Big big upvote. This works much better than the passive-agressive method of silently glaring and cleaning your screen in front of co-worker.

Here are more examples of the same technique:

"This is totally my own OCD, but it drives me crazy if..."

"Just a sec, I have to apologize, but..."

"It's probably just me, but it kills me when..."

(Don't forget to smile and be apologetic, tone is key)

Damn, what a bunch of sissies. Don't apologise for stuff that isn't your fault, tell them not to touch your screen. No need to make an excuse. Don't be rude, but don't be ridiculous over the top apologetic either.

Well, I think the reason most people try to be nice/humorous is that the screen-poker is generally not aware that they are doing something wrong. They view their computer as a piece of furniture--something that sits on their desks.

Making a joke or lighthearted comment is a lot more effective than saying "hey there, I know you just use your work computer for MS Office, solitaire, and Facebook, but I care more about this computer than most people care for their children. Keep your dirty mitts off of it."

They'll probably never understand why you care so much for your computer, so it's better just to pretend you have some 'weird' issue with people touching your stuff.

If they are not an asshole "please don't touch my screen" is all you need to say.

The iTunes/iPhone asks your permission before sending crash reports. If the original article is true, then palm is potentially in for a backlash. This kind of information transmission should clearly be opt-in.

The article states that it is covered in the privacy policy.

The operative word was "should"

His definition of entrepreneur is different from what we normally think of tech startups, but even for tech startups, Portland surely ranks high. I've lived there and at one point was a late state startup employee. It's got the moxie and atmosphere for it, but it still doesn't have the surrounding ecosystem like Silicon Valley or even Boston.

That being said, in my list of best cities for startups, Portland makes a good case for 3rd place.

Quality of living is super high. Combined with a reasonable cost of living, it's a fantastic place to live.

I think Silicon Valley, Boston, Seattle, and NYC are in the top four. Except for the Valley, people argue about which city is in which spot for 2-4 (they all have their niches), but it seems unlikely that Portland -- although it's a wonderful place to live and a solid runner-up -- could make a solid case for the top four.

pg mentioned that half of the early YCs died. I think with traditional VCs, I've heard more like 90% failure. Ron Conway (the angel) said that it's thirds for him. (1/3 of investments lose it all, 1/3 return the money, 1/3 have some kind of successful exit)

I recall Jessica Livingston defining "died" as "founders stopped working on it", which I think subscribes to the while there's life there's hope school of optimism (which is very appropriate in my opinion, especially when many startups only become successful after they've completely redefined their business. Is it "the same" startup? I dunno, but it's the same founders, and that's what YC funds.)

But it also means that "I'm not dead yet" doesn't necessarily imply "successful". I think relatively few YCs have been bought out/received further funding; and I would guess for most of them, to be realistic, it's simply too early to tell, because of the above.

Mac OS X, safari 4, Doesn't work. When I copy parts of a story, all I get are a couple of blank lines.

Mine is working with the same setup, are you sure you don't have any script blocking activated?

edit: You have to use CMD+C to make it work, not the mouse buttons.

Joel uses his articles as marketing tools. FogBugz makes money and CityDesk is part of that industry that died.

How is CityDesk part of the dead industry? I thought it was basically blogging software. That industry was just being born at that time.

It was Site Publishing software written as a Windows GUI application that generates static files.

At least it wasn't as mindbogglingly stupid as Dave Winer's MacOS/Win32 desktop/server programming-language/blogging-platform/outliner floor-wax/desert-topping

A Maker's marketing can be more interesting than a non-Maker's reporting.

If I applied, I would definitely make a video, even if noone looks at. PG has mentioned multiple times that it's statistically helpful. If it comes down to you and some other guy who didn't make a video, I'm sure the extra effort is noticed.

Sounds like a good risk/reward profile for my effort to me.

I'm convinced one of the most valuable tricks Joel picked up in his long career is that of producing "truly engaging writing."

Vision statements are common sources of yawns, but Joel doesn't ever let that happen.

I agree; How does one go about learning how to do that?

Clear thinking is neccessary for clear writing. For stylistic help, read "On Writing Well" or "The Elements of Style." The best advice in there is to simplify, which is the opposite strategy of the dreaded "business-speak" style.

It also helps to have some personality and humor. You get that by reading funny writers, laughing, and loosening up.

Everyone who replied to you recommended practicing by writing. I would say practice by SPEAKING. Writing is clarity of though + inner voice. "Pitch" your goals to friends and family, one at a time, and run to the keyboard that moment when everything clicks and you have your most powerful tone. You would be surprised by the quality of your writing then.

I even use casual associates; I call them out of the blue months later to catch up, and when it's time for me to answer the "so what you been up to" question, fireworks happen.

A big part of learning to write well is just doing a lot of it. For me it came in two parts:

- A history of long mails with my best friend (literally totaling several thousand pages)

- Blogging – and not the boring vanilla blogging, but actually building up essays

Being able to write well is really an ace in the hole. I mean, think about it – we know who people like Joel Spolsky and Paul Graham are because of their writing, not because of their software. The software just lends them some credibility when they decide to write about it.

- You need clarity and good english. A decent source of this is BBC radio 4.

- Humour which is just a case of reading/watching a lot of funnies and generally understanding humour.

- Self-deprecation, grow thick skin and loosen up. ;)

- But most importantly you need some STRONG opinions.

Creative inspiration is required to write the best stuff and strong opinions will mean you are more inspired to write about particular topics. Find those topics, use all of the above skills and then suck for about 5 years until you get good at it! :)

Practice.

The EngineYard Contest is becoming a lottery of smarts. The ability to build or find the best solution increases your odds.

And yet: the human and CPU effort expended will exceed the prize value by many multiples, which is why I consider this the Swoopo of computing contests.

And for those concerned with such things: think of the carbon footprint! <:gazes down at the co2stats insert at the bottom of every HN page>

I doubt a contest like this is really about the prize for many people. It's an opportunity for people to play around with code and learn.

For just about everything non-media, I use mercurial to a colosite. Works fantastic. Big media files (movies, iTunes Library, etc.) are backed up locally to a big data server.