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curi
Need a partner to apply to YC with? Fill out your half of the app and find like minded people
bokonist
Why would we want to use your messaging system instead of just posting our email address?
null
7
34
2007-09-06 19:33:49 UTC
51,231
51,226
umjames
Steve Jobs - To All iPhone Customers
mk
Wow. This is why I like Apple. Despite all of the business rationale for this move, it actually feels like Apple cares for its early adopters. Whether they do or not is immaterial; the effect is still the same, it feels sincere.
null
5
52
2007-09-06 19:37:34 UTC
51,235
51,226
Harj
Steve Jobs - To All iPhone Customers
mk
"even though we are making the right decision to lower the price of iPhone"what a fantastic line to put in an apology email. there's only one steve jobs.
null
6
52
2007-09-06 19:45:33 UTC
51,236
51,226
sethg
Steve Jobs - To All iPhone Customers
mk
Whenever I am tempted to buy some new and cool high-end electronic product, I ask myself, "Since this thing will probably cost half as much a year from now, do I really need to own it right now?" The answer is almost always "No."(Of course, that new iPod Touch is--SLAP! Bad consumer! No retirement fund!)
null
1
52
2007-09-06 19:46:46 UTC
51,240
51,174
scw
World's first per-seat,on-demand jet service cleared for take-off
ranparas
A good, in-depth background on the company and their methods: http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/115/open_features-flight...Seems like domain expertise in difficult fields is increasingly being valued.
null
0
11
2007-09-06 19:52:56 UTC
51,241
51,226
mattculbreth
Steve Jobs - To All iPhone Customers
mk
This is great! I'm pleased as can be. Hereby stating publicly to spend the money buying something else from them. :)
null
8
52
2007-09-06 19:53:11 UTC
51,242
51,226
dawie
Steve Jobs - To All iPhone Customers
mk
This is the reason that Apple is going to be the next Microsoft
null
9
52
2007-09-06 19:54:08 UTC
51,251
51,226
vikram
Steve Jobs - To All iPhone Customers
mk
Buying the 1st generation of an apple product is never a great idea, if you are going to be pissed off about problems or future price drops. Its just something that hardcore apple fans expect from apple and love about apple. I try and let others find the problems and buy the 2nd lot which either has more capacity or is slightly cheaper.I guess with the iPhone a lot of the customers are first time apple customers, so they don't know how the system works.
null
0
52
2007-09-06 20:09:41 UTC
51,264
51,248
adnam
How's your YC Winter 2008 application coming along?
wonjun
If only I had a co-founder.
We finished the first draft of the application questionnaire, and we implemented about half of the features we'd like to show in our demo.We are a team of two awesome cofounders, and our idea is not technically heavy. How's your application coming along?
15
17
2007-09-06 20:25:06 UTC
51,266
50,960
vikram
Who would you not tell your great idea to?
steffon
In "Growing the business" Paul Hawken says that if people tell you that something is a great idea then it is to late. It means that it already exists that is why the people who think its a great idea could recognize it in the first place.So if people tell you that's nuts or that you are too late or that it would never work, then you might be on to something. In that case you don't need to worry about any one copying it as it will be absolutely unique to you.
It's an entrepreneur's job to get out there and hype their ideas. But prudence and good judgement still apply. I received advice once to not fully explain my ideas to a large corporation because they have the resources to develop it quickly and/or without me. Who would you not tell your idea to and why? Any horror stories of "bad judgement"?
2
2
2007-09-06 20:27:08 UTC
51,267
51,109
byrneseyeview
Concerning trend in commenting on news.yc submissions
aston
Nothing sinister, just network effects. If twice as many people read PG's essays, that's four times as many potential conversations.
Based on the few number of comments in most discussions on this site, you'd assume everyone's just reading for the links. Which is cool, I guess. Anyway, the only exception, it seems, are threads on Paul Graham essays in which everyone and their mother has something to say. We're talking something like an average of around 1 comment for most front page items vs. probably and average of 40 comments for anything PG's written. Is everyone just sucking up/karma whoring by agreeing with PG? Or is PG the only thing worth talking about here? As I think the real value of having a community of hackers is talking, I'd really like to see more general chatter. Am I alone here?
10
19
2007-09-06 20:28:58 UTC
51,271
51,248
cperciva
How's your YC Winter 2008 application coming along?
wonjun
I sent an email asking to withdraw my application (I doubt it would be accepted anyway; but it turns out that I'm going to be busy on the "fly to Cambridge" weekend, and I don't want to waste their time) last week. I haven't seen any response, but I assume that someone reads the info@ address and has removed my application from their stack of reading materials.
We finished the first draft of the application questionnaire, and we implemented about half of the features we'd like to show in our demo.We are a team of two awesome cofounders, and our idea is not technically heavy. How's your application coming along?
6
17
2007-09-06 20:33:30 UTC
51,274
51,092
neuro
Wired: "How Mark Zuckerberg created the web's hottest platform."
Readmore
that's easy, he stole it
null
2
9
2007-09-06 20:39:27 UTC
51,276
51,050
adnam
Forget London and Paris: An Inside Look at Europe's Coolest Cities
danw
Hooray for Barcelona :-)
null
2
8
2007-09-06 20:44:55 UTC
51,278
51,226
semigeek
Steve Jobs - To All iPhone Customers
mk
Steve was damned if he did, damned if he didn't.
null
7
52
2007-09-06 20:50:05 UTC
51,284
51,248
henning
How's your YC Winter 2008 application coming along?
wonjun
It isn't. I'm a wage slave for now.
We finished the first draft of the application questionnaire, and we implemented about half of the features we'd like to show in our demo.We are a team of two awesome cofounders, and our idea is not technically heavy. How's your application coming along?
8
17
2007-09-06 21:05:02 UTC
51,292
48,294
YC0101
How Not to Die
subhash
I like very much your statistics: 1.- 50 % of YC startups will get success. 2.- Only 1 of 1000 of startups will get success. 3.- you can foresee the future of your startups: disaster perhaps with one exception, the one that thinks by himself.
null
25
169
2007-09-06 21:15:37 UTC
51,294
51,291
vlad
Wired: Four Mistakes Apple Made Slashing Pricing
vlad
I agree with Jobs over this article. Thousands of customers have already decided that $2,500 was the right price for a cell phone with 900 minutes a month for 2 years. They didn't care that this product had no third-party software available, nor that it was new, unseen, expensive, and locked to one phone company and music service.Such users don't want a price cut--they love voting for usability by paying $599 for a phone. They expect others to pay less. All they want is to have tons of great new features and apps to come out over the next 2 years to justify _their_ purchase.Thus, the more users and developers own the iPhone, the better. The more marketshare an Internet-enabled application or device gets, the more resources that the company and 3rd party companies will dedicate to supporting the product. And if the owners feel they got their $599 worth of fun and productivity, they'll be happy.It's likely the complaints are coming from price-sensitive individuals who recently purchased the iPhone on the news that they could get out of the $1,920 contract and use it on a $30 T-Mobile plan. I think early adopters want this product to take off and will not hate Apple; it was clear that $599 was going to be the price-point for only a short time.For me, $399 is too expensive as I like my current phone and plan.
null
0
2
2007-09-06 21:17:28 UTC
51,295
51,248
npk
How's your YC Winter 2008 application coming along?
wonjun
Sounds like you're moving along quite nicely. I realized that I will not finish my PhD in time for the deadline, so it's been postponed 1/2 a year. At one point, I toyed with the idea of submitting, just to receive feedback, but thought it would be somewhat unethical. Good luck all.
We finished the first draft of the application questionnaire, and we implemented about half of the features we'd like to show in our demo.We are a team of two awesome cofounders, and our idea is not technically heavy. How's your application coming along?
0
17
2007-09-06 21:17:59 UTC
51,297
50,823
yters
What happens when you put a PC in the wall of an Indian slum?
rms
Kids' creativity and problem solving abilities are significantly underestimated.
null
2
27
2007-09-06 21:20:27 UTC
51,306
51,248
waleedka
How's your YC Winter 2008 application coming along?
wonjun
I'm experimenting with a couple of ideas to see if one has potential. If so, I might consider applying in October. I've received lunch invites from a couple of investors to chat further, but I don't need the money yet. I believe that I should take investment only after I feel confident that the idea has a good chance of success. I can experiment with ideas on my own; it's much faster and I can change direction quickly if something doesn't look like it's working. If I do apply to YC, it'll be for the community and the support, not the money.
We finished the first draft of the application questionnaire, and we implemented about half of the features we'd like to show in our demo.We are a team of two awesome cofounders, and our idea is not technically heavy. How's your application coming along?
4
17
2007-09-06 21:32:11 UTC
51,308
51,248
nreece
How's your YC Winter 2008 application coming along?
wonjun
:) Enslaved
We finished the first draft of the application questionnaire, and we implemented about half of the features we'd like to show in our demo.We are a team of two awesome cofounders, and our idea is not technically heavy. How's your application coming along?
11
17
2007-09-06 21:32:36 UTC
51,309
51,248
zach
How's your YC Winter 2008 application coming along?
wonjun
Okay... hey, what did you get for #6?
We finished the first draft of the application questionnaire, and we implemented about half of the features we'd like to show in our demo.We are a team of two awesome cofounders, and our idea is not technically heavy. How's your application coming along?
1
17
2007-09-06 21:33:26 UTC
51,310
51,063
cellis
Need a partner to apply to YC with? Fill out your half of the app and find like minded people
bokonist
I thought it was good. I posted my info.
null
4
34
2007-09-06 21:33:50 UTC
51,313
51,226
zach
Steve Jobs - To All iPhone Customers
mk
I've been reading Fake Steve Jobs too much. I expected a "Bokay, cheaptards?" at the end.
null
3
52
2007-09-06 21:37:19 UTC
51,317
51,248
jsjenkins168
How's your YC Winter 2008 application coming along?
wonjun
Anyone applying again who was previously turned down? I am also curious of what YC's opinion is of groups who would like to re-apply?
We finished the first draft of the application questionnaire, and we implemented about half of the features we'd like to show in our demo.We are a team of two awesome cofounders, and our idea is not technically heavy. How's your application coming along?
2
17
2007-09-06 21:48:01 UTC
51,334
51,259
daniel-cussen
Isn't Your Kid a CEO?
far33d
Sounds like a lot of fun.
null
1
7
2007-09-06 22:26:35 UTC
51,346
51,174
pg
World's first per-seat,on-demand jet service cleared for take-off
ranparas
I'd do it just to try flying on an Eclipse.That flash on their frontpage was shocking though. Thank God for adblock.
null
1
11
2007-09-06 22:43:04 UTC
51,349
51,226
Readmore
Steve Jobs - To All iPhone Customers
mk
Steve is brilliant! What can you get at an Apple store for $100? A keyboard, a mouse, or a gift card. This $100 store credit is going to end up selling MORE Apple hardware because everything is so expensive. People get to feel all warm and fuzzy again and Apple makes more money. It's amazing.
null
2
52
2007-09-06 22:55:13 UTC
51,354
51,109
marrone
Concerning trend in commenting on news.yc submissions
aston
I see what you are saying. For example, I posted this link which I think is an awesome read for everyone on hear, and it got squashed: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49579 Read it people, read it!But I don't think there is any karma whoring going on. I think PG articles come with a pretty safe bet of being a good read. Whereas you aren't sure what you are going to get with the others. Im assuming pretty much everyone reads the PG essays, and thus there is more discussion to be had. Whereas I would like to know the proportion of people who read all the other links submitted, as opposed to just their titles.
Based on the few number of comments in most discussions on this site, you'd assume everyone's just reading for the links. Which is cool, I guess. Anyway, the only exception, it seems, are threads on Paul Graham essays in which everyone and their mother has something to say. We're talking something like an average of around 1 comment for most front page items vs. probably and average of 40 comments for anything PG's written. Is everyone just sucking up/karma whoring by agreeing with PG? Or is PG the only thing worth talking about here? As I think the real value of having a community of hackers is talking, I'd really like to see more general chatter. Am I alone here?
7
19
2007-09-06 23:08:05 UTC
51,355
51,259
donna
Isn't Your Kid a CEO?
far33d
Great story! Could it be that young people are fearless, ingenuous, and know what they love with nothing to loose?
null
0
7
2007-09-06 23:08:58 UTC
51,356
51,248
Mistone
How's your YC Winter 2008 application coming along?
wonjun
its going great, hope to have it submitted by the weekend. last term was going to be too hectic.This round the timing feels right!
We finished the first draft of the application questionnaire, and we implemented about half of the features we'd like to show in our demo.We are a team of two awesome cofounders, and our idea is not technically heavy. How's your application coming along?
10
17
2007-09-06 23:13:40 UTC
51,357
51,092
Readmore
Wired: "How Mark Zuckerberg created the web's hottest platform."
Readmore
Yeah I'm not a Zuckerberg fan, but for some reason I keep reading about him.
null
1
9
2007-09-06 23:18:48 UTC
51,358
51,248
gibsonf1
How's your YC Winter 2008 application coming along?
wonjun
We're working on it now. :)
We finished the first draft of the application questionnaire, and we implemented about half of the features we'd like to show in our demo.We are a team of two awesome cofounders, and our idea is not technically heavy. How's your application coming along?
13
17
2007-09-06 23:19:44 UTC
51,360
51,262
zach
NBC tries to make up with Apple
nickb
I can just hear the suits convincing each other that consumers would pay "as much as $4.95" for NBC's shows, getting pumped up about how great their future in downloadable content is looking.And then when this number gets mentioned to Apple and comes out in the media to universal ridicule, everyone is like "what are they smoking?" and they feel really awkward and hurt about it.
null
0
8
2007-09-06 23:32:31 UTC
51,365
51,351
SwellJoe
Can Lisp do What Perl Does Easily?
omouse
Note the date. In 2000, Perl was, by far, the leading scripting language (and language for the web). I'm certain that if this rant were written today, it would target PHP, and possibly even Ruby and Python. Ironically, perhaps, modern Perl is more lisp-like than any other mainstream language (aside from JavaScript, in some ways), and so this article merely says, "Mainstream languages that come pretty close to Lisp are brain-damaged and you'd have to be a particular breed of crazy to use it for anything."
Erik Naggum on why Perl sucks :D
0
25
2007-09-06 23:52:08 UTC
51,366
51,063
Alex3917
Need a partner to apply to YC with? Fill out your half of the app and find like minded people
bokonist
@dcurtishttp://www.oceansalive.org/eat.cfm?subnav=fishpage&fish=...Not only is bluefin tuna overfished and in danger of extinction, but it's extremely high in mercury and PCBs as well.
null
3
34
2007-09-06 23:52:38 UTC
51,368
51,109
aswanson
Concerning trend in commenting on news.yc submissions
aston
[ascend to soapbox] [begin sermon] I like to think of news.yc as a social learning machine. It would be nice to see karma computed more as a function of the contribution to the community rather than pure popularity. In terms of information content, the PG links are going to be low because almost everyone here would have read the article regardless.Seriously, is the 100 karma points gained through linking to a pg essay worth as much as the 100 earned through 10 informative (in the classic suprising sense) links? We seem to be converging to this eigenvector [a(1) a(2) ...a(n)] where a(1) == pg_essay_link, a(2)== mattmaroon_essay_link...etc.The reason I believe pg converted this forum to hacker news is that the learning machine was stuck on the search surface in a local minimum and he wanted it to 'learn' new things. We can't learn more if we reward behaviour that is not truly informative. He could put a damping coefficient on karma obtained from known links, but a better bet would be for the community to not reward the links as much.I have done my share of dumb, uniformative submissions and will try to make better contributions in the future. [end sermon] [get off soapboax]
Based on the few number of comments in most discussions on this site, you'd assume everyone's just reading for the links. Which is cool, I guess. Anyway, the only exception, it seems, are threads on Paul Graham essays in which everyone and their mother has something to say. We're talking something like an average of around 1 comment for most front page items vs. probably and average of 40 comments for anything PG's written. Is everyone just sucking up/karma whoring by agreeing with PG? Or is PG the only thing worth talking about here? As I think the real value of having a community of hackers is talking, I'd really like to see more general chatter. Am I alone here?
1
19
2007-09-07 00:06:17 UTC
51,375
51,371
steffon
What is the air quality like in Mountain View?
Alex3917
California Air Quality MapsSan Jose: Moderate http://airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=airnow.displaymaps&Po...http://www.airnow.gov
Trivia: Scorecard was created by Philip Greenspun.
0
5
2007-09-07 00:34:29 UTC
51,379
51,226
gqgy
Steve Jobs - To All iPhone Customers
mk
this strategy is about gaining and maintaining market share. 'pleasing customers' is merely a pheripheral initiative to the overall strategy of market share. jobs is an innovator, but he does it by sticking to old school traditional business strategies. i wouldn't be surprised, if sometime in the next decade, apple is accused of 'bundling', similarly to microsoft with IE and windows. apple has been gaining market share little by little in various industries. once their share reaches a dominant position, its products will become dependent on each other. until they reach that position, jobs will be the nicest guy in the industry.
null
4
52
2007-09-07 00:53:18 UTC
51,380
51,050
kmt
Forget London and Paris: An Inside Look at Europe's Coolest Cities
danw
I'm very interested in Europe. Can people from such cities please comment about their city live, both in terms of lifestyle and hacker enviroment (education, peers, industry, finacials, etc.)?
null
1
8
2007-09-07 00:54:37 UTC
51,381
51,248
NoMoreSnow
How's your YC Winter 2008 application coming along?
wonjun
The application process has taken us longer than I thought it would because it has made us question whether there really is a market for the idea. Yes, it does help to solve a problem, but we don't have a working product to get user feedback.So for the past couple of weeks I've set the application aside and have focused on administering a market survey, so most of my time has been on the right wording for the test.Hopefully with the help of social networks, email, WOM, etc... We'll be able to get a large enough sample to help us understand if we're heading in the right direction. If so, we'll submit our application with the survey results.I am sure, though, that upon reading the questions, the person taking the survey will know quite easily what our start-up will be doing... which can be good and bad. Our positive spin on this is the survey will be our public declaration that we are up to something.
We finished the first draft of the application questionnaire, and we implemented about half of the features we'd like to show in our demo.We are a team of two awesome cofounders, and our idea is not technically heavy. How's your application coming along?
3
17
2007-09-07 00:59:30 UTC
51,386
51,050
pg
Forget London and Paris: An Inside Look at Europe's Coolest Cities
danw
So far Amsterdam seems the most hacker-compatible city I've visited in continental Europe.
null
0
8
2007-09-07 01:17:12 UTC
51,393
51,390
yamada
What is a 'Successful' Start-Up?
gqgy
When corrupt old men in Europe who all know each other from P2 meetings agree that you have to be assassinated, then you know you've succeeded. That or if you can make 10,000 people in Silicon Valley slam their heads into a wall and shout, "F^#% ME!!! WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT?!?!?!?"
Excluding the financial incentives and rewards associated with a successful start-up (i.e. acquisition price, IPO value, etc.), what other events or factors would allow you to feel that your start-up is a 'success'?In other words, what is 'success' within the realm of a start-up (excluding $$$)?I personally feel that a start-up's success is measured on its number of active users and its impact on other businesses and/or the world/society.What is 'success' for you? I'm curious to see how other entrepreneurs view 'success'.
11
11
2007-09-07 01:37:32 UTC
51,396
51,392
rms
Ask News.YC: Where are good books/sites for semantic analysis, economics, and genetics?
aswanson
http://www.biologynews.net/ is good for biology news, surprisingly enough, but there's not a whole lot there about genetics
null
0
1
2007-09-07 01:50:56 UTC
51,398
51,390
rokhayakebe
What is a 'Successful' Start-Up?
gqgy
When you start hearing "How did you do it?" If you gotta ask, then you are clearly not.
Excluding the financial incentives and rewards associated with a successful start-up (i.e. acquisition price, IPO value, etc.), what other events or factors would allow you to feel that your start-up is a 'success'?In other words, what is 'success' within the realm of a start-up (excluding $$$)?I personally feel that a start-up's success is measured on its number of active users and its impact on other businesses and/or the world/society.What is 'success' for you? I'm curious to see how other entrepreneurs view 'success'.
7
11
2007-09-07 01:56:39 UTC
51,404
51,397
yamada
Working Hard. The biggest bullshit.
rokhayakebe
Working hard is for suckers. Look at cats and hot chicks - they don't work at all and yet they find people to bust their rear ends to provide food and housing for them. Hard work is for amateurs and suckers. Pros are in it for the money. The best thing to do is to find some suckers and convince them you have a secret magical system that helps their hard work translate into success. But first they have to subscribe for $199/month. And you'll automatically rebill their cards unless they send you a letter written backwards in mandarin chinese which replaces every 7th word with every fourth. Then just sit back and do nothing and you'll get rich. Either that or convince them of some impending doom that only you know how to escape ... provided of course that they will demonstrate their worthiness by parting with their material goods - which of course you'll safekeep for them.
Sorry to interrupt, but I have a question. Do you really feel as if YOU working hard is ultimately going to make you successful. What I am saying is that would it not be smarter< even if you are building a startup, to find individuals who just are crazy about working and pay them the buck to do it. I also see lots of people who work hard, but their financial situation just cannot get better, although they do not spend lots of money. I am seriously re-thinking this working hard thing.
16
13
2007-09-07 02:08:31 UTC
51,406
51,248
staunch
How's your YC Winter 2008 application coming along?
wonjun
I'm not submitting an application, but my partner and I have copied it to Google Docs and filled it out for our own use. It turns out all our discussion meant when we wrote it down we were already 95% on the same page. It's still very useful as a way to refresh my memory, like pitching the idea to myself.
We finished the first draft of the application questionnaire, and we implemented about half of the features we'd like to show in our demo.We are a team of two awesome cofounders, and our idea is not technically heavy. How's your application coming along?
7
17
2007-09-07 02:09:53 UTC
51,407
51,397
menloparkbum
Working Hard. The biggest bullshit.
rokhayakebe
You're averaging 11 posts a day, so I doubt you are working very hard.
Sorry to interrupt, but I have a question. Do you really feel as if YOU working hard is ultimately going to make you successful. What I am saying is that would it not be smarter< even if you are building a startup, to find individuals who just are crazy about working and pay them the buck to do it. I also see lots of people who work hard, but their financial situation just cannot get better, although they do not spend lots of money. I am seriously re-thinking this working hard thing.
2
13
2007-09-07 02:13:34 UTC
51,410
51,409
rms
What's the difference between a startup and a magic spell?
yamada
Everything can be reduced to determinism. It's still easier to pretend we have free will.
You assemble symbols in a specific manner. If done correctly, they will have an alchemical effect on the chemical reactions within the mind of the intended target. This will alter his perception of the world, which in turn will alter his actions, which in turn will further alter the world according to your will ... to a reasonable degree. Quick - what am I talking about - a spell or a business plan/website/demo?
0
2
2007-09-07 02:18:52 UTC
51,418
51,397
staunch
Working Hard. The biggest bullshit.
rokhayakebe
A lot of people do the mental equivalent of moving a pile of bricks 20 feet to a new pile one by one. It may be hard, but it's also ineffective.When I think of working hard in an entrepreneurial context I'm thinking of someone who's breaking down barriers, being relentless, striving for greatness (not just "good enough"), taking on tasks others would be afraid to, etc. Generally just pushing beyond the boundaries of what most people are willing to do.I know a few people who are ridiculously successful and they all work (or worked) so hard that your average person couldn't handle their workload for even one week.
Sorry to interrupt, but I have a question. Do you really feel as if YOU working hard is ultimately going to make you successful. What I am saying is that would it not be smarter< even if you are building a startup, to find individuals who just are crazy about working and pay them the buck to do it. I also see lots of people who work hard, but their financial situation just cannot get better, although they do not spend lots of money. I am seriously re-thinking this working hard thing.
5
13
2007-09-07 02:31:19 UTC
51,423
51,397
pg
Working Hard. The biggest bullshit.
rokhayakebe
Empirically the answer seems to be that working hard is a necessary if not sufficient condition for doing great things, and for getting rich in particular.It's an interesting question why you can't simply find suckers who like to work hard, and get rich off their efforts while you sit back and do nothing. One reason is that they'd have to be stupid to let you do that, and it's not much use having stupid people working for you, no matter how hard they work. Another reason is that having people work for you is not zero work for you. You have to tell them what to do, and often this requires a great deal of effort. In fact, it's probably not possible to have good ideas about what to do in some field without at some point having worked hard in it yourself.
Sorry to interrupt, but I have a question. Do you really feel as if YOU working hard is ultimately going to make you successful. What I am saying is that would it not be smarter< even if you are building a startup, to find individuals who just are crazy about working and pay them the buck to do it. I also see lots of people who work hard, but their financial situation just cannot get better, although they do not spend lots of money. I am seriously re-thinking this working hard thing.
0
13
2007-09-07 02:43:15 UTC
51,424
51,351
aston
Can Lisp do What Perl Does Easily?
omouse
the unemployed programmer had a problem. "I know", said the programmer, "I'll just learn perl." the unemployed programmer now had two problems.One of the best programming quotes. Ever.
Erik Naggum on why Perl sucks :D
6
25
2007-09-07 02:43:43 UTC
51,426
51,390
epi0Bauqu
What is a 'Successful' Start-Up?
gqgy
I've been thinking about this lately myself. I have come to believe there are different levels of success in a startup, which could also be viewed as milestones in a way. Particular startups will only get to a certain level, but attaining any level is a success to some degree. Perhaps, they aren't really levels, because that insinuates a linear process. You can tell from this rambling that I haven't really nailed this thought down yet...I hope someone can build upon it. But off the top of my head:Level 1: Actually make something that is functional.Level 2: Actually have someone test it.Level 3: Actually have someone buy it/use it for real.Level 4: Actually have the users from the previous Level maintain their use, i.e. convert to real users.Level 5: Get to some level of profitability.Level 6: Make a decent amount of money.Level 7: Make a lot of money, i.e. from an exit event or just large value of company, etc.I know this includes financial stuff, which you specifically didn't want. However, I think this is inextricably tied to the higher levels of startup success. Obviously in the lower levels, some people may have other metrics beyond other use, like organizational metrics such as hiring employees or making something that grows beyond themselves, i.e. can be passed on.
Excluding the financial incentives and rewards associated with a successful start-up (i.e. acquisition price, IPO value, etc.), what other events or factors would allow you to feel that your start-up is a 'success'?In other words, what is 'success' within the realm of a start-up (excluding $$$)?I personally feel that a start-up's success is measured on its number of active users and its impact on other businesses and/or the world/society.What is 'success' for you? I'm curious to see how other entrepreneurs view 'success'.
0
11
2007-09-07 02:45:30 UTC
51,427
51,425
pg
Would Bush make a good internet entrepreneur?
yamada
Unflappable vision is just the kind you don't want.
He's very enthusiastic ... he doesn't seem to know how to quit and he's full of unflappable vision and determined to see his vision through to the bitter end no matter how many billions of people try to dissuade him. And he keeps in constant contact with the folks around him which if you read, "How Not To Die" you know is a critical variable in eventual success.
0
3
2007-09-07 02:46:14 UTC
51,428
51,351
epi0Bauqu
Can Lisp do What Perl Does Easily?
omouse
The date should really be noted in the title of the post.
Erik Naggum on why Perl sucks :D
8
25
2007-09-07 02:49:42 UTC
51,429
51,425
rms
Would Bush make a good internet entrepreneur?
yamada
Bush was a terrible entrepreneur. His success only came because of his family connections. He eventually ended up flipping the Texas Rangers for a respectable amount of money but I give him no credit for that.His current pursuit cannot succeed, unless his real goal is to keep the America continuously involved in war to generate money for private corporations. It's just sad that American soldiers and hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians are paying with their lives. On a scale of absolute evil, it puts Bush only a single order of magnitude below Hitler and Stalin.
He's very enthusiastic ... he doesn't seem to know how to quit and he's full of unflappable vision and determined to see his vision through to the bitter end no matter how many billions of people try to dissuade him. And he keeps in constant contact with the folks around him which if you read, "How Not To Die" you know is a critical variable in eventual success.
1
3
2007-09-07 02:49:52 UTC
51,432
51,351
epi0Bauqu
Can Lisp do What Perl Does Easily?
omouse
For Web stuff, I pretty much exclusively program in Perl and JavaScript when left on my own. I like both a lot. I really don't get the anti-Perl reputation as portrayed in this article, although as noted it is really old. Maybe it's just my Perl code, but I can pick up code from 10 years ago and understand it fine, and my Perl code never seems to gets out of hand as described in this rant. You always have wonder with rants what the author was actually doing...
Erik Naggum on why Perl sucks :D
1
25
2007-09-07 02:55:43 UTC
51,435
51,390
ratsbane
What is a 'Successful' Start-Up?
gqgy
Changing the way people work or behave - for the better - or give them more understanding about things they can change.- Meetup.com is getting people out and into social situations with lots of benefits - Google maps helps people to find things more quickly without getting lost - Ebay and Craigslist changed the whole value structure of entire classes of goods and enabled a lot of people to do useful work and earn money they couldn't have before. - Reddit and related sites are the office-worker's version of talk radio. I'm thinking they're going to have a noticeable affect on politics, hopefully for the better (besides creating a significant drop in productivity of the average programmer.) - Google.I'm not sure how social networking sites fit in all of that.But the revolution isn't anywhere near over yet. - Government http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2007/07/why_congress_ne.ht... - Medicine - Portable medical records, better understanding of outcomes and genetics can make us all healthier. - Business - People waste way too much time in offices moving data from one place to another and then trying to balance back to the original. Businesses go broke and partners sue each other because they didn't understand or keep track of or share information. People waste money and time because they didn't understand trends unfolding around them.And there's a lot more.And then there's all that money, too.
Excluding the financial incentives and rewards associated with a successful start-up (i.e. acquisition price, IPO value, etc.), what other events or factors would allow you to feel that your start-up is a 'success'?In other words, what is 'success' within the realm of a start-up (excluding $$$)?I personally feel that a start-up's success is measured on its number of active users and its impact on other businesses and/or the world/society.What is 'success' for you? I'm curious to see how other entrepreneurs view 'success'.
1
11
2007-09-07 03:01:29 UTC
51,437
51,430
epi0Bauqu
Are domains too cheap?
daniel-cussen
I really don't think it would matter much. It might change the process of picking a name slightly, but ultimately $50 is still a small cost to pay in the grand scheme of a startup. That puts it still under incorporation costs.
Making domains more expensive makes it much harder for squatters to take good domain names and leave them parked. If the price went up to $50, do you think it would hurt or favor Web 2.0 entrepreneurship?
0
3
2007-09-07 03:03:25 UTC
51,439
51,422
mdakin
Advice on user authentication?
jsjenkins168
Take a look at the paper "Dos and Don'ts of Client Authentication on the Web" by Kevin Fu et al. [1] You should respect your users and always transmit their passwords over an SSL connection during the authentication process. Also only keep a hash of the password on your server. People tend to recycle passwords and by following those two recommendations you help them out quite a bit.If you follow the paper's advice and mint a Fu Cookie it will have a finite lifetime and contain neither the user's password nor any other sensitive info. Thus for many applications it is not that bad to send it unencrypted over the network.[1] http://pdos.csail.mit.edu/papers/webauth:tr.pdf
Does anyone have advice on an good approach for secure user authentication? Basically, I am looking for the best method without using SSL (if possible).What I'm thinking now is when a user logs in, send the username and pass as plain text (or is there somehow a way to hash in javascript?) via an asynchronous call, then server side perform a hash on the string and compare it to what is stored in the database. If successful, return logged in status to the browser. Then it is assumed that session is authenticated. Are there other considerations to be mindful of?Or what about using SSL for the initial handshake, and then use normal HTTP once the user has been authenticated? This way the login text is sent securely, but then the SSL connection can be closed to free resources and improve speed. No protection against main-in-the-middle attacks, but that's probably ok.Security for this is not critical, but probably more so than other projects I've worked on in the past so I would like to have all bases covered. I figured this site was a good place to tap some expert knowledge.
0
4
2007-09-07 03:04:18 UTC
51,440
51,390
trekker7
What is a 'Successful' Start-Up?
gqgy
Success is when you've significantly improved your users' lives. Great success is when you do this with tons of users. Marlboro is a failure. Wikipedia is a great success.
Excluding the financial incentives and rewards associated with a successful start-up (i.e. acquisition price, IPO value, etc.), what other events or factors would allow you to feel that your start-up is a 'success'?In other words, what is 'success' within the realm of a start-up (excluding $$$)?I personally feel that a start-up's success is measured on its number of active users and its impact on other businesses and/or the world/society.What is 'success' for you? I'm curious to see how other entrepreneurs view 'success'.
3
11
2007-09-07 03:04:26 UTC
51,448
51,226
mattmaroon
Steve Jobs - To All iPhone Customers
mk
Steve should issue everyone an extra $100 credit for being a dunce and going with AT&T
null
11
52
2007-09-07 03:13:34 UTC
51,458
51,390
sgoraya
What is a 'Successful' Start-Up?
gqgy
My interpretation of success is when a client/user says, 'Thanks, it works great!' or 'Great job!'Hearing that sincerely puts a smile on my face and makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside
Excluding the financial incentives and rewards associated with a successful start-up (i.e. acquisition price, IPO value, etc.), what other events or factors would allow you to feel that your start-up is a 'success'?In other words, what is 'success' within the realm of a start-up (excluding $$$)?I personally feel that a start-up's success is measured on its number of active users and its impact on other businesses and/or the world/society.What is 'success' for you? I'm curious to see how other entrepreneurs view 'success'.
2
11
2007-09-07 03:21:11 UTC
51,469
51,361
gojomo
Missing (from) Links: great idea for the expansion of HTML syntax
gabrielroth
In addition to a search string, XPath or CSS selector syntax could be nice. (Think: JQuery.) Should be easy to implement as a Greasemonkey script or FF add-on.
null
0
2
2007-09-07 03:29:45 UTC
51,470
51,422
epi0Bauqu
Advice on user authentication?
jsjenkins168
Just wondering, but why the bias against SSL?
Does anyone have advice on an good approach for secure user authentication? Basically, I am looking for the best method without using SSL (if possible).What I'm thinking now is when a user logs in, send the username and pass as plain text (or is there somehow a way to hash in javascript?) via an asynchronous call, then server side perform a hash on the string and compare it to what is stored in the database. If successful, return logged in status to the browser. Then it is assumed that session is authenticated. Are there other considerations to be mindful of?Or what about using SSL for the initial handshake, and then use normal HTTP once the user has been authenticated? This way the login text is sent securely, but then the SSL connection can be closed to free resources and improve speed. No protection against main-in-the-middle attacks, but that's probably ok.Security for this is not critical, but probably more so than other projects I've worked on in the past so I would like to have all bases covered. I figured this site was a good place to tap some expert knowledge.
1
4
2007-09-07 03:32:01 UTC
51,471
49,443
yamada
What qualities are important in choosing someone to hire or finding a partner to work with
ratsbane
Mental problems. I jest not. All (financially) successful people I know have serious mental problems. It's that special little fire in the belly that keeps you warm all those hard, lonely nights until you make it. Plus the extra voices in your head keep you company late at night. Oh and sexual frustration. Sublimation is a powerful tool if used properly. How many sexually satisfied folks with hot girlfriends who tend to their needs regularly do you know who are part of startups? None? Think about it. Your startup is your mistress. And professionalism. The ability to wait until after you've hit the jackpot to write that article about what a jackass your partner is, but to use the tension as fuel until you do so. Delusions of grandeur helps.
What order would you put these traits in? Anything else to look for?(Of course, also realizing that your potential employee or partner should be evaluating you in the same way.)A) Compatible personality - someone with whom you enjoy workingB) Deep knowledge in whatever platform you're usingC) Broad knowledge in a computing topics; familiarity with other languages and platforms; experience solving problems in diverse computing environmentsD) Subject matter expert in the domain you're working on - accounting, medicine, education, industry, public relations, etc.E) EnthusiasmF) CuriosityG) EducationH) Logistics - person lives near you or is willing and able to relocateI) Stability - can the candidate live with his or her means during tough times?J) History of completing thingsK) Communicates wellL) Polite(not listed in any order)
12
16
2007-09-07 03:33:38 UTC
51,472
51,436
epi0Bauqu
How can we all write forum titles so interesting that we cancel each other out?
yamada
I don't get this at all. Please elaborate.
No seriously I want to know.
0
2
2007-09-07 03:34:19 UTC
51,476
51,451
far33d
C++ is a horrible language, says Linus Torvalds
nickb
Ha Ha Ha Ha. So hilarious.
null
8
62
2007-09-07 03:41:35 UTC
51,477
51,451
nickb
C++ is a horrible language, says Linus Torvalds
nickb
The whole exchange is great! Keep on reading the subsequent messages. Here's some interesting parts:" The fact is, that is exactly the kinds of things that C excels at. Not just as a language, but as a required mentality. One of the great strengths of C is that it doesn't make you think of your program as anything high-level. It's what makes you apparently prefer other languages, but the thing is, from a git standpoint, "high level" is exactly the wrong thing. "and "And if you want a fancier language, C++ is absolutely the worst one to choose. If you want real high-level, pick one that has true high-level features like garbage collection or a good system integration, rather than something that lacks both the sparseness and straightforwardness of C, and doesn't even have the high-level bindings to important concepts. IOW, C++ is in that inconvenient spot where it doesn't help make things simple enough to be truly usable for prototyping or simple GUI programming, and yet isn't the lean system programming language that C is that actively encourags you to use simple and direct constructs."
null
1
62
2007-09-07 03:44:18 UTC
51,485
51,390
webwright
What is a 'Successful' Start-Up?
gqgy
As a business, I tend to think success has to have SOME connection with revenue/profit... Unless you want to bet your success on your ability to sell a profitless venture.I'd say when you have customers who want to keep being customers is a pretty good measure of success. Customers are the people who pay the bills... So if you have a free service, it means advertisers who are reaching an audience they care about and getting a good return on their investment.I find the emphasis on 'users' to be a bit too simple, and decidedly not very bubble-proof. It's probably also important to qualify who your users are and how much you know about them. 100,000 users that you have no information about aren't very valuable.
Excluding the financial incentives and rewards associated with a successful start-up (i.e. acquisition price, IPO value, etc.), what other events or factors would allow you to feel that your start-up is a 'success'?In other words, what is 'success' within the realm of a start-up (excluding $$$)?I personally feel that a start-up's success is measured on its number of active users and its impact on other businesses and/or the world/society.What is 'success' for you? I'm curious to see how other entrepreneurs view 'success'.
5
11
2007-09-07 03:53:15 UTC
51,489
51,109
webwright
Concerning trend in commenting on news.yc submissions
aston
I've noticed a TON of comments anytime someone posts "Just launched my startup... Feedback please!"... Just as a counter-example.
Based on the few number of comments in most discussions on this site, you'd assume everyone's just reading for the links. Which is cool, I guess. Anyway, the only exception, it seems, are threads on Paul Graham essays in which everyone and their mother has something to say. We're talking something like an average of around 1 comment for most front page items vs. probably and average of 40 comments for anything PG's written. Is everyone just sucking up/karma whoring by agreeing with PG? Or is PG the only thing worth talking about here? As I think the real value of having a community of hackers is talking, I'd really like to see more general chatter. Am I alone here?
11
19
2007-09-07 03:54:38 UTC
51,495
51,109
merrick33
Concerning trend in commenting on news.yc submissions
aston
No earth shattering news here, but discussions have comments and news links don't have as much. When someone asks for help understanding something by asking a question, the community lends it expertise. If more questions were asked, more discussion would proceed. - my 2 cents
Based on the few number of comments in most discussions on this site, you'd assume everyone's just reading for the links. Which is cool, I guess. Anyway, the only exception, it seems, are threads on Paul Graham essays in which everyone and their mother has something to say. We're talking something like an average of around 1 comment for most front page items vs. probably and average of 40 comments for anything PG's written. Is everyone just sucking up/karma whoring by agreeing with PG? Or is PG the only thing worth talking about here? As I think the real value of having a community of hackers is talking, I'd really like to see more general chatter. Am I alone here?
13
19
2007-09-07 04:01:28 UTC
51,502
51,397
rfrey
Working Hard. The biggest bullshit.
rokhayakebe
There are ways to get rich without working hard: most of them are all about taking a big risk. Gambling, robbing banks, that sort of thing.But as pg said, working hard is necessary for doing something great.Greatness seems to require a very focussed hard work, though. You not only have to work very hard, but on exactly the right things. Simply putting in long hours coding probably isn't enough.
Sorry to interrupt, but I have a question. Do you really feel as if YOU working hard is ultimately going to make you successful. What I am saying is that would it not be smarter< even if you are building a startup, to find individuals who just are crazy about working and pay them the buck to do it. I also see lots of people who work hard, but their financial situation just cannot get better, although they do not spend lots of money. I am seriously re-thinking this working hard thing.
7
13
2007-09-07 04:14:36 UTC
51,506
51,451
marketer
C++ is a horrible language, says Linus Torvalds
nickb
Linus basically says that C++ has "inefficient abstracted programming models". Looking at the STL, you only see some very basic abstractions: vectors, lists, hash tables, sets, and others. These are very well tested, and extremely optimized. Anyone writing a decent amount of code will undoubtedly run into a situation where they need such structures.
null
3
62
2007-09-07 04:34:02 UTC
51,514
51,351
lupin_sansei
Can Lisp do What Perl Does Easily?
omouse
These ranters never actually show you any perl code that is particularly ugly and compare it against some lisp/python/ruby code that solves the problem more cleanly. I'm sure that there are areas where other languages' solutions are much cleaner than an equivalent perl one, but can anybody actually show us one? Especially a lisp one.
Erik Naggum on why Perl sucks :D
3
25
2007-09-07 04:51:20 UTC
51,515
51,390
bharath
What is a 'Successful' Start-Up?
gqgy
A lot of the comments seem to focus on influencing the lives of lots of users. That would pretty much cut out the entire Enterprise startup category wherein a few 1000 IT admins are enough to take a company to profitability. Of course, employees of the company end up becoming indirect users. As to what defines success, the following quote works well for me:"When all is said and done, the journey is the reward." - Randy Komisar
Excluding the financial incentives and rewards associated with a successful start-up (i.e. acquisition price, IPO value, etc.), what other events or factors would allow you to feel that your start-up is a 'success'?In other words, what is 'success' within the realm of a start-up (excluding $$$)?I personally feel that a start-up's success is measured on its number of active users and its impact on other businesses and/or the world/society.What is 'success' for you? I'm curious to see how other entrepreneurs view 'success'.
4
11
2007-09-07 04:51:30 UTC
51,517
51,451
uuilly
C++ is a horrible language, says Linus Torvalds
nickb
I stopped listening to linus after he layed into gnome.
null
7
62
2007-09-07 04:55:11 UTC
51,520
51,425
djonesx
Would Bush make a good internet entrepreneur?
yamada
I'm off Bush.
He's very enthusiastic ... he doesn't seem to know how to quit and he's full of unflappable vision and determined to see his vision through to the bitter end no matter how many billions of people try to dissuade him. And he keeps in constant contact with the folks around him which if you read, "How Not To Die" you know is a critical variable in eventual success.
3
3
2007-09-07 05:04:42 UTC
51,522
51,248
daniel-cussen
How's your YC Winter 2008 application coming along?
wonjun
Will learn to program first.
We finished the first draft of the application questionnaire, and we implemented about half of the features we'd like to show in our demo.We are a team of two awesome cofounders, and our idea is not technically heavy. How's your application coming along?
12
17
2007-09-07 05:15:01 UTC
51,524
51,436
s_baar
How can we all write forum titles so interesting that we cancel each other out?
yamada
There are no titles here.
No seriously I want to know.
1
2
2007-09-07 05:20:55 UTC
51,525
51,351
sgraham
Can Lisp do What Perl Does Easily?
omouse
The only concrete assertions I see there are that regular expressions are error-prone (fine, if you really think so, don't use them), and that data in Perl aren't s-expressions (I'm assuming that's what he's ranting about when he's implying that all Perl is good for is massaging input formats).So pretty weak: CPAN is the supreme, far-and-away, no-other-reason-or-language-comes-close (at least in 2000) to use Perl.
Erik Naggum on why Perl sucks :D
2
25
2007-09-07 05:21:20 UTC
51,534
51,397
trekker7
Working Hard. The biggest bullshit.
rokhayakebe
Well I don't know if this answers your questions, but here's what I think. "Working hard", by itself, isn't enough to get you rich, and it can often take you entirely in the wrong direction. You can work your ass off and read business books like "Good to Great" or techie books like "Programming Collective Intelligence" (which I bought and think is good), and 10 years later you can still be sitting on your couch, watching TV, thinking "I worked hard, why am I still not a rock star?" I can work my ass off and implement a new Web application in 3 hours, but if nobody uses it I'm still a failure, at least in an entrepreneurial sense. For every effect there is a logical sequence of causes. If you want to launch a successful company, you have to follow a finite sequence of steps (think of idea, write good code, listen to user feedback, etc.). There is an infinite pool of actions that are NOT part of the sequence of steps that will not help you AT ALL towards starting a great company. The really challenging (yet necessary) part is figuring out what these useless activities are, and avoiding them. Figure out what exactly is necessary and do those things. Don't BS yourself and think "if I just work hard at these X things that everyone else says are important, I will some day make it big."But I think even if you've figured out exactly what you need to do, a lot of ENERGY and ACTION is needed. Nothing important gets done without a lot of action."Working hard" is a bad term, because it sort of implies having a miserable time. I love tennis. When I play tennis I'm running all over the court and diving to make tough shots. I'm exhausted after a match. But I don't consider this working hard, I consider it high-energy playing. I think it's important to not only choose an end result you want, but also to find a process/means for getting to that end result that is so enjoyable that it doesn't seem like working hard at all, but rather like a high-energy game of tennis.
Sorry to interrupt, but I have a question. Do you really feel as if YOU working hard is ultimately going to make you successful. What I am saying is that would it not be smarter< even if you are building a startup, to find individuals who just are crazy about working and pay them the buck to do it. I also see lots of people who work hard, but their financial situation just cannot get better, although they do not spend lots of money. I am seriously re-thinking this working hard thing.
1
13
2007-09-07 05:38:04 UTC
51,541
51,519
karzeem
The Art, Science and Business of Recommendation Engines
steffon
Great article. Generalized personalization is going to be an increasingly big deal. In a few years, I think it'll be expected that almost any site you visit already knows who you are and what you're like.
Is this really the best that's out there?
1
4
2007-09-07 05:58:45 UTC
51,543
51,397
nsimpson
Working Hard. The biggest bullshit.
rokhayakebe
Effort is important, but knowing where to make an effort makes all the difference.Tapping with a hammer ....... $ 2.00 Knowing where to tap ........ $ 9998.00http://fridayreflections.typepad.com/weblog/2007/08/knowing-...
Sorry to interrupt, but I have a question. Do you really feel as if YOU working hard is ultimately going to make you successful. What I am saying is that would it not be smarter< even if you are building a startup, to find individuals who just are crazy about working and pay them the buck to do it. I also see lots of people who work hard, but their financial situation just cannot get better, although they do not spend lots of money. I am seriously re-thinking this working hard thing.
3
13
2007-09-07 06:06:55 UTC
51,551
51,451
eusman
C++ is a horrible language, says Linus Torvalds
nickb
maybe this will help you Stroustrup: Well, one day, when I was sitting in my office, I thought of this little scheme, which would redress the balance a little. I thought 'I wonder what would happen, if there were a language so complicated, so difficult to learn, that nobody would ever be able to swamp the market with programmers? Actually, I got some of the ideas from X10, you know, X windows. That was such a bitch of a graphics system, that it only just ran on those Sun 3/60 things. They had all the ingredients for what I wanted. A really ridiculously complex syntax, obscure functions, and pseudo-OO structure. Even now, nobody writes raw X-windows code. Motif is the only way to go if you want to retain your sanity.[NJW Comment: That explains everything. Most of my thesis work was in raw X-windows. :)]Interviewer: You're kidding...?Stroustrup: Not a bit of it. In fact, there was another problem. Unix was written in 'C', which meant that any 'C' programmer could very easily become a systems programmer. Remember what a mainframe systems programmer used to earn?Interviewer: You bet I do, that's what I used to do.Stroustrup: OK, so this new language had to divorce itself from Unix, by hiding all the system calls that bound the two together so nicely. This would enable guys who only knew about DOS to earn a decent living too.Interviewer: I don't believe you said that...source: http://members.safe-t.net/jwalker/programming/interview.html
null
4
62
2007-09-07 06:36:05 UTC
51,552
51,293
dcurtis
Q&A with Jobs: 'That's what happens in technology'
nickb
"I own every Bob Dylan album ever, but I buy a lot of it on iTunes, because I guess I'm just too lazy to rip it from the CD."Ahh, the wonderful words of a billionaire.
null
0
5
2007-09-07 06:39:36 UTC
51,555
51,181
chaostheory
More from the Trenches - Rick Segal advises someone to go for small scale acquisition angering other VCs
brett
Yeah I agree with Rick. In the information age, it's not really smart to be a car salesman of the startup world; especially when the number of new engineers is consecutively getting smaller every year in the US. It's a lot better to build reputation, credibility, and trust for the long term.This is one of the main things that attracted me to Ycombinator (and probably every other hacker)...I guess I can add Rick to my list
null
0
14
2007-09-07 06:46:57 UTC
51,556
51,397
mironathetin
Working Hard. The biggest bullshit.
rokhayakebe
I fear it has been said a hundred times. But its still right: Don't work hard, work smart!If you don't use your brain to plan, replan and think again, even hard work will get you nowhere (or at random places).Well, surely working hard and working smart can be combined. But there is a limit: I usually stop coding, after it takes me too long to find the right algos. Sure I can go on then with stupid things like taxes, telephone calls and so on. But if I do, I have to pay back for that the next morning.So basically I would answer the original post with: think!, then work as hard as you can, but get your breaks. All has to be well balanced or you'll burn out. Best is, if you find things that relax and that you'll enjoy while doing more work (having beer with your co-founders ;o).
Sorry to interrupt, but I have a question. Do you really feel as if YOU working hard is ultimately going to make you successful. What I am saying is that would it not be smarter< even if you are building a startup, to find individuals who just are crazy about working and pay them the buck to do it. I also see lots of people who work hard, but their financial situation just cannot get better, although they do not spend lots of money. I am seriously re-thinking this working hard thing.
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2007-09-07 06:49:30 UTC
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kingkongrevenge
C++ is a horrible language, says Linus Torvalds
nickb
Anyone see Linus's Google git presentation? That and reading various stuff like this shows he's a rude egomaniac.
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2007-09-07 06:54:36 UTC
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trekker7
What's your autism quotient? (link updated)
hhm
Damn, I got 17 the exact average.
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2007-09-07 06:56:21 UTC
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trekker7
Relational database pioneer says technology is obsolete
nickb
Correct me if I'm wrong, but if you tilt your head to the left by 90 degrees and look at a database sideways, don't all the rows turn into columns? Edit: But seriously, does anyone know if this column-oriented stuff is really revolutionary, and if the article is correct in praising the technology?
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2007-09-07 07:00:36 UTC
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iamyoohoo
Is there a blog about startups and new technology from Asia?
mtw
I know of one from India - watblog.com
i am especially curious on what is done in Japan, China, South korea or Taiwan. is there an equivalent to techcrunch or RW/W [...put your favorite tech blog here], or is innovation all in the US?
0
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2007-09-07 07:26:30 UTC
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elad
What is a 'Successful' Start-Up?
gqgy
If you had/are having fun and don't regret for a minute having left your day job to start your startup, then it's a success. Of course, it's best to measure that at least a year into the thing.
Excluding the financial incentives and rewards associated with a successful start-up (i.e. acquisition price, IPO value, etc.), what other events or factors would allow you to feel that your start-up is a 'success'?In other words, what is 'success' within the realm of a start-up (excluding $$$)?I personally feel that a start-up's success is measured on its number of active users and its impact on other businesses and/or the world/society.What is 'success' for you? I'm curious to see how other entrepreneurs view 'success'.
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2007-09-07 07:27:52 UTC
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davidw
Relational database pioneer says technology is obsolete
nickb
This interview with him is more in-depth:http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49540
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2007-09-07 07:41:16 UTC
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tzury
Working Hard. The biggest bullshit.
rokhayakebe
They say: One who works, has no time to make money.
Sorry to interrupt, but I have a question. Do you really feel as if YOU working hard is ultimately going to make you successful. What I am saying is that would it not be smarter< even if you are building a startup, to find individuals who just are crazy about working and pay them the buck to do it. I also see lots of people who work hard, but their financial situation just cannot get better, although they do not spend lots of money. I am seriously re-thinking this working hard thing.
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2007-09-07 07:47:39 UTC
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bootload
What's your autism quotient? (link updated)
hhm
Best question, "are you fascinated with dates?" (Y) & "do you collect facts & information" (Y) ...32 ... so that means what? I'm always a bit sus of these tests anyway. Now to go add this to my blog post ...
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2007-09-07 08:00:58 UTC
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paul
What's your autism quotient? (link updated)
hhm
10. For a lot of the questions I wanted to answer "it depends". Social situations, for example, can be very fun or very boring, depending on my mood and the people involved.
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2007-09-07 08:10:28 UTC
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eusman
What's A Good Name?
rainsill
strange these lessons never come from those who made up actually successful domain names..
5 Suggestions on naming your business or organization.
0
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2007-09-07 08:34:58 UTC
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shawndrost
What's your autism quotient? (link updated)
hhm
I can't take tests like these without analyzing how each answer affects the outcome, and I don't trust my subconscious to keep its mitts off my answers when it knows how to game the test.22
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2007-09-07 08:38:08 UTC