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How do you deal with Big JavaScript files? | mbrubeck: I don't understand. WHY do you want to use one main function or class? Why not break things up into modules, classes, and functions similar to the way you do in C#?Look at the source code of any well-written JavaScript library or app and you will find quite a bit of modularity. Some examples, from small to large:http://osteele.com/sources/javascript/functional/functional....http://github.com/jdalton/fusejs/tree/master/src/http://github.com/aptana/activejs/tree/master/src/active_rec...It makes sense to use one global object as a namespace, but within this namespace you can have as many classes, objects, and functions as you like. Look at the source of jQuery, for example: http://code.jquery.com/jquery-1.4.1.jsEven if you have a single class, you can define that classes' members across many different files. You can concatenate all the files together at build- or deployment-time (for performance reasons) but keep them separate in your source tree. For example, the jQuery source code I linked above is actually a concatenation of half a dozen different source files. Just use the "module pattern" to wrap each file in an anonymous function, and have it export its public interfaces to objects/classes in your single global namespace: http://www.yuiblog.com/blog/2007/06/12/module-pattern/ |
Who's Hiring? | wangwei: This is a post for entry level jobs.http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1104493 |
What monitoring/management tools do you use? | scorchin: I work for a web development firm and we handle a lot of large intranets for big internationals. Most of the systems are built using combinations (pick two) of PHP, JSP, Ruby, Perl, MySQL and Oracle.The servers (total around 60) tend to be spread across different continents and it always helps to have as much information as possible.We were originally using Nagios, but found that it was lacking some of the tools that we required. Instead we switched over to Zabbix and have hooked into it using a custom PHP/Python application.This custom app just provides a worldwide view of traffic, points out specific spike times and most importantly: shows the nearest commits to the master repos when spikes occur.The main reason for switching over to Zabbix was the documentation and API. It made creating our own tools a lot easier.Info that might be useful:- Running on CentOS- Apache webservers with nginx front-ends- Database servers work in teams of 3, with master-master replication and then a slave. |
Is anybody solving really cool problems anymore? | Mz: Efficient weight loss technologyNot a technology, but I have lost several dress sizes as a side effect of working on my health issues, which are supposed to be unresolvable. And, yes, I feel I am solving Cool Problems`(or, more accurately, I think I am coming up with Cool Solutions). I have slimmed down without starving myself or even counting calories. Initially, exercise per se wasn't really a part of it either (though I was more active with having a job than I was when I was bedridden -- I used to joke about my 'get out of bed more often fitness plan' -- still, I didn't "work out"). These days, I do a lot of walking because I live without a car but I do not have a gym membership or otherwise workout. Yes, I did slim down more with getting rid of my car, but the primary mover is still diet chemistry, supplements and generally working on getting well.Some things I have worked on:
1) Body chemistry. The typical American diet is too acid. Excess acidity has a number of negative consequences, including promoting infection. There is (supposedly) research that indicates that the type of microbes you harbor impacts whether or not you end up obese. Which brings me to point 2:2) I have actively worked on fostering more good flora in the body and extinguishing bad bugs. We are all crawling with millions of microbes and cannot even digest our food without them. But I was, at one time, overrun with multiple antibiotic-resistant infections which were killing me.3) Lifestyle changes that fit with my attempts to control what types of flora inhabit my body and my attempts to keep my body chemistry in a healthy balance.Some nifty things I have found out about using chemistry to heal the body better than modern medicine can:A)I can stop a nosebleed by taking calcium supplements. Calcium is necessary to start the cascade of chemical processes which leads to clotting. I used to suffer routine nosebleeds/blood seepage from my sinuses. I rarely do anymore. If I find I am having an issue with this, I just take some calcium and it goes away.B) Copper is has antimicrobial properties. Buying a few copper pieces for my home and finding an affordable source for plain old sheet copper in sizes that work for an individual household (as opposed to the quantities that get ordered for industrial purposes) has revolutionized my life in ways I don't know how to begin to explain.C) Infections that most people think you have to live with for life can be cleared from the system using a few herbs and vitamins.D) Gray hair can be reversed (at least to some degree) with the right supplements, which depends in part on why your hair went gray. I have less gray hair now than I did in my mid-thirties. |
Who's Hiring? | mace: Mochi Media is looking for hackers. Work in SF.
Code in Python, Erlang and ActionScript(Flash).
Open Source contribution a plus.
See http://mochimedia.theresumator.com/ |
improving your design skills? | francoisdevlin: It's all CRAPContrast
Repetition
Alignment
Position |
Who's Hiring? Internship Edition | mrduncan: Maybe it's just me, but these "Who's hiring" threads seem to be getting a little out of hand. This is the 3rd internship thread in the past 5 days now.This one was posted 5 days ago and spent a good amount of time on the front page (take a look at this one, it's got plenty of comments and hopefully something you're looking for) - http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1089829This one was posted 4 hours ago and has enough upvotes that it probably spent at least a little time on the front page (no comments though) - http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1104493 |
Who's Hiring? | kikibobo69: TomTom in Amsterdam is hiring. Looking for junion and senior Java/Javascript/Flex/Scala/Lucene/GridGain/Hadoop/Mahout folks to work on next-generation location services. Ping me at eric.bowman@tomtom.com. |
Who is hiring (entry level) | dnsworks: Why do they have to be recent graduates? |
Review our startup: Unbig.me | marilyn: You have a neat idea here. I am particularly fond of how unoffensive the advertisement delivery actually is. Best of luck to you! |
Should we reduce the restrictions on who can angel invest? | presty: offtopic:since when do "ask hn" topics link to a frakkin blogpost? |
Who's Hiring? | aschobel: Android / iPhone / Web / BackendWe speak scala, Obj-C, java, python, Thrift, whatever gets the job done.#1 productivity app on Android, and TechCrunch/MobileCrunch named us(3banana) one of the top ten apps on Android.Please shoot me an email at hn@snaptic.comLooking for folks to come hack with us in South Park, SF.http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=953052 |
Review my startup - Praux.com, The Last Resume You'll Ever Write | jdietrich: I understand that your product is a resume tool of some sort, but a) you demand that I hand over my personal information before showing me anything of the tool and b) you don't give me any compelling reason to sign up. No sale. |
What should Microsoft do to get its mojo back? | presty: my worthless suggestion:i don't think the "old-schoolers" will ever respect the "kids" (actually they don't seem to be that young) in the r&d labs until they get their own credit in the "street" (market) - so things like integrating with windows/office/etc will always be hard if the managers think the direction goes against their interests, so.... put all the "edgy" projects into a special branch of the organization that depends only on the 'man' and:- give them full freedom to pursue the markets they see fit (this means they can go against established products etc)- let them adopt their own internal processes and tools (ye, that means macs and linux and ipods)- give them their own name if you don't want them initially associated with the microsoft brand- after proven success, start merging with the rest of the organization in a selective way (throwing away old processes that don't really work anymore, promoting the new guys into top positions, yada yada yada) |
Who's Hiring? | marshallp: do your own thing - why work for someone else?
With platform as a service like aws,appengine,heroku you can build your own salesforce/google/ebay from scratch with no money/hardware/scaling bs |
Who's Hiring? | stonemetal: Any one out in Tx? |
Review my startup - Praux.com, The Last Resume You'll Ever Write | dustingetz: how are you going to make money? |
Suggest an attorney? (Google is after us) | letsgofast: Not sure if you found someone to help you. If not then I will suggest Rodenbaugh Law - http://www.rodenbaugh.com/ - Mike Rodenbaugh has extensive transactional and dispute resolution experience with respect to intellectual property, e-commerce and internet marketing. He has specialized in trademark and domain name matters since 1995, including more than 7 years at Yahoo! Inc. mike@rodenbaugh.com |
Who is hiring Product Managers? | gyardley: The sweet spot is probably larger startups, with an already-established, multiple-person product management team. Small startups with limited product staff are unlikely to take a risk on someone with no experience. Public companies, on the other hand, are often too bureaucratic to hire someone without 'credentials'.Your friend will likely have to settle for a junior role at first - I'd search for 'associate product manager' or 'assistant product manager' roles. But a product manager with a technical background is a truly a blessing, and he should be able to get promoted within the company or move to a more responsible role at another company after a year or so of experience. |
Who's Hiring? | jnoller: Nasuni is hiring - Cloud Storage startup near Boston, MA (Natick). Python developer, Test/QA Engineer, Inside Sales Rep, Admin. Assistant.We're in stealth right now, please do contact us if at all interested!http://www.nasuni.com/sub/jobs/ |
improving your design skills? | jonny_noog: You may be interested in reading about the Golden Ratio[1] and more specifically the ways people apply it to web design[2]. Helped me a fair bit, especially when I'm at that point where I'm starting a new design and need a jumping off point.1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_ratio2. http://webdesign.about.com/od/webdesignbasics/a/aa071607.htm http://net.tutsplus.com/tutorials/other/the-golden-ratio-in-...Google for more. |
A Business Guy Getting Hired at a Startup, Help Please | siculars: depending on where you live i would say 40-60 would be good for a new graduate. remember, at this point in your story you want experience over money. |
A Business Guy Getting Hired at a Startup, Help Please | njohnw: What did you do as an intern? If it was related to business development or sales, you should expect to make something in the 45K-60K range. |
A Business Guy Getting Hired at a Startup, Help Please | aaronbrethorst: Given the recent acquisition prices for 'hot music startups' (Lala, iMeem, etc.), I'd personally go for a higher salary. |
A Business Guy Getting Hired at a Startup, Help Please | Mark_B: What city is the company in? More metro = higher cost of living. |
Review my startup - Praux.com, The Last Resume You'll Ever Write | jawn: I like this app. I was recently looking for a place to host a resume, and wish I had come across your site sooner.As everyone else has already said, your messaging and initial pitch need to be cleaned up. Personally, I would stress the sub-resume's idea as that seems to be your best feature.I'd also add an option to incorporate facebook/linkedin/twitter profiles to a resume. I did see the share buttons, but having a direct link to the persons profile would be a good feature as well.Best of luck. |
A Business Guy Getting Hired at a Startup, Help Please | anamax: > They've also offered stock options though I'm not as interested in that and would rather take a higher salary.Why?Yes, cash is something that you can spend now, but stock costs them less, so you might be able to get more NPV by loading up on stock.Also, suppose that they brought in another intern (or two) with the difference between what you'd like and what you can live on. What would that do to the value of your stock? (John Elway diverted part of his salary to linemen. That was an investment in his career and health.)You could negotiate a steady increase in pay, so your income grows as you change your lifestyle.BTW - since you've been working there for a while, the cliff for vesting should be significantly less than it would be for a new hire. |
Do you need angel funding? | Brushfire: Please add a city/state or location column.Many angel investors around the country will only look at deals they are physically near, since the value is in mentoring and connections, not just $$. |
Who's Hiring? | wsiu: Storm8, the #1 Role Playing Game company on iPhone is looking for someone to hack with us. (http://www.storm8.com/2010/01/18/software-engineer-objective...) We are located in Redwood City, CA. |
A Business Guy Getting Hired at a Startup, Help Please | espadagroup: Thank you everyone for the suggestions, that gives me a solid range. I am not in sales so there is no commission. I do solely business development and marketing. |
Who's Hiring? | rmanocha: Anybody hiring in India/South East Asia??On a separate note - maybe we should start a thread for startups outside the US looking for devs. |
Who's Hiring? | georgecmu: NREC (CMU's Robotics Institute applied research arm) is generally looking for people with robotics background (perception, planning, positioning) and good C++/Linux development skills. We write software to automate anything from tanks to haul trucks. If you've worked with cameras, lidars, GPS receivers, inertial sensors, are a machine learning expert, or hacked your Roomba to vacuum better than your mother, let us know! |
Does HN webserver follow HTTP 1.1 standard? | Daniel_Newby: You are right. OTOH, anything that breaks is not likely to survive contact with the rest of the web. |
Am I crazy to port my Rails app to PHP? | freebsd_dude: check out hostingrails.com |
Am I crazy to port my Rails app to PHP? | bgnm2000: http://www.heroku.com |
Am I crazy to port my Rails app to PHP? | learnalist: I have a shared plan on mediatemple. I am not a ruby man yet am 100% you can run rails. Then you can demonstrate both your ruby skills and your new found php skills. |
Am I crazy to port my Rails app to PHP? | thechangelog: About 18 months ago I came to the realization that Rails just wasn't required for the projects I was using.I jumped on the Rails band wagon early and loved all the syntatic sugar that comes from Ruby, and I'd never really developed with an MVC pattern.Like you, I gradually realized I was spending more time as a sysadmin or bashing my clients' commodity hosting into submission than actually building sites. I felt like I was cheating when I finally went back to PHP (CodeIgniter, also).It wasn't til I rsync'd the PHP site I was working on to the prod server and saw it just work that I started feeling a bit better. Since then, I've been totally happy using simple but solid PHP frameworks.So, I think you're on the right track. Admittedly, I'm a little out of date on the state of Rails deployment. But if you're productive in PHP, go for it. |
Am I crazy to port my Rails app to PHP? | timdorr: Shameless plug: http://www.asmallorange.com/hosting/shared/ We host Rails with mod_rails/Passenger, so it'll run with minimal fuss. Works really great so far.But honestly, it's whatever language works best for you. If you've got a good framework in front of it that's helping to keep you from making dumb mistakes, then that's all that really matters. |
Who's Hiring? | aamar: Ventana (in SF) is hiring coders, user experience experts, and other people excited about creating something to make healthcare simpler and better. http://www.ventana.com/corp/careersCoders should apply with a puzzle solution (comments, questions welcome). |
Am I crazy to port my Rails app to PHP? | zfx: First off, smart change! (see: http://www.canrailsscale.com).Second, there is surely alot of rails-hosters out there, keep looking if you want to build your app with pure ror.But the beatuy of php is what you already have seen; it just works! |
Am I crazy to port my Rails app to PHP? | jrgnsd: As some commentars said, choose the language/framework that suits the problem.That said, I have experienced and heard that the time made up by using Rails/Ruby, is much less than the time it takes to customize a Rails app to get it to do what you want. Especially when there's a lot of customization. What I like about PHP and frameworks like CodeIgnitor, is that customization is dead easy. You only write code for what you want to achieve, you don't need to work around the framework's preset functionality.Short answer, it depends. A lot of customization, use PHP, something that fits with Ruby/Rails, use that. |
Am I crazy to port my Rails app to PHP? | access_denied: > I don't want to play sysadmin in my spare time
collaborate with someone who does. |
Am I crazy to port my Rails app to PHP? | milestinsley: Definately try http://heroku.com. They have an excellent free plan that is perfect for smaller projects and development.Also, if you use git, it's really easy to deploy an app by just pushing up to Heroku. |
Why are you hiring? | humbledrone: For my company, we are hiring largely due to global expansion. We write software that communicates with various power measurement equipment, and the protocols used to do so vary by region. As we expand into new countries, it is often necessary to support new protocols, and thus we need more manpower. |
Am I crazy to port my Rails app to PHP? | fijter: You could try out webfaction.com;
It offers a control panel where you can add as much apps as you want (including Django, RoR, static PHP, Worpress, etc.). The only 'real' limitation you have is memory usage. I have about 15 different apps running on the smallest webfaction acocunt and it works great; comes cheap too and you don't have to update it because it's a virtual server but it is maintained by webfaction (not your version of RoR, but the system itself). If you take the cheapest package the price is between $5.50 and $9.50 a month depending on how long you want to use it. |
Am I crazy to port my Rails app to PHP? | cpher: This doesn't address your original question, but when I visited your site, I immediately thought of my college years (early '90s) when my dormmates and I took up yo-yo-ing (sp?). We had a blast showing off our newly learned tricks. In fact, I hadn't thought much about that time until I saw your site.Now that I have small children (3 and 2 yr/olds) it makes me want to take up the hobby again to show them the fun in it. So, think about ways that your site could grow into something that you hadn't originally thought of. Example: if you had instructions/videos demonstrating yo-yo tricks. A searchable, fun way for people to show off their hobby.So, if you had the desire to monetize this one day, you may actually have some interest from people. This is just to say that maybe you shouldn't keep a tight lid on your ideas.Good luck! |
Am I crazy to port my Rails app to PHP? | petervandijck: If it's a hobby app, no, you're not crazy, you're fine :) |
improving your design skills? | SocialBootstrap: You don't need to learn "everything you can about graphic design."
Your audience is other hackers. They don't care that much about visual goofiness either- you want a clean, minimalist site, then that's what you should have.The one single thing you should do is make your site more READABLE.Right now, this page is too big. Limit the width of a column of text to around 500 px. That will do wonders. I suggest fixing your body to 900px, and then splitting it into two columns- a main content column of 556, and a sidebar of 344. (Golden Ratio always looks nice).Next- typography:
Obviously, stick with web-safe fonts. Arial and other sans-serif used to be the way to go on the web, because low-res screens didn't display serifs very well. But now it's 2010, and all the print people know that for regular text, a serif font is more legible.font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;Beyond that, you need to make the lines the right distance apart. They need enough room to breathe, and paragraph breaks should have as much space between them as they would if there was another line of text there. Something like:p {
font-size: 12px;
line-height: 22px;
margin-bottom: 22px;
}or you can use ems or whatever you like, but notice that line height is a little less that twice the size of the font size, and that the margin on the bottom of paragraphs is the same as the line-height.If you just did those few things, your content would be immensely more readable. |
Is anybody solving really cool problems anymore? | mx2323: well,all of the things you are talking about requires hardware + software. which is more expensive, slower and more dangerous than building web 2.0 sites that are easily patchable.that's actually a very prohibitive point, as most startups we hear about nowadays use software because of its low bootstrap cost and economies of scale |
What became of Steve Yegge's "Rhino on Rails"? | capablanca: What became of Steve Yegge? |
What became of Steve Yegge's "Rhino on Rails"? | litewulf: I use it. I'm working on open sourcing it.I kind of worry that the timing for open sourcing it now isn't the greatest, since with the advent of all sorts of commonjs bits, people probably already have their own frameworks. Also, the implementation lags behind what Rails looks like now, so its a bit... weird. |
What became of Steve Yegge's "Rhino on Rails"? | tlrobinson: Note there's also ActiveJS: http://activerecordjs.org/I'm not sure if it's being actively maintained though. |
Why No Search? | RiderOfGiraffes: Bookmark it: http://searchyc.com/searchWorks brilliantly. For very rare exceptions,http://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Anews.ycombinator.com+s... |
Why No Search? | jacquesm: Feel free to ignore the 'hnsearch' link at the bottom of the page, the links RoG gave are much better. |
I want to host a HN Meetup... | sinzone: If you are in SF area, tell me if you need help!cheers! |
CSS/JS/SVG game IDE? | olalonde: If such an IDE was built, it would pretty much mean the end of Flash on the long term. So my guess is that there is a market for an open standards IDE. |
Am I crazy to port my Rails app to PHP? | sinzone: http://www.aptana.com/ |
Would you go to Iraq for a year and be paid $200k? | ximeng: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20100206/tts-uk-iraq-usa-contrac...Be careful if you go... |
What became of Steve Yegge's "Rhino on Rails"? | kmt: And how about node.js on rails? Anyone working on it? Maybe with MongoDB backend? It looks like a convenient fit to me. |
Review my event directory/calendar (and clone/fork it) | callmeed: Link: http://pixelcal.com/Source: http://github.com/bigfolio/pixel-calendar |
Why No Search? | marshallp: It's costs server time to create a search index, as well as coding time, and even then you'll always do a worse job than google can when ranking. On a public site, adding a google custom search box is far easier and betterWhich is the real question - why no custom search box on hn?Just do site:news.ycombinator.com on google |
Who's Hiring? | provy: Invite Media is hiring in Philadelphia and New York City.http://www.invitemedia.com/careers/open_positions.shtmlBig engineering problems, an amazing team, growing quickly, and free food/beer! |
Review my event directory/calendar (and clone/fork it) | romland: Just a quick note:Pixelcal.com feels like a parked-domain-with-links kinda thing. I guess it's the style under "Upcoming" and "Recently added". Just thought I'd let you know (didn't look further, but going back now) :) |
CSS/JS/SVG game IDE? | BasicObject: How about in the form of a browser plugin. Think Firebug. That would be completely amazing and it's definitely possible. |
Wait for the new I-phone or Nexus? (My Contract is up) | rms: Would you rather run the iPhone OS or Android?I myself would much rather run Android, and I think I'm going to wait 6 months for one with a keyboard with a faster processor than the Droid. |
Wait for the new I-phone or Nexus? (My Contract is up) | tocomment: Can you play mp3s on a Nexus? Is it as good as an iPhone? How do you transfer the songs to the phone? |
CSS/JS/SVG game IDE? | vitovito: Effect Games has something like this: http://www.effectgames.com/effect/It was posted to HN a while back: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=986196 |
CSS/JS/SVG game IDE? | ThinkWriteMute: It both saddens and annoys me that programming for the web requires: A styling syntax, a markup syntax, an ugly programming language, and a xml based graphic format. |
You must build a backlink index of the web. How do you do it? | randfish: We did exactly this at SEOmoz - built an index that's primarily focused on link data. It's accessible through a free API - www.seomoz.org/api - up to 1 million calls a month free and more at fairly low rates. Our index isn't quite Google-sized. Our last crawl (updated once per month) was 65 billion URLs, which we estimate is between 50-65% of Google's main index.I'm happy to answer any other questions you've got about it if you'd like. Feel free to email me (rand at seomoz dot org). |
Actual chances of seeing the space shuttle from afar | jacquesm: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/ |
Actual chances of seeing the space shuttle from afar | waterlesscloud: Scrubbed for tonight, so...no. |
Cases where software patents have prevented progress? | Daniel_Mietchen: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marching_cubes#Patent_issues |
Approaching day job's customers about startup? | swombat: Yes, it would be unethical. Simply put yourself in the shoes of your employer - what would you think if you were in their place? You've used the detailed business knowledge you gained through their business to develop a product that competes in the same space (it doesn't matter if it's not a direct competitor - it might be part of their future development plans). And now you're going to also use the contacts you made through your job with them to sell your new product!?Of course they'll think it unethical. I think the only way to do this ethically would be to leave your employment and either go full-time on your new product, or do some freelancing in your current industry to support yourself, or find employment in a different industry before you start approaching potential customers. I'd go for the second option, myself, if you can. |
Approaching day job's customers about startup? | _delirium: What kind of customers are we talking about? I think it's more likely to run into trouble if the customers are themselves large companies. If the customers are small---individuals or mom-and-pop restaurants or something---it's probably easier to reuse the contacts. That's just a guess, though. The current company would probably not be happy about it either way (though that's not necessarily determinative, because companies are unhappy about anything that remotely smells like competition, regardless of whether it's ethical or not). |
Approaching day job's customers about startup? | hga: I think it really comes down to the degree in which your idea competes or potentially does so with the company you are currently work for.If it's completely unrelated ... to come up with something wild off the top of my head, say you've noticed something that could improve the landscaping you see as you go to the targets' front door, and your company sells business software of some sort, sure, go for it with care and the points that _delirium made.But if it's something you could suggest to the company you're working that they add to their lineup, then you really need to separate from it before pursuing this. And states have very strong and enforceable laws about using the customer lists of your old company (note this doesn't have to be codified in your employment agreement), I'd consult a law library and lawyer for that. And of course if you live outside of California you may have to wait a year or two for a non-compete to expire. |
Approaching day job's customers about startup? | dkersten: As far as I know, many employment contracts specifically disallow the use of the employers clients regardless of if you compete or not - but I'd check your contract with your current employer. |
Is there an API for HN ? | jacquesm: Depending on the 'timeliness' you can scrape the google cache or you can ask Paul if it is ok to scrap HN directly. |
Is there an API for HN ? | Mark_B: Please don't think this a trollish answer but, why not just ask the people behind the various HN apps how they're getting their data. |
Hacking Android, what's out there? | nuclear_eclipse: The one thing to keep in mind here is that beyond the modified Linux kernel, there's not much if anything about Android that looks like a "traditional" Linux distro. Android has recreated a whole new userland toolchain on top of the kernel, centered around Dalvik (Androids' JVM). If you want a more traditional Linux system to tinker with, buy a N900 instead, which comes with a Maemo Linux distro.Most Android development in the actual OS level seems to be based around patches to the AOSP codebase. Cyanogen has created a github repo with his build environment/overlay, which supposedly should allow you to start hacking on the internals, and then build/flash that new image to your phone. Building on top of that, the NDK will at least allow you to write Androids apps in C/C++ that could potentially hook into any changes you make to the core OS build, and would give you the most options for tinkering how you like.I'd recommend the Nexus One for any Android OS work though, as Google made it trivial to gain root access from the bootloader and flash your own image to the system. If you really don't like T-Mobile, you could always wait a bit longer for Google to start selling the Nexus One in CDMA format for VZW. |
Is there an API for HN ? | tpyo: http://news.ycombinator.com/rss ? |
Is there an API for HN ? | grinich: I built the HN iPhone app. (http://michaelgrinich.com/hackernews/)Right now, it's all done via web scraping. I think others have used BeautifulSoup.py and similar tools to quickly grab content. |
Do you feel a need for reviewmyidea.com? | jheriko: Sounds like a good idea in principle, but what would prevent it from becoming "stealmyidea.com"? |
Ethics of writing HN conversation digests on my blog? | skennedy: The site is public and indexed by Google within hours. What ethical dilemma is there in quoting or analyzing what is public information? As long as it is not slanderous. If you are still feeling guilty, post a comment to the HN conversation and link to your analysis. |
Is there an API for HN ? | zachbeane: You can download the Arc tarball and read news.arc to see what's available. It's not up-to-date with the current version of Hacker News, but it will give you the general idea.The direct answer to your question is "no". |
Appropriate levels of email contact? | skennedy: Nothing changes if you do not voice it. Have you tried contacting the co-founders directly to express your view of their business practice? Good businesses(especially startups) constantly re-evaluate their business practices and how their user base perceives them. |
Steady 4-5% on $5 million? | skennedy: Without realizing the dreams of a penthouse or private planes in the immediate future, I would suggest you act like a 20 year old making their initial 401k contributions. Invest aggressively. Investments regularly hit 10-15% annual return. The downside is your investments are almost entirely tied to the unpredictable stock market. But in 10-15 years, you can cash out larger portions without touching the principle.If you want to play it safer with the 4-5% return, there are safer mutual funds to invest with. Less risk and less returns. But for arguments sake, will 4-5% cover the inflation you experience as you grow older? |
Steady 4-5% on $5 million? | joshkaufman: I'd use Harry Browne's "Permanent Portfolio" allocation - it performs as well or better than other passive portfolios while experiencing far less volatility. Here's a detailed analysis of historical returns: http://crawlingroad.com/blog/2008/12/22/permanent-portfolio-...It's also simple enough that you don't have to pay a tax/financial advisor exorbitant fees to manage your money - you can do it yourself, saving a lot of money in "wealth management services" you don't really need. Remember, you're a financial advisor's dream come true, and they'll try to sell you everything they can.Here's a review I wrote of "Fail Safe Investing," Browne's book: http://personalmba.com/review/fail-safe-investing/Here's more solid supporting information:
http://crawlingroad.com/blog/2010/02/06/permanent-portfolio-...Hope this helps! |
Steady 4-5% on $5 million? | pg: The returns you can get at a given risk are unfortunately not something you can dictate. E.g. I believe safe municipal bonds are now returning around 3% after tax. If you want to get more than that you have to buy bonds with a higher risk of default.But if you put all your assets in bonds, you risk getting burned by inflation. Over the long term, stocks have higher returns than bonds. But over short periods they can have disastrously lower returns. So experts generally advise you split your assets between stocks and bonds depending on how soon you need the money. The usual advice is to put 100 - your age percent in stocks. E.g. if you're 20, to put 80% of your assets in stocks. But of course you'd have to put more in bonds if you need some of the money to live on.The one question no one seems to talk about much is what to do when you have to invest a large sum at once, as you do. If your age implies you should put 70% in stocks, does that mean you should put 70% in stocks the next day? What if you're buying at a market peak? So whatever percent you decide to put in stocks, I'd bleed it in over a reasonably long period. Simulations would tell you how long a period; I'd guess years. |
Please review my Business Briefing | azeemazhar2: Oh. The link is http://bit.ly/Viewsflowdaily |
Please review my Business Briefing | romland: a) No. I don't think it's too simple. I mean, look at Twitter? :)b) I imagine people may want to personalize it, but I don't think that is something you need to worry about just yet. Keep it lean and mean. But that's my personal opinion.c) Get them to flag individual items in the mail they get (I want more of this, I want less of this)One thing I missed when going to the site was the ability to see what the last 2-3 days mails looked like. Before I sign up I'd like to see what I'm getting in to. :) |
Steady 4-5% on $5 million? | azeemazhar2: Rumpel
Wise thinking.I think you have a couple of issues you need to bear in mind.
The world is fundamentally broken. And most models you will read about were built for a different world.I suggested you read John Mauldin (a lot) his newsletter is at http://www.johnmauldin.com/outside_the_box.html
You need to now learn and understand about finance, what is wrong with the models and how to read the global environment. As an HNer you shd be able to do this. (You, for example, need to think about the liquidity you need)So rather than looking at a model, build up a picture of the world.That picture might probably be:
* 10-15 yrs of misery in the US with choppy equity markets and an ever weaker dollar. Assume a deflation type scenario
* Growth in China & Brazil but the danger of overeating
* Climate change play: climate change play is clearly a good 20-30yr trend but there is reason to believe that with the PDO we will see global temperature anomalies drop for then next 10-12 yrs, so over that time frame there may be a contrarian play
* Gold may be valuable but only to a point
* And will successive US governments try to eviscerate the dollar, there isn;t much choice for other central bankers but to hold the dollar
* Sovreign debt in Europe looks risky.With $5m you should aim for around 20-25 individual positions. Much of this can be done via ETFs with the right degree of portfolio balancing, and there are several services (which I can't vouch for) like alphaclone, which will help you do this.I would absolutely not follow the traditional route of the bulk of your assets follow US stock indicies--that worked in the post-baby boom years, don't think it would work now.However, I wouldn't understate the value of being able to get into a really good macro-oriented or special situations hedge fund. John Paulson's funds are a great example of this. They have returned 16-17% pretty consistently with a few bad years for 20 yrs or so. Allocating $500k into something like that is probably not a bad idea.It is abosolutely worth you find a good financial advisor (Sanford Bernstein or similiar) and put some of your assets with them to get access to their research & network. Your test should be: can they get me into a few reliable hedge funds, etc and do I get extra benefits. Yes: you pay 2% to get into a hedge fund, but if you get into a half decent one, you'll add a lot to your portfolio.In your position, my book would look like this:
$1.5 - $2m into a variety of hedge funds and / or private equity positions (at least 7-8 very reputable ones
$2m into a variety of ETFs ensuring you have good coverage of BRIC and non-US markets
$1m in liquids (USD, NOK, other strong currencies)You should plan to spend at least 1.5 days a month reviewing your portfolio, some of which will be daily reading of good business websites (NOT MARKETWATCH! or CRAMER). Plan on rebalancing no more than half-of your positions a quarted, any more than that and the markets are nuts or you have a trigger finger.Because ETFs are liquid you can get in and out when you like, with some price risk. So if you need to hire a private jet and take your friends to Ibiza, you can.Above all: trust no-one. Equip yourself to make your own decisions. |
Steady 4-5% on $5 million? | reasonattlm: These are unusual and unstable times. There are no easy low risk strategies that require little thought any more. Even being in cash bears unknown risks nowadays. So talk to the usual sources advised by other people, and find the place to park your capital that makes you happy. For now.Then put aside $50k. Use that $50k to learn to trade the market, and learn to read the market. Accept that you're going to lose it, and be happy that you have enough money to play with to trigger all the fight or flight reactions that you have to learn to overcome. It'll take you three years to wrap your head around it. It's a challenge. Aim to find a mix of the known low-risk trading strategies that can work for $5 million and for which 20%/year is more than reasonable. e.g. trading the ES opening gap.Everything else is either (a) trusting people and pot luck, or (b) not much better than a high interest back account, or (c) a lot riskier than it used to be given present geopolitics.If you want something done, you have to do it yourself. |
Steady 4-5% on $5 million? | Perceval: Take a look at goldbasis.org. It's a very simple way of taking advantage of overall economic growth, while alternatively protecting yourself against inflation and instability. Nothing fancy. |
Steady 4-5% on $5 million? | jakarta: I'm working as an analyst at a HF, here are some thoughts:1. First, be aware that most financial advisors make their money by charging you fees. These can come in a variety of ways, some will take a simple 1% off the top, others will try to persuade you to invest in CDs and other products like mutual funds -- the actual returns on these vehicles may be mediocre and the advisor may earn fees for selling you the products.So just be aware that their incentives may not be aligned with your goals of wealth protection.2. Decide if you want to be a passive or active investor.Passive investing means putting your money into index funds. John Bogle of the Vanguard Group has a series of books out on the topic, there is a slim one called The Little Book of Common Sense Investing.
-I'd recommend reading some of his work.Active investing is more difficult. To be honest, most people simply lack the time and effort necessary to invest intelligently in the market. They wont know how to read a balance sheet yet will buy the stocks of companies that they are familiar with. This is sort of like driving blind and it is not something I recommend.
-If you want some I'll suggest some books for this area, but like I said, it is something that requires a big commitment from yourself. |
Steady 4-5% on $5 million? | jacquesm: Definitely don't put it in the hands of third parties, keep an eye on people charging you for 'maintaining' your funds.Diversify.Be very careful, don't follow any advice, including any of this without triple checking.And remember that what 5 million today will buy you is a significant multiple of what it will buy you in 20 years.Inflation is hard on money that you've got, simply maintaining purchasing power is already an issue. |
Steady 4-5% on $5 million? | deyan: Quite frankly I am surprised by the tone of some of the advice here. I see the point for informing yourself, but following it should undoubtedly teach you to never try to beat the market and "do it yourself" - unless you plan to make this your life.Instead, I would shift the advice slightly to: inform yourself, find someone who knows this kind of stuff and give them your business, trusting but also verifying them. Far too many people think they can build that one model which guarantees success only to be burned. Granted, using a professional can still get you burned (uncertainty is a fundamental principle of our life and universe) but you at least increase your odds. |
Steady 4-5% on $5 million? | steveeq1: Good quote from Warren Buffett:
> You only have to do a very few things right in your life so long
> as you don't do too many things wrong.I agree. You don't have to be too bright to be a good investor. In the long haul, you'll be ok if you don't do something stupid. So aim for loss MINIMIZATION rather than profit maximation.Also, the markets are very, very tumultuous now and I believe it will get worse. The federal reserve just pumped a massive amount of US dollars in the system and the long term effects of this will be a staggering amount of inflation. So in my opinion, you should invest in assets that are not denominated in US dollars, such as gold bullion and other commodities.Beware of commodities that are traded fractionally. Meaning they sell you more of the commodity than they actually have.Finally, diversify, diversify, diversify. Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Beware of mutual funds that are diversified but charge exorbitant rates. Index funds have the same amount of diversification but at rock bottom prices.- SteverPS If you are worried about a major market crash (as am I), you might want to check out the Black Swan fund: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124380234786770027.html . |
Steady 4-5% on $5 million? | exit: what risk does someone with $5m confront of not seeing 2% ($100,000) annual return (before tax, adjusting for inflation) for the next 40 years?i ask because i'm going to spend the next hour or so fantasizing about being in the ops position. |
Steady 4-5% on $5 million? | portman: With all due respect, I think you're asking the wrong question.(a) Think of investments like a function with two inputs: risk and return. You've picked a desired level of return but haven't identified a desired level of risk, so by definition nobody can recommend an investment strategy.(b) There's no such thing as a "steady 4-5% annual return from $5 million" for any meaningful definition of "steady".(c) Where did 4-5% come from? Without understanding the thought process that went into those figures, it's hard to make any suggestions.If you want to get the most out of free advice on HN, I think you should rephrase the question along the following lines:"I recently inherited a little over $5 million. I am Y years old. I plan on working until I am R years old and expect to live until L years old. My current monthly expenses are M1 and I expect those to grow to M2 over the next 10 years. I want to use my inheritance to ______. What would you do with the money?" |
Steady 4-5% on $5 million? | crawlingroad: I run the site listed below on the Permanent Portfolio approach and saw all the hits coming in from this page. First let me say that if you want 4-5% a year you need to earn probably 8-9% a year. That's because you'll lose 4% or so just to inflation and taxes.Next, with that much money you will have many people that may want to take it from you. So go out and get an umbrella insurance policy that covers your net worth to protect against ambulance chasers.Also, you're going to have relatives and long lost friends coming and asking your for money for all sorts of things. I suggest you harden your heart and learn to tell them "NO" right now before you get burned. If you want to give them money, then make it a gift and not a "loan." Those types of loans are never repaid and if you are expecting them to be re-paid and they aren't it will ruin your relationship.Now for actual investing advice.First, you don't want to do anything stupid and lose that money. So be VERY conservative in your investment decisions. You do not need to risk 10-15% a year returns because you already are in the top 1% of net worth in the country at this point.Second, most financial advisors do not have your best interests at heart. They will sell you expensive products that generate fees for them and probably underperform the market. So your best choice if you want exposure to stocks is to just buy a low cost index fund and not get into the stock market trading game.Third, you will want bonds to work as fixed income and I'd only buy Treasury bonds as they have no credit or call risk. You don't save enough in taxes usually to make the risks of munis worth the price of admission. IMO. During the credit crisis in 2008 Munis went DOWN in value, but Treasury Bonds were up almost 30%. That tax savings people thought they had went out the window when the market panicked.Fourth, you should have some hard assets for inflation shock insurance in your portfolio. Gold works best. IMO. It doesn't produce interest or dividends, but it can go up like a rocket when stocks and bonds are suffering.Finally, you should keep a slug of cash sitting around to help you ride out market storms and support yourself so you don't have to sell assets out of desperation when they are down in price.So I do think the Permanent Portfolio allocation would be a good choice. It gives you growth with an average CAGR of 9-10% the past 40 years. It gives you protection with the worst loss being in 1981 when it lost about -4-6%. It gives you stability because it won't have crazy swings in value. Lastly, it gives you control over your finances so you don't need to use a money manager and pay exorbitant fees.For now, you may want to park that money in a very safe Treasury Money Market fund while you make your decision. They pay almost no interest, but it's better than jumping into something and losing your shirt. Don't let the financial advisors you're going to meet pressure you into expensive and dumb investment products. And, BTW, that's mostly what they're going to offer you.If this sounds like too much to handle, then just go to www.vanguard.com and contact their money managers. They charge a small fee each year but will not do anything dumb with your money and their index funds are well run and cheap. |
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