Linkseed/hacker_news_with_comments · Datasets at Hugging Face

id int64 2.3k 8.36M	parent int64 2.29k 8.36M	comment_author stringlengths 2 15	title stringlengths 1 173 ⌀	author stringlengths 2 15	comment_text stringlengths 1 99.1k ⌀	text stringlengths 1 23.4k ⌀	comment_ranking int64 0 524	score int64 0 4.34k	time_ts stringlengths 23 23
51,596	48,294	GauravNischal	How Not to Die	subhash	this is inspiring to read this article. I am reading the second article on this site. Good Job	null	44	169	2007-09-07 08:59:20 UTC
51,605	51,518	lsb	What's your autism quotient? (link updated)	hhm	just from memory, they ask if you can remember long digit strings, and if you take time to return from distractions. being good at hacking involves both. is this a self-selecting pool of people with more autistic traits?22	null	10	15	2007-09-07 10:33:39 UTC
51,607	51,518	gwenhwyfaer	What's your autism quotient? (link updated)	hhm	Here's one that doesn't require Flash: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/9.12/aqtest.html . Unfortunately they've misconfigured their website, so you get the source of the results calculator rather than the result; but if you copy aqtest.html and aq.cgi to a handy local webserver (and change the perl path), it works out.Not sure if it's the same test or not, of course! If it is, I scored 37.	null	3	15	2007-09-07 10:51:25 UTC
51,610	51,518	brianmckenzie	What's your autism quotient? (link updated)	hhm	What I found curious about this test is that I think many of my answers have changed over time. I scored an 18 today, but I bet I would have scored somewhere in the high 20's when I was a kid.	null	11	15	2007-09-07 11:05:18 UTC
51,620	51,248	brianmckenzie	How's your YC Winter 2008 application coming along?	wonjun	I'm drafting my application now, but will probably not submit unless I have a solid prototype by the deadline.	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?	9	17	2007-09-07 11:31:22 UTC
51,621	51,613	tuukkah	Seedcamp winners announced	tuukkah	Now that they've won some funding, they need to start in a new game and win the markets.	null	2	8	2007-09-07 11:34:49 UTC
51,623	51,519	Tichy	The Art, Science and Business of Recommendation Engines	steffon	I think it is interesting that some people cherish the Amazon recommendations above everything, whereas others are fundamentally unhappy with it. Unfortunately I belong in the later category. Sure, sometimes Amazon comes up with something interesting to me, but in general it does not. I wonder if I am just too weird for a recommender system to grasp, or if it hints at the system still being very imperfect.	Is this really the best that's out there?	0	4	2007-09-07 11:42:53 UTC
51,626	51,466	Tichy	Databases: One Size Fits All - A Concept Whose Time Has Come and Gone	nickb	Is the submarine at work again?CPUs are also still running almost the same kind of instructions as conceived 30 years ago, but the internals have changed a lot. I suspect the same is true for databases - there must have been some technological progress, even if SQL itself hasn't changed. And for CPUs, there are also special interest flavors (signal processors) that outperform the standard ones in special cases, but they don't make the "generic" CPUs superfluous.	null	0	7	2007-09-07 11:50:49 UTC
51,627	51,518	pg	What's your autism quotient? (link updated)	hhm	50 screens? Merely completing it is a sufficient test. They should have just put all the questions on one page.(If anyone wants to do that, I'll switch the link.)	null	1	15	2007-09-07 11:53:29 UTC
51,628	51,518	mpc	What's your autism quotient? (link updated)	hhm	35 .....interesting	null	13	15	2007-09-07 11:54:01 UTC
51,629	51,466	gwenhwyfaer	Databases: One Size Fits All - A Concept Whose Time Has Come and Gone	nickb	> it provides built-in features appropriate to the needs of 2007 customersI get that they're arguing that the database should fit the customer, but isn't that rather a drastic market size limit to impose on oneself?	null	1	7	2007-09-07 11:59:29 UTC
51,632	51,613	vikram	Seedcamp winners announced	tuukkah	Is it just me or do all of them sound a bit pompous. Maybe the problem is that they are trying to explain something in words which is better explained in a demo.	null	1	8	2007-09-07 12:06:39 UTC
51,634	51,616	imgabe	Feds OK Fee for Priority Web Traffic	iotal	This title is a little misleading...not your fault, since it's the same headline the article has. The Justice department told the FCC they're against net neutrality. The decision rests with the FCC and from what the article says it doesn't look like they've decided anything yet.	null	1	12	2007-09-07 12:19:21 UTC
51,639	51,518	andyjenn	What's your autism quotient? (link updated)	hhm	23..I'm a very good driver, only drive on the driveway, only drive on Saturdays...	null	2	15	2007-09-07 12:34:32 UTC
51,643	51,451	damon	C++ is a horrible language, says Linus Torvalds	nickb	Linus is hellbent on not working with "substandard programmers" and chooses his tools accordingly. Bad programmers are really counterproductive and he's damn brilliant for weeding them out so aggressively.In his "I'm a bastard" post to the linux kernel thread in 2000, he lambasted people arguing for a kernel debugger. His argument, clear as day, says he doesn't want to work with people who depend on the debugger , he wants people to understand the code as a whole. "Oh. And sure, when things crash and you fsck, and you didn't even get a clue about what went wrong, you get frustrated. Tough. There are two kinds of reactions to that: you start being careful, or you start whining about a kernel debugger.Quite frankly, I'd rather weed out the people who don't start being careful early, rather than late. That sounds callous, and by God, it is callous. But it's not the kind of "if you can't stand the heat, get out the the kitchen" kind of remark that some people take it for. No, it's something much more deeper: I'd rather not work with people who aren't careful. It's Darwinism in software development." Here, 7 years later, he applies much the same argument to C++:"C++ is a horrible language. It's made more horrible by the fact that a lot of substandard programmers use it, to the point where it's much much easier to generate total and utter crap with it. Quite frankly, even if the choice of C were to do nothing but keep the C++ programmers out, that in itself would be a huge reason to use C.""And limiting your project to C means that people don't screw that up, and also means that you get a lot of programmers that do actually understand low-level issues and don't screw things up with any idiotic "object model" crap."Call him a prick, call him selfish, call him egotistical, the bottom line is he's in charge of a product that is much bigger, more complicated, diverse, mature, and successful than the majority on the planet. Smart hackers will get past their emotion and understand his principles are sound, proven, and successful.	null	0	62	2007-09-07 12:42:01 UTC
51,647	51,616	Tichy	Feds OK Fee for Priority Web Traffic	iotal	Why do companies need permissions to charge for web traffic?	null	6	12	2007-09-07 12:49:56 UTC
51,648	51,597	joshwa	Adobe's online image editor previewed	fauxto	As far as competition is concerned, I think that until Adobe offers a widgetized version that can be integrated into other photo-sharing sites (which is clearly where the money is to be made in this market), fauxto/snipshot/et.al. don't have to get too worried...	null	1	12	2007-09-07 12:53:40 UTC
51,650	51,518	jgrahamc	What's your autism quotient? (link updated)	hhm	28.John.	null	16	15	2007-09-07 12:59:59 UTC
51,660	51,616	mpfefferle	Feds OK Fee for Priority Web Traffic	iotal	Two questions:1. Why exactly do they care? Isn't their job to enforce policy rather than create it?2. Other than being a dominant opinion in the department, how does this actually affect net neutrality?	null	4	12	2007-09-07 13:16:42 UTC
51,661	51,462	brlewis	Relational database pioneer says technology is obsolete	nickb	He advocates throwing out the internal storage mechanisms of relational databases and instead having a wide variety of mechanisms suited to different ways data is used. Storing columnar data together rather than storing rows together is one example. This does not make the database look any different to an application programmer.http://www.vertica.com/product/overviewQ: How are Vertica databases accessed?A: Just like any other relational database, using SQL and/or JDBC and ODBC. Vertica has partnerships with BI/Reporting software vendors such as Business Objects, JasperSoft, Informatica, and Talend to help ensure Vertica is compatible with popular reporting and ETL software.	null	0	15	2007-09-07 13:17:47 UTC
51,680	51,631	samb	Reminder: weekend of code starts tonight	Tichy	isn't every weekend a "weekend of code?" ;)	Admittedly, I didn't pour much work into this, safe for starting a ning community (weekendofcode.ning.com). I was hoping for self-organisation, and it just seemed like a good idea at the time: work on a project with somebody over the weekend, to test the waters for co-founding a start-up. Just start a group on Ning for your project, or join an existing group, and start developing.	0	1	2007-09-07 13:56:03 UTC
51,681	51,616	indie01	Feds OK Fee for Priority Web Traffic	iotal	I've been following this "net neutrality" debate for a long time, and both sides have made some decent points. I used to be a hardcore in the camp of pro net-neutrality, but the more I think about it, the more it seems that there are some things that regulation does not solve efficiently. I guess the most frustrating thing is that _lack_ of regulation is not going to solve anything either. One thing that lack of regulation on this issue does is make it substantially more difficult for small innovators to reap the benefits of their efficiency. Those tiny, seemingly insignificant increases in efficiency go practically unnoticed by the large monolithic telecos, but the people who are in the position to innovate further upon those marginal efficiencies (increasing rate of return on efficiency, if that makes sense) cannot do so when the ISPs themselves are taking more than a reasonable share from the people who are doing the innovating (whether the innovators are customers or competitors is important to the ISPs in that I imagine most ISPs would rather have innovative customers than innovative competitors). And that is essentially why I think that a Laissez-faire approach cannot be good news for the tiny, tech-oriented startup whose lifeblood depends upon an Internet connection.	null	2	12	2007-09-07 13:56:59 UTC
51,696	51,109	FatBastard	Concerning trend in commenting on news.yc submissions	aston	I am, in fact, a PG fanboy. If I wasn't I wouldn't have noticed this site. That has to skew your results. It will be a while before the site attracts a population of people who don't find his topics of interest. Meanwhile, why worry? You could go back to Reddit.	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?	14	19	2007-09-07 14:30:36 UTC
51,699	51,698	adnam	A good example why unions aren't just "Razorfish"	adnam	Sorry, it still bugs me.	Sorry, it still bugs me.	2	2	2007-09-07 14:37:29 UTC
51,702	51,553	pg	How can Google beat Facebook with one checkbox?	nreece	I don't trust Alexa as a measure of Orkut vs Facebook. All those users in other countries don't have the Alexa toolbar installed.	null	1	9	2007-09-07 14:43:30 UTC
51,705	51,678	brlewis	The three phases of software development (after the Seattle stuff by Joel)	hhm	He precedes his description with a nod to XP, but I still think calling these three activities "phases" is the right terminology if you're doing iterative development. The part about burdening the design phase with development doesn't make sense either.	null	0	9	2007-09-07 14:49:02 UTC
51,704	51,109	nreece	Concerning trend in commenting on news.yc submissions	aston	PG is a VC. I won't consider him a technology evangilist in a broader scope. Sometimes agreeing with a VC is simply agreeing with a non-evangilist.	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?	16	19	2007-09-07 14:49:02 UTC
51,716	51,397	joe	Working Hard. The biggest bullshit.	rokhayakebe	First off, congrats on a completely misleading title.I feel like your question overlooks something, namely that if your goal is to become successful, then until you do, you probably won't have the "buck" to pay your crazy smart hard-working individuals their worth to work for you. In order to acquire the money to pay them (and them is plural, remember) you're going to have to work for it. And working hard will probably get you that money faster than not working hard.Finally, your claim about the people whose "financial situation just cannot get better" intrigues me. Who are these people? Do they have extenuating circumstances causing this? Do you find yourself in those same circumstances, or why are you so ready to align yourself with their plight?	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.	8	13	2007-09-07 15:11:57 UTC
51,722	51,613	oditogre	Seedcamp winners announced	tuukkah	Seedcamp founder, Saul Klein on Playfair: "It's Excel 2.0"I have Excel '07, and damned if I can find it's equivalent of 'Help->About', but I know '00 was 9.0, so...yeah. Poor choice of words there, buddy. :)Edit: (Excel 2.0 was released in 1987 according to Wikipedia...awesome.)	null	0	8	2007-09-07 15:21:20 UTC
51,726	51,616	jkush	Feds OK Fee for Priority Web Traffic	iotal	It's extortion.From a consumer point of view, net neutrality is what we're paying for. Let's say I pay $50 a month for a certain connection speed. I expect to be able to surf on the internet at that speed.Unless I'm incorrect about how it would work, I'd be pretty pissed if certain types of sites or content were throttled by my ISP simply because they didn't pay up. I mean, I already paid money to reach that content. I don't see why an ISP should make money off of the content providers too.	null	0	12	2007-09-07 15:29:33 UTC
51,727	51,518	Leon	What's your autism quotient? (link updated)	hhm	hrm, 21	null	17	15	2007-09-07 15:30:27 UTC
51,728	51,518	dottertrotter	What's your autism quotient? (link updated)	hhm	16	null	18	15	2007-09-07 15:34:56 UTC
51,730	51,451	jey	C++ is a horrible language, says Linus Torvalds	nickb	- Yes, it takes a C++ expert to do C++ well. If you aren't an expert, you're going to screw it up. You'll either get mired in what I call "Fancy C++ Voodoo Magic" by over designing your code and doing weird template meta-programming without any real goal or just use the wrong idioms, or forget about some random subtleties.- Sometimes you really do need to write systems software. In these instances, I'm still going to use C++. I won't claim that C++ is a great language, but at the end of the day, the benefits provided by C++ make it worth it. It would just be more footwork in C. Classes, RAII, STL, templates, type-safety are all worth it. But this is because I have already made all the mistakes and written lots of bad C++ that I'm now able to write clean, simple and elegant C++. I'd advise a newbie programmer against becoming a C++ expert. It's not worth the time and effort to learn all the stupid cases and to learn when to use which feature and to what degree to avoid falling into the swamp of C++. It's worth knowing C++ well enough that you can hack systems code though. I wouldn't say "only learn C and not C++ for systems hacking!"	null	2	62	2007-09-07 15:36:10 UTC
51,743	51,617	mpc	Multiply, social networking for 30-somethings, raises $16.6M	iotal	Bad move. Why in the world do they need 16.6 mil? I just cannot understand what kind of overhead is associated with another social-net, at their stage, that would require 16.6mm in capital!	null	0	1	2007-09-07 15:53:48 UTC
51,749	51,714	ivankirigin	Steve Jobs: "Because I Can"	Neoryder	There is simply no way Jobs decided on the $100 gift certificate a day or two after the keynote announcing the price cut.Considering all the planning that goes into all public presentations by Jobs, that is not plausible. Cringely is spot on here.	null	0	38	2007-09-07 16:03:17 UTC
51,755	51,397	cellis	Working Hard. The biggest bullshit.	rokhayakebe	want to get rich? start a religion. oh nevermind...you still have to work hard to get early adopters... <i>just like any other thing</i>	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.	14	13	2007-09-07 16:14:49 UTC
51,757	51,518	icey	What's your autism quotient? (link updated)	hhm	I got a 26, I kind of wonder how these scores correlate to a Myers-Briggs profile (INTJ here).I'm guessing the I's will have higher score than the E's since this appears to be mostly related to introvert vs. extrovert categorization.	null	8	15	2007-09-07 16:18:02 UTC
51,758	51,729	aston	The calculator that understands you.	gieb	Cool. Seems like a mix of Javascript, Python, and Ruby. Why just call it a calculator when it's basically an interactive programming environment?	What do you think?	0	2	2007-09-07 16:18:47 UTC
51,760	51,351	snorkel	Can Lisp do What Perl Does Easily?	omouse	He sounds a tad disgruntled about his past jobs. He didn't answer the question "can lisp do what perl does easily?" because the answer is no: http://weitz.de/cl-ppcre/	Erik Naggum on why Perl sucks :D	5	25	2007-09-07 16:22:48 UTC
51,761	51,248	Leon	How's your YC Winter 2008 application coming along?	wonjun	I already submitted my application before I finished my prototype, which I now have to get done before the deadline. I'm trying to use this as really strong motivation to just finish the prototype instead of waiting until feature creep, polish, etc. is completed before submitting. I'll resubmit once the prototype is minimally functional. My biggest problem is being a single founder; pg said he usually doesn't accept them so I'm probably dead.	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?	5	17	2007-09-07 16:23:50 UTC
51,762	51,553	karzeem	How can Google beat Facebook with one checkbox?	nreece	The answer is almost certainly no. To my mind, Facebook dominates for three things: basic personal info (looking up someone's phone number, seeing where they work, etc.), photos, and events. I don't know Orkut well, but if beating Facebook includes becoming dominant in the U.S., they'll have to do something truly fresh, not just play catch-up.	null	0	9	2007-09-07 16:24:32 UTC
51,777	51,397	alex_c	Working Hard. The biggest bullshit.	rokhayakebe	I think I can sum up your question - and the answer to your question - in one word:Leverage.Yes, it's often used as an empty business buzzword, but that doesn't mean there isn't a lot behind it.	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.	13	13	2007-09-07 16:40:28 UTC
51,778	51,709	aston	Oldest Affiliate Program In The World	nickb	Could only be as old as vehicles that could taxi. Rickshaws? Carriages?	null	1	10	2007-09-07 16:44:07 UTC
51,779	51,553	adamdoupe	How can Google beat Facebook with one checkbox?	nreece	"Facebook on the other hand is the leader in the US, Canada and UK."This statement isn't true. Like it or not, MySpace is the leader in the US.	null	2	9	2007-09-07 16:45:45 UTC
51,781	51,518	kirubakaran	What's your autism quotient? (link updated)	hhm	More reliable test:<html> <body> <b>Your autism score is:</b> <div id="op">0</div><br /> <input type="button" value="Click This!" onclick="javascript:upd();"> </body><script type="text/javascript"> var i=0; function upd() { i += Math.ceil(Math.exp(i/3)); document.getElementById('op').innerHTML = i; } </script></html>	null	5	15	2007-09-07 16:47:56 UTC
51,782	51,539	Goladus	The battle between HD DVD and Blu-ray might screw both of them	karzeem	Film Critic James Berardinelli has been saying this for ages. He just posted another article about it actually, and made one important point the ars article doesn't.http://reelviews.net/reelthoughts/august_2007.htmlThe problem faced by high def DVD is that consumers won't wait for the format war to end. They'll bypass it for the Next Big Thing. That will likely be high def downloads. At this point, there are four impediments to making this an effective way of obtaining home video copies of movies, but all are being addressed.It's a mistake to assume that people are waiting to see who wins the format war. Normal people just want to watch high-quality movies easily and conveniently, and do not care at all what format it's in.	Interesting the way hardware standards develop in the free market. I don't know a huge amount about this, but why wouldn't people just buy combination HD DVD/Blu-ray players? The small extra cost seems worth it to be able to forget about who's going to win.	1	7	2007-09-07 16:48:55 UTC
51,784	51,662	rokhayakebe	Ever-younger entrepreneurs	drm237	At 26 I feel old.	Internet, low costs lead to early-in-life startups	0	12	2007-09-07 16:51:23 UTC
51,786	51,518	ecuzzillo	What's your autism quotient? (link updated)	hhm	38. I don't act nearly that autistic, though. I think that's mostly through training. You wouldn't guess that score if you met me.	null	6	15	2007-09-07 16:54:35 UTC
51,795	51,698	byrneseyeview	A good example why unions aren't just "Razorfish"	adnam	"According to Reuters newswires, the strike had "jolted" the world's gold markets, causing the price of gold to drop by US$2 per ounce last Friday."Ah, right. A drop in gold supply leading to the inevitable drop in price!Also, I don't understand the poster's point. This union, like other unions, is taking advantage of high fixed costs to shake someone down for money. Why is this cartel not like all the other cartels?	Sorry, it still bugs me.	0	2	2007-09-07 17:24:02 UTC
51,801	51,371	jkush	What is the air quality like in Mountain View?	Alex3917	Interesting information. Awfully presented.	Trivia: Scorecard was created by Philip Greenspun.	1	5	2007-09-07 17:44:55 UTC
51,802	51,678	ambiversive	The three phases of software development (after the Seattle stuff by Joel)	hhm	"Can you imagine Safeco Field filled to the brim with software developers?"So THAT's what that smell was! I guess MS doesn't feel like a target in the War on Terror..	null	2	9	2007-09-07 17:46:17 UTC
51,803	51,518	whacked_new	What's your autism quotient? (link updated)	hhm	What's your ADHD quotient? I clicked 3 radio buttons before deciding I don't care about my quotient.	null	7	15	2007-09-07 17:49:06 UTC
51,806	51,698	ambiversive	A good example why unions aren't just "Razorfish"	adnam	To put this in a bit of context, people in PNG are burying HIV/AIDS infected people alive for lack of proper medical care.source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6978421.stm	Sorry, it still bugs me.	1	2	2007-09-07 17:52:00 UTC
51,808	51,737	dpapathanasiou	If Business Meetings Were Like Internet Comments (Funny)	transburgh	It certainly sounds like the current reddit. With any luck, it won't happen here.	null	0	5	2007-09-07 17:52:56 UTC
51,810	51,804	jkush	DIY WiFi Booster	jkush	Here's a link to the template: http://www.freeantennas.com/projects/template2/index.html	null	0	1	2007-09-07 17:53:39 UTC
51,811	51,709	merrick33	Oldest Affiliate Program In The World	nickb	Not sure if its possible, but that post was ripped off word for word from Shoemoney.http://www.shoemoney.com/2007/08/28/the-worlds-oldest-affili...	null	0	10	2007-09-07 17:54:31 UTC
51,814	51,397	mikesabat	Working Hard. The biggest bullshit.	rokhayakebe	It is called capitalism. You put your capital to work instead of working yourself.Unfortunately, if you don't already have capital to pay people, you are going to need to build up capital by working... hard.I think a better way to look at the situation is by separating hard work and difficult work. Godin has a great post on this topic which he just republished Monday. http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2007/09/labor-day.ht...	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.	11	13	2007-09-07 17:57:12 UTC
51,820	51,616	youngnh	Feds OK Fee for Priority Web Traffic	iotal	This all goes away with bigger pipes. If there's enough room to provide all of the content customers demand, then this whole debate won't matter. But if the FCC stays out and the netops are allowed to decide how they want to manage the tiny pipes they currently have, they can stave off upgrading them for a lot longer.Sounds like an opportunity.	null	3	12	2007-09-07 18:06:08 UTC
51,828	51,597	bharath	Adobe's online image editor previewed	fauxto	Adobe is one company that has made all the right moves in recent times (acquiring Macromedia being the prime example). This elephant can dance. Every product they have to offer is a de-facto industry standard. It comes as no surprise that they sense the threat Web 2.0 poses to their business and are moving to squash it by embracing it.	null	0	12	2007-09-07 18:24:22 UTC
51,836	51,815	vlad	Future career path of gifted youth can be predicted by age 13	whacked_new	"Individuals showing more ability in math had greater accomplishments in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, while those showing greatest ability on the verbal portion of the test went on to excel in the humanities, art, history, literature, languages, drama and related fields."If someone's gifted at X at 13, they will likely continue in X after high school. This finding is obvious, and may or may not apply to kids in general.	Cut to the chase: "Overall, the creative potential of these participants was extraordinary. They earned a total of 817 patents and published 93 books. Of the 18 participants who later earned tenure-track positions in math/science fields at top-50 U.S. universities, their average age 13 SAT-M score was 697, and the lowest score among them was 580, a score greater than over 60 percent of all students who take the SAT."Controversy time.	4	5	2007-09-07 18:45:08 UTC
51,838	51,815	pg	Future career path of gifted youth can be predicted by age 13	whacked_new	I'd trust the SAT scores of 13 year olds more than the SAT scores of college applicants. Few if any in this sample would have been taking classes in how to beat the test.	Cut to the chase: "Overall, the creative potential of these participants was extraordinary. They earned a total of 817 patents and published 93 books. Of the 18 participants who later earned tenure-track positions in math/science fields at top-50 U.S. universities, their average age 13 SAT-M score was 697, and the lowest score among them was 580, a score greater than over 60 percent of all students who take the SAT."Controversy time.	1	5	2007-09-07 18:47:39 UTC
51,839	51,678	henning	The three phases of software development (after the Seattle stuff by Joel)	hhm	"I'm editing this in the e text editor, a Windows clone of TextMate, which is coming along nicely but could still use some polish before I'm ready to switch to it full time."Oh snap, he's not using CityDesk anymore! Take that, Visual Basic 6!	null	1	9	2007-09-07 18:48:07 UTC
51,842	51,815	henning	Future career path of gifted youth can be predicted by age 13	whacked_new	"...which is a focus of the new $43 billion America Competes Act recently passed by Congress to enhance the United States' ability to compete globally."I know a simpler way to do that for the same amount of money: pay a million kids $43,000 not to watch TV and spending 5-20 hours a week reading books that interest them.	Cut to the chase: "Overall, the creative potential of these participants was extraordinary. They earned a total of 817 patents and published 93 books. Of the 18 participants who later earned tenure-track positions in math/science fields at top-50 U.S. universities, their average age 13 SAT-M score was 697, and the lowest score among them was 580, a score greater than over 60 percent of all students who take the SAT."Controversy time.	0	5	2007-09-07 18:52:06 UTC
51,845	51,832	henning	It's Official: Apple is the New Microsoft	nreece	Makes a valid point, but it doesn't mean that Microsoft is no longer a pain in the ass. My boss's experiment in upgrading a few machines in our office to Vista has been the bane of my existence recently. Jesus christ.	null	9	27	2007-09-07 18:56:31 UTC
51,847	51,714	gibsonf1	Steve Jobs: "Because I Can"	Neoryder	The key here is to learn from the master.	null	6	38	2007-09-07 18:57:59 UTC
51,853	51,832	thomasptacek	It's Official: Apple is the New Microsoft	nreece	Gotta admit: "Apple is an abusive monopolist because the iPod doesn't have an FM receiver" is an awesome argument. Way to go, PC World!	null	1	27	2007-09-07 19:08:50 UTC
51,858	51,815	chaostheory	Future career path of gifted youth can be predicted by age 13	whacked_new	What I don't like about this article is that it doesn't describe the study's definition of success - a part from stupid sound bites that are almost useless."Individuals showing more ability in math had greater accomplishments in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, while those showing greatest ability on the verbal portion of the test went on to excel in the humanities"who was the lead researcher - captain obvious?"They earned a total of 817 patents and published 93 books."Quantity does not equal quality."Of the 18 participants who later earned tenure-track positions in math/science fields at top-50 U.S. universities"It's been pretty well known for years that academic tests are good predictors of future academic success (but it's not great for anything else)	Cut to the chase: "Overall, the creative potential of these participants was extraordinary. They earned a total of 817 patents and published 93 books. Of the 18 participants who later earned tenure-track positions in math/science fields at top-50 U.S. universities, their average age 13 SAT-M score was 697, and the lowest score among them was 580, a score greater than over 60 percent of all students who take the SAT."Controversy time.	2	5	2007-09-07 19:26:43 UTC
51,861	51,815	brlewis	Future career path of gifted youth can be predicted by age 13	whacked_new	Does this study have a control group? I followed the link at the bottom of the article, but I couldn't find anything about a control group.	Cut to the chase: "Overall, the creative potential of these participants was extraordinary. They earned a total of 817 patents and published 93 books. Of the 18 participants who later earned tenure-track positions in math/science fields at top-50 U.S. universities, their average age 13 SAT-M score was 697, and the lowest score among them was 580, a score greater than over 60 percent of all students who take the SAT."Controversy time.	6	5	2007-09-07 19:33:05 UTC
51,864	51,815	Alex3917	Future career path of gifted youth can be predicted by age 13	whacked_new	I don't buy it. My SATs were in the top 1% at age 13, but they were only a couple hundred points higher when I took them again to apply to college. According to this I should be more likely to succeed than someone who would be able to trounce me if we both took the test again today. What sense does that make?	Cut to the chase: "Overall, the creative potential of these participants was extraordinary. They earned a total of 817 patents and published 93 books. Of the 18 participants who later earned tenure-track positions in math/science fields at top-50 U.S. universities, their average age 13 SAT-M score was 697, and the lowest score among them was 580, a score greater than over 60 percent of all students who take the SAT."Controversy time.	3	5	2007-09-07 19:34:25 UTC
51,867	51,714	tyler	Steve Jobs: "Because I Can"	Neoryder	The author makes some good points (Jobs is a tool for snubbing the interview, the price cut was well planned, and the reasoning behind the price cut, etc)... But, I think he's off the mark on some things:"In the mind of Steve Jobs the entire incident had no downside, none at all, which is yet another reason why he is not like you or me." "So Apple still comes out $75 million ahead, which is important to Steve Jobs."Jobs is a CEO. Making money for the company and the company's stakeholders is what he does. Its his job, if you will. So yes, coming out ahead is important to Jobs... and every other competent CEO.And as for the Gates comment, "He has to know he can never win"... Define 'win'. The way I see it, Apple is indeed winning... they're just not playing the same game as Microsoft anymore.	null	1	38	2007-09-07 19:36:36 UTC
51,870	51,832	myoung8	It's Official: Apple is the New Microsoft	nreece	Another example of journalistic sensationalism at its best."It's Official?" Says who?	null	2	27	2007-09-07 19:41:50 UTC
51,873	51,832	Readmore	It's Official: Apple is the New Microsoft	nreece	I'll agree with the iTunes rant but the rest is pretty shallow. You can't call Apple the 'copycat' when their products are superior. And trying to compare MS tabletop UI to the iPhone is like amateur hour. We all know MS stole that UI from the Grad Student who's been showing off his touch interface on YouTube for 3 years. People hate MS because they are successful for making poor products. People hate Apple because they are successful for making great products and they aren't shy about flaunting it.	null	7	27	2007-09-07 19:49:46 UTC
51,889	51,832	gwenhwyfaer	It's Official: Apple is the New Microsoft	nreece	> At least with Windows, you could reformat your PC and install Linux or any number of other PC-compatible operating systems. Can I reformat my iPod and install something else?Yes: http://www.rockbox.org/	null	5	27	2007-09-07 20:25:32 UTC
51,895	51,832	axod	It's Official: Apple is the New Microsoft	nreece	"Can I reformat my iPod and install something else?"Erm yes, of course you can. There's a thriving open source community for iPods replacement O/S and software.	null	0	27	2007-09-07 20:37:40 UTC
51,896	51,832	donna	It's Official: Apple is the New Microsoft	nreece	Come on, Google is the new Microsoft. How can you compare Apple to Microsoft -- one's hardware, one's software.	null	4	27	2007-09-07 20:41:08 UTC
51,900	51,832	jimbokun	It's Official: Apple is the New Microsoft	nreece	Interesting conclusion.He seems to be arguing that Microsoft was brought to heel by the marketplace, and that the court proceedings against it were redundant and counter productive. And now the same is true for Apple. You can't beat them with lawsuits, only by making better products.I'm not so sure, though, that the lawsuits MSFT faced had no effect on the marketplace outcomes we're now seeing. Would PC vendors be so quick to put Linux on PCs if MSFT wasn't being monitored by the US DOJ and probed non-stop by the EU?	null	6	27	2007-09-07 20:49:32 UTC
51,904	51,539	mechanical_fish	The battle between HD DVD and Blu-ray might screw both of them	karzeem	As an audiophile, who might have actually been happy in an alternate universe where HDCD and DVD-Audio were successful and low-bitrate MP3 was a market failure... I've always thought that both HD video formats were screwed from day one, format war or no format war. They are niche products, at best. People (except for a few hundred thousand obsessives like myself) don't pay for audio quality, and I doubt they'll pay for video quality either. Especially when the "low quality" alternative is DVD, which doesn't really look that shabby if you focus on watching the movie instead of conducting A-to-B comparisons of black levels.Give me a $35 DVD player and Bose's marketing team, and I'll outsell any HD player on the market. We'll mark the price up to $250, put it in a nice sleek brushed-aluminum case, hold special Demo Events in all the Best Buy stores, and you'll swear that my player has the crispest video in the world - because, as the quality differences become smaller, the psychological factors become more and more significant.The only problem with this business plan is that Steve Jobs had it figured out years ago, and he's way ahead. While the HD-DVD and Blu-Ray folks fight it out, Steve is going to crush them by selling lower-quality video in higher-quality boxes.	Interesting the way hardware standards develop in the free market. I don't know a huge amount about this, but why wouldn't people just buy combination HD DVD/Blu-ray players? The small extra cost seems worth it to be able to forget about who's going to win.	0	7	2007-09-07 20:56:33 UTC
51,905	51,885	paul	Squash the Bug, Then Close the Window	adamsmith	Commenting out the exception throwing code would likely lead to even more difficult-to-understand bugs (something after the now-commented-out throw would probably fail, possibly corrupting data). It's better to fail early.	null	1	17	2007-09-07 20:57:10 UTC
51,910	51,397	gscott	Working Hard. The biggest bullshit.	rokhayakebe	You are just changing what you are working hard on. Instead of working hard on programming, you are now working hard to get a team of people to create your idea the way you want it. If you think that is easy, not a chance. Managing people is a lot more work then programming. With programming it is you and the computer. You tell the computer what to do and most of the time the computer complies. With people, when you tell them what to do they are way less cooperative then a computer and if you think people are just going to be "on the same page" as you are and just come up with stuff that matches what you wanted.. well I have tried that and it doesn't work.	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.	9	13	2007-09-07 21:01:49 UTC
51,913	51,832	nirs	It's Official: Apple is the New Microsoft	nreece	Crap article from crap site of crap magazine.	null	3	27	2007-09-07 21:12:55 UTC
51,915	51,832	projectileboy	It's Official: Apple is the New Microsoft	nreece	Smells like a Microsoft PR plant.	null	11	27	2007-09-07 21:28:31 UTC
51,917	51,397	Tekhne	Working Hard. The biggest bullshit.	rokhayakebe	To demonstrate how hard I'm not working right now, I'd like to point out that the phrase "YOU working hard" is grammatically incorrect. I think it should be "YOUR working hard" because "working" is a gerund. I could be wrong. I should get back to work now.	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.	12	13	2007-09-07 21:28:51 UTC
51,920	51,714	projectileboy	Steve Jobs: "Because I Can"	Neoryder	Holy crap... Exactly how badly am I supposed to feel for people who had no issue shelling out $500 or $600 on a version one product? The way the tech press is pissing and moaning, you'd think Steve Jobs had just robbed money from UNICEF.Of my friends who own iPhones, I haven't heard any of them complaining. They just had to go out and spend top dollar for the latest shiny gadget as soon as it became available. They've done it before, and they'll do it again. As such, none of them were surprised to see a big price drop.	null	2	38	2007-09-07 21:33:19 UTC
51,930	51,714	forgotmylastone	Steve Jobs: "Because I Can"	Neoryder	This whole thing is stupid. They set the price. In the product they sold, they made no guarantee that the price wasn't going to drop--lack of a future price drop wasn't part of the product. If anything, the main 'intangible' in this product was 'smugness'.So, they set the price, and people bought it. End of story. They didn't force anyone to. If someone thought it was worth $600 when, as Cringely says, the 'real' price was the current price, then you made the mistake.	null	3	38	2007-09-07 21:59:25 UTC
51,934	51,880	rms	Domain registration	jsmcgd	www.namecheap.com$8.88 a year, includes free whoisguard which anonymizes your whois info.It's worth paying the $.89 over Godaddy because there is no spam or upselling when you buy the domain. They just sell it to you.	I'm just about to register a domain however I though I'd pause and ask you guys if you have any opinions on which domain registrar to use.	3	3	2007-09-07 22:09:18 UTC
51,935	51,880	thomasswift	Domain registration	jsmcgd	i use namecheap.com - 8.88 per and they do whois protection for free and i have not had a problem yet.godaddy is alright if you can sift through the ads on every single page, they are a little cheaper. i don't use them and probably never will.	I'm just about to register a domain however I though I'd pause and ask you guys if you have any opinions on which domain registrar to use.	2	3	2007-09-07 22:11:31 UTC
51,940	51,939	rms	Russian scientists discover new mineral that absorbs radiation	rms	I'd like to see another source, but if true, this is a huge discovery.	null	1	12	2007-09-07 22:17:16 UTC
51,941	51,351	herdrick	Can Lisp do What Perl Does Easily?	omouse	Wow - I use a lisp, but this argument is awful. Saying you can really quickly whip up something that works in Perl is an overwhelming recommendation. That the subsequent code in unmaintainable is a relatively tiny disadvantage. From the linked-to post: "...the language rewards idiotic behavior... you can commit any dirty hack in a few minutes in perl, but you can't write an elegant, maintainabale program..." Sound familiar? That's the mating call of statically typed language programmer and the top-down 'software architect'. That's bad. And I'll admit, Scheme's libraries (I use Scheme) are in practice somewhat statically typed and fussy, which sucks.I've never used Perl - maybe I should. BTW, is Ruby really just as good for quick 'duct tape' work and hacks? My very limited experience with Ruby made me think it was good, but not extraordinarily handy.	Erik Naggum on why Perl sucks :D	4	25	2007-09-07 22:17:42 UTC
51,942	51,351	herdrick	Can Lisp do What Perl Does Easily?	omouse	'Maintainability' is the last refuge of the fussy language.	Erik Naggum on why Perl sucks :D	7	25	2007-09-07 22:21:04 UTC
51,946	51,937	herdrick	Xobni releases new investment details	drusenko	Holy crap, that is an impressive lineup. Nice work, guys. But then what happened to Khosla Ventures between the initial announcement and now?	null	5	17	2007-09-07 22:23:38 UTC
51,948	51,937	bharath	Xobni releases new investment details	drusenko	Very impressive! Its good to see YC having grown from an experiment to something thats represents a 1st step towards marquee VC funding. Khosla does not invest in a whole lot of web based ideas these days (mostly focused on alternative energy type of stuff) and the fact that xobni is one of a handful of exceptions speaks for itself I think.	null	2	17	2007-09-07 22:27:21 UTC
51,952	51,832	thomasswift	It's Official: Apple is the New Microsoft	nreece	I hope this is official because Microsoft is awesome!	null	10	27	2007-09-07 22:36:14 UTC
51,954	51,937	zach	Xobni releases new investment details	drusenko	Wow. My curiosity is piqued. I look at this list and wonder, what are we missing? I don't doubt Xobni is really onto something. But it's hard to get fascinated by an Outlook plugin. Clearly there's a lot more going on.I also find it a little curious that there's a disconnect between the "put something in front of the public as soon as possible" meme and the long lead times that Loopt had first and now Xobni has before their product reveal. Is the better growth strategy to put something in front of investors first and see if you can hold off on the public launch?	null	0	17	2007-09-07 22:40:15 UTC
51,955	51,937	ereldon	Xobni releases new investment details	drusenko	herdrick, sorry if this wasn't clear. khosla's name was made publicly available in march when another blog found it in a regulatory filing concerning xobni's latest funding round. xobni has sinced decided to release the names of its other investors, as well.	null	6	17	2007-09-07 22:41:03 UTC
51,956	51,752	thomasswift	Javascript Validation As You Type	jkush	i kinda of like this	null	0	1	2007-09-07 22:41:08 UTC
51,959	51,933	tuukkah	OSCON 2007 - Simon Peyton-Jones - A Taste of Haskell Part I	mk	I don't know bestechvideos.com, but there several good presentations at OSCON this year - including two other talks by SPJ. The O'Reilly page with the presentation files: http://conferences.oreillynet.com/pub/w/58/presentations.htm...The official video hosting: http://oscon.blip.tv/	null	0	6	2007-09-07 23:08:59 UTC
51,960	51,462	alec	Relational database pioneer says technology is obsolete	nickb	I interviewed at Vertica. They have some really cool stuff going. You can get a lot of it in C-Store, a BSD-licensed academic project. The main C-Store paper is very informative if academic papers are your thing.The big advantage of changing the storage mechanism from row-based to column-based is that queries over large amounts of mostly-static data go much faster and take up much less space. MySQL, Postgres, and Oracle are all more or less row-based - each row or set of rows is stored whole - while in a column-based store, each column is stored individually, and the rows are held together in some fashion.Say you have a lot of columns and few tables, and that all your normal queries heavily use a few columns - if you're doing marketing maybe that's zip code and age range, or if you're doing inventory prediction maybe it's item id and sales date. Pre-sort those columns. If you want to get addresses or sales records of everyone in a certain zip code of a certain age - say, the 20-somethings that bought at the local Wal-Mart - that's now very quick, because you can sort a table first on the zip code column, then on the age column, and then on whatever else. It's like addressing an array, as opposed to processing each row and testing a few columns.That's not a big win on your PHP/MySQL website, but that's a huge win in your 10TB data warehouse.Once you sort, you can do really simple compression like run-length encoding to get the size down. Maybe you have a million people per zip code, but if you've sorted on zip code, you only need to say "entries 1 through 1 million in the zip code column have value XXXXX". You don't get as good compression on the column used for the next-most-important sort, but it could still be pretty good.Vertica also does some cool things with replication and redundancy.Is column-oriented revolutionary? C-Store has been out for a few years, and there are a few commercial and free software implementations out there, and it's in the textbooks, so no.	null	1	15	2007-09-07 23:20:38 UTC
51,961	51,880	rrival	Domain registration	jsmcgd	name.com - $5.99 + $0.50 whois protect / year	I'm just about to register a domain however I though I'd pause and ask you guys if you have any opinions on which domain registrar to use.	4	3	2007-09-07 23:32:22 UTC
51,963	51,943	DocSavage	Railsify: Directory for rails plugins & tools	DocSavage	Other notable directories include the plugins page on the Rails wiki (http://wiki.rubyonrails.org/rails/pages/Plugins) and the plugin pages run by Benjamin Curtis (http://agilewebdevelopment.com/plugins)	null	0	9	2007-09-07 23:43:33 UTC
51,965	51,880	arete	Domain registration	jsmcgd	I highly recommend DynDNS for DNS registration and hosting. Their amazing customer service, excellent web interface, and expertise are well worth the higher price.	I'm just about to register a domain however I though I'd pause and ask you guys if you have any opinions on which domain registrar to use.	1	3	2007-09-07 23:50:46 UTC

51,596

48,294

GauravNischal

How Not to Die

subhash

this is inspiring to read this article. I am reading the second article on this site. Good Job

null

44

169

2007-09-07 08:59:20 UTC

51,605

51,518

lsb

What's your autism quotient? (link updated)

hhm

just from memory, they ask if you can remember long digit strings, and if you take time to return from distractions. being good at hacking involves both. is this a self-selecting pool of people with more autistic traits?22

null

10

15

2007-09-07 10:33:39 UTC

51,607

51,518

gwenhwyfaer

What's your autism quotient? (link updated)

hhm

Here's one that doesn't require Flash: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/9.12/aqtest.html . Unfortunately they've misconfigured their website, so you get the source of the results calculator rather than the result; but if you copy aqtest.html and aq.cgi to a handy local webserver (and change the perl path), it works out.Not sure if it's the same test or not, of course! If it is, I scored 37.

null

3

15

2007-09-07 10:51:25 UTC

51,610

51,518

brianmckenzie

What's your autism quotient? (link updated)

hhm

What I found curious about this test is that I think many of my answers have changed over time. I scored an 18 today, but I bet I would have scored somewhere in the high 20's when I was a kid.

null

11

15

2007-09-07 11:05:18 UTC

51,620

51,248

brianmckenzie

How's your YC Winter 2008 application coming along?

wonjun

I'm drafting my application now, but will probably not submit unless I have a solid prototype by the deadline.

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?

9

17

2007-09-07 11:31:22 UTC

51,621

51,613

tuukkah

Seedcamp winners announced

tuukkah

Now that they've won some funding, they need to start in a new game and win the markets.

null

2

8

2007-09-07 11:34:49 UTC

51,623

51,519

Tichy

The Art, Science and Business of Recommendation Engines

steffon

I think it is interesting that some people cherish the Amazon recommendations above everything, whereas others are fundamentally unhappy with it. Unfortunately I belong in the later category. Sure, sometimes Amazon comes up with something interesting to me, but in general it does not. I wonder if I am just too weird for a recommender system to grasp, or if it hints at the system still being very imperfect.

Is this really the best that's out there?

0

4

2007-09-07 11:42:53 UTC

51,626

51,466

Tichy

Databases: One Size Fits All - A Concept Whose Time Has Come and Gone

nickb

Is the submarine at work again?CPUs are also still running almost the same kind of instructions as conceived 30 years ago, but the internals have changed a lot. I suspect the same is true for databases - there must have been some technological progress, even if SQL itself hasn't changed. And for CPUs, there are also special interest flavors (signal processors) that outperform the standard ones in special cases, but they don't make the "generic" CPUs superfluous.

null

0

7

2007-09-07 11:50:49 UTC

51,627

51,518

pg

What's your autism quotient? (link updated)

hhm

50 screens? Merely completing it is a sufficient test. They should have just put all the questions on one page.(If anyone wants to do that, I'll switch the link.)

null

1

15

2007-09-07 11:53:29 UTC

51,628

51,518

mpc

What's your autism quotient? (link updated)

hhm

35 .....interesting

null

13

15

2007-09-07 11:54:01 UTC

51,629

51,466

gwenhwyfaer

Databases: One Size Fits All - A Concept Whose Time Has Come and Gone

nickb

> it provides built-in features appropriate to the needs of 2007 customersI get that they're arguing that the database should fit the customer, but isn't that rather a drastic market size limit to impose on oneself?

null

1

7

2007-09-07 11:59:29 UTC

51,632

51,613

vikram

Seedcamp winners announced

tuukkah

Is it just me or do all of them sound a bit pompous. Maybe the problem is that they are trying to explain something in words which is better explained in a demo.

null

1

8

2007-09-07 12:06:39 UTC

51,634

51,616

imgabe

Feds OK Fee for Priority Web Traffic

iotal

This title is a little misleading...not your fault, since it's the same headline the article has. The Justice department told the FCC they're against net neutrality. The decision rests with the FCC and from what the article says it doesn't look like they've decided anything yet.

null

1

12

2007-09-07 12:19:21 UTC

51,639

51,518

andyjenn

What's your autism quotient? (link updated)

hhm

23..I'm a very good driver, only drive on the driveway, only drive on Saturdays...

null

2

15

2007-09-07 12:34:32 UTC

51,643

51,451

damon

C++ is a horrible language, says Linus Torvalds

nickb

Linus is hellbent on not working with "substandard programmers" and chooses his tools accordingly. Bad programmers are really counterproductive and he's damn brilliant for weeding them out so aggressively.In his "I'm a bastard" post to the linux kernel thread in 2000, he lambasted people arguing for a kernel debugger. His argument, clear as day, says he doesn't want to work with people who depend on the debugger , he wants people to understand the code as a whole. "Oh. And sure, when things crash and you fsck, and you didn't even get a clue about what went wrong, you get frustrated. Tough. There are two kinds of reactions to that: you start being careful, or you start whining about a kernel debugger.Quite frankly, I'd rather weed out the people who don't start being careful early, rather than late. That sounds callous, and by God, it is callous. But it's not the kind of "if you can't stand the heat, get out the the kitchen" kind of remark that some people take it for. No, it's something much more deeper: I'd rather not work with people who aren't careful. It's Darwinism in software development." Here, 7 years later, he applies much the same argument to C++:"C++ is a horrible language. It's made more horrible by the fact that a lot of substandard programmers use it, to the point where it's much much easier to generate total and utter crap with it. Quite frankly, even if the choice of C were to do nothing but keep the C++ programmers out, that in itself would be a huge reason to use C.""And limiting your project to C means that people don't screw that up, and also means that you get a lot of programmers that do actually understand low-level issues and don't screw things up with any idiotic "object model" crap."Call him a prick, call him selfish, call him egotistical, the bottom line is he's in charge of a product that is much bigger, more complicated, diverse, mature, and successful than the majority on the planet. Smart hackers will get past their emotion and understand his principles are sound, proven, and successful.

null

0

62

2007-09-07 12:42:01 UTC

51,647

51,616

Tichy

Feds OK Fee for Priority Web Traffic

iotal

Why do companies need permissions to charge for web traffic?

null

6

12

2007-09-07 12:49:56 UTC

51,648

51,597

joshwa

Adobe's online image editor previewed

fauxto

As far as competition is concerned, I think that until Adobe offers a widgetized version that can be integrated into other photo-sharing sites (which is clearly where the money is to be made in this market), fauxto/snipshot/et.al. don't have to get too worried...

null

1

12

2007-09-07 12:53:40 UTC

51,650

51,518

jgrahamc

What's your autism quotient? (link updated)

hhm

28.John.

null

16

15

2007-09-07 12:59:59 UTC

51,660

51,616

mpfefferle

Feds OK Fee for Priority Web Traffic

iotal

Two questions:1. Why exactly do they care? Isn't their job to enforce policy rather than create it?2. Other than being a dominant opinion in the department, how does this actually affect net neutrality?

null

4

12

2007-09-07 13:16:42 UTC

51,661

51,462

brlewis

Relational database pioneer says technology is obsolete

nickb

He advocates throwing out the internal storage mechanisms of relational databases and instead having a wide variety of mechanisms suited to different ways data is used. Storing columnar data together rather than storing rows together is one example. This does not make the database look any different to an application programmer.http://www.vertica.com/product/overviewQ: How are Vertica databases accessed?A: Just like any other relational database, using SQL and/or JDBC and ODBC. Vertica has partnerships with BI/Reporting software vendors such as Business Objects, JasperSoft, Informatica, and Talend to help ensure Vertica is compatible with popular reporting and ETL software.

null

0

15

2007-09-07 13:17:47 UTC

51,680

51,631

samb

Reminder: weekend of code starts tonight

Tichy

isn't every weekend a "weekend of code?" ;)

Admittedly, I didn't pour much work into this, safe for starting a ning community (weekendofcode.ning.com). I was hoping for self-organisation, and it just seemed like a good idea at the time: work on a project with somebody over the weekend, to test the waters for co-founding a start-up. Just start a group on Ning for your project, or join an existing group, and start developing.

0

1

2007-09-07 13:56:03 UTC

51,681

51,616

indie01

Feds OK Fee for Priority Web Traffic

iotal

I've been following this "net neutrality" debate for a long time, and both sides have made some decent points. I used to be a hardcore in the camp of pro net-neutrality, but the more I think about it, the more it seems that there are some things that regulation does not solve efficiently. I guess the most frustrating thing is that _lack_ of regulation is not going to solve anything either. One thing that lack of regulation on this issue does is make it substantially more difficult for small innovators to reap the benefits of their efficiency. Those tiny, seemingly insignificant increases in efficiency go practically unnoticed by the large monolithic telecos, but the people who are in the position to innovate further upon those marginal efficiencies (increasing rate of return on efficiency, if that makes sense) cannot do so when the ISPs themselves are taking more than a reasonable share from the people who are doing the innovating (whether the innovators are customers or competitors is important to the ISPs in that I imagine most ISPs would rather have innovative customers than innovative competitors). And that is essentially why I think that a Laissez-faire approach cannot be good news for the tiny, tech-oriented startup whose lifeblood depends upon an Internet connection.

null

2

12

2007-09-07 13:56:59 UTC

51,696

51,109

FatBastard

Concerning trend in commenting on news.yc submissions

aston

I am, in fact, a PG fanboy. If I wasn't I wouldn't have noticed this site. That has to skew your results. It will be a while before the site attracts a population of people who don't find his topics of interest. Meanwhile, why worry? You could go back to Reddit.

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?

14

19

2007-09-07 14:30:36 UTC

51,699

51,698

adnam

A good example why unions aren't just "Razorfish"

adnam

Sorry, it still bugs me.

2

2007-09-07 14:37:29 UTC

51,702

51,553

pg

How can Google beat Facebook with one checkbox?

nreece

I don't trust Alexa as a measure of Orkut vs Facebook. All those users in other countries don't have the Alexa toolbar installed.

null

1

9

2007-09-07 14:43:30 UTC

51,705

51,678

brlewis

The three phases of software development (after the Seattle stuff by Joel)

hhm

He precedes his description with a nod to XP, but I still think calling these three activities "phases" is the right terminology if you're doing iterative development. The part about burdening the design phase with development doesn't make sense either.

null

0

9

2007-09-07 14:49:02 UTC

51,704

51,109

nreece

Concerning trend in commenting on news.yc submissions

aston

PG is a VC. I won't consider him a technology evangilist in a broader scope. Sometimes agreeing with a VC is simply agreeing with a non-evangilist.

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?

16

19

2007-09-07 14:49:02 UTC

51,716

51,397

joe

Working Hard. The biggest bullshit.

rokhayakebe

First off, congrats on a completely misleading title.I feel like your question overlooks something, namely that if your goal is to become successful, then until you do, you probably won't have the "buck" to pay your crazy smart hard-working individuals their worth to work for you. In order to acquire the money to pay them (and them is plural, remember) you're going to have to work for it. And working hard will probably get you that money faster than not working hard.Finally, your claim about the people whose "financial situation just cannot get better" intrigues me. Who are these people? Do they have extenuating circumstances causing this? Do you find yourself in those same circumstances, or why are you so ready to align yourself with their plight?

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.

8

13

2007-09-07 15:11:57 UTC

51,722

51,613

oditogre

Seedcamp winners announced

tuukkah

Seedcamp founder, Saul Klein on Playfair: "It's Excel 2.0"I have Excel '07, and damned if I can find it's equivalent of 'Help->About', but I know '00 was 9.0, so...yeah. Poor choice of words there, buddy. :)Edit: (Excel 2.0 was released in 1987 according to Wikipedia...awesome.)

null

0

8

2007-09-07 15:21:20 UTC

51,726

51,616

jkush

Feds OK Fee for Priority Web Traffic

iotal

It's extortion.From a consumer point of view, net neutrality is what we're paying for. Let's say I pay $50 a month for a certain connection speed. I expect to be able to surf on the internet at that speed.Unless I'm incorrect about how it would work, I'd be pretty pissed if certain types of sites or content were throttled by my ISP simply because they didn't pay up. I mean, I already paid money to reach that content. I don't see why an ISP should make money off of the content providers too.

null

0

12

2007-09-07 15:29:33 UTC

51,727

51,518

Leon

What's your autism quotient? (link updated)

hhm

hrm, 21

null

17

15

2007-09-07 15:30:27 UTC

51,728

51,518

dottertrotter

What's your autism quotient? (link updated)

hhm

16

null

18

15

2007-09-07 15:34:56 UTC

51,730

51,451

jey

C++ is a horrible language, says Linus Torvalds

nickb

- Yes, it takes a C++ expert to do C++ well. If you aren't an expert, you're going to screw it up. You'll either get mired in what I call "Fancy C++ Voodoo Magic" by over designing your code and doing weird template meta-programming without any real goal or just use the wrong idioms, or forget about some random subtleties.- Sometimes you really do need to write systems software. In these instances, I'm still going to use C++. I won't claim that C++ is a great language, but at the end of the day, the benefits provided by C++ make it worth it. It would just be more footwork in C. Classes, RAII, STL, templates, type-safety are all worth it. But this is because I have already made all the mistakes and written lots of bad C++ that I'm now able to write clean, simple and elegant C++. I'd advise a newbie programmer against becoming a C++ expert. It's not worth the time and effort to learn all the stupid cases and to learn when to use which feature and to what degree to avoid falling into the swamp of C++. It's worth knowing C++ well enough that you can hack systems code though. I wouldn't say "only learn C and not C++ for systems hacking!"

null

2

62

2007-09-07 15:36:10 UTC

51,743

51,617

mpc

Multiply, social networking for 30-somethings, raises $16.6M

iotal

Bad move. Why in the world do they need 16.6 mil? I just cannot understand what kind of overhead is associated with another social-net, at their stage, that would require 16.6mm in capital!

null

0

1

2007-09-07 15:53:48 UTC

51,749

51,714

ivankirigin

Steve Jobs: "Because I Can"

Neoryder

There is simply no way Jobs decided on the $100 gift certificate a day or two after the keynote announcing the price cut.Considering all the planning that goes into all public presentations by Jobs, that is not plausible. Cringely is spot on here.

null

0

38

2007-09-07 16:03:17 UTC

51,755

51,397

cellis

Working Hard. The biggest bullshit.

rokhayakebe

want to get rich? start a religion. oh nevermind...you still have to work hard to get early adopters... <i>just like any other thing</i>

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.

14

13

2007-09-07 16:14:49 UTC

51,757

51,518

icey

What's your autism quotient? (link updated)

hhm

I got a 26, I kind of wonder how these scores correlate to a Myers-Briggs profile (INTJ here).I'm guessing the I's will have higher score than the E's since this appears to be mostly related to introvert vs. extrovert categorization.

null

8

15

2007-09-07 16:18:02 UTC

51,758

51,729

aston

The calculator that understands you.

gieb

Cool. Seems like a mix of Javascript, Python, and Ruby. Why just call it a calculator when it's basically an interactive programming environment?

What do you think?

0

2

2007-09-07 16:18:47 UTC

51,760

51,351

snorkel

Can Lisp do What Perl Does Easily?

omouse

He sounds a tad disgruntled about his past jobs. He didn't answer the question "can lisp do what perl does easily?" because the answer is no: http://weitz.de/cl-ppcre/

Erik Naggum on why Perl sucks :D

5

25

2007-09-07 16:22:48 UTC

51,761

51,248

Leon

How's your YC Winter 2008 application coming along?

wonjun

I already submitted my application before I finished my prototype, which I now have to get done before the deadline. I'm trying to use this as really strong motivation to just finish the prototype instead of waiting until feature creep, polish, etc. is completed before submitting. I'll resubmit once the prototype is minimally functional. My biggest problem is being a single founder; pg said he usually doesn't accept them so I'm probably dead.

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?

5

17

2007-09-07 16:23:50 UTC

51,762

51,553

karzeem

How can Google beat Facebook with one checkbox?

nreece

The answer is almost certainly no. To my mind, Facebook dominates for three things: basic personal info (looking up someone's phone number, seeing where they work, etc.), photos, and events. I don't know Orkut well, but if beating Facebook includes becoming dominant in the U.S., they'll have to do something truly fresh, not just play catch-up.

null

0

9

2007-09-07 16:24:32 UTC

51,777

51,397

alex_c

Working Hard. The biggest bullshit.

rokhayakebe

I think I can sum up your question - and the answer to your question - in one word:Leverage.Yes, it's often used as an empty business buzzword, but that doesn't mean there isn't a lot behind it.

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.

13

2007-09-07 16:40:28 UTC

51,778

51,709

aston

Oldest Affiliate Program In The World

nickb

Could only be as old as vehicles that could taxi. Rickshaws? Carriages?

null

1

10

2007-09-07 16:44:07 UTC

51,779

51,553

adamdoupe

How can Google beat Facebook with one checkbox?

nreece

"Facebook on the other hand is the leader in the US, Canada and UK."This statement isn't true. Like it or not, MySpace is the leader in the US.

null

2

9

2007-09-07 16:45:45 UTC

51,781

51,518

kirubakaran

What's your autism quotient? (link updated)

hhm

More reliable test:<html> <body> <b>Your autism score is:</b> <div id="op">0</div><br /> <input type="button" value="Click This!" onclick="javascript:upd();"> </body><script type="text/javascript"> var i=0; function upd() { i += Math.ceil(Math.exp(i/3)); document.getElementById('op').innerHTML = i; } </script></html>

null

5

15

2007-09-07 16:47:56 UTC

51,782

51,539

Goladus

The battle between HD DVD and Blu-ray might screw both of them

karzeem

Film Critic James Berardinelli has been saying this for ages. He just posted another article about it actually, and made one important point the ars article doesn't.http://reelviews.net/reelthoughts/august_2007.htmlThe problem faced by high def DVD is that consumers won't wait for the format war to end. They'll bypass it for the Next Big Thing. That will likely be high def downloads. At this point, there are four impediments to making this an effective way of obtaining home video copies of movies, but all are being addressed.It's a mistake to assume that people are waiting to see who wins the format war. Normal people just want to watch high-quality movies easily and conveniently, and do not care at all what format it's in.

Interesting the way hardware standards develop in the free market. I don't know a huge amount about this, but why wouldn't people just buy combination HD DVD/Blu-ray players? The small extra cost seems worth it to be able to forget about who's going to win.

1

7

2007-09-07 16:48:55 UTC

51,784

51,662

rokhayakebe

Ever-younger entrepreneurs

drm237

At 26 I feel old.

Internet, low costs lead to early-in-life startups

0

12

2007-09-07 16:51:23 UTC

51,786

51,518

ecuzzillo

What's your autism quotient? (link updated)

hhm

38. I don't act nearly that autistic, though. I think that's mostly through training. You wouldn't guess that score if you met me.

null

6

15

2007-09-07 16:54:35 UTC

51,795

51,698

byrneseyeview

A good example why unions aren't just "Razorfish"

adnam

"According to Reuters newswires, the strike had "jolted" the world's gold markets, causing the price of gold to drop by US$2 per ounce last Friday."Ah, right. A drop in gold supply leading to the inevitable drop in price!Also, I don't understand the poster's point. This union, like other unions, is taking advantage of high fixed costs to shake someone down for money. Why is this cartel not like all the other cartels?

Sorry, it still bugs me.

0

2

2007-09-07 17:24:02 UTC

51,801

51,371

jkush

What is the air quality like in Mountain View?

Alex3917

Interesting information. Awfully presented.

Trivia: Scorecard was created by Philip Greenspun.

1

5

2007-09-07 17:44:55 UTC

51,802

51,678

ambiversive

The three phases of software development (after the Seattle stuff by Joel)

hhm

"Can you imagine Safeco Field filled to the brim with software developers?"So THAT's what that smell was! I guess MS doesn't feel like a target in the War on Terror..

null

2

9

2007-09-07 17:46:17 UTC

51,803

51,518

whacked_new

What's your autism quotient? (link updated)

hhm

What's your ADHD quotient? I clicked 3 radio buttons before deciding I don't care about my quotient.

null

7

15

2007-09-07 17:49:06 UTC

51,806

51,698

ambiversive

A good example why unions aren't just "Razorfish"

adnam

To put this in a bit of context, people in PNG are burying HIV/AIDS infected people alive for lack of proper medical care.source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6978421.stm

Sorry, it still bugs me.

1

2

2007-09-07 17:52:00 UTC

51,808

51,737

dpapathanasiou

If Business Meetings Were Like Internet Comments (Funny)

transburgh

It certainly sounds like the current reddit. With any luck, it won't happen here.

null

0

5

2007-09-07 17:52:56 UTC

51,810

51,804

jkush

DIY WiFi Booster

jkush

Here's a link to the template: http://www.freeantennas.com/projects/template2/index.html

null

0

1

2007-09-07 17:53:39 UTC

51,811

51,709

merrick33

Oldest Affiliate Program In The World

nickb

Not sure if its possible, but that post was ripped off word for word from Shoemoney.http://www.shoemoney.com/2007/08/28/the-worlds-oldest-affili...

null

0

10

2007-09-07 17:54:31 UTC

51,814

51,397

mikesabat

Working Hard. The biggest bullshit.

rokhayakebe

It is called capitalism. You put your capital to work instead of working yourself.Unfortunately, if you don't already have capital to pay people, you are going to need to build up capital by working... hard.I think a better way to look at the situation is by separating hard work and difficult work. Godin has a great post on this topic which he just republished Monday. http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2007/09/labor-day.ht...

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.

11

13

2007-09-07 17:57:12 UTC

51,820

51,616

youngnh

Feds OK Fee for Priority Web Traffic

iotal

This all goes away with bigger pipes. If there's enough room to provide all of the content customers demand, then this whole debate won't matter. But if the FCC stays out and the netops are allowed to decide how they want to manage the tiny pipes they currently have, they can stave off upgrading them for a lot longer.Sounds like an opportunity.

null

3

12

2007-09-07 18:06:08 UTC

51,828

51,597

bharath

Adobe's online image editor previewed

fauxto

Adobe is one company that has made all the right moves in recent times (acquiring Macromedia being the prime example). This elephant can dance. Every product they have to offer is a de-facto industry standard. It comes as no surprise that they sense the threat Web 2.0 poses to their business and are moving to squash it by embracing it.

null

0

12

2007-09-07 18:24:22 UTC

51,836

51,815

vlad

Future career path of gifted youth can be predicted by age 13

whacked_new

"Individuals showing more ability in math had greater accomplishments in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, while those showing greatest ability on the verbal portion of the test went on to excel in the humanities, art, history, literature, languages, drama and related fields."If someone's gifted at X at 13, they will likely continue in X after high school. This finding is obvious, and may or may not apply to kids in general.

Cut to the chase: "Overall, the creative potential of these participants was extraordinary. They earned a total of 817 patents and published 93 books. Of the 18 participants who later earned tenure-track positions in math/science fields at top-50 U.S. universities, their average age 13 SAT-M score was 697, and the lowest score among them was 580, a score greater than over 60 percent of all students who take the SAT."Controversy time.

4

5

2007-09-07 18:45:08 UTC

51,838

51,815

pg

Future career path of gifted youth can be predicted by age 13

whacked_new

I'd trust the SAT scores of 13 year olds more than the SAT scores of college applicants. Few if any in this sample would have been taking classes in how to beat the test.

Cut to the chase: "Overall, the creative potential of these participants was extraordinary. They earned a total of 817 patents and published 93 books. Of the 18 participants who later earned tenure-track positions in math/science fields at top-50 U.S. universities, their average age 13 SAT-M score was 697, and the lowest score among them was 580, a score greater than over 60 percent of all students who take the SAT."Controversy time.

1

5

2007-09-07 18:47:39 UTC

51,839

51,678

henning

The three phases of software development (after the Seattle stuff by Joel)

hhm

"I'm editing this in the e text editor, a Windows clone of TextMate, which is coming along nicely but could still use some polish before I'm ready to switch to it full time."Oh snap, he's not using CityDesk anymore! Take that, Visual Basic 6!

null

1

9

2007-09-07 18:48:07 UTC

51,842

51,815

henning

Future career path of gifted youth can be predicted by age 13

whacked_new

"...which is a focus of the new $43 billion America Competes Act recently passed by Congress to enhance the United States' ability to compete globally."I know a simpler way to do that for the same amount of money: pay a million kids $43,000 not to watch TV and spending 5-20 hours a week reading books that interest them.

Cut to the chase: "Overall, the creative potential of these participants was extraordinary. They earned a total of 817 patents and published 93 books. Of the 18 participants who later earned tenure-track positions in math/science fields at top-50 U.S. universities, their average age 13 SAT-M score was 697, and the lowest score among them was 580, a score greater than over 60 percent of all students who take the SAT."Controversy time.

0

5

2007-09-07 18:52:06 UTC

51,845

51,832

henning

It's Official: Apple is the New Microsoft

nreece

Makes a valid point, but it doesn't mean that Microsoft is no longer a pain in the ass. My boss's experiment in upgrading a few machines in our office to Vista has been the bane of my existence recently. Jesus christ.

null

9

27

2007-09-07 18:56:31 UTC

51,847

51,714

gibsonf1

Steve Jobs: "Because I Can"

Neoryder

The key here is to learn from the master.

null

6

38

2007-09-07 18:57:59 UTC

51,853

51,832

thomasptacek

It's Official: Apple is the New Microsoft

nreece

Gotta admit: "Apple is an abusive monopolist because the iPod doesn't have an FM receiver" is an awesome argument. Way to go, PC World!

null

1

27

2007-09-07 19:08:50 UTC

51,858

51,815

chaostheory

Future career path of gifted youth can be predicted by age 13

whacked_new

What I don't like about this article is that it doesn't describe the study's definition of success - a part from stupid sound bites that are almost useless."Individuals showing more ability in math had greater accomplishments in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, while those showing greatest ability on the verbal portion of the test went on to excel in the humanities"who was the lead researcher - captain obvious?"They earned a total of 817 patents and published 93 books."Quantity does not equal quality."Of the 18 participants who later earned tenure-track positions in math/science fields at top-50 U.S. universities"It's been pretty well known for years that academic tests are good predictors of future academic success (but it's not great for anything else)

Cut to the chase: "Overall, the creative potential of these participants was extraordinary. They earned a total of 817 patents and published 93 books. Of the 18 participants who later earned tenure-track positions in math/science fields at top-50 U.S. universities, their average age 13 SAT-M score was 697, and the lowest score among them was 580, a score greater than over 60 percent of all students who take the SAT."Controversy time.

2

5

2007-09-07 19:26:43 UTC

51,861

51,815

brlewis

Future career path of gifted youth can be predicted by age 13

whacked_new

Does this study have a control group? I followed the link at the bottom of the article, but I couldn't find anything about a control group.

Cut to the chase: "Overall, the creative potential of these participants was extraordinary. They earned a total of 817 patents and published 93 books. Of the 18 participants who later earned tenure-track positions in math/science fields at top-50 U.S. universities, their average age 13 SAT-M score was 697, and the lowest score among them was 580, a score greater than over 60 percent of all students who take the SAT."Controversy time.

6

5

2007-09-07 19:33:05 UTC

51,864

51,815

Alex3917

Future career path of gifted youth can be predicted by age 13

whacked_new

I don't buy it. My SATs were in the top 1% at age 13, but they were only a couple hundred points higher when I took them again to apply to college. According to this I should be more likely to succeed than someone who would be able to trounce me if we both took the test again today. What sense does that make?

Cut to the chase: "Overall, the creative potential of these participants was extraordinary. They earned a total of 817 patents and published 93 books. Of the 18 participants who later earned tenure-track positions in math/science fields at top-50 U.S. universities, their average age 13 SAT-M score was 697, and the lowest score among them was 580, a score greater than over 60 percent of all students who take the SAT."Controversy time.

3

5

2007-09-07 19:34:25 UTC

51,867

51,714

tyler

Steve Jobs: "Because I Can"

Neoryder

The author makes some good points (Jobs is a tool for snubbing the interview, the price cut was well planned, and the reasoning behind the price cut, etc)... But, I think he's off the mark on some things:"In the mind of Steve Jobs the entire incident had no downside, none at all, which is yet another reason why he is not like you or me." "So Apple still comes out $75 million ahead, which is important to Steve Jobs."Jobs is a CEO. Making money for the company and the company's stakeholders is what he does. Its his job, if you will. So yes, coming out ahead is important to Jobs... and every other competent CEO.And as for the Gates comment, "He has to know he can never win"... Define 'win'. The way I see it, Apple is indeed winning... they're just not playing the same game as Microsoft anymore.

null

1

38

2007-09-07 19:36:36 UTC

51,870

51,832

myoung8

It's Official: Apple is the New Microsoft

nreece

Another example of journalistic sensationalism at its best."It's Official?" Says who?

null

2

27

2007-09-07 19:41:50 UTC

51,873

51,832

Readmore

It's Official: Apple is the New Microsoft

nreece

I'll agree with the iTunes rant but the rest is pretty shallow. You can't call Apple the 'copycat' when their products are superior. And trying to compare MS tabletop UI to the iPhone is like amateur hour. We all know MS stole that UI from the Grad Student who's been showing off his touch interface on YouTube for 3 years. People hate MS because they are successful for making poor products. People hate Apple because they are successful for making great products and they aren't shy about flaunting it.

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27

2007-09-07 19:49:46 UTC

51,889

51,832

gwenhwyfaer

It's Official: Apple is the New Microsoft

nreece

> At least with Windows, you could reformat your PC and install Linux or any number of other PC-compatible operating systems. Can I reformat my iPod and install something else?Yes: http://www.rockbox.org/

null

5

27

2007-09-07 20:25:32 UTC

51,895

51,832

axod

It's Official: Apple is the New Microsoft

nreece

"Can I reformat my iPod and install something else?"Erm yes, of course you can. There's a thriving open source community for iPods replacement O/S and software.

null

0

27

2007-09-07 20:37:40 UTC

51,896

51,832

donna

It's Official: Apple is the New Microsoft

nreece

Come on, Google is the new Microsoft. How can you compare Apple to Microsoft -- one's hardware, one's software.

null

4

27

2007-09-07 20:41:08 UTC

51,900

51,832

jimbokun

It's Official: Apple is the New Microsoft

nreece

Interesting conclusion.He seems to be arguing that Microsoft was brought to heel by the marketplace, and that the court proceedings against it were redundant and counter productive. And now the same is true for Apple. You can't beat them with lawsuits, only by making better products.I'm not so sure, though, that the lawsuits MSFT faced had no effect on the marketplace outcomes we're now seeing. Would PC vendors be so quick to put Linux on PCs if MSFT wasn't being monitored by the US DOJ and probed non-stop by the EU?

null

6

27

2007-09-07 20:49:32 UTC

51,904

51,539

mechanical_fish

The battle between HD DVD and Blu-ray might screw both of them

karzeem

As an audiophile, who might have actually been happy in an alternate universe where HDCD and DVD-Audio were successful and low-bitrate MP3 was a market failure... I've always thought that both HD video formats were screwed from day one, format war or no format war. They are niche products, at best. People (except for a few hundred thousand obsessives like myself) don't pay for audio quality, and I doubt they'll pay for video quality either. Especially when the "low quality" alternative is DVD, which doesn't really look that shabby if you focus on watching the movie instead of conducting A-to-B comparisons of black levels.Give me a $35 DVD player and Bose's marketing team, and I'll outsell any HD player on the market. We'll mark the price up to $250, put it in a nice sleek brushed-aluminum case, hold special Demo Events in all the Best Buy stores, and you'll swear that my player has the crispest video in the world - because, as the quality differences become smaller, the psychological factors become more and more significant.The only problem with this business plan is that Steve Jobs had it figured out years ago, and he's way ahead. While the HD-DVD and Blu-Ray folks fight it out, Steve is going to crush them by selling lower-quality video in higher-quality boxes.

Interesting the way hardware standards develop in the free market. I don't know a huge amount about this, but why wouldn't people just buy combination HD DVD/Blu-ray players? The small extra cost seems worth it to be able to forget about who's going to win.

0

7

2007-09-07 20:56:33 UTC

51,905

51,885

paul

Squash the Bug, Then Close the Window

adamsmith

Commenting out the exception throwing code would likely lead to even more difficult-to-understand bugs (something after the now-commented-out throw would probably fail, possibly corrupting data). It's better to fail early.

null

1

17

2007-09-07 20:57:10 UTC

51,910

51,397

gscott

Working Hard. The biggest bullshit.

rokhayakebe

You are just changing what you are working hard on. Instead of working hard on programming, you are now working hard to get a team of people to create your idea the way you want it. If you think that is easy, not a chance. Managing people is a lot more work then programming. With programming it is you and the computer. You tell the computer what to do and most of the time the computer complies. With people, when you tell them what to do they are way less cooperative then a computer and if you think people are just going to be "on the same page" as you are and just come up with stuff that matches what you wanted.. well I have tried that and it doesn't work.

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.

9

13

2007-09-07 21:01:49 UTC

51,913

51,832

nirs

It's Official: Apple is the New Microsoft

nreece

Crap article from crap site of crap magazine.

null

3

27

2007-09-07 21:12:55 UTC

51,915

51,832

projectileboy

It's Official: Apple is the New Microsoft

nreece

Smells like a Microsoft PR plant.

null

11

27

2007-09-07 21:28:31 UTC

51,917

51,397

Tekhne

Working Hard. The biggest bullshit.

rokhayakebe

To demonstrate how hard I'm not working right now, I'd like to point out that the phrase "YOU working hard" is grammatically incorrect. I think it should be "YOUR working hard" because "working" is a gerund. I could be wrong. I should get back to work now.

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 21:28:51 UTC

51,920

51,714

projectileboy

Steve Jobs: "Because I Can"

Neoryder

Holy crap... Exactly how badly am I supposed to feel for people who had no issue shelling out $500 or $600 on a version one product? The way the tech press is pissing and moaning, you'd think Steve Jobs had just robbed money from UNICEF.Of my friends who own iPhones, I haven't heard any of them complaining. They just had to go out and spend top dollar for the latest shiny gadget as soon as it became available. They've done it before, and they'll do it again. As such, none of them were surprised to see a big price drop.

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2007-09-07 21:33:19 UTC

51,930

51,714

forgotmylastone

Steve Jobs: "Because I Can"

Neoryder

This whole thing is stupid. They set the price. In the product they sold, they made no guarantee that the price wasn't going to drop--lack of a future price drop wasn't part of the product. If anything, the main 'intangible' in this product was 'smugness'.So, they set the price, and people bought it. End of story. They didn't force anyone to. If someone thought it was worth $600 when, as Cringely says, the 'real' price was the current price, then you made the mistake.

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38

2007-09-07 21:59:25 UTC

51,934

51,880

rms

Domain registration

jsmcgd

www.namecheap.com$8.88 a year, includes free whoisguard which anonymizes your whois info.It's worth paying the $.89 over Godaddy because there is no spam or upselling when you buy the domain. They just sell it to you.

I'm just about to register a domain however I though I'd pause and ask you guys if you have any opinions on which domain registrar to use.

3

2007-09-07 22:09:18 UTC

51,935

51,880

thomasswift

Domain registration

jsmcgd

i use namecheap.com - 8.88 per and they do whois protection for free and i have not had a problem yet.godaddy is alright if you can sift through the ads on every single page, they are a little cheaper. i don't use them and probably never will.

I'm just about to register a domain however I though I'd pause and ask you guys if you have any opinions on which domain registrar to use.

2

3

2007-09-07 22:11:31 UTC

51,940

51,939

rms

Russian scientists discover new mineral that absorbs radiation

rms

I'd like to see another source, but if true, this is a huge discovery.

null

1

12

2007-09-07 22:17:16 UTC

51,941

51,351

herdrick

Can Lisp do What Perl Does Easily?

omouse

Wow - I use a lisp, but this argument is awful. Saying you can really quickly whip up something that works in Perl is an overwhelming recommendation. That the subsequent code in unmaintainable is a relatively tiny disadvantage. From the linked-to post: "...the language rewards idiotic behavior... you can commit any dirty hack in a few minutes in perl, but you can't write an elegant, maintainabale program..." Sound familiar? That's the mating call of statically typed language programmer and the top-down 'software architect'. That's bad. And I'll admit, Scheme's libraries (I use Scheme) are in practice somewhat statically typed and fussy, which sucks.I've never used Perl - maybe I should. BTW, is Ruby really just as good for quick 'duct tape' work and hacks? My very limited experience with Ruby made me think it was good, but not extraordinarily handy.

Erik Naggum on why Perl sucks :D

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2007-09-07 22:17:42 UTC

51,942

51,351

herdrick

Can Lisp do What Perl Does Easily?

omouse

'Maintainability' is the last refuge of the fussy language.

Erik Naggum on why Perl sucks :D

7

25

2007-09-07 22:21:04 UTC

51,946

51,937

herdrick

Xobni releases new investment details

drusenko

Holy crap, that is an impressive lineup. Nice work, guys. But then what happened to Khosla Ventures between the initial announcement and now?

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17

2007-09-07 22:23:38 UTC

51,948

51,937

bharath

Xobni releases new investment details

drusenko

Very impressive! Its good to see YC having grown from an experiment to something thats represents a 1st step towards marquee VC funding. Khosla does not invest in a whole lot of web based ideas these days (mostly focused on alternative energy type of stuff) and the fact that xobni is one of a handful of exceptions speaks for itself I think.

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17

2007-09-07 22:27:21 UTC

51,952

51,832

thomasswift

It's Official: Apple is the New Microsoft

nreece

I hope this is official because Microsoft is awesome!

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27

2007-09-07 22:36:14 UTC

51,954

51,937

zach

Xobni releases new investment details

drusenko

Wow. My curiosity is piqued. I look at this list and wonder, what are we missing? I don't doubt Xobni is really onto something. But it's hard to get fascinated by an Outlook plugin. Clearly there's a lot more going on.I also find it a little curious that there's a disconnect between the "put something in front of the public as soon as possible" meme and the long lead times that Loopt had first and now Xobni has before their product reveal. Is the better growth strategy to put something in front of investors first and see if you can hold off on the public launch?

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0

17

2007-09-07 22:40:15 UTC

51,955

51,937

ereldon

Xobni releases new investment details

drusenko

herdrick, sorry if this wasn't clear. khosla's name was made publicly available in march when another blog found it in a regulatory filing concerning xobni's latest funding round. xobni has sinced decided to release the names of its other investors, as well.

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17

2007-09-07 22:41:03 UTC

51,956

51,752

thomasswift

Javascript Validation As You Type

jkush

i kinda of like this

null

0

1

2007-09-07 22:41:08 UTC

51,959

51,933

tuukkah

OSCON 2007 - Simon Peyton-Jones - A Taste of Haskell Part I

mk

I don't know bestechvideos.com, but there several good presentations at OSCON this year - including two other talks by SPJ. The O'Reilly page with the presentation files: http://conferences.oreillynet.com/pub/w/58/presentations.htm...The official video hosting: http://oscon.blip.tv/

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0

6

2007-09-07 23:08:59 UTC

51,960

51,462

alec

Relational database pioneer says technology is obsolete

nickb

I interviewed at Vertica. They have some really cool stuff going. You can get a lot of it in C-Store, a BSD-licensed academic project. The main C-Store paper is very informative if academic papers are your thing.The big advantage of changing the storage mechanism from row-based to column-based is that queries over large amounts of mostly-static data go much faster and take up much less space. MySQL, Postgres, and Oracle are all more or less row-based - each row or set of rows is stored whole - while in a column-based store, each column is stored individually, and the rows are held together in some fashion.Say you have a lot of columns and few tables, and that all your normal queries heavily use a few columns - if you're doing marketing maybe that's zip code and age range, or if you're doing inventory prediction maybe it's item id and sales date. Pre-sort those columns. If you want to get addresses or sales records of everyone in a certain zip code of a certain age - say, the 20-somethings that bought at the local Wal-Mart - that's now very quick, because you can sort a table first on the zip code column, then on the age column, and then on whatever else. It's like addressing an array, as opposed to processing each row and testing a few columns.That's not a big win on your PHP/MySQL website, but that's a huge win in your 10TB data warehouse.Once you sort, you can do really simple compression like run-length encoding to get the size down. Maybe you have a million people per zip code, but if you've sorted on zip code, you only need to say "entries 1 through 1 million in the zip code column have value XXXXX". You don't get as good compression on the column used for the next-most-important sort, but it could still be pretty good.Vertica also does some cool things with replication and redundancy.Is column-oriented revolutionary? C-Store has been out for a few years, and there are a few commercial and free software implementations out there, and it's in the textbooks, so no.

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15

2007-09-07 23:20:38 UTC

51,961

51,880

rrival

Domain registration

jsmcgd

name.com - $5.99 + $0.50 whois protect / year

I'm just about to register a domain however I though I'd pause and ask you guys if you have any opinions on which domain registrar to use.

4

3

2007-09-07 23:32:22 UTC

51,963

51,943

DocSavage

Railsify: Directory for rails plugins & tools

DocSavage

Other notable directories include the plugins page on the Rails wiki (http://wiki.rubyonrails.org/rails/pages/Plugins) and the plugin pages run by Benjamin Curtis (http://agilewebdevelopment.com/plugins)

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0

9

2007-09-07 23:43:33 UTC

51,965

51,880

arete

Domain registration

jsmcgd

I highly recommend DynDNS for DNS registration and hosting. Their amazing customer service, excellent web interface, and expertise are well worth the higher price.

I'm just about to register a domain however I though I'd pause and ask you guys if you have any opinions on which domain registrar to use.

1

3

2007-09-07 23:50:46 UTC