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If you didn't have to worry about healthcare, would you start a company? | eplawless: Fortunately, Canada has a sane policy on public health care and this isn't nearly the issue it is in the US. |
If you didn't have to worry about healthcare, would you start a company? | clueless123: Maybe the question is: if you didn't have to worry about healthcare would you leave your current job for something else.
In my career, I had lots of very sharp colleagues that had no choice but to stay at their "ok" jobs because someone on the family has more than average health needs. |
If you didn't have to worry about healthcare, would you start a company? | SamAtt: I have a friend who is self-employed as a web designer. He pays $269 a month for Health Insurance. That's lower than his car payment, house payment, monthly food bill, etc... In fact, by his own admission it's only $100 more than he spends at Starbucks every month.Health Insurance is a political issue that pertains to the poor who can't afford many of the things people on this board take for granted (like morning coffee). Anyone who has the means to quit their job and start a company also should have the means to pay for Health InsuranceAlso, if this was a huge issue for startups than wouldn't it stand to reason that Canada, the UK, France and others would have thriving Startup industries? Ones that far out pace the U.S.? |
If you didn't have to worry about healthcare, would you start a company? | DanielBMarkham: If I understand you correctly, a more interesting question would be "What are the reasons you are not jumping into a startup right now?"I'd love to see a ranked set of answers to that, organized along a timeline. Since there is so much politics infused in this, however, I imagine healthcare/health insurance is going to rank a lot higher now than say five years ago.As a historical note, every startup that I've ever know that started humbly had no health insurance (although the founders had plenty of healthcare). So it can't be a determining factor in success, although it may be a determining factor in attempts.On the attempt side, most startups fail, so anything you'd invest in them -- money, health insurance, food, lodging, etc -- is odds-on an overall loss. This is why raising startup capital can be difficult. If I had to pick a freebie to get from anybody, it would easily be lodging. You can do a lot with four walls and good internet connectivity. Much more than having some sort of insurance.In my opinion, of course. |
If you didn't have to worry about healthcare, would you start a company? | Tawheed: Has YCombinator or some other sort of startup incubator considered offering health plans for startups? We're a pretty uniform population, low risk, and probably a bit smarter about lifestyle choices. I could imagine a package deal (office space, funding, health insurance) DONE. |
If you didn't have to worry about healthcare, would you start a company? | tptacek: Before we had health insurance, we lost candidates over this issue. I don't have to speculate about it. The current US health care system retards startups. |
If you didn't have to worry about healthcare, would you start a company? | jhancock: I would adjust the question. Free healthcare can't exist. It costs something, either through taxes or your premium for insurance.A more appropriate question would be: "If health insurance were more affordable and you were not in danger of being dropped from coverage as a small company or individual, would you start a new company?" |
If you didn't have to worry about healthcare, would you start a company? | sachinag: By far the best thing about moving to Massachusetts for oneforty was the fact that I knew I could get reasonably priced health insurance that wasn't subject to recission through the Massachusetts exchange. (Of course oneforty isn't buying people's health insurance. We're barely seed funded.)Boston/Cambridge is no Valley, but it's certainly good enough. If health insurance is the one gating factor (and geography isn't), move here. |
If you didn't have to worry about healthcare, would you start a company? | surfmike: I purchased a $130 a month high deductible ($3500) health insurance plan before quitting my job. I am healthy and under 20, however. I do know people who are healthy but have been denied (not offered insurance at a higher rate-- flat out denied) because of past procedures. |
If you didn't have to worry about healthcare, would you start a company? | KWD: I've often felt that if you would remove health insurance from the employer-employee equation completely it'd be a financial boon for business. How many more employees could be hired, how much more could be put into product development, etc., etc., if one of the largest (and always growing) company expenses was not health insurance for employees.(I'd also like to see health insurance be at a national level instead of being regulated state-by-state, but that's another topic.) |
If you didn't have to worry about healthcare, would you start a company? | harry: Yes I would. |
Please review our garage startup | Scott_MacGregor: I know you were looking for beta testers and comments on the product, but I was so impressed with the page layout on the about page and use of color that I had to weigh in on that subject.Very talented use of color on the about page. I really liked the layout of the page from an artistic standpoint.The blue overcast on the main snow photo combined with the blue and grey effects applied to your personal photos really seems to work.Most of all I like the color bar at the top. On my big monitor it comes out as teal and light purple.I think that the color bar at the top alone would make a great brand logo for your company. Especially if you ever physically ship software to retail outlets. The color bar in my opinion is a 10--don’t lose it when you iterate.With your target market little details like that might make a big difference in sales.Hope your beta goes smoothly. |
Please review our garage startup | jlgosse: I open the about page only to see a screenshot of the beautiful Rideau Canal and the Chateau Laurier.Although this post has nothing to do with the product, I give you props since you're probably one of my neighbors and you definitely support http://www.startupottawa.com/P.S. Will you be attending Demo Night in Canada? |
Where to promote a product to non-programmers? | dasil003: webmasterworld |
If you didn't have to worry about healthcare, would you start a company? | lsc: eh, I use CORBA; meaning every 3 years or so I have to go get a w2 job for a while. pain in the ass, but not insurmountable. |
Please review our garage startup | Scott_MacGregor: The Obamify effect, LOL. I bet this little effect would be quite popular if more people knew about it.If this effect is not beta you could probably use this effect to publicize your company and get some sales. Using a special landing page and with a little money spent on a clever banner ad campaign like EVONY does you might get a decent amount of interest.The Obamify effect, LOL.http://www.citrify.com/2009/11/obamify-effect/ |
If you didn't have to worry about healthcare, would you start a company? | dpcan: You're thinking like an employee, not an entrepreneur.Employees stay at jobs they hate for 30 years because of their "benefits" (what a silly name for cheaper insurance) and the "hope" that they will get some retirement money.Entrepreneurs start companies because they know that if they do it right, and make a lot of money, these things will come as part of their ongoing successes. |
Startup co-founder doing consulting on the side, IP issues | jhancock: Here's what I did: Write your exclusions in the NDA or contract agreement. Be clear about what your doing with them. If your not a real competitor to them, they should go along with it. Negotiate this with the person needing your work, not their legal or HR people.I did contract work as chief architect for Fortune 100 companies while I was building up assets for my startup in the 90s. My work for these megacorps including my building and licensing them some of those assets with the understanding that I could continue using the IP on my own. I never had a problem. |
If you didn't have to worry about healthcare, would you start a company? | sriramk: This begs the question - what does the average YC startup do for healthcare? Do the co-founders find insurance on their own? Can a startup do 'employer-provided' insurance? What sort of work does it entail?I see some comments from tptacker regarding this but would love to hear from the wider YC community |
Please review our garage startup | jaddison: I'm quite interested in what the two of you have created - the reason being that I have a history in digital imaging as well. I'm not a big fan of Air (the Adobe kind), but what you've accomplished with it is impressive and I look forward to seeing what direction it will take.My partners and I used to work for a prominent Canadian digital imaging software company based out of Victoria, British Columbia (I won't mention names - it's safer that way). Since our time there, we've moved on to other things but eventually we rejoined to form our own company that created a digital photography product called Snapact (see more here: http://www.snapact.com/).We focus more on photo management and sharing, so I think that there may be possibilities for working together with you two - at the very least on co-marketing efforts.Maybe we should talk? If it leads to something, great. If not, no harm done. |
If you didn't have to worry about healthcare, would you start a company? | listic: Someone please give some leads for those who are unfamiliar with US health insurance system. I've been wanting to know how health insurance works for quite some time, but putting it off. |
Where to promote a product to non-programmers? | wgj: Identify the niche(s) that benefit from your service: real estate? restaurants? hobbyists? porn? Then go to where they hang out. |
Where to promote a product to non-programmers? | ScottWhigham: Adwords, I suppose. Webmasterworld and the various SEO forums are probably good as well |
Startup co-founder doing consulting on the side, IP issues | ScottWhigham: Personally I find it very odd that you ask this here instead of simply doing what I think is the logical thing and asking your co-founders what they think is appropriate/inappropriate. This is just weird to me. They should know that you are not making enough money and so this should be a collective decision. This is weird. |
Should I be worried about this? | ScottWhigham: Is it nicely done? Is it appropriate? I suppose I'd feel flattered first and then bemused followed by wonder - wondering all those things you mentioned. All in all, if the spirit is right, I'd embrace it. I think I would send a PM to the organizer asking if they wanted me to be involved in any way. That might be weird though. |
alternatives to EtherPad? | Alex3917: SubEthaEdit: http://www.codingmonkeys.de/subethaedit/This is what EtherPad was based on. The only problem is that it only works on OS X. I remember using it to take notes with a bunch of other people at the first couple Startup School events. I haven't really ever used it since, but I can say that it held up extremely well even with a dozen people typing as fast as they could all at once. |
alternatives to EtherPad? | aditya: If you're looking for collaborative code editors, Mozilla's bespin is (going to be) epic: https://bespin.mozilla.com/ |
alternatives to EtherPad? | spolsky: http://squadedit.com is a pretty similar service. The free version has too many flashing ads for my taste... hopefully they'll fix that! |
alternatives to EtherPad? | swombat: http://wave.google.com |
alternatives to EtherPad? | vsiva68: Sorry for this OT question, but does anyone know of a replacement for Omnisio (http://www.omnisio.com/)? They had great integration of slides and video and how you could browse to a particular slide.Another Google acquisition that hasn't seen the light yet. |
alternatives to EtherPad? | Spreadsheet: http://gobby.0x539.de/trac/ Gobby. |
Reasonable expectations for designers? | mbrubeck: I've been a front-end engineer for 8 years, and I haven't yet worked with someone who was a truly top-notch graphical designer and an expert-level programmer. (I'm sure there are some out there, but they're not easy to find.) The best projects I've worked on have always split that work between at least two people, though the exact division of labor differs. Sometimes the graphic designer just hands raw Photoshop files to the developer to implement from scratch, while in other cases the designer does the basic CSS and markup and the developer provides tools/frameworks and does integration work.I think the best situation is to hire a web developer and a designer who already know how to work together as a team. Web development agencies can provide that. Or hire a freelance developer who can subcontract or recommend a designer. |
If you didn't have to worry about healthcare, would you start a company? | earl: I bailed on a company with a great product idea because of health insurance.Basically, I have a congenital defect in my eyes that will lead, with about 20% probability, to very expensive health bills. This (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pigment_dispersion_syndrome ) if anybody cares. Therefore, I simply can't live without constant health insurance coverage on the off chance I require pretty expensive treatment -- drugs, then surgery if the drugs don't work. |
How do you inform users of new features? | duckbridge: Besides the normal stuff (newsletter, blog post, etc), I e-mail current evangelist users directly and ask them to spread the word. |
alternatives to EtherPad? | johnnyg: My preferred alternative to Etherpad, is etherpad.Etherpad is more popular than email in my office. I etherpad stuff, tag it with firefox bookmark tags and share it around. When this was announced, there was a literal, biblical gnashing of teeth.Etherpad guys, I'm happy you're exiting with style but I will miss you badly. And if I could pay you instead of missing you, that'd be peachy. |
How do you inform users of new features? | timzon_dot_com: Interesting subject.
I just finish posting about a new feature 5mn ago
1. I write a blog post about the new feature (http://blog.snapabug.com)
2. I send a link to the post through our Twitter (@snapabug)
3. I send a link to the post from our Facebook Fan Page.
I will then later, add this new feature description to our monthly email newsletter.
I'd be curious to know how others do it too. |
How do you inform users of new features? | vasconcj: on our site we have an "announcements" section on the profile page (first page user sees when they sign in) so we can post something there. We usually will like the announcement to a longer story (similar to a blog post) where users can comment and provide feedback. We also have public feedback groups on our site, so we'll often post the updates there as well as let some of the more active users know directly.
- Julio from Experience Project (http://experienceproject.com) |
alternatives to EtherPad? | DanBlake: While its not text based, check out http://flockdraw.com which is a multiplayer paint I made with @lunixbochs |
Reasonable expectations for designers? | replicatorblog: If front end work is important to your company and you want to invest in that competency I would suggest a little on the job training. I've been teaching myself a little more coding and the hard thing for designers is knowing what good code is. Design school training doesn't really get into many technical subjects, so sharing some websites, books, etc. with some of those ideas fleshed out would help a lot. If you can spare the time a code review would be another approach that could pay huge dividends over time. Imagine the situation was reversed, you knew how to use Photoshop passably, but were weak on aesthetics. What would you be looking for helpwise.If it isn't so important, then I would hire a front end engineer and outsource design work. You can find passable designers easier than passable engineers, IME. |
alternatives to EtherPad? | bprater: Looks like a great opportunity for someone here! |
IE Javascript Engine Simulator? | mbrubeck: I don't know of any emulator, but I've had success running IE under Wine on Linux, using IEs4Linux: http://www.tatanka.com.br/ies4linux/page/Main_Page(Note: Google currently has a malware warning for that domain, so take reasonable precautions, don't use an unpatched browser or OS...) |
alternatives to EtherPad? | blasdel: The best alternative to hosted Etherpad is "EtherPad Private Network Edition": http://etherpad.com/ep/blog/posts/pne-pricing-storeHopefully one of their former customers will leak it to the world. |
alternatives to EtherPad? | byrneseyeview: http://www.yourworldoftext.com/Try, e.g.,http://www.yourworldoftext.com/byebyeetherpad |
How do you inform users of new features? | sriray: At Arktan, we do the following,
1. Write a blog post describing the new feature.
2. Send a message using our internal messaging feature with a link to the blog post.
3. Send out a tweet with a link to the blog post.We have built a notification system, we are not using it yet, but we are going to use it for announcements.Srikanth
http://www.arktan.com/user/srikanth |
alternatives to EtherPad? | thesethings: I sincerely dig the word processor in Google Docs. It's quite good at handling multiple concurrent editors, and you can post to other platforms like WordPress from there.The recently added Folders feature is killer, and my Google Docs "list view" has started to become like an Inbox for me in the beginning of my day, as it neatly displays newly edited, and newly added docs. |
alternatives to EtherPad? | gfodor: I wouldn't be surprised if re-building etherpad would be a weekend project for a talented hacker, now that Wave is open source. The Wave protocol would allow you to replicate EtherPad pretty easily, you'd just need to build the appropriate UI on top. |
alternatives to EtherPad? | RedKnight: beWeeVee Notepad is a techdemo but it works. It does more or less the same as Etherpad. It also have an SDK to develop applications on top of the Operational Transformation Technology.The Url is: www.beweevee.com |
alternatives to EtherPad? | bnoland: http://collabedit.com |
If you didn't have to worry about healthcare, would you start a company? | sirsean: No, I'm young and healthy, and don't care about health care. I wouldn't go to the hospital anyway.Mainly, what's keeping me from doing it is that I'm doomed to obscurity and people tend to dislike me when they either see me, hear me talk, or read what I write.If anyone has experience overcoming those problems, I'd love to hear it. But "health care" is right around "what color is the sky?" on the list of things I worry about. |
alternatives to EtherPad? | norova: I have not had a chance to play around with it much and I'm not sure about embedding (it's late, I must be off to bed!), but take a look at Amy Editor: http://www.amyeditor.com/Edit: Here is a screencast of it in action: http://www.amyeditor.com/screencasts/collaboration1.mov |
Recommend a nice man-bag/briefcase | jason_tko: I use the Boa 3 laptop bag. It's a sturdy design, and my MacBook Pro 15" fits perfectly, and it even includes some pads for providing snug fits for smaller laptops.Plenty of places to put things, and it looks and feels very professional. It gives me all the practicality of a backpack, while looking sleek and professional.Here's a good review :http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4360 |
A site that allows you to create programs other people ask for? | erikstarck: There was a post about that on HN just a few hours ago. The site was http://www.builditwith.me/I am myself working on a project called Startup Garage where people will be able to collaborate on startup ideas and set up "virtual companies". We have a site up and running but the feature set is so far pretty limited as we are still very much in beta. Google us if you're interested. :) |
Should I be worried about this? | Mz: I think I would watch it periodically and if anything got posted that made me concerned, I would try to think of some way to set the record straight without turning it into an Issue. It might not even be appropriate to rebut something directly, just be aware that people are saying X and maybe try to use your normal pathways of communication to casually make remarks which "disprove" whatever is being said that is erroneous. (Jumping into the conversation to rebut something when you haven't previously participated in the group is generally going to come across as defensive, offensive, harsh....etc...and can do more harm than good.)Having fans seems like a two-edged sword to me. Look how ugly things can get when a Hollywood celebrity does something their fans don't approve of. Britney, Madonna and countless others have gotten lambasted at one time or another. Personally, I think Britney made a huge mistake when she created a reality show about her marriage. I think she was looking to "prove" to people that her marriage was a good idea and looking to get the approval of her fans. And when you do that, you signal they have a say in your private life. It's kind of like letting yourself get dragged into certain kinds of arguments: Doing so only convinces the other person that they have some "right" and that you need to "justify" your choice/position. In some cases, it's best to prove to folks their opinion doesn't actually matter by treating it as insignificant. Yet, at the same time, you have to realize that their opinion may not matter to you but can influence other people, so saying nothing may also be a huge mistake. Rebutting something without winding up in a Chinese-Finger-Puzzle-style social trap is an art and takes a light hand.Good luck with this. |
Recommend a nice man-bag/briefcase | Shooter: The bags I use are very sturdy and functional, but they're not exactly sleek or cheap:http://www.saddlebackleather.com/categories/79-SaddleBack-Le...I have a bunch of them (I bought in 'bulk' to give them as executive gifts one year, and I also bought several colors for myself. Turns out I only needed one for myself.) I could sell you a used one at a discount if you like them but price is an issue for you.Even though this is probably not the bag for you, I thought I would post about mine here, because the merchant can really sell and is adept at using storytelling. Look around on his website for customer action photos and story:http://www.saddlebackleather.com/19-saddleback-story |
The older you are, the more you want to see non-tech on HN? | RiderOfGiraffes: I am a counter-example to your musings. I'm 50 and have virtually no interest in non-tech on HN. That's not why I'm here. I'm interested in programming, science, math, and technology, and interested in topics such as psychology only insofar as they impact on usability.I do have very broad interests outside of technical topics, but regard as pointless and irrelevant here postings on consciousness, etc.Including this one.I've noticed in the past that whenever you try posting on topics outside of technical matters you are repeatedly ignored or flagged. Perhaps an alternative hypothesis is that while these things are of interest in general, they don't really belong here. The evidence seems to be against your hypothesis. Try applying some science and changing it. |
The older you are, the more you want to see non-tech on HN? | brk: Nope, sorry, I think you're totally off-base.I'm 36, and have been on the interwebs long enough to know where to find the other non-tech bits of interest.I prefer just the facts here. |
The older you are, the more you want to see non-tech on HN? | yan: Just curious, how old are you? |
Do you find developer screencasts useful? | jaaron: I don't mind a short screencast. In some cases, they can be particularly useful. However, they should never replace written documentation. |
The older you are, the more you want to see non-tech on HN? | count: Non tech on HN is called 'Reddit', you may have heard of it. |
The older you are, the more you want to see non-tech on HN? | quantumhobbit: Not the case with me. I'm 24 and I like reading all sorts of news on HN. The community here provides a level of commentary that you don't get at more general interest sites like reddit and digg. |
Do you find developer screencasts useful? | pwmanagerdied: I find screencasts most useful for getting a feel for new software relatively quickly. Seeing how an experienced used does things can get you started a lot faster than reading through docs until things click. To me their utility begins to decline after this. |
Do you find developer screencasts useful? | bcl: I don't like them. With a screencast I have to sit through it at the pace of the presenter. With an article I can read at my own pace and skim it if needed.ETA: Good point below, screenshots enhance an article more than a screencast would, for me anyway. |
Do you find developer screencasts useful? | adam-_-: I'm a big fan of screencasts but don't use them _instead_ of documentation. |
Do you find developer screencasts useful? | clueless123: IMHO, you can communicate a whole lot of information on a short screencast * if * it is well done. Like a long winding documents screencasts can be a bore.In my experience.. a well done screencast usually takes me longer to do that a written document. |
The older you are, the more you want to see non-tech on HN? | diiq: And to complete the anecdotal refutation, I'm 21 and I'm perfectly happy to see non-tech articles on HN, as long as it's pepper over the techy meat & potatoes. |
Do you find developer screencasts useful? | Asa-Nisse: No. There is no way to appreciate the information communicated because I cannot take it in at my own tempo (faster / slower). It's hard too see whats going on in the cast. More important it eats my time unneccessarily.I much more prefer screenshots with loads of text. |
The older you are, the more you want to see non-tech on HN? | clueless123: Disagree completely. I am ~ 50 and really enjoy the tech stuff. for fluff I can always go do digg. |
Do you find developer screencasts useful? | ct: I'd rather be able to skim and search/jump around through text than have to read through a video. Plus videos typically are fuzzy and hard to read what needs to be typed (I can't just copy/paste), and are a waste of bandwidth. |
Do you find developer screencasts useful? | dimarco: If it's a screencast for a framework, I'm all for it. Example being RoR. There are so many different files and different steps to take to get things moving, that hearing somebody else talk about it makes it easier for me.If your how-to documents are doing anything like teaching RoR, then I'd recommend a screencast or 2. |
Do you find developer screencasts useful? | aaw: I'd spend more time on the written docs, and I definitely wouldn't replace written docs with screencasts. Especially for how-to documentation, people want to skim first, then go back and follow the steps themselves, and the latter part is more difficult with a screencast.As a side note, I only really watch screencasts for stuff that I'm already very interested in. Watching a video means plugging in/finding headphones if I'm in the office and making a commitment of a couple of minutes. |
The older you are, the more you want to see non-tech on HN? | ct: You can always go to another website. I'd prefer websites to be focused. I'd want HN to be mainly about how to realize your dream in creating a successful startup. If I want hilarious stuff I'd go to YouTube, TMZ, etc. |
The older you are, the more you want to see non-tech on HN? | sixspeed: I'm 54 and come here first for the tech articles. But after lurking around for many months I've come to respect many HNers a great deal. So I also appreciate reading their thoughts and opinions on topics of the day. (healthcare reform, net neutrality etc.) |
Do you find developer screencasts useful? | dirkstoop: Jacob Kaplan-Moss recently wrote a series of really good articles about writing good documentation, I highly recommend reading them if you're about to embark on making technical docs:http://jacobian.org/writing/great-documentation/He subdivides documentation as a whole into more or less the following three sections:- Tutorials- Topical Guides- ReferenceScreencasts can work for Tutorials, and they can be used for marketing purposes, in which they're closer to topical guides but probably won't provide as much depth as a textual guide could.Imho. a screencast can be great as a marketing tool, but not so much as a learning tool. |
Do you find developer screencasts useful? | mark_l_watson: A few are, but in general I like two types of blogs:1. how-to articles that solve specific development problems I have run into2. thought-articles that expose me to a different point of view, even if I don't entirely agree with itI have enjoyed screencasts on slime+emacs use and some rails stuff. |
Do you find developer screencasts useful? | praptak: No navigation, no copy/paste, fixed speed, hard to do in parallel with actually monkeying with the product (the best way to learn anything :) ).They might have a niche for things that are heavily GUI-oriented. Click there, drag this from here to there, slide this slider - this is where I think screencasts might be both faster and clearer than narration + screenshots. But that's rather user- than developer-oriented. |
The older you are, the more you want to see non-tech on HN? | pasbesoin: I would suggest that age can bring focus. You may have various interests, but you get better and sorting one from another at deciding which gets attention when and where. You've seen more, and you've learned how to choose what gets attention. To be selective.This is different from the absorption of youth. It may actually get a bit harder to be so fully absorbed. But a bit easier to set aside an intriguing novelty that does not pertain to your current endeavors. |
The older you are, the more you want to see non-tech on HN? | ams6110: Your sentence Tech starts to look the same after you have seen so much of it. resonates with me a bit (I'm 43 and have made my living as a developer for over 20 years). What happens a lot is some old idea is dusted off and becomes a current fad. Sometimes this is because the old idea was a good one, but sometime it's because a younger generation is ignorant of history and why that idea didn't work the last time it was tried.So sometimes there a feeling of "What! That again??" when some topic such as "NoSQL" comes up, but that doesn't, to me, make tech in general less interesting. |
Do you find developer screencasts useful? | grk: I used to watch a lot of screencasts in the past years because of ~1 hour bus+train commute to work. It's a great tool to check out new things, or to get a fast intro. In this way, I enjoyed the New Relic screencasts - they were more about the general idea of how things work, not specific implementations.For figuring out how to do something, I find Railscasts great. But that's partly because when I want copy/paste and search, I can always go to ASCIIcasts.So, to for your problem: I'd like to be able to watch a screencast explaining the general idea of the app and a quick intro to developing with it, but for the specifics, stick to text. |
The older you are, the more you want to see non-tech on HN? | forensic: It's the opposite for me. As I get older I become more interested in tech stuff, and less interested in the general stuff. I used to spend almost all my time considering the meaning of life and all that. |
Common Lisp vs Clojure for web apps? | tumult: Either will allow you to do this. I imagine the only difference (in terms of existing features for your platform) would be 'generating JavaScript.'CL has Parenscript http://common-lisp.net/project/parenscript/ which is probably more powerful than whatever JavaScript compiler/macro/generator tools you would have to hack together yourself in Clojure.As for my own personal opinion, I would choose the Lisp that has tail call optimization.If you are willing to look into a third option, I highly recommend HOP from Inria http://hop.inria.fr/ which is a Scheme web platform with a true JavaScript compiler. |
The older you are, the more you want to see non-tech on HN? | dgulledge: One of the best things about HN is precisely that there is a core focus to it, but that it touches on many related topics. Some of the most valuable areas for exploration are where one field of knowledge meets another. Each sheds some light on areas of the other that haven't yet been explored.At 44, I'm backing up your argument. But honestly, I had already accumulated most of my eclectic intellectual curiosity a quarter century ago. Even so, I still browse the technical books at bookstores. Libraries are hopelessly out-of-date on anything technical that would interest me. I don't need the latest power users' guide to anything. I'm interested in new insights into building something that has never been done before. |
The older you are, the more you want to see non-tech on HN? | robotron: 38 and prefer HN focused on tech and the business of it. |
Common Lisp vs Clojure for web apps? | prosa: On the Clojure side, definitely check out Compojure, a Sinatra-style framework.http://github.com/weavejester/compojure |
Do you find developer screencasts useful? | tdavis: Screencasts can definitely be useful! Take the Compass screencast[1] for instance. When I first watched it I had no intention of using SaSS/Compass right then; it took me a few more months to find an opportunity to make use of it. What I did learn were the basics from a user's perspective. Sure, I could have read the API docs and browsed some example files, but why would I go to all that effort if I just wanted a gentle introduction to what it could do for me?I've tried watching other screencasts which try to actually teach you how to do something and I have a tendency to forget them almost immediately. Take a subject like Vim: it's much more efficient to provide tips in text if you actually want to teach people how to use them. I'm not going to pause a video and try to make muscle memory for commands right then, but I might remember a tip on how to do X and reference a blog post later.It's the difference between an "intro to X" and "how to do Y in X". Screencasts are great for gentle introductions; they're very difficult to make for anything more granular.[1] http://wiki.github.com/chriseppstein/compass |
Common Lisp vs Clojure for web apps? | wglb: Clojure seems likely to be able to plug into whatever Java libraries you might want to use. CL (in particular, SBCL) is used to power a number of web sites and they use Lisp all the way down. One of my favorites is http://wigflip.com/ that has a number of fun toys. Weblocks is a good CL framework. and there is support for Posgtress (as well as mysql, etc etc) available for CL.Check those out for that side of what you can do with CL.I am less familiar with the Java world, but Clojure seems to be very capable in that area. |
Common Lisp vs Clojure for web apps? | smanek: It really depends on you (and I say this as someone who just chose to write a huge CL webapp).If you have experience with Java - I'd probably go with Clojure. If you have a lot of background with Lisp (i.e., Slime/ASDF don't scare you) I'd go with CL. If you don't know either - just pick what's more interesting to you (but be aware there's a steep learning curve either way).On the CL side of things:-You want to use Hunchentoot as your webserver-CL-SQL for persistence-CL-WHO if you want sexp => HTML, or html-template if you want pure HTML templates-Parenscript is good for Javascript since code you write in Parenscript can run on either the server or browser (it makes it really easy to Ajaxify things, for example). But, if you're doing lots of really fancy JS and you're great at the language already, I'd stick with pure Javascript.-For JSON, I personally prefer YASON to cl-json, but take your pick (they're both fine). |
The older you are, the more you want to see non-tech on HN? | wglb: Good question, but for me Tech starts to look the same after you have seen so much of it. In fact, I think that the older you are, the less likely you are to browse through technical books in a bookstore/library. is really not true at all. I won't say my age, but I have been programming professionally since 1965 and always hit the computer section of bookstores first. (Sadly in apparent decline. My favorite was Borders, mainly because of their first store in Ann Arbor. It was more like a seriously overstuffed library with lots of big soft chairs and tables.) My technical curiousity is as great as it was when I was 12.Yes, my interests are quite varied and wide, and I have places to go on the net and elsewhere to explore them. I come to hn because i look for the serious technical discussions you find here and the startup and business focus.I am not interested in topics such as consciousness as I find them particularly undisciplined or worse. And not sure how that is influenced by our consideration of mortality. |
Common Lisp vs Clojure for web apps? | pmjordan: I'm biased - I generally prefer the Clojure way of doing things to CL (data structures, unicode, portability, library compatibility) but then the last time I seriously used CL was ~2006-2007, so things may have changed since.But, to address your requirements:* JSON: clojure.contrib.json* XML: clojure.contrib.prxmlI gather there are a JS generator and an SQL interfacing library in contrib as well, though I haven't used them. Worst case you can access any Java libs for those purposes.You also get to plug into any webserver that supports Java servlets, if that's an issue.The killer feature for server programming in Clojure is the STM though. It means you can multi-thread your server relatively worry-free without resorting to moving all your state out-of-process (e.g. all state lives in the DB). You still need to pay attention to synchronising I/O, but compared to manual locking of everything, STM is a piece of cake.(context on my perspective: I've delivered a Clojure-powered back-end server for a multiplayer Flash game for a customer, as well as made some minor short-lived web sites; clojure was great for all of those use cases - I'd link to them if I was allowed to put my name against them) |
Do you find developer screencasts useful? | systemtrigger: In video, your failures are magnified. As with text it comes down to quality, taste and respect for the viewer. The default in video is poor quality because poor quality is easier to make. Screencasts can be much more powerful than text, after all you have more tools at your disposal - you get to play with audio and the pictures move. The trouble is, to make great video you have to think very carefully about how you want to convey your message. How tight is your delivery? Is it well edited or can I hear you breathing into the microphone? Most people are terrible at delivering on even these basics of video. For people who respect the medium producing screencasts can be time well spent. Consider that there are right now myriad untapped markets on the web in which you can teach via video and charge for quality downloads. |
Do you find developer screencasts useful? | brixon: End users love them. Think how much TV people watch vs. how many books they read.For developers, use them for intro's and beginner material, but not a primary reference. Developers read a lot more than normal people. |
The older you are, the more you want to see non-tech on HN? | jeremymims: Some of the best ideas come from intersections of knowledge. I typically enjoy and learn something from articles that are not tech related but are still voted up by the HN community. |
The older you are, the more you want to see non-tech on HN? | ComputerGuru: I'm 21 and open to all things hackish and interesting, tech or not. So... nope. |
The older you are, the more you want to see non-tech on HN? | jhancock: I appreciate a wide range of topics on HN so long as the discourse is civil. I'm 40. |
Do you find developer screencasts useful? | Noodling: How about written docs with screen shots, some of which you can click to animate interaction snippets? |
Do you find developer screencasts useful? | chewbranca: Screen casts are usually hit or miss for me, but I have really enjoyed watching railscasts.com. I have learned a lot from those screencasts and I find that its easier to grep screencasts after you are more familiar with the authors style. |
Want to build a team for red balloon? | keltecp11: Quick Tip: Team up with Trucker Blogs. I am just guessing but I bet there are about a thousand trucker related blog sites and forums... they say the balloons are near major roadways... ummm can you think of anyone better to team up with? You can count me in for five grand of the findings for this tip :) |
Which US tech events in Jan-April are worth going to? | notauser: Click-able link to a map and more information: http://theplanis.com/trip/I'm really impressed with how well Raphael JS works for animations - getting it working on IE6 only required one tweak. |
Common Lisp vs Clojure for web apps? | francoisdevlin: I say Clojure, because I would be hard pressed to think of a platform better than the JVM. Garbage collection, speed, deployment are all top notch in java-land.Postgres support will probably be easier w/ Clojure, because everything is writen in terms of JDBC. Postgres is also routinely integrated w/ clojure apps.Clojure supports xml parsing out of the box, and there are json abilities in clojure-contrib. |
Do you find developer screencasts useful? | kstenson: I think screencasts are as good as the presenter. The best screencasts are much like a good 10 min pitch. They should tell me the problem, show me the solution and leave me excited and wanting to find out more!One of my favorite ever screencasts was Rob Conery's on BDD with C# with the MSpec framework[http://blog.wekeroad.com/mvc-storefront/kona-3/] It was put together so succinctly that it really clicked with me what BDD was all about and I came away wanting to download the tools and learn more!If your screen cast is on Vimeo you could add the little bookmarks on the video time line. This could help users skips to sections appropriate to them. |
Do you find developer screencasts useful? | nzmsv: What if instead of doing a traditional screencast or traditional howto, you create a hybrid. A how-to document with a short video explaining each section of text. That way steps that are trivial can just be read through, and where a demonstration is needed, the user can watch the video.The problem is, of course, that few people will find the same steps trivial, so you'll have to do double the work (video and text). On the other hand, this will solve the problem of pacing. |
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