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iamelgringo
bigger screen = higher productivity. ( for me it can what about you?)
rokhayakebe
The past few years I've coded on a laptop, but I got tired of the small screen. I recently built myself a desktop with 3 monitors: 2x 19" for Left and Right screens and 1x 21" wide screen as a center monitor. I have the center monitor on a Ergotron arm, so I can rotate it. In portait mode, I can have 19 vertical inches code in front of me. It's a joy. I'll never go back to a laptop for my primary dev machine. I'm so much more productive with my monitors.
I have a small 13 inch screen notebook. It works fine for me. It s light enough to carry around and the battery last a good few hours. But I find that when using my 47 inch screen monitor I just enjoy working more. I haven't measured output, but I believe It is slightly more than when I use my notebook.
0
1
2007-08-19 05:20:12 UTC
44,014
43,839
jey
The Multicore Kerfuffle and a Dose of Reality
iamelgringo
erlang! erlang! erlang!OK, it's no panacea, but it sure makes things a hell of a lot nicer. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erlang_%28programming_language%...http://erlang.org/doc.htmlhttp://www.amazon.com/Programming-Erlang-Software-Concurrent...
null
1
8
2007-08-19 05:28:56 UTC
44,015
43,740
blored
Embarassing Bill Gates video
aandreev
That was cool, it actually looked like he slapped Bill Gates though.
null
1
10
2007-08-19 05:29:53 UTC
44,016
42,276
blored
Group-O-Matic (My Startup Launch!)
epi0Bauqu
Start offering free groups to everyone and anyone you know. Hopefully within a couple of months it'll get some natural traction. Good luck.
I am launching my startup today. All comments/questions/feedback, however harsh/cynical/insightful, will be greatly appreciated. Short version: free site to help people form local groups for regular events. Even shorter version: free alternative to meetup.com. There has not been a private or public beta. Group-O-Matic has been released with a minimum feature set I thought would be useful. I'm coding message boards right now, to be released shortly.
6
15
2007-08-19 05:35:29 UTC
44,017
43,942
palish
A way to find other Y Combinator readers in your area
dottertrotter
dottertrotter made hackrtrackr. That's poetic.Doh! It couldn't find the location for my IP, and it only allows me to pick my state, but not my city (the textbox that should allow me to enter my city is oddly vanished).
null
8
55
2007-08-19 05:49:27 UTC
44,019
44,000
blored
What services would the perfect government provide?
rms
A perfect government would only concern itself with monitoring currency and prisons.
Lots of hackers are libertarians, because there is a lot of logic behind the free market. But I think it's a terrible idea to let the free market handle absolutely everything, as advocated by some libertarians. Free education is a great thing that society offers even if the system isn't perfect. The free market has completely failed with healthcare in the USA. We need police and fire protection. I'm glad that every road isn't a toll road.Imagine an economically very free society with an average taxrate of 25%. What services should this government provide for free or subsidize?
13
11
2007-08-19 05:56:04 UTC
44,021
44,000
stuki
What services would the perfect government provide?
rms
Police, courts and defense, with defense also including the 'most important' vaccinations for all who enter, whether through ports or by birth. Some reasonable upper bounds on the destructiveness of weaponry and toxins sold over the counter are likely also necessary, even for purchasers who haven't per se 'done anything wrong'. There also need to be some regulation of how individuals use 'commons' like air, water, electromagnetic and sonic spectra etc., as well as land use rules, to avoid one person land locking others, parking their mile long yacht alongside Golden Gate Bridge, blocking bay entry, and such. Some minimum levels of diplomacy, aimed at providing Americans, both individuals and organizations, 'fair and reasonable' treatment abroad would be nice, as well, especially if backed by military muscle. I'm sure there is more, but those are the ones I can think of right now.
Lots of hackers are libertarians, because there is a lot of logic behind the free market. But I think it's a terrible idea to let the free market handle absolutely everything, as advocated by some libertarians. Free education is a great thing that society offers even if the system isn't perfect. The free market has completely failed with healthcare in the USA. We need police and fire protection. I'm glad that every road isn't a toll road.Imagine an economically very free society with an average taxrate of 25%. What services should this government provide for free or subsidize?
7
11
2007-08-19 06:01:39 UTC
44,022
44,000
wmf
What services would the perfect government provide?
rms
I thought Hackers News was not supposed to turn into Reddit.
Lots of hackers are libertarians, because there is a lot of logic behind the free market. But I think it's a terrible idea to let the free market handle absolutely everything, as advocated by some libertarians. Free education is a great thing that society offers even if the system isn't perfect. The free market has completely failed with healthcare in the USA. We need police and fire protection. I'm glad that every road isn't a toll road.Imagine an economically very free society with an average taxrate of 25%. What services should this government provide for free or subsidize?
3
11
2007-08-19 06:03:11 UTC
44,023
44,000
Darmani
What services would the perfect government provide?
rms
First of all, there isn't much of a free market in health care. There is much regulation, and the current model of requiring corporations give their employees health insurance is flawed. Contrarywise, prices have fallen in cosmetic surgery, the only medical field mostly left to the free market.(And where did you get the entire that free education means government education? There have been free schools in America since before there was a country called "America.")Second of all, an economically free society would likely have taxes nowhere near 25%. That's higher than Hong Kong's income tax today, and much higher than America's income tax when income tax was legalized.I've decided that the bare minimum of government that must be had are the courts (and the power to enforce their rulings). A libertarian society will be highly dependent on contracts; society could not function if you knew a powerful client could refuse to pay and ignore court rulings. I have trouble visualizing a fair, for-profit court system. If competing court systems exist, then how is the court system for a case chosen? Presumably, it would be spelled out in the contract, which gives a perpetual advantage to the vendor. Of course, the buyer could ignore the summons, but said court could force him to arrive and would then rule that it was justified doing so (as it was).Everything that is not a court can belong to the free market, but that does not mean should. For example, you could purchase the privilege to drive on one company's network of roads, but, barring some major advances in scanning technology and some means of stopping trespassers, the need to enforce that only paid cars use the road would be extraordinarily cumbersome. The best private road system I could see would be to have a monopoly on roads in every region; road companies could then make deals with neighbors for interregional traffic and coerce developments into requiring residents to pay the road company, at the risk of having the road company block access to the development. However, I'm not sure I can trust a private monopoly more than a government monopoly.Law enforcement is also a good candidate for government control; however, private police forces are not out of the question. There would probably be less overhead to hire police to protect an area rather than individuals, so police might not necessarily turn a blind eye to a homeless man getting mugged (not to mention that said criminal should be caught for the same reason Animal Control kills animals becoming accustomed to attacking humans). However, a system where every five feet is patrolled by a police force with different opinions of what an arrestable offense is is hardly ideal.Fire protection, another commonly cited candidate for government control, could actually work pretty well privately. A computer can easily check whether a certain building is protected, and the benefits of competition will result. However, one problem is that a fire on an unprotected building endangers adjacent buildings.
Lots of hackers are libertarians, because there is a lot of logic behind the free market. But I think it's a terrible idea to let the free market handle absolutely everything, as advocated by some libertarians. Free education is a great thing that society offers even if the system isn't perfect. The free market has completely failed with healthcare in the USA. We need police and fire protection. I'm glad that every road isn't a toll road.Imagine an economically very free society with an average taxrate of 25%. What services should this government provide for free or subsidize?
2
11
2007-08-19 06:11:30 UTC
44,027
44,000
curi
What services would the perfect government provide?
rms
Why are you glad that every road isn't a toll road? You are imagining that would cost you more, I think. But if you pay X dollars of taxes towards the roads every year, and otherwise would pay Y dollars in tolls, why assume X<Y? In general the free market does things more cheaply/efficiently -- why wouldn't that be true of roads too?Also, isn't is a bit ridiculous to call government schooling a success? It's failing in a wide variety of practical ways quite apart from any philosophical objection to the government deciding which ideas our kids are supposed to learn.
Lots of hackers are libertarians, because there is a lot of logic behind the free market. But I think it's a terrible idea to let the free market handle absolutely everything, as advocated by some libertarians. Free education is a great thing that society offers even if the system isn't perfect. The free market has completely failed with healthcare in the USA. We need police and fire protection. I'm glad that every road isn't a toll road.Imagine an economically very free society with an average taxrate of 25%. What services should this government provide for free or subsidize?
12
11
2007-08-19 06:27:10 UTC
44,028
44,000
gojomo
What services would the perfect government provide?
rms
A death penalty for off-topic open threads?Intellectual property rights preventing reuse of famous three-letter logins by people without those initials?
Lots of hackers are libertarians, because there is a lot of logic behind the free market. But I think it's a terrible idea to let the free market handle absolutely everything, as advocated by some libertarians. Free education is a great thing that society offers even if the system isn't perfect. The free market has completely failed with healthcare in the USA. We need police and fire protection. I'm glad that every road isn't a toll road.Imagine an economically very free society with an average taxrate of 25%. What services should this government provide for free or subsidize?
11
11
2007-08-19 06:30:29 UTC
44,029
43,978
dedalus
On the cruelty of really teaching computing science
dedalus
I wish your link was accessible without ACM credentials as well but luckily had someone who is a member and could get it for me.Another one neatly summarizing the salient points is here http://www.gaon.net/vashti/ps/Gal92a.pdf
this djikstra classic teaches us some very important lessons about the nature of our craft
0
9
2007-08-19 06:30:58 UTC
44,031
43,793
stuki
Heretical Thoughts About Science and Society, by Freeman Dyson
corentin
I love this article. Not because I'm convinced Dyson is right, but more because it helps point out the importance of being an impartial observer if one is to be taken seriously as a scientist. Postmodern academia's focus on activism as a proper, and even encouraged, activity for scientists, have done the field of science great disservice, to the point where many lay people no longer believe even half the stuff being touted by so called scientists. Even the ridiculous evolution debate might not have gotten off the ground were most 'scientists' not so obviously politically partial and vested. Other than that, if Kurzweil is right about exponential growth and technology, approaching problems possibly solvable by biotech in a lazy fashion may in fact be the wisest of all approaches. Makes me think of the Albert Bartlett quote, "the greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function."
null
0
32
2007-08-19 06:33:00 UTC
44,033
44,000
jward
What services would the perfect government provide?
rms
I believe the government should provide the following services:1) Emergency services. These are things you don't really have time to negotiate price on or do research for. Police, national defense, fire and rescue, emergency medical. These should be handled by the government because otherwise you could maximize your economic gain by taking advantage of those in duress. "Your house is burning down and your daughter is still inside. Sign here and agree to pay us $250,000 and we'll go get her."2) Infrastructure, The government should own and operate various infrastructures and provide rules and regulations for common use. Roads are a great example of this as are the majority of airports. Another I would love to see is 'bandwidth'. Have to government own the fiber that connects my house to a central point. Then allow me to select any ISP and/or service that can be delivered over that line. Ask yourself how much cheaper and better your internet connection would be if more players than just Comcast could use your cable line, and Verison had competition on its dsl service.The reason I believe governments should look after these types of services is that they can afford to make the capital heavy investments needed to provide it, as well as provide a neutral platform for capitalist enterprises to compete over and provide greater value. I also tend to put education here.3) Public trusts. This has no real economic value, but I don't really trust Haliburton with proper management of parkland or the like. Things with both a very high monetary value and societal value should not be trusted to an enterprise with a profit motive.
Lots of hackers are libertarians, because there is a lot of logic behind the free market. But I think it's a terrible idea to let the free market handle absolutely everything, as advocated by some libertarians. Free education is a great thing that society offers even if the system isn't perfect. The free market has completely failed with healthcare in the USA. We need police and fire protection. I'm glad that every road isn't a toll road.Imagine an economically very free society with an average taxrate of 25%. What services should this government provide for free or subsidize?
4
11
2007-08-19 06:34:01 UTC
44,035
44,000
nostrademons
What services would the perfect government provide?
rms
I was gonna post a comment similar to this one on Reddit, but I didn't think it'd be appreciated. I think I'll manage to piss off both the Austrian school mises.org Libertarians and the I-always-get-screwed-by-corporations Liberals.Free markets work when they transmit information with each transaction. When a factory owner raises his prices to cover rising costs, he's encapsulating information about everything that's happened further up the value chain. When a shopkeeper lowers the price he's willing to pay, he's encapsulating information about consumer demand and everything downstream in the value chain. If a new means of production becomes available that's more efficient than the old one, there's a profit opportunity available for the aspiring entrepreneur. And everybody has an incentive to pass on correct information, because otherwise it's their own bank account that will suffer. This appears to be the only way to organize an economy efficiently.Free markets fail when transactions conceal information. For example, many subprime loans were made to people who had no conceivable way of paying them off, but mortgage brokers had every incentive to hide that information from the hedge funds who bought them, and didn't have to shoulder the risk of default themselves. Health-care patients have no way of knowing whether a particular procedure is medically necessary and no incentive to find out, because the insurance company pays for it. Microsoft customers had no way of knowing whether Windows is the best OS, because there were no alternatives (well, except Apple and Linux...pretend this is 1997 or so).There's also the issue of transaction costs - it costs nearly as much money to collect tolls as it does to just build the damn highway, so the "information" that the customer sees is heavily distorted by the process of having to collect that information.So, based on this, I can derive some general principles for the role of government:1.) It should provide the institutional framework necessary for the market to function at all, eg. contract laws and defense.2.) It should rectify the "lemon problem", where sellers conceal vital information from buyers or vice-versa, eg. consumer protection laws, implied warranties, truth-in-advertising laws, full disclosure on mortgages, SEC regulation, etc.3.) It should prevent companies from leveraging a monopoly to enter a market.4.) It should rectify externalities, where a firm takes something of value to others but doesn't pay for it, usually because it's too difficult to arrange a transaction. The classic example is pollution.5.) It should provide goods and services where the transaction cost of attempting to measure and restrict usage is greater than the actual value of the service. Markets will never develop in these areas otherwise. A good example would be roads.Some concrete examples, which'll probably seem kinda out-there:To start, I wouldn't have any taxes at all. Instead, the government owns all land, and raises revenue by auctioning off leases on land, natural resources, and pollution credits. These leases would be tradable, subdividable securities, and would be subject to normal SEC prohibitions on disclosure and insider trading. If you wanted to construct a skyscraper that you expect to last 50 years, you'd buy a 50-year lease on the land. If you ended up selling it after 20, you could sell the lease on the open market, but the land itself would revert back to the government after another 30 years. The government can also buy the lease back by paying market rates.This helps the externality problem, because every time the voters want to prevent something like a polluting factory, they have the legal ability to, but they also have a precise dollar figure for how much it'll cost, in economic terms. If people don't want oil companies to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, they can simply block the lease on drilling rights, but it will cost them a few billion dollars. Then they can decide whether the economic value to oil companies is worth more than the government services they will receive from it.As for spending itself - roads are an obvious one, because the transaction costs of tolls are hellish. Defense is another one - I don't think we need to spend quite so much as we do, but we do need a strong military.I would not provide free education, other than the basic literacy and civic requirements necessary for democracy to function. You tend to get what you pay for. Free education not only leads to bureacratic, uncaring schoolboards, but it also leads to freeriding, uncaring schoolchildren. Instead, I'd create rigorous public evaluations of all schools - not necessarily tests (which generally reflect the politicians' biases more than actually useful information), but statistics about where graduates end up, satisfaction levels, evaluations from past students, etc. Then let people choose - and spend their own money - on schools. Since people shouldn't be denied education based on what their parents do, there should be loans available - but through the private sector, not public. Also, education has a problem in that it takes years for it to pay off, and market conditions can change dramatically between when you enter and when you exit. To insure against this, I'd create a tradable derivative called "salary futures" (again through the private sector). This is not insurance on your salary (that would have a huge moral hazard problem), but rather a promise to pay the change in the difference between the average salaries of two professions. These can be bundled into funds if necessary, to diversify across the whole economy. So if you want to become an engineer but find that salaries have gone way down by the time you graduate, your salary future will kick in with the difference for X number of years, and then you can decide whether to stick with it or retrain as a lawyer.Health care is tricky because nobody wants to die, and if life really is priceless, then people should be willing to pay infinite amounts of money to avoid dying. Markets aren't meant to deal with infinities. I'd need to think about this; I suppose if I actually came up with a workable solution I'd be rich and famous and wouldn't be posting it on a glorified message board. ;-)
Lots of hackers are libertarians, because there is a lot of logic behind the free market. But I think it's a terrible idea to let the free market handle absolutely everything, as advocated by some libertarians. Free education is a great thing that society offers even if the system isn't perfect. The free market has completely failed with healthcare in the USA. We need police and fire protection. I'm glad that every road isn't a toll road.Imagine an economically very free society with an average taxrate of 25%. What services should this government provide for free or subsidize?
0
11
2007-08-19 06:49:10 UTC
44,043
44,042
robg
Lobes of Steel - Neurogenesis and exercise
robg
How does the brain make new neurons? Exercise helps (and a few other things...).Just remember the old ontological vs. empirical distinction. Effects of exercise (and substances) are easier to study in rats most esp. relative to human learning-related changes. We're doing the neuroimaging work of complex learning (think circuit diagrams), but it doesn't get us to the neuronal level. Revolutionary bottom line of the last five years: You're producing new neurons every day (and exercise seems to help produce more). But whether and how they're used is up to you."We've always known that our brains control our behavior," Gage says, "but not that our behavior could control and change the structure of our brains."
How does the brain make new neurons? Exercise helps (and a few other things...).Just remember the old ontological vs. empirical distinction. Effects of exercise (and substances) are easier to study in rats most esp. relative to human learning-related changes. We're doing the neuroimaging work of complex learning (think circuit diagrams), but it doesn't get us to the neuronal level. Revolutionary bottom line of the last five years: You're producing new neurons every day (and exercise seems to help produce more). But whether and how they're used is up to you."We've always known that our brains control our behavior," Gage says, "but not that our behavior could control and change the structure of our brains."
0
11
2007-08-19 07:09:18 UTC
44,046
43,942
jey
A way to find other Y Combinator readers in your area
dottertrotter
Feature request: validate usernames by issuing a HTTP GET to http://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=%s
null
13
55
2007-08-19 07:21:09 UTC
44,047
44,000
portLAN
What services would the perfect government provide?
rms
Virtual Reality, where you can do and have anything and everything you want, thus obviating real-world conflicts and mediating.
Lots of hackers are libertarians, because there is a lot of logic behind the free market. But I think it's a terrible idea to let the free market handle absolutely everything, as advocated by some libertarians. Free education is a great thing that society offers even if the system isn't perfect. The free market has completely failed with healthcare in the USA. We need police and fire protection. I'm glad that every road isn't a toll road.Imagine an economically very free society with an average taxrate of 25%. What services should this government provide for free or subsidize?
10
11
2007-08-19 07:26:17 UTC
44,048
43,949
mynameishere
Database of over 100 VPS hosting plans
wmf
Well, they missed the company I'm using. Oh well. I find it hard to imagine people paying 100+ a month for a VPS when you can get a dedicated machine for less than that.Watch out for VPSes by the way. They generally don't allow swap spaces, which can completely prevent the use of certain systems. If you're using LAMP, you're okay, of course.
I'm shopping around for a VPS, so I thought I'd share the data I've collected with other hackers.
0
11
2007-08-19 07:36:10 UTC
44,055
43,949
henning
Database of over 100 VPS hosting plans
wmf
Dabble: one of the only really innovative Web 2.0 apps out there.
I'm shopping around for a VPS, so I thought I'd share the data I've collected with other hackers.
4
11
2007-08-19 08:14:04 UTC
44,057
43,942
edu
A way to find other Y Combinator readers in your area
dottertrotter
Reading from Barcelona, Spain... It does not work :(
null
9
55
2007-08-19 09:12:39 UTC
44,058
43,799
robg
Liberal Arts Professors on Attending Grad School--Is it the same in Comp Sci?
vlad
At least where I was (Pittsburgh), CS majors got some of the best perqs (best pay, great toys, best hope of finding a great job). Contrast that with the Humanities Ph.D.'s (no money, no toys, no job prospects). But the emotional ups and down they describe are a constant across fields. Smarter people than you will quit. The crappiest "bosses" rarely get fired. Indeed, the most important advice if you're going to go: Make sure your future boss is highly thought by their current students (after a few beers). And if they have no other students - Run, Forest! They're inexperienced in the art. Your adviser (and later, committees) has the power to crush you. Always get good reviews first. Otherwise, it is pretty fun. You learn cool things while talking to superbright folks and you get paid for the pleasure. The key is how much independence you can carve for yourself. In my opinion (but that's all I know), second only to startupping - grad school prepares you as an entrepreneur. You learn to test ideas, gather data, interpret results, and refine the process. It's iteration all the way through. I'd say if you don't think you're ready to startup, it's not a bad place to get your bearings.
null
0
18
2007-08-19 09:12:41 UTC
44,064
43,848
staunch
Am I Too Old To Be A Programmer?
nickb
People look at someone applying for a position like this as a big red flag. I think it's that simple. As others have pointed out hiring is typically a "lemon market". Unless the hiring manager is really good it makes some sense for them to move on to the next candidate.
null
3
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2007-08-19 10:19:32 UTC
44,067
44,026
staunch
Where can I find a good designer?
redrory
One idea: Look at sites you like and find out who designed them. You can use Google to connect the dots if it's not obvious. Oftentimes designers will list them in their portfolios.
Heya Guys, I am planning to re-do my site, as I am looking to upgrade from my free template look. Any suggestions, Thanks much
0
13
2007-08-19 11:44:11 UTC
44,071
43,942
epi0Bauqu
A way to find other Y Combinator readers in your area
dottertrotter
Feature request: give us a text box that we can use to zoom into an area we type in. That is, if I just type in Pennsylvania, it will take me to that area. This will be even more needed when you start from the world view. And/or capture the click event through the GMaps API and recenter and zoom in one tick every click.
null
12
55
2007-08-19 12:37:45 UTC
44,072
43,942
staunch
A way to find other Y Combinator readers in your area
dottertrotter
How about a little custom(?) microformat on our "about" sections that you fetch and refresh every X days? That solves the authentication and updating problems. That's not my idea either. It's what the Perlmonks starting doing maybe 7 years ago.<!-- location:latitude=34.05.14,longitude=-84.16.05 -->http://tinymicros.com/pm/index.php?goto=BigMonkMapMore inspiration from the Perl Mongers:http://www.pm.org/groups/map.html
null
0
55
2007-08-19 12:43:31 UTC
44,073
43,949
almost
Database of over 100 VPS hosting plans
wmf
I'm using http://prgmr.com at the moment, $5/month 64MB RAM, 1 GB disk and 10 GB Transfer
I'm shopping around for a VPS, so I thought I'd share the data I've collected with other hackers.
2
11
2007-08-19 12:52:34 UTC
44,074
44,000
Hexayurt
What services would the perfect government provide?
rms
Biometric identity management.You need a single namespace for human beings, which is cryptographically protected so that the only entity which can link a person's reputation to their biometric profile is a court of law. When there can only be one of something - and there are good reasons for not federating biometrics databases - then it makes sense for the government to offer that service, rather than private enterprise.On top of this, build a contract infrastructure - a set of technical standards for digitally signed contracts - this could be free market, but the standards body should again be unitary, so that contract standards are singular. Hence, the standards body is quasi-governmental.This is infrastructure which is essential to commerce, but - because of the namespace issues - it cannot be entirely provided by the free market, which would naturally tend to fragment the namespace. You can see an entire parallel chain of development with DNS.Power grid: do not offer, do not want. http://smallisprofitable.orgSimilar approaches for water supply and sewage treatment: set standards for those offering the services, sue those who fall below those standards, leave it to the market. This stuff used to be unitary-provider 200 years ago, which is why govt. still does it now, but technology has moved on.I have a couple of not-read-for-prime-time papers on the concept I've been working on for disaster relief called "State In A Box" that I can pass along if you are interested: [email protected] http://hexayurt.com/
Lots of hackers are libertarians, because there is a lot of logic behind the free market. But I think it's a terrible idea to let the free market handle absolutely everything, as advocated by some libertarians. Free education is a great thing that society offers even if the system isn't perfect. The free market has completely failed with healthcare in the USA. We need police and fire protection. I'm glad that every road isn't a toll road.Imagine an economically very free society with an average taxrate of 25%. What services should this government provide for free or subsidize?
5
11
2007-08-19 12:53:23 UTC
44,080
44,026
MartinMuehl
Where can I find a good designer?
redrory
you can check for a lot of good designs at templatemonster, and do it by yourself or buy the template for 60-70$.
Heya Guys, I am planning to re-do my site, as I am looking to upgrade from my free template look. Any suggestions, Thanks much
7
13
2007-08-19 14:02:44 UTC
44,081
43,978
cturner
On the cruelty of really teaching computing science
dedalus
I understand in some language cultures people would say "the glass fell from my hand" rather than "I dropped the glass". The latter is better because of the acknowledgement of responsibility.Similarly, I prefer his suggestion of "error tracking" to "bug tracking".
this djikstra classic teaches us some very important lessons about the nature of our craft
4
9
2007-08-19 14:23:26 UTC
44,083
44,026
redrory
Where can I find a good designer?
redrory
Thanks for all the comments, im trying to source out the designer from a site that I liked.But if anyone has a good designer, can you please email me : red rory ( a t ) gmail ( dot ) com
Heya Guys, I am planning to re-do my site, as I am looking to upgrade from my free template look. Any suggestions, Thanks much
3
13
2007-08-19 14:39:49 UTC
44,087
44,084
amichail
How would you build a social site to generate logos for abstract concepts?
amichail
You could use genetic algorithms as well for the designs. If you are looking for a logo for some concept X, you could try picking designs from a population with higher probability for mutation/crossover whenever they have a stronger association with concept X (where this association is determined from player input).
One possibility is to build something like http://espgame.org but with randomly generated abstract logos shown to players. You could then see what sorts of words are associated with these abstract logos.Another possibility is to have players sketch logos for abstract concepts and score them based on how in tune those sketches are with those from other players.
0
2
2007-08-19 14:56:45 UTC
44,097
44,042
albertcardona
Lobes of Steel - Neurogenesis and exercise
robg
At least in the academic environment a lot of people are aware that, by exercising, they can then concentrate at a task for longer (hours instead of half-hour) and tackle harder problems.That biological research could not figure out and test such simple truth until now does not mean it was not a widely adopted working hypothesis for a very long time.What I would like to see is how are mental abilities affected by sporting conditions, for example a dull TV-ruled noisy gym with threadmills versus a soccer game in a sports field outdoors, and mindless, reflect-oriented sports such as Squash versus brainy, strategy-oriented sports such as team-sports or golf.
How does the brain make new neurons? Exercise helps (and a few other things...).Just remember the old ontological vs. empirical distinction. Effects of exercise (and substances) are easier to study in rats most esp. relative to human learning-related changes. We're doing the neuroimaging work of complex learning (think circuit diagrams), but it doesn't get us to the neuronal level. Revolutionary bottom line of the last five years: You're producing new neurons every day (and exercise seems to help produce more). But whether and how they're used is up to you."We've always known that our brains control our behavior," Gage says, "but not that our behavior could control and change the structure of our brains."
1
11
2007-08-19 15:51:34 UTC
44,098
44,026
danw
Where can I find a good designer?
redrory
This chap is a good designer: http://chrisgarrettmedia.com/
Heya Guys, I am planning to re-do my site, as I am looking to upgrade from my free template look. Any suggestions, Thanks much
5
13
2007-08-19 16:01:25 UTC
44,100
44,026
chaostheory
Where can I find a good designer?
redrory
you can also shop around for creative commons work at: http://www.oswd.org/These creative commons templates often have their designer's contact info, so it's a good way to find a designer based on your personal tastes
Heya Guys, I am planning to re-do my site, as I am looking to upgrade from my free template look. Any suggestions, Thanks much
2
13
2007-08-19 16:20:11 UTC
44,102
44,096
pg
Startup Founder Diversification Ideas?
epi0Bauqu
It would make life complicated for a startup to have a lot of small shareholders. Especially if they weren't accredited investors by the legal definition.
For a while now, I've been trying to think of possible arrangements where startup founders could achieve some diversification along the lines of VCs and angel investors. Two initial ideas:1) A group of n founders give each other x% of their companies. I suspect n or x could not be that big for obvious reasons.2) Individual founders swap y% of their companies with each other. Diversification emerges after multiple swaps.As a startup founder, would you ever consider doing something like this?
1
1
2007-08-19 17:20:42 UTC
44,106
43,949
joe
Database of over 100 VPS hosting plans
wmf
Just a note concerning the <$20/month table, which is all I've looked at thus far: VPSLink's platform is Virtuozzo.And I can't speak for any of their other services, but their $7.95/month service SUCKS.
I'm shopping around for a VPS, so I thought I'd share the data I've collected with other hackers.
1
11
2007-08-19 17:31:56 UTC
44,115
43,740
allenbrunson
Embarassing Bill Gates video
aandreev
okay, why is that "embarrassing?" i think a better characterization would be "not funny." unless the humor comes from in-jokes i'm not privy to, since i'm not a windows user.
null
2
10
2007-08-19 18:23:35 UTC
44,121
43,942
zeantsoi
A way to find other Y Combinator readers in your area
dottertrotter
cmon gotta be able to delete users. this is not considered a "feature".
null
16
55
2007-08-19 18:50:01 UTC
44,126
43,892
andrewcooke
bigger screen = higher productivity. ( for me it can what about you?)
rokhayakebe
i suspect you feel more productive when you're happier. and you have a new toy so you are happy.personally, i program on a 12" screen and love being able to work anywhere - typically on a bean bag in the corner of my office, but sometimes on the kitchen table, or a local cafe. rarely at my desk.
I have a small 13 inch screen notebook. It works fine for me. It s light enough to carry around and the battery last a good few hours. But I find that when using my 47 inch screen monitor I just enjoy working more. I haven't measured output, but I believe It is slightly more than when I use my notebook.
3
1
2007-08-19 20:03:46 UTC
44,128
42,854
lhong1
news.ycombinator meetup - Cambridge, MA
bokonist
great. Will come with my partner from Babson.-Li
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.
17
20
2007-08-19 20:15:00 UTC
44,129
43,978
midnightmonster
On the cruelty of really teaching computing science
dedalus
Anyone know where I can find materials for the course Dijkstra describes (or similar)? As a mostly-self-taught hacker, I'd love to get a more formal perspective, and this seems like an appealing way.
this djikstra classic teaches us some very important lessons about the nature of our craft
1
9
2007-08-19 20:16:53 UTC
44,131
43,942
epi0Bauqu
A way to find other Y Combinator readers in your area
dottertrotter
Feature request: on the state/country view, allow announcement postings of some sort. For example, in the Philadelphia area we are starting a hackathon group (http://www.groupomatic.com/haqsm3vj), and new people putting their info in would benefit from knowing about it.
null
11
55
2007-08-19 20:31:25 UTC
44,133
44,096
epi0Bauqu
Startup Founder Diversification Ideas?
epi0Bauqu
Here is some elaboration on this concept in an attempt to try to get some sort of discussion going before this thread is essentially forever gone. I was imagining that the entrepreneurs who would be getting together would be in a similar place in their careers, i.e. just starting out, already had a one successful exit, or already had multiple successful exits. The idea would be that each founder roughly thinks the others have about the same chance of success as themselves.The primary scenario I was thinking about was the first type where n is about x is about 10. For example, 10 founders can form an LLC, and each give 10% of their companies to it. The profits then flow back to them upon successful exits.I just thought of another completely different way to do it that I haven't thought through as much. It would be to form one company of more closely knit founders and have them work on separate projects for some defined amount of time, with vesting. The idea here would be webapps can be made pretty well by one person. The company can make n of them, hoping that at least 1 is moderately successful. It would be at the discretion of the company founders whether to let someone give up on an idea and start another such that no one gives up too soon. And of course the other founders would spend some amount of time critiquing the others' projects. In this case, on exit, each founder would get a much higher %, from 1% in the first case to as much as 20% if there were 5 founders. Obviously it is a very different type of scenario financially.I don't know if any of this has been done before. I suspect it has, but I haven't heard of it. From the lack of response so far to this thread, I imagine it doesn't grab the average Internet startup founder. I suppose one reason is that people always think their idea is better. By getting into an arrangement like this, you are by definition conceding that you might fail, and thus have to cede some of your ego.
For a while now, I've been trying to think of possible arrangements where startup founders could achieve some diversification along the lines of VCs and angel investors. Two initial ideas:1) A group of n founders give each other x% of their companies. I suspect n or x could not be that big for obvious reasons.2) Individual founders swap y% of their companies with each other. Diversification emerges after multiple swaps.As a startup founder, would you ever consider doing something like this?
0
1
2007-08-19 20:46:30 UTC
44,141
44,137
amichail
Anywhere.fm = 1.4 Millions songs uploaded.
rokhayakebe
From the about page:"Play it anywhere on the best web music player"What does this mean exactly? In what sense is it the best?
O boy. Steve Jobs, I really recommend you call these guys up and start talking price. Seriously if I had a spare million bucks I would do anything to buy a piece of this *up.
5
25
2007-08-19 21:31:39 UTC
44,144
44,137
adamsmith
Anywhere.fm = 1.4 Millions songs uploaded.
rokhayakebe
That number isn't what matters. Stickiness is what matters. Shameless self-linking: "What You Should Be Measuring," http://blogs.xobni.com/asmith/archives/33
O boy. Steve Jobs, I really recommend you call these guys up and start talking price. Seriously if I had a spare million bucks I would do anything to buy a piece of this *up.
3
25
2007-08-19 21:53:58 UTC
44,145
44,125
alec
Linus on Subversion, GPL3, Microsoft and More
nickb
Feature request: if the URL ends in .nyud.net, assume that it's a Coral cache version and strip the postfix from the domain name in order to display the actual source.
null
0
10
2007-08-19 22:03:50 UTC
44,149
44,137
palish
Anywhere.fm = 1.4 Millions songs uploaded.
rokhayakebe
Hum... It might be good if Anywhere.fm's buttons on the lower left become consistent with iTunes' buttons on the lower left.
O boy. Steve Jobs, I really recommend you call these guys up and start talking price. Seriously if I had a spare million bucks I would do anything to buy a piece of this *up.
7
25
2007-08-19 22:08:20 UTC
44,150
43,848
edw519
Am I Too Old To Be A Programmer?
nickb
OK, I'm going to tell you what's going on and a lot of people may not like it because I will be talking about the elephant in the middle of the living room. It's about the money. Entire institutions of total B.S. are built simply to make "those who do not know what they are doing appear as if they do". Plug in whatever B.S. you want: extreme programming, UML, Rational Rose, agile programming (whatever that means?!?), and most importantly, object orientation. Real pros don't use these unless they are forced. Many of us have been "agile" for 20 or 30 years before some idiot MBA came up with the term. Institutions would rather implement some of this B.S. and plug in lower paid (and usually younger) programmers. And services firms MUST do this or perish. Why pay you $100K when they could plug in 2 $50K newbies and bill them out at $150 per hour? In IT you don't have to be good; you just have to stay one step ahead of the user. And who couldn't do that?My suggestion: find someone smart (they ARE out there, but not always easy to find) who understands the value of a professional who can "hit the high notes". Go to work for them. You'll both be a lot happier in the long run.
null
5
15
2007-08-19 22:22:51 UTC
44,151
44,137
rnesh
Anywhere.fm = 1.4 Millions songs uploaded.
rokhayakebe
I like Anywhere.fm a lot. It has a very simple and nice UI. In my opinion, it's a very useful service.
O boy. Steve Jobs, I really recommend you call these guys up and start talking price. Seriously if I had a spare million bucks I would do anything to buy a piece of this *up.
2
25
2007-08-19 22:25:35 UTC
44,154
43,978
dedalus
On the cruelty of really teaching computing science
dedalus
[cturner] we joked that when we iron out all the bugs in our software we would b walking on flat bugs :) yep! totally agree with the fact it should be called error.[mm] I would suggest you start reading most of his transcripts to get an idea here: http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/EWD/reputedly he never had to work on a computer (or owned one)
this djikstra classic teaches us some very important lessons about the nature of our craft
2
9
2007-08-19 22:31:47 UTC
44,156
44,137
menloparkbum
Anywhere.fm = 1.4 Millions songs uploaded.
rokhayakebe
I hate you, anywhere.fm. I just spent the past six weeks building the exact same thing. :(On the other hand, it is great. The only problem I have with a web music player is that I have a huge music library and it takes forever to upload everything. The other issue I have is there is no easy way to sync to my ipod. I'd also like to be able to burn to CD for listening in my car. I'm investigating AIR for these features. Initially my plan was to make extensions for the various browsers, but even just making a FF extension is a huge headache. Also, I don't really know whether or not what I'm doing is legal. I will admit that a good chunk of my library is stuff I've ripped from other people's iPods. If I upload this stuff to S3, is Amazon going to turn me over to the RIAA?
O boy. Steve Jobs, I really recommend you call these guys up and start talking price. Seriously if I had a spare million bucks I would do anything to buy a piece of this *up.
0
25
2007-08-19 22:33:44 UTC
44,157
44,148
epi0Bauqu
Joining a startup: what salary should I ask for? edit: pants
tempo
I don't think there are any rough figures here to give out. It varies so wildly depending on the variables. The bottom line is what do you want? For example, if you don't need any salary and you strongly believe the company has a high probability of attaining an exit event, maybe you should maximize equity at the expense of everything else.As for what to wear, the advice I have heard from HR in general is to mimic the dress of the company with a polo collared shirt and jeans at a minimum. I personally doubt most startups would enforce anything more than that, and as such, I would just show up in khakis and a nice button down short sleeve shirt (in the summer time).
I'm coming from outside the startup world, and without much experience, but there are a few places interested in hiring me. When it comes to salary negotiations, how much should I ask for? Of course it's combination of $ and equity, and there are a lot of variables to consider (# of employees, funding status) but any rough figures will help me out.edit: And what do I wear to on-site interviews? I'm guessing it's not Zuckerberg, nor a suit, but what's respectful enough without being stuffy?
0
2
2007-08-19 22:33:46 UTC
44,159
41,101
sam-2007
GDrive is Here
horatio05
I have been an enthusiastic DriveHQ user for almost 2 years. Their service is great!All GDrive features are long available and better on DriveHQ.com. Visit www.drivehq.com and watch the demo.# Backup. DriveHQ Online Backup works great. It has a lot of high-end features, much better than GDrive, including versioning, scheduled backup, encrypted storage, compressed upload, incremental backup and resuming, etc.# Sync. DriveHQ FileManager can sync multiple PCs, multiple user accounts.# VPN-less access. You can access your data from anywhere using a web browser, any FTP client, or DriveHQ Client software, or SMTP/POP3 email with Outlook!# Collaborate. DriveHQ Group Account service is a true enterprise class collaboration platform. You can easily share folders to different people with different access rights. DriveHQ Group Account owner / admin can create/manage/delete sub-accounts.# Disconnected access. On the plane? VPN broken? All your files are still accessible as DriveHQ FileManager can cache the data for offline access! DriveHQ even offers SMTP/POP3 emails for offline Outlook access with unlimited email storage!DriveHQ offers basic service for free. So why the wait? Sign up at: http://www.drivehq.com/?refID=2925384
null
2
19
2007-08-19 22:36:35 UTC
44,165
44,160
vlad
Geeksta' Rappers Rhyme Tech Talk
vlad
http://graphics.stanford.edu/~monzy/DramainthePhD.mp3
http://graphics.stanford.edu/~monzy/DramainthePhD.mp3
0
1
2007-08-19 22:45:29 UTC
44,169
43,949
vlad
Database of over 100 VPS hosting plans
wmf
http://www.KnownHost.com !
I'm shopping around for a VPS, so I thought I'd share the data I've collected with other hackers.
3
11
2007-08-19 23:12:00 UTC
44,170
44,137
nickb
Anywhere.fm = 1.4 Millions songs uploaded.
rokhayakebe
As a user, I love anywhere.fm but as an investor, I'd have a qestion about its legality because of the UMG vs MP3.com case. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UMG_v._MP3.com Have you guys looked into that? Seems to me that these two services are almost identical and anywhere.fm has an excellent frontend.
O boy. Steve Jobs, I really recommend you call these guys up and start talking price. Seriously if I had a spare million bucks I would do anything to buy a piece of this *up.
1
25
2007-08-19 23:16:34 UTC
44,173
44,105
savrajsingh
Scientists hail "frozen smoke" as material that will change world
jyrzyk
does anyone know where I can buy some aerogel to play with it? :)
null
3
13
2007-08-19 23:38:55 UTC
44,174
44,110
ed
Reminder: Cambridge news.ycombinator.com meetup tonight, 7PM
bokonist
Guys! We moved! We're now at Andala which you can find here:286 Franklin St Cambridge, MA 02139
For those of you who missed the message the first time, this is a second posting. We're doing a meetup tonight at the 1369 Coffee Shop in Central Square, Cambridge, MA.Sunday, August 19th at 7 PM 1369 Coffee House in Central Square 757 Massachusetts Ave. Cambridge, MA 02139A bunch of people have said they are coming, so it should be a good time.
0
11
2007-08-19 23:46:02 UTC
44,177
43,740
wyday
Embarassing Bill Gates video
aandreev
It's an amusing self-deprecating video. What's so embarrassing about it? Is it because he's Bill Gates and we're supposed to hate him mindlessly because Windows isn't perfect?
null
0
10
2007-08-20 00:04:19 UTC
44,179
44,137
staunch
Anywhere.fm = 1.4 Millions songs uploaded.
rokhayakebe
At 3.5MB per song that's 4.6TB. On Amazon S3 I think that'd cost ~$500 in ingress bandwidth and ~$700/mo for storage. Not too expensive so far. The streaming is going to hurt the most though I'm sure.
O boy. Steve Jobs, I really recommend you call these guys up and start talking price. Seriously if I had a spare million bucks I would do anything to buy a piece of this *up.
4
25
2007-08-20 00:29:24 UTC
44,182
43,879
aswanson
YC's Terms of Use: "When you click on a link, our server will send you the corresponding page."
henning
"Privacy Policy: Unless you log in, we can't tell any more about you than your browser version, IP address, and referring url."What can you tell if we do log in?
I always love it when people pass up opportunities to engage in legal bullshitting.Although it is interesting to note that they claim that "make something people want" is their trademark.
0
19
2007-08-20 00:43:48 UTC
44,185
44,184
jey
The Politics of God
jey
Excerpt:"Liberalism and Western-style democracy have not been able to help realize the ideals of humanity. Today, these two concepts have failed. Those with insight can already hear the sounds of the shattering and fall of the ideology and thoughts of the liberal democratic systems. . . . Whether we like it or not, the world is gravitating towards faith in the Almighty and justice and the will of God will prevail over all things." -President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, in an open letter to President George W. Bush
null
0
3
2007-08-20 00:47:23 UTC
44,186
44,158
alex_c
Scribd, You've Been Cloned.
rokhayakebe
Congrats, Scribd!
http://www.doktus.de/
0
8
2007-08-20 01:03:00 UTC
44,189
44,187
bootload
T-shirts as sms instructions
bootload
"... We feel that t-shirts are great for communicating and sharing the things people care about so we see them as a great promotional medium. Until now, t-shirts have been static. We believe that there are many situations in which making a t-shirt dynamic is very valuable. ..."After reading an interview with 'Ariel Poler' CEO & founder of textmarks, I spotted an interesting idea where SMS messaging & the humble t-shirt collide.
null
0
1
2007-08-20 01:09:40 UTC
44,195
44,180
epi0Bauqu
YouOS - A bright example that intelligent people are not enough to create a successful revenue business?
siliconeurope
I don't get it. Why are you dissing YouOS?
null
1
2
2007-08-20 01:39:29 UTC
44,200
43,635
dpapathanasiou
Goodbye, Hacker News. I'm going back to Reddit.
jmpeters
Although it has apparently been going on all along, this title-censoring thing is, for me, the final straw.Wow, I was just complaining about something I found annoying; I didn't mean to start a revolt.
It was worth putting up with the sycophancy of many of the commenters here who seem to participate only to impress PG, their would-be benefactor...for a while. It was worth it while the stories focused on the niche we are all interested in, startups. The change to more general-purpose news, the attempt to re-create the Reddit of old, seemed to be made without first asking the overall community for input (unlike the way that Craig Newmark makes all changes to Craig's List, for example). Although it has apparently been going on all along, this title-censoring thing is, for me, the final straw. Yes, Reddit has been overrun by the unwashed masses. It has become messy in the way that democracy itself is messy. But this site is getting the feeling of an artificially sterile place for tech elites as defined by PG and his minions. So I'm going back to the unwashed masses, even if it means having to read a few more titles about cat pictures. Best of luck, though, PG, and thanks for the great information this site has given me thus far. I will continue to follow your impressive career and your essays with great interest. PS, Editors, feel free to change my title to "Hacker News Rocks!"
21
48
2007-08-20 01:51:03 UTC
44,202
43,942
danteembermage
A way to find other Y Combinator readers in your area
dottertrotter
Our club is a little more exclusive than I thought.
null
15
55
2007-08-20 02:23:36 UTC
44,205
43,322
rms
Physicists discover inorganic dust with lifelike qualities
jyrzyk
I think this really shows that life isn't rare but has a tendency to emerge in systems with a lot of energy. Consciousness might be much more rare, though.
null
0
4
2007-08-20 02:38:35 UTC
44,208
44,105
ed
Scientists hail "frozen smoke" as material that will change world
jyrzyk
Hasn't this stuff been around for a while?
null
1
13
2007-08-20 03:16:42 UTC
44,210
44,026
simianstyle
Where can I find a good designer?
redrory
tangentstudio.com/quotes They offer a demand based clientel service.
Heya Guys, I am planning to re-do my site, as I am looking to upgrade from my free template look. Any suggestions, Thanks much
8
13
2007-08-20 03:18:09 UTC
44,222
44,199
jdavid
How much is News.YC worth?
blored
if we are going to play this game, don't we need the stats on the site?
If someone wanted to sell a site with a similar user and traffic numbers, in your opinion, what would be the present worth in 2007 dollars, 2002 dollars, and possibly 1999 dollars for a site like news.ycombinator.com.
8
10
2007-08-20 03:46:42 UTC
44,223
44,199
trekker7
How much is News.YC worth?
blored
Should it vary by site content? Reddit turned into a general purpose social news site, but Hacker News is more of a niche thing. Would a larger corporation buy a site like this? I'm not saying they wouldn't; I don't know how it works, maybe someone could explain.
If someone wanted to sell a site with a similar user and traffic numbers, in your opinion, what would be the present worth in 2007 dollars, 2002 dollars, and possibly 1999 dollars for a site like news.ycombinator.com.
2
10
2007-08-20 03:47:59 UTC
44,230
44,199
staunch
How much is News.YC worth?
blored
It's worth exactly $48,493.63 USD.
If someone wanted to sell a site with a similar user and traffic numbers, in your opinion, what would be the present worth in 2007 dollars, 2002 dollars, and possibly 1999 dollars for a site like news.ycombinator.com.
7
10
2007-08-20 04:33:13 UTC
44,232
44,199
dood
How much is News.YC worth?
blored
However much anyone is willing to pay for it, like anything else.
If someone wanted to sell a site with a similar user and traffic numbers, in your opinion, what would be the present worth in 2007 dollars, 2002 dollars, and possibly 1999 dollars for a site like news.ycombinator.com.
0
10
2007-08-20 04:46:36 UTC
44,233
44,158
palish
Scribd, You've Been Cloned.
rokhayakebe
A nice-to-have would be if YCombinator eventually offers localization services so that its startups could expand quickly into foreign markets, perhaps even at launch.
http://www.doktus.de/
2
8
2007-08-20 04:48:54 UTC
44,235
44,158
blored
Scribd, You've Been Cloned.
rokhayakebe
I guess it's a compliment to scribd, unless of course they were planning to release a german version in the near future, in which case they would have a new direct competitor.Our English teacher used to always say that imitation is the greatest form of flattery. Congrats scribd.
http://www.doktus.de/
1
8
2007-08-20 05:00:17 UTC
44,236
44,224
avehn
Artificial Life Likely in 3 to 10 Years!
nickb
While the paranoia prone part of my mind worries, I believe this is definitely a wonderful thing. Imagine the possibilities for the planet and beyond.
null
1
2
2007-08-20 05:13:29 UTC
44,237
44,216
avehn
The Future of CSS and the end of 3.0
nickb
while i found Dion's post interesting, Alex Russell's comment was much more informative. The fixes Alex discusses are definitely needed.
null
0
1
2007-08-20 05:28:06 UTC
44,241
44,224
jey
Artificial Life Likely in 3 to 10 Years!
nickb
Yawn. Call me once you have results, or at least a reasonable theory justifying your optimism. Getting a bunch of lipids to assemble into a sphere doesn't convince me that you are going to soon create "wet artificial life".
null
0
2
2007-08-20 06:11:03 UTC
44,245
44,168
fallintothis
The Grandmaster Experiment
pfedor
"When they take in new information, it stays in the 'small hard drive' of working memory without passing over into the 'zip drive' of long-term memory."Is this really an apt description? Would it not be more accurate to say "RAM" and "hard drive", respectively?(Leave it to me to miss the point in the name of pedantry, haha. I ask because I'm not particularly knowledgeable in neuroscience, but from the terminology this is what I assume.)
null
1
22
2007-08-20 06:46:51 UTC
44,248
44,219
zaidf
Indian outsourcing is killing IT
nickb
Sadly, from my experience, all the points the author complains about isn't limited to Indian programmers but any random set of programmers.
null
1
3
2007-08-20 07:05:43 UTC
44,249
44,199
nickb
How much is News.YC worth?
blored
"What Is My Blog Worth"says:$172,749.24http://www.business-opportunities.biz/projects/how-much-is-y...
If someone wanted to sell a site with a similar user and traffic numbers, in your opinion, what would be the present worth in 2007 dollars, 2002 dollars, and possibly 1999 dollars for a site like news.ycombinator.com.
1
10
2007-08-20 07:16:13 UTC
44,252
43,665
bcr
Brad Fitzpatrick's Thoughts on the Social Graph
danw
more than anything, i'm interested in the way that this article seems to acknowledge the facebook's incumbency in the 'social graph' space. he seems to be making the statement that ownership of this graph is at present theirs to lose.
null
2
23
2007-08-20 07:28:44 UTC
44,253
44,180
chmike
YouOS - A bright example that intelligent people are not enough to create a successful revenue business?
siliconeurope
Of course being intelligent is not enough. And by the way a technically perfect product is not enough too. It has to provide a benefit for the users which is not obvious with YouOS. Microsoft made the same mistake with Vista... If your system contains a positive feedback (i.e. the more people are using your product, the more value it gets for users. It then attracts new users, etc.) the you get a chain reaction which can blow your numbers. YouOS in it self doesn't have these two key properties. But they could provide an application running on YouOs that could have these properties. Something like Zimbra. In order to justify the difference with classical systems, they should pick an application that profit fro the particularities of having a web os.
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2007-08-20 07:53:13 UTC
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AdamG
What services would the perfect government provide?
rms
I've never been Libertarian nor a believer in the Free Market. I don't think I really grasp the core concepts, though, because as I'm reading through Wealth of Nations (among other things) I find the laissez-faire attitude is incredibly naive. Real markets are filled with things like marketing, fraud (two points, I would argue, along the same continuum) and consumers who are not going to do what's best for themselves. My own view is that the government should provide a decent life - including paying for meals and shelter if need be - for every single person. I'm at a school where I'd rather not be, taking classes I'd prefer not to, because I will need a degree to get a job. If I knew that the government (or rich relatives, for that matter, although unfortunately I have none) would support me if I were to fail at entrepreneurship, I'd drop out tomorrow. Basically, the government should guarantee that it'll keep all people at a basic level of human decency. This would allow all citizens to take risks, which is essential in innovation.Oh, and the government should handle most things that private insurance companies do nowadays. The way I see it, people shouldn't have the choice to not pay for some things. If we were to give people the option of not buying health insurance, it would make us a very cruel and cold society to stand by as the unfortunate souls who chose not to get insurance die of an expensive, treatable diseases. The cultural cost to society is far too high.Edit: Word choice, among -> along
Lots of hackers are libertarians, because there is a lot of logic behind the free market. But I think it's a terrible idea to let the free market handle absolutely everything, as advocated by some libertarians. Free education is a great thing that society offers even if the system isn't perfect. The free market has completely failed with healthcare in the USA. We need police and fire protection. I'm glad that every road isn't a toll road.Imagine an economically very free society with an average taxrate of 25%. What services should this government provide for free or subsidize?
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2007-08-20 08:33:12 UTC
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henning
How much is News.YC worth?
blored
fun exercise: come up with 5 different ways of valuing news.yc, each of which seem reasonable and each of which give wildly different answers.
If someone wanted to sell a site with a similar user and traffic numbers, in your opinion, what would be the present worth in 2007 dollars, 2002 dollars, and possibly 1999 dollars for a site like news.ycombinator.com.
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2007-08-20 08:43:47 UTC
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PStamatiou
Where can I find a good designer?
redrory
http://sidebarcreative.com but they're more along the lines of what a funded startup might hire, not a single person.
Heya Guys, I am planning to re-do my site, as I am looking to upgrade from my free template look. Any suggestions, Thanks much
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2007-08-20 08:50:44 UTC
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rms
What should be considered off-topic?
rms
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44000My thread about optimal governance had a lot of complaints. Many people think that such discussions shouldn't be allowed and I disagree. The thread was more about economics than politics. It wasn't anywhere close to the day to day politics covered on the tv news. There is no evidence of this site turning into reddit, except for the people claiming it has. Why disallow this discussion?
Many have said that we need more explicit guidelines about what is off-topic. What do you think should be off-topic on news.ycombinator.com?
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2007-08-20 09:11:00 UTC
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piers
Skype: What happened on August 16
piers
<quote>receiving a routine software update</quote>Sounds like they're pointing the finger at microsoft to me.
<quote>receiving a routine software update</quote>Sounds like they're pointing the finger at microsoft to me.
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2007-08-20 10:16:31 UTC
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bootload
The urge to comment as a sign of danger
kkim
"... The urge to comment as a sign of danger ..."if that's the case, Donald Knuth is "Danger man" ~ http://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~knuth/lp.html
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2007-08-20 10:33:10 UTC
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cperciva
Skype: What happened on August 16
piers
This in my view confirms that the people who run Skype are either incompetent, dishonest, or both. I'm leaning towards dishonest, since it's hard to imagine how anyone could be so incompetent to both (a) roll out a network to millions of nodes without simulating how the network responds to major disruptions, and (b) build a large system which cannot be promptly "rebooted" into a clean state if anything goes wrong.The alternative explanation -- that Skype was the target of a deliberate attack, and they're trying to keep quiet about this -- is to my paranoid mind far easier to believe; Skype would hardly be the first multi-billion dollar company to keep quiet about an attack out of fear that shareholders and/or customers would react unfavourably.
<quote>receiving a routine software update</quote>Sounds like they're pointing the finger at microsoft to me.
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2007-08-20 10:35:34 UTC
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bootload
Indian outsourcing is killing IT
nickb
"... Here's an exercise: try posting an ad for a development project on Craiglist and ask for a quote. What you'll end up getting is tin-canned emails ... Then follow up with a random one and actually talk to their "Project Manager" and you'll notice that the email was just a bunch of bullshit and you're dealing with a two-man operation run out of a basement on a Pentium II. ..."Lone hacker & founder in basement working on startup: 'Damn, he's on to us. That is praise, isn't it?'I like this quote. Why? because it underpins the mentality of some people who think that having more programmers is better, flashier hardware solves all your performance problems and those blasted pesky upstarts are taking our work. I bet similiar stories floated around mechanical & electrical engineering circles during the 50's with those wiley Japanese or in the 70's & 80's with the Taiwanese and electronics. Like it or not the Indians, the Bulgarians and countless other non-first world countries are going to harness the collective brain power, practice their commercial skills and improve their lot. In years to come a lot of the places mentioned "may have" the same success as past newcomers to the tech world.Instead my scorn goes to the companies who "outsource" their competitive edge for the quick dollar return to owners, shareholders or simply adopting the latest business fad. Not realising anything that has software (car, microwave, etc) now means they are in the software business. Or worse, no understanding of the work they really do. "... And yes, I'm an Indian ..." Is not a justification to be inherently racist.
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2007-08-20 11:19:09 UTC
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epi0Bauqu
What should be considered off-topic?
rms
Off topic (imo): old stuff, politics, religion.
Many have said that we need more explicit guidelines about what is off-topic. What do you think should be off-topic on news.ycombinator.com?
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2007-08-20 12:01:09 UTC
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epi0Bauqu
Hacker news or Y Combinator news? Why does it matter?
piers
A policy change about what stories are considered on/off topic was made in addition to a name change. The policy change is what matters.
Ok, I haven't been reading this for very long, but why does it matter that someone over there in YC Land decided to change the name? I'm not suggesting that it's a good or bad thing, I'm just curious.
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2007-08-20 12:31:08 UTC
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mhb
Scientists hail "frozen smoke" as material that will change world
jyrzyk
"The heating has improved significantly. I turned the thermostat down five degrees. It's been a remarkable transformation," he said.Wow. Really good insulation can make 65 feel like 70.
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2007-08-20 12:39:18 UTC
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7media
Hacker news or Y Combinator news? Why does it matter?
piers
http://www.irintech.com/x1/blogarchive.php?id=1432
Ok, I haven't been reading this for very long, but why does it matter that someone over there in YC Land decided to change the name? I'm not suggesting that it's a good or bad thing, I'm just curious.
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2007-08-20 12:56:35 UTC
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mojuba
Software - How Software Companies Die
rams
So everybody knows this is true, yet doing software management with UML, report generation and that kind of crap pays more and thus valued more than engineering. When will laws of economy stop that?
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2007-08-20 13:06:01 UTC
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piers
Hacker news or Y Combinator news? Why does it matter?
piers
@7media: yes that shows that it has changed, but doesn't really say anything other than that.
Ok, I haven't been reading this for very long, but why does it matter that someone over there in YC Land decided to change the name? I'm not suggesting that it's a good or bad thing, I'm just curious.
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2007-08-20 13:06:42 UTC
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mynameishere
The Grandmaster Experiment
pfedor
If innate talent was irrelevant to Laszlo's theoryI love how psychologists, more than other scientists, are allowed to pass by huge holes in methodology. Laszlo and his daughters are not a random sample--they started off as extremely intelligent people--in fact, they belonged to the same tiny pedigree that produced Szilard, Teller and Von Neumann. Try the experiment with ordinary people and you'll come away disappointed.
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2007-08-20 13:36:34 UTC