywhere in the world. At some point in the life of a product however you do need money to grow, compete, etc. At this time if your idea is significant enough you might need investment and Si Valley is a good place to be. Lately though VCs have been setting up shop in India and China. So really if there is a critical mass of talent, ideas and a market to boot, Silicon Valley will come to you.
This may sound like a dumb question to some, but I need to be edified. I'm in DC, and it seems more and more that you're probably working in something government or defense related. In other cities, like Dallas, it used to be telecom related (The Telecom Corrdior). How do these clusters start, thrive, and/or die? How does it continue to thrive in Silicon Valley after some 20 to 30 years of startup success stories?
11
26
2007-08-16 16:28:55 UTC
43,072
43,039
kingkongrevenge
Finance geeks: what's behind this odd chart?
davidw
It's the "plunge protection team" at work.
This is strange looking:http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=EURUSD=X&t=5dNot the fact that it's trending downward, but the very regular looking stairstep each day. Any idea what that is?
7
6
2007-08-16 16:32:28 UTC
43,075
42,933
Mistone
Why is it hard to startup a company outside of Silicon Valley?
ahsonwardak
one of the conveniences of starting up in SV is that the resources are all close by, which makes going to a lecture, attending a meetup, meeting with investors etc., etc, less of a big deal. If you travel in for these events on occasion you have much higher expectations of what you get from them and you don't get the benefit of at least being that person that saw whom ever you want to talk with a event x, y, and z.
This may sound like a dumb question to some, but I need to be edified. I'm in DC, and it seems more and more that you're probably working in something government or defense related. In other cities, like Dallas, it used to be telecom related (The Telecom Corrdior). How do these clusters start, thrive, and/or die? How does it continue to thrive in Silicon Valley after some 20 to 30 years of startup success stories?
12
26
2007-08-16 16:36:06 UTC
43,076
43,039
joe
Finance geeks: what's behind this odd chart?
davidw
Switching from the 5 day view to the 3 month view, you tell me what's behind this chart, and I'll be impressed:http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=EURUSD=X&t=3m&l=on&#...
This is strange looking:http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=EURUSD=X&t=5dNot the fact that it's trending downward, but the very regular looking stairstep each day. Any idea what that is?
4
6
2007-08-16 16:36:47 UTC
43,077
42,954
samb
What is Two Dot Ooh?
c1sc0
i'm waiting for the first service pack to be released before i install it.
What's the hacker perspective on 'Web 2.0'? Is it just a crossroads of technologies that have matured? Is it about the community aspects? How would you defined Web 2.0?
1
1
2007-08-16 16:40:57 UTC
43,078
42,673
kingkongrevenge
Wozniak's New Goal is Efficient Housing
farmer
An efficient house is one you get to and from by rail and foot. It's also a bit on the small side. Sprawl is the efficiency problem in housing, not so much the materials and construction.I get the feeling Woz is missing the forest for the trees. Efficient housing is not a technological problem. Many very old houses are quite efficient. It is a political problem:http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/local.html http://www.sprawlkills.com/files/jeb_bush_leading_land_glutt...
null
0
15
2007-08-16 16:46:35 UTC
43,079
42,698
flyhighplato
Coding Horror: Discipline Makes Strong Developers
toffer
I always thought that young software creators could do with a bit of a mandatory apprenticeship program. Having the spirit to do things right which wouldn't regularly even be noticed is so very important. So, having someone look over your shoulder and notice all the shortcuts you take and berate you for them would be nice :)
null
0
26
2007-08-16 16:48:02 UTC
43,084
42,811
geebee
Scott Adams' startup idea: Hole Digger
andreyf
When I saw this title, I expected the post to be about enterprise software. How, instead of buying and installing enterprise software that costs millions and never works, an entrepreneur could just offer to dig them into a hole for a third of the price.But surprisingly, Scott Adams actually meant real, genuine, physical holes.
null
1
12
2007-08-16 16:53:30 UTC
43,090
43,039
Keios
Finance geeks: what's behind this odd chart?
davidw
The currency markets work 24 hours. Yahoo plots the intra day voltality but the graph that yahoo shows in that link does not chart all 24 hours and that is why you see a break which causes it to look like steps. The steps are going down because the currency seems to be on a downward trend.
This is strange looking:http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=EURUSD=X&t=5dNot the fact that it's trending downward, but the very regular looking stairstep each day. Any idea what that is?
1
6
2007-08-16 16:58:33 UTC
43,094
42,811
rml
Scott Adams' startup idea: Hole Digger
andreyf
Reading the comments here, I don't think the commenters are fully grasping Adams' point. Especially interesting is his desire that the hole-digging robots be self-replicating, so as to allow for ever greater numbers of replacements, lower costs, and so on. It reminds me of a post I read regarding the feasibility of space colonization written by an engineer who went on and on about the "long tail" of industrial production -- basically, there are so many thousands of parts in any sufficiently complicated piece of technology that there are whole billion-dollar industries employing thousands of people just to create a subset of the required components. Cars are a perfect example, although the idea has implications for many technologies we use (computers, anyone?). An interesting approach to this problem (I read about it in Make magazine) is the RepRap Project, at http://reprap.org. They are trying to solve the "long tail" manufacturing problem by creating an inexpensive machine that can be used to build almost anything, including copies of itself. Perhaps something like this will lead to the future Adams is hoping for...
null
0
12
2007-08-16 17:10:51 UTC
43,097
43,093
dpatru
How to stop pollution and destruction of natural resources
dpatru
This material can also be accessed in audio form at http://www.mises.org/multimedia/mp3/audiobooks/rothbard/fora....
Murray Rothbard brilliantly analyzes the issues in conservation, ecology, and growth and presents realistic solutions. This is material you won't hear from either political party.
0
1
2007-08-16 17:12:49 UTC
43,099
42,834
rml
A whole lotta Emacs Lisp files
mk
Thanks to whomever posted this... I love getting the chance to poke through someone's code and (hopefully) learn from it.
null
0
10
2007-08-16 17:15:41 UTC
43,109
42,854
nabeel
news.ycombinator meetup - Cambridge, MA
bokonist
great, I'll be there. although I second the vote for Andala's, as it is a block from 1369, larger, has better coffee, and free wifi.
We did a news.ycombinator.com meetup this past June and the turnout was great. Let's do another. It would be great to have a mix of summer ycombinator startups and people thinking of applying this October.For a time/place, how about: Sunday, August 19th at 7 PM 1369 Coffee House in Central Square 757 Massachusetts Ave. Cambridge, MA 02139Leave a comment if you are interested.
11
20
2007-08-16 17:26:46 UTC
43,122
42,881
ivankirigin
How JavaScript is Slowing Down the Web (And What To Do About It)
brett
HA, I know the author. He taught Software Engineering at NYU. Very smart guy.
null
2
18
2007-08-16 17:40:59 UTC
43,123
42,702
motivi
Why Paul? Why Did You Change It? (About Hacker News)
transburgh
Bad idea. What distinguished this site was the news on startups. If you want tech news there are hundreds of good sites out there. This becomes one more. Look at dzone, slashdot, and many more.
null
8
37
2007-08-16 17:41:39 UTC
43,131
43,124
webwright
How to create a startup in 10.5 hours
mmaunder
The thing that I like about this is that he distilled it down to a hypothesis/test.Hypothesis: Bloggers/site owners would like a stream-like display/understanding of who's visiting, where they come from, and where they leave to. Something a bit lighter and more fun than a standards analytics package.Do you need registration/passwords to test that idea? Focus groups? Customizable widgets? Public profiles? Fancy graphs? Historical data?Nope. Apparently all you need is 10.5 hours. ;-) If he sees any traction, he can start piling on cool features based on user feedback. If not, he can let it be as is.
I just launched FEEDJIT. It took me about 10.5 hours (4pm until 2:30am) from the first time my hand touched the keyboard until I fixed the last bug and went live. I got a question on the Seattle Tech Startup list about how I spent my 10.5 hours. So here's a brief summary....
1
53
2007-08-16 17:50:04 UTC
43,132
42,839
SwellJoe
This could be your fate if you don't do a startup
menloparkbum
Google has loads of stuff just like this going on, too. Last time I was there (my girlfriend works there, so I'm there every couple of weeks), they had an intern talent show going on at the main cafe. During the company picnic they did the same thing. "Googley Blues" was the winning performance...it was fun and well-done. Most performances, however, were in the same class as this rap. Silly, poorly done, just about exactly what you would expect from a nerd rapping.It's stupid to pick on Yahoo for an employee having some fun. Thinking back, there was an all-office video from the College Humor/Busted T's folks, that everybody here LOVED. But when Yahoo brings it, they catch flack. It's just people being catty. Have fun. Get over your too-cool-for-school selves.
welcome to the crushing grind of mediocrity, yahoo! style.
1
11
2007-08-16 17:54:17 UTC
43,137
43,074
dfranke
What's Wrong with CS Research
byrneseyeview
I've never seen criticism of Haskell that was at once so well-informed and so stupendously misguided. It gets under my skin even more since every other point made in the article had my total sympathy. Now I'm going to have to somehow find the time to write a detailed rebuttal.
null
1
32
2007-08-16 18:04:06 UTC
43,140
43,124
jkush
How to create a startup in 10.5 hours
mmaunder
Good things happen when you put everything aside and really focus on getting Version 1.0 done. Imagine what you can do if you did that for 3 months and had YC's advice.
I just launched FEEDJIT. It took me about 10.5 hours (4pm until 2:30am) from the first time my hand touched the keyboard until I fixed the last bug and went live. I got a question on the Seattle Tech Startup list about how I spent my 10.5 hours. So here's a brief summary....
2
53
2007-08-16 18:11:25 UTC
43,143
43,124
epi0Bauqu
How to create a startup in 10.5 hours
mmaunder
This goes in the "wish I thought of that" category. Not many things do.
I just launched FEEDJIT. It took me about 10.5 hours (4pm until 2:30am) from the first time my hand touched the keyboard until I fixed the last bug and went live. I got a question on the Seattle Tech Startup list about how I spent my 10.5 hours. So here's a brief summary....
3
53
2007-08-16 18:25:28 UTC
43,146
43,118
run4yourlives
The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race (by Jared Diamond)
Tichy
>Astronomy taught us that our earth isn't the center of the universe but merely one of billions of heavenly bodies. From biology we learned that we weren't specially created by God but evolved along with millions of other species.Neither of which would have been possible if we were too busy hunting for food every waking hour.
null
3
29
2007-08-16 19:01:50 UTC
43,147
42,854
programnature
news.ycombinator meetup - Cambridge, MA
bokonist
i am down.
We did a news.ycombinator.com meetup this past June and the turnout was great. Let's do another. It would be great to have a mix of summer ycombinator startups and people thinking of applying this October.For a time/place, how about: Sunday, August 19th at 7 PM 1369 Coffee House in Central Square 757 Massachusetts Ave. Cambridge, MA 02139Leave a comment if you are interested.
19
20
2007-08-16 19:07:43 UTC
43,159
43,080
thomasswift
Chicago Hackers & Entrepreneurs
samb
I from the 'burbs. Are there any informal bar-camp type things coming up?
Wanna get together sometime? I saw a few "we're from Chicago" refs in another thread.
4
3
2007-08-16 19:36:26 UTC
43,162
43,074
amichail
What's Wrong with CS Research
byrneseyeview
Related posts:http://weblog.fortnow.com/2006/07/science-and-art-of-computa...http://www.paulgraham.com/hp.html
null
8
32
2007-08-16 19:39:37 UTC
43,164
42,627
palish
How to be a Programmer: A Short, Comprehensive, and Personal Summary
Keios
"You should go home if you are thinking suicidal thoughts. You should take a break or go home if you think homicidal thoughts for more than a few seconds. You should send someone home if they show serious mental malfunctioning or signs of mental illness beyond mild depression. If you are tempted to be dishonest or deceptive in a way that you normally are not due to fatigue, you should take a break. Don't use cocaine or amphetamines to combat fatigue. Don't abuse caffeine."Godda love those big companies.
null
0
40
2007-08-16 19:40:42 UTC
43,166
43,118
corentin
The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race (by Jared Diamond)
Tichy
This article certainly is well documented... still I don't see why agriculture is a mistake. Yes, our ancestors were intelligent enough to understand that progress usually involves a temporary loss of comfort to achieve long-term benefits. Why is it a mistake?
null
7
29
2007-08-16 19:42:51 UTC
43,182
43,118
davidw
The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race (by Jared Diamond)
Tichy
Ok, time for a bit of hand wringing. I said I'd wait a week, but this needs to be pointed out. In the space of one day, we've gone from startup news to rehashed reddit news.http://reddit.com/info/3895/commentsNot only that, but the article itself is 20 years old, and is not an attitude I have read in Diamond's later works like 'Collapse', where he certainly underlines the dangers and problems that face the human race, but does manage to strike a good balance between gloomy and cautiously optimistic about the possibility for improvement.Harumph.
null
1
29
2007-08-16 20:01:49 UTC
43,190
43,080
samb
Chicago Hackers & Entrepreneurs
samb
i'm from the burbs too. i don't know what's coming up. opencoffeeclub was yesterday.
Wanna get together sometime? I saw a few "we're from Chicago" refs in another thread.
5
3
2007-08-16 20:18:49 UTC
43,193
43,118
portLAN
The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race (by Jared Diamond)
Tichy
Repeatedly on Reddit, e.g. http://science.reddit.com/info/1rssu/commentsAgriculture simply multiplied everything. Hunter-gatherers still had and have tribal wars, murder, rape, rapine, torture, high infant mortality, much lower male life expectancy (due to fighting), plus the usual disease, famine, and social inequality of women.The average college student in a dorm room enjoys greater luxury and comfort than kings of yesteryear; they have climate control, hot and cold running water, antibiotics, corrective eyewear, and of course a far greater selection of food year-round, not to mention a better selection of healthy mates.Whether people are happier in modern technological society or hunter-gatherer society is almost beside the point; evolution seems to have selected for worried, discontented people -- they outcompete the easily satiated. Even as we precipitate the extinction of traditional hunter-gatherer lifestyles, we can imagine them at some point in the past wiping out even less technologically-savvy people who perhaps were even more happy and contented, leading an existence akin to our bonobo relatives. A similar article written then by gatherers might blame the widespread adoption of hunting for increasing societal violence and leading to a new class division: warrior, due to the ensuing upswing in human-human "hunting".Increased population can be thought of as a tool; it has been exploited for ill much of the time, but it can also be used for the betterment of all. When we start to live in "The Matrix" (a pleasurable one), we may well rely on aquaculture to produce high-yield algae we farm for biofuel and for nutrients for our IV drips. At that point we may instead regard agriculture, regardless of temporary blips, as the best thing to happen to humanity.
null
0
29
2007-08-16 20:23:09 UTC
43,194
43,080
ACSparks
Chicago Hackers & Entrepreneurs
samb
I live in the city north side - Lincoln Square. What are you guys working on? Web apps I presume?
Wanna get together sometime? I saw a few "we're from Chicago" refs in another thread.
2
3
2007-08-16 20:24:23 UTC
43,197
43,195
ivankirigin
Number 3 Startup Hub?
far33d
Seattle, I'm told.
So it's pretty obvious that the Bay Area is startup hub #1, and Boston is #2, but what is #3? New York? Boulder? Chicago? Seattle? Follow-up question - what cities that are not the top three seem to have the most potential to become #3?
8
15
2007-08-16 20:29:05 UTC
43,204
43,195
mattculbreth
Number 3 Startup Hub?
far33d
I'm hoping for Atlanta to your second question. Quite sure it's not #3 now but there's a few of us working on it.
So it's pretty obvious that the Bay Area is startup hub #1, and Boston is #2, but what is #3? New York? Boulder? Chicago? Seattle? Follow-up question - what cities that are not the top three seem to have the most potential to become #3?
4
15
2007-08-16 21:04:08 UTC
43,207
43,195
run4yourlives
Number 3 Startup Hub?
far33d
Too US Centric no?Canada has got some pretty interesting startup scenes, Vancouver, Waterloo area and Ottawa come to mind. And Europe is certainly not to be forgotten about, let alone India as well.I'd be interested to see how things compare globally, although I think you've got 1 and 2 pegged.
So it's pretty obvious that the Bay Area is startup hub #1, and Boston is #2, but what is #3? New York? Boulder? Chicago? Seattle? Follow-up question - what cities that are not the top three seem to have the most potential to become #3?
1
15
2007-08-16 21:18:29 UTC
43,209
43,124
trekker7
How to create a startup in 10.5 hours
mmaunder
This is really brilliant. Imagine what people would say if you traveled 50 years in the past and told them you could launch a new business in less than 11 hours.
I just launched FEEDJIT. It took me about 10.5 hours (4pm until 2:30am) from the first time my hand touched the keyboard until I fixed the last bug and went live. I got a question on the Seattle Tech Startup list about how I spent my 10.5 hours. So here's a brief summary....
4
53
2007-08-16 21:21:45 UTC
43,216
43,195
samb
Number 3 Startup Hub?
far33d
it's not chicago, but it should be.
So it's pretty obvious that the Bay Area is startup hub #1, and Boston is #2, but what is #3? New York? Boulder? Chicago? Seattle? Follow-up question - what cities that are not the top three seem to have the most potential to become #3?
5
15
2007-08-16 21:55:38 UTC
43,224
43,222
aston
"We have broken the speed of light"
epi0Bauqu
http://stupac2.blogspot.com/2007/08/we-have-not-broken-speed...http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-08/ns-lst081607....
null
0
8
2007-08-16 22:10:55 UTC
43,225
43,195
rabpdx
Number 3 Startup Hub?
far33d
Portland, OR
So it's pretty obvious that the Bay Area is startup hub #1, and Boston is #2, but what is #3? New York? Boulder? Chicago? Seattle? Follow-up question - what cities that are not the top three seem to have the most potential to become #3?
13
15
2007-08-16 22:11:03 UTC
43,228
43,195
ahsonwardak
Number 3 Startup Hub?
far33d
I would hope that it would be DC, but it's probably not. If we're talking about web startups. Could it be NYC?
So it's pretty obvious that the Bay Area is startup hub #1, and Boston is #2, but what is #3? New York? Boulder? Chicago? Seattle? Follow-up question - what cities that are not the top three seem to have the most potential to become #3?
9
15
2007-08-16 22:13:53 UTC
43,229
43,195
oditogre
Number 3 Startup Hub?
far33d
Re: Boulder: Why not Fort Collins? Close to Denver, beautiful area, nice weather, college town, and - more than anything else - the place is just loaded with young people, and local businesses seem geared towards a younger market more so than most any place I can think of.
So it's pretty obvious that the Bay Area is startup hub #1, and Boston is #2, but what is #3? New York? Boulder? Chicago? Seattle? Follow-up question - what cities that are not the top three seem to have the most potential to become #3?
2
15
2007-08-16 22:16:10 UTC
43,232
43,195
epi0Bauqu
Number 3 Startup Hub?
far33d
What metric do you think one should use to do the ranking? Absolute # of startups? Size of VC investment? Biggest nerd community?
So it's pretty obvious that the Bay Area is startup hub #1, and Boston is #2, but what is #3? New York? Boulder? Chicago? Seattle? Follow-up question - what cities that are not the top three seem to have the most potential to become #3?
7
15
2007-08-16 22:19:47 UTC
43,233
43,124
sbraford
How to create a startup in 10.5 hours
mmaunder
If this counts as launching a startup then I've "launched" about 27 startups over the past 8 years. Others might call this a feature or clever hack. (not to denigrate at all what Mark did here - it's cool stuff, just not a startup in the traditional sense)
I just launched FEEDJIT. It took me about 10.5 hours (4pm until 2:30am) from the first time my hand touched the keyboard until I fixed the last bug and went live. I got a question on the Seattle Tech Startup list about how I spent my 10.5 hours. So here's a brief summary....
0
53
2007-08-16 22:20:30 UTC
43,234
43,231
epi0Bauqu
The Pareto Rule for Social Networks
ahsonwardak
Agreed. I don't know about the particular %, but sure, you are always going to have some users more active than others. It is certainly true for Hacker News. I'm sure a significant % of people using this site haven't even bothered to register. Perhaps pg could enlighten us as to an estimate of the actual %?
How many agree with this assertion? Twenty percent of Facebookers drive eighty percent of the content - i.e. posted items, profile changes, notes, interesting wall posts. I guess that the same could go for MySpace or LinkedIn. There's always a small collection of people offering content, and many more just stalking and reading it. It could even go for this: Hacker News.
1
5
2007-08-16 22:22:05 UTC
43,235
43,118
zach
The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race (by Jared Diamond)
Tichy
Obnoxious. This article manifests the worst mistake in the contemporary world -- the triumph of modern cynicism over progressive idealism.
null
4
29
2007-08-16 22:26:41 UTC
43,237
43,118
comatose_kid
The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race (by Jared Diamond)
Tichy
I can't believe this article was up-voted. What does this have to do with hacking or startups??? I'm a little worried this site will go the way of reddit...
null
5
29
2007-08-16 22:33:05 UTC
43,241
43,231
zach
The Pareto Rule for Social Networks
ahsonwardak
What percentage of moviegoers are filmmakers? From that perspective, Facebook is unimaginably creator-driven.
How many agree with this assertion? Twenty percent of Facebookers drive eighty percent of the content - i.e. posted items, profile changes, notes, interesting wall posts. I guess that the same could go for MySpace or LinkedIn. There's always a small collection of people offering content, and many more just stalking and reading it. It could even go for this: Hacker News.
4
5
2007-08-16 22:39:07 UTC
43,244
43,039
ggruschow
Finance geeks: what's behind this odd chart?
davidw
Yahoo's data appears to be messed up. Maybe screwed up the trade date when dealing with different timezone... or something. Here's another couple free charts you can verify against:http://chartsrdc.cme.com:443/cs/charts.jsp?_quickEntry=6E1%2... http://www.dailyfx.com/charts/ChartStation.htmlI realize the first is futures, but they match the spot market extremely well.
This is strange looking:http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=EURUSD=X&t=5dNot the fact that it's trending downward, but the very regular looking stairstep each day. Any idea what that is?
3
6
2007-08-16 22:43:23 UTC
43,250
43,118
pg
The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race (by Jared Diamond)
Tichy
Anyone who thinks hunter gatherers had pleasant lives should stop to think what happened to people who were too old to follow the tribe when it moved, or what happened when a mother who was already nursing had another baby.
null
2
29
2007-08-16 23:06:03 UTC
43,259
43,219
thomasswift
The iPhone Is Internet Explorer 4 All Over Again
aston
Wait what...IE4 made phone calls?
null
0
21
2007-08-16 23:26:14 UTC
43,263
43,074
mangodrunk
What's Wrong with CS Research
byrneseyeview
>churn out meaningless solutions to irrelevant problems. That can be said of most of the advancements in math, science, and computer science. At a time, there was no need for zero, calendars, calculus, square root of negative one, etc. What the author calls irrelevant today will be tomorrow's great achievement. Most of Turing's work was irrelevant at the time, other than his work on cryptography. I don't think it is proper for great minds to worry about trivial things like enterprise Java code or what it takes to build a social networking website. This stuff is simple, that's why we can outsource it to other countries that don't have the resources to invest in the future developments that are needed for progress. Also, the whole article is based on the author's opinions, which isn't bad for that fact (actually the article was entertaining to say the least), but they aren't backed by something in any form.
null
0
32
2007-08-16 23:36:36 UTC
43,264
43,195
dpapathanasiou
Number 3 Startup Hub?
far33d
No, not NYC... most hackers are paid too well by i-banks and hedge funds to risk joining a startup, and those startup founders who do succeed don't stay here to become angels (as they do in SV and other startup hubs).
So it's pretty obvious that the Bay Area is startup hub #1, and Boston is #2, but what is #3? New York? Boulder? Chicago? Seattle? Follow-up question - what cities that are not the top three seem to have the most potential to become #3?
6
15
2007-08-16 23:38:52 UTC
43,265
43,231
nickb
The Pareto Rule for Social Networks
ahsonwardak
Where's the data?! Just calling Pareto's rule on every new phenomena does not work. Asking us to agree or disagree on something that none of us really has any data on is beyond pointless and actually harmful.For instance, Yahoo data with Flickr shows that less than 10% of people actually contribute content. So Pareto's rule does not apply there. But only Facebook knows how it works with their users. You can't just blindly apply these "laws" to various user groups and expect them to be even half true.
How many agree with this assertion? Twenty percent of Facebookers drive eighty percent of the content - i.e. posted items, profile changes, notes, interesting wall posts. I guess that the same could go for MySpace or LinkedIn. There's always a small collection of people offering content, and many more just stalking and reading it. It could even go for this: Hacker News.
0
5
2007-08-16 23:40:02 UTC
43,268
43,243
euccastro
Norvig: Teach Yourself Programming in Ten Years
mk
a) Nice link.b) Any ETA for news.yc search feature?
Not sure if this has been posted here or not, but I just came across it browsing Norvig's site. Thought I would share it.
3
54
2007-08-16 23:49:42 UTC
43,270
43,243
ivankirigin
Norvig: Teach Yourself Programming in Ten Years
mk
Oldie but a goodie
Not sure if this has been posted here or not, but I just came across it browsing Norvig's site. Thought I would share it.
2
54
2007-08-16 23:51:04 UTC
43,276
43,231
steve
The Pareto Rule for Social Networks
ahsonwardak
I think the YTMND guy put it best when he realized that all of the top content on his site is adaptations (to put it nicely) of content created elsewhere. None totally original.So that's about 99.99999% vs 0.000001%.So beware of creating a site where users have to create totally original content. Sites like hacker news have it easy in that respect.
How many agree with this assertion? Twenty percent of Facebookers drive eighty percent of the content - i.e. posted items, profile changes, notes, interesting wall posts. I guess that the same could go for MySpace or LinkedIn. There's always a small collection of people offering content, and many more just stalking and reading it. It could even go for this: Hacker News.
3
5
2007-08-17 00:02:21 UTC
43,279
43,195
portLAN
Number 3 Startup Hub?
far33d
You're in luck -- the last version of YC news on archive.org had it!http://www.darrenherman.com/2007/04/04/where-are-the-tech-st...The O'Reilly Radar post is here: http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2006/06/startup_centers.ht...The numbers are a year old but Seattle was #3 and NYC was #4. Although Tacoma is grouped in with Seattle, I'm not sure how meaningful that is -- it's kind of like grouping Oakland with Mountain View.
So it's pretty obvious that the Bay Area is startup hub #1, and Boston is #2, but what is #3? New York? Boulder? Chicago? Seattle? Follow-up question - what cities that are not the top three seem to have the most potential to become #3?
3
15
2007-08-17 00:07:08 UTC
43,287
43,192
ahsonwardak
How to Stay Motivated
pdsull
The "crazy friend" paragraph reminds of a chapter in Founders at Work. An interviewee comments that if you can't persuade one other friend to take the plunge with you on a startup idea, then the idea may not be worth pursuing. We're all looking for that crazy friend at some point.None of the motivating factors listed are sustainable feelings. I don't see myself feeling anger for days or weeks needed to accomplish something meaningful. For most, anger motivates to act stupidly. Maybe, we're looking for inspiring factors. Inspiration would be mean that we are genuinely driven to accomplish something.
null
1
12
2007-08-17 00:25:48 UTC
43,288
43,074
Tichy
What's Wrong with CS Research
byrneseyeview
The reservations seem rather unqualified indeed. A lot of strawman argumentation to begin with (singling out specific subjects of CS the authors deems unworthy). But even about PCC I don't think the author has the right notion. It is not the same as type checking. As an example, at my old university department they created a proof of the euclidian algorithm and extracted a program from it that would compute the gcd. That way you have more than a syntactically correct program, you have a proof that the code actually gives you the gcd. And yes, it was very academic, but still.Also, if CS is so useless, how come most leaders in the Netflix challenge seem to be CS departments?
null
3
32
2007-08-17 00:27:00 UTC
43,298
43,074
jsnx
What's Wrong with CS Research
byrneseyeview
This piece is both well informed -- there are certainly no factual errors -- and vitriolic beyond belief. What is anyone supposed to take away from the author's attack on partial evaluation, for example? The author seems to suggest -- but does not say -- that function composition would be better handled by writing even more functions and passing around lists of function pointers.
null
5
32
2007-08-17 00:40:03 UTC
43,299
43,074
Goladus
What's Wrong with CS Research
byrneseyeview
I'm skeptical (but can't refute without actually researching it) of the assertions about academic advancement vs. free market advancement. I think the fact that academic research may not have any immediately obvious practical application is an advantage in the long run.In any case, that post was very interesting. I bookmarked it and will have to revisit it sometime.
null
7
32
2007-08-17 00:42:42 UTC
43,309
43,243
damon
Norvig: Teach Yourself Programming in Ten Years
mk
you can't go wrong reading Norvig. Now, if only I could make it through Paradigms of Artificial Intelligence as easy as this essay.
Not sure if this has been posted here or not, but I just came across it browsing Norvig's site. Thought I would share it.
1
54
2007-08-17 01:22:36 UTC
43,311
43,304
zach
YC West Coast Demo Day Roundup
jamiequint
I'm always fascinated by the folks who flip a U-turn on their startup like Cloudant. I have to assume it happens far more often in the YC environment. When you're just kind of holed up in your bunker and spring something on the world after you've brought it to alpha, I don't think it's so common to throw out what you're working on even if it's for the best.I had a half-year-long entrepreneurial experience when I was 23, but it was basically just me, in the spider hole, coding, and never finishing the product. I was trying to make something technologically cool and didn't know (or care to know) a thing about the business aspect. It was a huge waste from a learning perspective, much less a money perspective, although I did enjoy it. I lacked a co-founder, investors, much of a clue about the market and guidance, but what was fatal was that I was missing feedback and a deadline.I think startups are painfully difficult to assess without a structure that provides honest feedback and a real deadline. I think it's greatly to YC's credit that they have teams that radically alter their focus like Cloudant did, however it turns out.
null
0
41
2007-08-17 01:29:14 UTC
43,312
43,118
mnemonicsloth
The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race (by Jared Diamond)
Tichy
Massive self-aggrandizing factual error in the third paragraph: It's a life that philosophers have traditionally regarded as nasty, brutish, and short.Um, Jean Jacques Rousseau? Noble Savage? Only a few decades after Hobbes? It may not be relevant to the case being made here, but come on. I remember writing "compare and contrast" papers on Hobbes and Rousseau in high school.
null
6
29
2007-08-17 01:30:00 UTC
43,320
43,243
motoko
Norvig: Teach Yourself Programming in Ten Years
mk
Programming in Ten Years? seeHow to Create a Startup in 10.5 Hours.I guess it's where you start measuring from...
Not sure if this has been posted here or not, but I just came across it browsing Norvig's site. Thought I would share it.
0
54
2007-08-17 02:06:06 UTC
43,323
43,192
portLAN
How to Stay Motivated
pdsull
Three examples of extremely motivated people: Michael Jordan, Lance Armstrong, and Bill Gates. Everyone knows they're hyper-competitive; the common traits seem to be extreme reactions to slights real or imagined (using anger as fuel) and an extreme aversion to failure, finding it unbearably painful. They are antisocial, dealing with the public for business purposes, but not friendly. They also all had an unshakeable conviction that whatever they were doing was the most important thing they could do, and they wanted to do it more than anything else in the world. No divided focus! They all loved what they did.Jordan: If another player talked smack, Jordan would make a point of humiliating that player on court next time they met. He also held grudges -- he froze out Sports Illustrated for years after they published an unfavorable article about his baseball career.Armstrong: Like Jordan, but on a bike. To make a point, he'd beat someone by a huge margin, rather than coasting to a win. He held grudges, too, and wouldn't even let a rider way down in the ranks go for glory in a breakaway stage win if he was upset with them -- he'd set his team to chase them down, which meant everyone else had to chase too in order to keep up. All his Tour de France wins were after cancer; he was riding for people fighting cancer, which is what made it the most important thing to him -- he had incredible discipline as a result, which he lacked before the illness. He couldn't stand the thought of coming in second in the Tour and he worried about his top opponents purposely to make himself train harder. Gates is likewise a well-known worrier. He thinks that at any time, a competitor could come out of the woodwork that would spell the end of Microsoft, just like what Microsoft itself did to so many others. Despite being at the top, he paddles as furiously as if he were just trying to keep his head above water.They have all had unprecedented success. However, there is a cost -- they've made a lifetime habit of being selfish, pissed off and dissatisfied. This has consequences for every relationship, not just professional ones.Inhabiting that headspace -- with all the worrying -- makes it a lot harder to enjoy life. They are probably no happier than you are right now; it seems you can choose to increase your "success" or happiness, but not both at the same time; they are mutually exclusive. You simply will not strive as hard if you are happy where you are. Once the habit's ingrained, even if you decide you are successful enough and switch to pursuing happiness, you'll probably start out pissed off and dissatisfied thinking you aren't happy enough! Interestingly, the very pursuit of happiness pre-empts happiness almost like a Catch-22. In chasing happiness, you guarantee you aren't feeling it. It's like "do or do not; there is no try" -- Yoda only one who decides what rules you have for it and when you'll let yourself feel happy, or not.
null
0
12
2007-08-17 02:19:12 UTC
43,331
43,074
menloparkbum
What's Wrong with CS Research
byrneseyeview
The author chooses to rant about CS research being patronage that wastes US tax dollars. The examples he chooses don't support his argument very well.He doesn't like Haskell or Caml because they sprung from academia. Haskell was designed mostly by a couple Scots and the little funding it received came from Microsoft Research. Caml comes from IRNIA in France. No US tax dollars were wasted in either case.He claims that Python wasn't invented by a programming language researcher. Guido Van Rossum was employed as a programming language researcher (working on ABC) by a Dutch government research lab, and then by NIST and CRNI in the USA. NIST and CRNI are US government funded research organizations. Using the author's train of thought, the development Python WAS partially funded with US tax dollars.
null
4
32
2007-08-17 02:38:40 UTC
43,332
43,074
jmzachary
What's Wrong with CS Research
byrneseyeview
This isn't an agreement or disagreement with the essay (I tend to lament the current sorry state of CS research but not necessarily for the reasons stated in this essay). But I would like to throw out that (a) before there was chemistry and physics, there was alchemy and that was hardly based on the scientific method, (b) computer science is becoming more ingrained in hard sciences via simulation and visualization, and (c) there is no law that says the scientific method can't be adapted to include information as a first-class primitive like stars, particles, energy, and inclined planes (among other things). Maybe (a) and (c) are the same point and we are muddling our way through as informatic alchemists at this stage of the field in the sense of CS being defined by the scientific method.As a CS PhD, I like the essay and appreciate that it raises points to think about. I never really thought about academics as bureaucrats in that way but, as a former academic who left the hallowed halls for the reasons you describe much better than I could formulate, I think I agree with you on that point.
null
6
32
2007-08-17 02:52:54 UTC
43,334
43,016
pankaj_kumar
How to write a book - the short honest truth
omouse
Equally important is to figure out what to write about. What you know best may not be what the potential readers want to read. As with startups, it is always good to some basic research about the market size. Amazon Sales Rank, a ranking based on sales velocity at Amazon.com and updated hourly, offers an interesting and useful tool to do so. Books with higher sales rank are selling much faster than the ones with lower sales rank.The Sales Rank at any given time is available as part of Product Details section in Amazon listing. Historical values can be found at Charteous (http://charteo.us).
null
0
31
2007-08-17 02:57:33 UTC
43,339
43,195
rmason
Number 3 Startup Hub?
far33d
Seattle, followed by Austin and then Ann Arbor and Madison in a tie for fifth
So it's pretty obvious that the Bay Area is startup hub #1, and Boston is #2, but what is #3? New York? Boulder? Chicago? Seattle? Follow-up question - what cities that are not the top three seem to have the most potential to become #3?
10
15
2007-08-17 03:27:09 UTC
43,340
43,261
omouse
Sims Creator Will Wright Demos "Spore" (TED Video)
dpapathanasiou
I hope it's released before Duke Nukem Forever!
null
0
11
2007-08-17 03:31:08 UTC
43,341
43,260
jsnx
The Industrial Revolution due to a change in the English population?
rms
This is blasphemous! The rich are genetically superior to the poor...The idea that behaviours run in families is not unreasonable, but I don't see why the author looks to genetics for that mechanism.
null
0
16
2007-08-17 03:35:32 UTC
43,344
43,304
rams
YC West Coast Demo Day Roundup
jamiequint
Damn, I am working on a python script to do simultaneous range requests and 'am hoping to release it as open source by October. @work, lots of ISOs get transferred over the network all the time; even on a fast network, it's a pain with uncached images. @home I download OS iso's quite often. This is a great source of pain for me and I am pretty sure for a lot of other people as well - hope the Cloudant guys pull it off. But they need a way to figure out how to throttle bandwidth usage. BTW, is there such a thing as universal mind ? How come you think about something and very soon you find out someone else doing something with more or less the same idea ;-)
null
1
41
2007-08-17 03:48:07 UTC