Hacker News on 19 February 2008

• Why are the Microsoft Office file formats so complicated? (And some workarounds)
• Scribd launches new platform and iPaper
• Fidel Castro retires
• Top 10 Application-Design Mistakes
• Startup School 2008
• Memcachedb (db) is a distributed key-value storage system designed for persistence
• Duncan Watts vs. Malcolm Gladwell: Mathematician turned sociologist challenges "Tipping Point" idea.
• Ask YC Poll: Which is your favorite YC startup?
• Yahoo Launches World's Largest Hadoop Production Application
• 8 Big Eating Mistakes You Are Still Making