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Is anyone doing any significant work with the play framework?
masterbranch: Hi. We use Play! Framework in production since a year ago.We have two sites, http://www.masterbranch.com which is a site to manage developer CVs and track your open source experience in your CV. The other one is a network about developers, sysadmins, web designers (this one is in spanish) http://es.debug...
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
cperciva: I don't normally mention this stuff, but since you asked...* I started at university when I was 13.* I won the Putnam Competition.* I hold a world record for computing Pi.* My bsdiff binary patching tool is used on tens of millions of computers and has saved several hundred human-years of waiting for software...
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
kksm19820117: * I built a distributed search engine for my final year college project, when my teachers and friends told me I was taking on too much. It survived two project mates walking out, and some rather dumb ones pushed in. I got a 97 for it, and consider it THE accomplishment of my college years.* Wrote an index...
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
patio11: I once saved a five year old from drowning in six feet of water. Boiling water. While naked.(OK, technically speaking ~45C, not boiling.)
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
bozmac: I created an appointment system and all its related subsystems from scratch in 7 days. The online part is on passport.com.ph
Review my app: BlogRadio
chanux: Then click "Install Now" to get the BlogRadio Desktop ManagerIs it just me or the term 'Desktop Manager' kind of confusing in this context?.BTW, Nice work.
List tasks you outsource and to whom?
patio11: Hmm, I should probably do this as a blog post. Oh well.CD duplication and delivery: SwiftCD. Every time I release a new version of the software I send them an image of the CD, and every time I sell a CD a service I use called e-junkie (which wraps Paypal's and Google's transaction notification API on my beha...
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
buro9: * I fixed a Brit Award for Best Newcomer in 1998 (Belle and Sebastian) using social engineering* I built the consumer site for BTopenworld almost single-handedly in 6 weeks (CMS and portal from scratch in TCL), it was live for 7 years before being replaced* Recently enjoyed a 97.5% mark on an MSc assignment* Sur...
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
cromulent: I survived being hit in the head with a running 110cc chainsaw. Minor flesh wounds only. Is that cool? I'm not sure.A friend of mine won the Nobel peace prize and then lost it in a bar afterwards. I wish I could say that.
Is anyone doing any significant work with the play framework?
BonoboBoner: I am moving from Grails to Play, because i can no longer deal with the half-assed-ness of Grails. It is so buggy and those issues shine thorugh to my product. It is hard to break-dance when walking on eggs.>> The only thing I find missing is not really a problem with play! but rather a limitation of Java.....
how do you promote a niche socail network?
shafqat: -Do you have a blog? Starting writing. Share the contents via RSS, Twitter, FB etc.-Do you have a twitter account? Start following relevant people, get involved in discussions, share your link (don't spam).-Write to bloggers/journalists who might be interested in covering social networking sites (mashable?)-Si...
How do I get the word out on my data mining report
ig1: Write an article about about it and submit it to photography magazines, techcrunch, etc.
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
Chirag: * I have been to all the states(28 states and seven union territories) in India* At one time I have worked on 4 start-ups at a time* I have donated Rs2000(Almost $50) to a begger* I have programming my self and taught my college professors
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
petervandijck: Rode a bicycle (that I constructed from parts) through the jungle of Congo for 2 weeks. Got a rare form of Malaria. Rode it back.
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
AN447: * I paid off my parents mortgage (age 20)
How do I get the word out on my data mining report
ScottWhigham: Shoooooooot - that there is some tech-nickel words there. I have a D90 - glad to see it seemed to do well but whoa... Well over my head what all those charts and such mean/do/tell me.I'm with ig1 - you need to write an article (maybe multiple) and submit to others. I would suggest you really work to make ...
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
k0n2ad: I woke up on time this morning.
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
RevRal: Though, not something I did directly.... Two teachers have named their children after me, is what I'm most proud of.
Specific feedback on GoDaddy / Rackspace
ScottWhigham: I'm unclear: are you looking for suggestions (a) after you have funding and can afford whatever is best for you, (b) before you have funding and are boot-strapping, or (c) during business planning so you can more accurately do financial projections and/or sound impressive to potential investors? The answe...
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
hunterjrj: * two chicks at the same time
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
arethuza: I grew up in a fishing village in the north of Scotland - when I was 19 one of my school friends insisted that I experience what it is like working on a trawler in the North Sea.After a few days of sea sickness, hard work, lack of sleep, and fear I probably would have shot myself if someone had given me a loa...
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
froo: * I lead the charge in 2008 to win the Best Act Ever award for Rick Astley at the MTV EMA's* I was the youngest competitor at a car rally event here in Australia, competing against the likes of Sir Jack Brabham. (side note, we managed to get the porsche off the clock at nearly 300 km/hr)* I designed a forced indu...
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
paraschopra: * I don't brag
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
duck: And I thought developers don't brag...
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
wdewind: I didn't read the word "Examples:" for a second and thought those were all your accomplishments until I read [Insert Title]. Was about to just quit and go home lol.
Review my app: BlogRadio
tirrellp: Thanks for the input
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
The_Plague: I have seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I've see C-Beams glitter in the dark by the Tannhauser gate.
Is anyone doing any significant work with the play framework?
mnml_: Playframework is just great..
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
petervandijck: I remember having a list of things I wanted to achieve when I was younger. Let's see:- Win the nobel prize. (not yet)- Write a book. (done)- Travel the world (not totally done, but I live in South America now)- Be Time magazine's man of the year (it's a bit of a cop-out, but done: http://www.time.com/tim...
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
mdg: I used to shoot hoops with MJ
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
philh: When I was thirteen or so, I got a job offer for independently inventing AJAX. Everywhere I looked at the time said you couldn't read data from the server using Javascript, but I realised that if you opened a new window to a separate page it could be done.I didn't take it anywhere, and later (after people discov...
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
Freebytes: It is sad that when thinking of my own achievements, I first tend to evaluate my 'virtual accomplishments'. These are tasks related to programming, design, etc. that have no actual existence in the real world. These are related to creativity. However, when referring to real life, I have nothing to mention...
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
drtse4: Mandatory up-vote. This could become one of the best thread on hn ever. Nice idea niqolas.
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
b3b0p: My dad was responsible for the blue diamond marshmallow in Lucky Charms.As for myself, I have zero debt, no outstanding loans at all, including no car payment and no mortgage.
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
aaronz3: Two chicks at the same time!</e-peen>
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
pnelly: I once kicked a tin foil sandwich wrapper into a bin on the street from my hands at about a 10 foot distance without losing a step. Unfortunately nobody witnessed the most glorious moment of my life, and I looked around with massive futility to find someone who actually noticed. The moment after my most glori...
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
mbenjaminsmith: * was a guitar prodigy in my teens* almost got booted from college for publishing the president's dirty laundry on Paul Schrader's dime* had 3 top 40 songs with my band on the radio (alt top 40)* founded a pr agency at 26* had my own newspaper column before 30* got a client 25 minutes on cnn int (valued...
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
jgrahamc: Whether you consider these things amazing is up to you, but I'm happy about them.* I obtained a government apology for the mistreatment of Alan Turing* I wrote an original book* I went to Oxford after my state school told me I wasn't up to it, I stayed and did a doctorate there* I learnt to swim when I was 21...
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
moollaza: * Grade 9 (age 14) I Raised $3500 for the Stephen Lewis Foundation (Fighting Aids in Africa), I was the 2nd highest fundraiser (A gr.12 beat my be $50) But b/c of our fundraising we (the Gr.12 girl and I) got to hand Stephen Lewis (the United Nations' special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa) a giant cheque for $...
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
aaronz3: * Owned my own incorporated business at the age of 15 (Looking back, it was kindof dumb. It was essentially just freelancing with a shitload of paperwork attached). I dissolved it at 18 when I went to college.* Self taught every programming language I know (Started with BASIC, then JavaScript and PHP, did so...
Review my app: BlogRadio
sjs382: Awesome page. Love it. An audio sample would be a great way to really show me how good the service is though :)
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
edw519: I strongly believe in initiative, achievement, and success, but for some reason, I find this thread a little troubling. Not because it's bragging, but because it's seems to be mostly about "me me me". I'd rather hear people brag about what they've done for others.At the time I write this comment, most other c...
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
Mc_Big_G: The first application I ever wrote, theoretically saved the company $10.2 million dollars.I was working as a systems administrator at a Big 3 automotive supplier and identified a gap in our million dollar production system. If we ever lost connectivity, the system would be useless and the off-line backup sys...
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
Femur: I create adventure. I leave slain dragons in my wake. I build monuments, plant flags, discover wonders, and lead armies.I sing duets, dance tangos, and play concertos.I cook banquets. I wheel, make deals, and strike bargains. I purchase fruit in large quantities. I partake and imbibe. I articulate, expound, and ...
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
yourdaddotmom: My girlfriend and I never come less than 3 times each per fuck. Multiples are the best. If we are masturbating we can we can each come about 10 times in less than an hour. Go figure.
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
wallflower: I think this is relevant to this (sometimes justified) accomplishment boasting here."A truly rich man is someone whose children runs into their arms even when they're empty""My daughter one time said... We were leaving church, like a church party. We were driving home, in the car. And she didn't want to go...
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
borism: I've read this thread half-way trough :)
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
zackattack: Sold my web app for 5 figures as a sophomore in college.
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
jayair: I'm gonna brag about my co-founder @fanjiewang. This is what I filled out on our YC apps.* Co-starred in the film Air Hockey (2005), which was played at the opening ceremony of 2006 Air Hockey World Tournament hosted in Las Vegas (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2390531/).* Faculty upper year scholarship for Univers...
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
thibaut_barrere: * I started programming computers at 6 and I still love them :)* I traveled all around the world in the french navy (http://carnet-escale.chez-alice.fr/JDA/escales/carte.JPG)* I left the french navy to do IT despite having a lifelong contract there* I'm about to move to the country-side with my family ...
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
avigdor: I lived and worked in Afghanistan, great country, guys. ^^
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
pasbesoin: I initially opened this thread with trepidation, as I don't generally like bragging (from others or myself). However, I find myself quite enjoying the responses.It's reaffirming to read of these abilities and how they were NOT sidelined by mainstream or environmental pressures.I became friends in college wi...
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
zaphar: * I never graduated college but somehow ended up working for google* I survived and kept a roof over 3 kids and a wife while only making 10'000 one year. (in USA) --- Did the same with 4-5 kids while technically homeless and out of work.* I'm raising 5 amazing children with an incredible wife* I've taught mysel...
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
heed: I've done nothing.
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
proexploit: * Bought my first house at 21 (Not outright, but I was the only one of my friends at the time near owning a home).* Skipped college and immediately started working full-time ... for myself. Nothing beats not having a boss to answer to.* Ranked a German company between #1-3 in Google.de for 19/20 very compet...
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
davewasthere: I've been locked up in a Russian prison while travelling. Met the local Mafioso. Ate great Borscht.Haven't seen a winter since 2006. I chase the sunshine around the world by doing mini-migrations to avoid the cold.I learn a little bit of the local tongue everywhere I go. Can say 'Thank you' in around 30 l...
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
mixmax: * I've arranged big underground raves with international DJ's* I've successfully started a bar in Ibiza from scratch* I learnt PHP, javascript, SQL, CSS and HTML from scratch without any help* I hold three patents* I've done three startups* I survived an English boarding school* I bought a boat that I live on, ...
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
kuldeep_kap: Trying to raise a start-up since last two years with a laptop, which is broken in the middle and I have to use a support each time when i work on it. Needless to say it's also a v v v very slow one.
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
binarymax: Lived in and managed software teams in 3 different countries.Logged over 2000 offshore sailing miles.Learned to code when I was 7.Sold a work of art at auction when I was 8.Tied for 2nd place in a senior high national chess championship.Have survived 3 near-death experiences.
What are the essential skills for a web developer?
ahmedaly: Hello, Thank you all for your answers!I was asking about if I should learn frameworks like zend.. and if there is any other new tools, or skills that I should learn.Your answers helped me a lot, thank you all.
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
sev: Not much compared to others here...* Won the Bank of America Computer Science award in high school.* Have only worked in my field of study and interest (comp sci)* Had a $20/hour job at age 18, which was my second job. First being one at $15/hour.* Two years later I asked for a 50% raise, got declined, quit, they...
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
chegra84: * Taught myself pascal at 12 and many other languages since * Skip a grade in primary school * Got a 82(top 10 uni in UK) for MSc dissertation * Discovered the British museum algorithm while meditating * Sold tamarine balls when I was 5 for a quarter
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
japherwocky: I play in a band, and last night we posted our first youtube music video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-KbQv9qB9o
What can you do with a "feature" for other's products?
pbhjpbhj: >What can one do with such ideas, except patent and try to market them to the most probably beneficiary?That's your answer though. Or if you're feeling benevolent you could just publish them.
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
adrianscott: * Graduated university at age 16, Math PhD at age 20 (RPI)* Performed with New York City Ballet* Sang with Placido Domingo* Founding investor in Napster* Credited as a pioneer in social networking, founding pioneering one in 2001, which heavily influenced Friendster which led to myspace, facebook etc.* Ac...
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
tirrellp: http://www.podblogr.com
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
Qz: * I biked 5000+ miles across the US, in high school* I've traveled to 6 out of 7 continents* I've managed to stretch undergrad out into a seven year fiasco
How many startups exist in the US?
CoryOndrejka: Lots of info at SBA: http://www.sba.govKey facts from http://www.sba.gov/advo/stats/sbfaq.pdf* 99.9% of all US businesses < 500 employees* 29.7 million total businesses in US* Approximately 600,000 new businesses start per year (and that number is relatively constant)
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
jamesbritt: I played at CBGB.
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
uptown: * Worked on the special effects of Starship Troopers.* Built an ecommerce site that has handled over $2 million in sales.* Went snorkeling with a couple of American actors in Australia during my honeymoon.* Ran the website for a non-profit film festival for the past 6 years bringing movies to a town that is abo...
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
mo34: I invented walking and chewing gum at the same time
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
noodle: * standard "taught myself" a lot of various tech skills. i like to solve problems with an arduino where applicable.* had a brief career as a professional martial artist many years ago. you could also technically say that i was a professional magic: the gathering player, too.* i technically dismembered my left...
What do you think of my site 40hr Monkeys
ihumanable: I think, and I could be wrong, but it seems like there is a mistake in your markup.The Good Day link executes "javascript: rateUp(id);" The Bad Day link executes "javascript: rateMiddle(id);" And the LMAO link executes "javascript: rateDown(id);"This could be all well and good, it just seemed odd to me.Oth...
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
davidedicillo: * keep trying
Founders from Non-IT/Programming Backgrounds
pascalchristian: Wow, I did not read this, I just started a thread very similar to this one. I am a self-taught coder myself, and since I dont live in Sillicon valley, I really wonder how is the attitude to non-tech founder in valley? From what I read in HN it seems that PG hates them with passion; how bout other early...
How can a non-technical/non-CS graduate enter the high tech business?
djb_hackernews: You have to ask yourself what a CS degree would make different. You have an idea, you have a prototype. That should be enough for angel funding or recruiting a more technical co-founder.Also, a pet peeve of mine is when people call their programming code "a code". My poem isn't as pretty when compared t...
How can a non-technical/non-CS graduate enter the high tech business?
fjabre: Definitely not.. I have a CS degree myself but some of the best coders/entrepreneurs I know did not get a CS degree.. I might add that it's more important to understand what the technology is capable of than how to make it work. You can always find someone to help you make it work later on after you've fleshed ...
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
jarsj: - I quit Google after hearing Steve Jobs Speak.- I won an IBM thinkpad from IBM.- I wrote a program that could sing.- I was slapped by a girl at the streets of Kolkata for wishing her good night. I was drunk.- I am doing what I love.
How can a non-technical/non-CS graduate enter the high tech business?
samratjp: It helps to have a CS background, but you can still thrive. I was in your position a few years ago, but I had enough time in college left to get a CS degree.Some thoughts: 1) You develop a deeper appreciation for the "simple" stuff. It's like this: you turn a wheel around slowly to study its intricacies, appr...
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
benologist: * I've traveled to several continents* I've seen the olympics on TV* I've built a start-up from scratch and it's indexed by Google* I use consumer eletronic devices used by over 10m* I've watched feature length motion pictures [Many Titles]* I've had a lot of funny life experiences* I've seen pictures of Vl...
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
dnsworks: * I rented out a warehouse, filled it up with 1/2 dozen hackers and musicians, built some bedrooms, a stage, a sound system, a recording booth, a server closet, got a fractional T3 installed, and threw bi parties which covered 60-70% of our rent, essentially lived rent free for three years.* Built an applicat...
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
darkxanthos: * Wrote a 30 day blog that was read by thousands of people and inspired many (several of whom saw fit to befriend me on Facebook)* Work full time as a software engineer with a 6 figure income without having gone to college.* Organizing the Seattle Alt.NET Conference for 2010 (looking to be around a 100 per...
What Unit Testing Framework do you use for C?
nwjsmith: I use minunit. It's _very_ simple (only 3 lines of code), but it get's the job done.http://www.jera.com/techinfo/jtns/jtn002.html
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
drawkbox: I was pleasantly surprised when after 2 yrs in the game industry (promo games industry before that) and my first lead development role was on ESPN X Games SnoCross for 2XL Games and ESPN which just happened to be the first game shown on the iPad on Jan. 27th, 2010, up on stage by Scott Forstall.We had no idea...
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
matwood: * I was the computer science grad student of the year back when I was in grad school* I am a member of Upsilon Pi Epsilon http://upe.acm.org/* I've been to Tokyo and competed in the web service composition challenge* I have climbed 2 out of Colorados 53 14ers so far. My goal is all 53 in CO and then the North...
One startup at a time?
pascalchristian: I think you should look at the problem as an investor: which startup has the best idea/product/market-fit/potential?
What Unit Testing Framework do you use for C?
audidude: I love the g_test_* stuff in libglib. It can handle various types of tests (slow, fast, perf, etc). Runs them in sub processes. Generates reports. Easy to use. I also love the assertion helpers included for easy readability of the errors.Docs: http://library.gnome.org/devel/glib/stable/glib-Testing.html E...
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
noonespecial: I single handedly posted a submission on HN that will allow me to identify the most HN users of any post ever! :)
How can a non-technical/non-CS graduate enter the high tech business?
ig1: How pretty your code is has little to no impact on how successful you will be.All of my early projects were horrendous code-wise. Nevertheless they included a game with a decent number of installs (>250k) and one of the biggest social networking app websites (this was pre-facebook era so only ~300k users). The lat...
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
abrown28: I've successfully conditioned every manager I've ever worked for to accept rolling in around 10:30 as normal.
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
VonGuard: * I've met the following videogaming luminaries: Shigeru Miyamoto, Alexey Pajitnov, Ralph Baer, Al Alcorn, Nolan Bushnell, Stephen "Slug" Russell, and Steve Jackson.* I found unreleased Atari and Colecovision games at a flea market in 2008 on bare EPROMs.* My writing has been used to teach at Harvard, yet I f...
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
rokhayakebe: I infiltrated HN. For almost 2 years I was part of the top 100. I am not technical.I have lived 13 years within a 5-minute-walking distance from the beach. I still can't swim, but I always go deep.I was a bartender in a private club and got to mix drinks for several individuals. I met Senators, actors, tec...
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
iamwil: I never really feel like I've done anything, but here's some moments of personal accomplishment: * drew a weekly comic strip that published online during college. * discovered a corner detection algorithm using radon transforms. * built operational sensor networks for the military.
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
faramarz: I paid a large portion of my tuition by building 4 of the University Department websites. UofT is Canada's biggest university.It was nice to pay them with their own money :P
Is this a scalable idea?
8plot: I've had similar conversations with colleagues. I love the idea and hope to someday try it.One method I like is to use a simple agile/scrum type project where the product backlog is crowdsourced.
Is this a scalable idea?
rglullis: What you are describing is not too different from micropledge, a company that was one of the first to be funded by YC. The largest differences I see is that you want to have your group of technical people defined a priori, while micropledge was more of a buyer/seller market.Finding out what happened to them i...
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
JangoSteve: I wasn't going to, but reading a few of these inspired me... then reading a few more depressed me (mine aren't so glamorous), but I'll do it anyway.* helped my mother raise my brother and me. This past New Year, I was able to fly my brother up to live with me for a week, showing him what you can accomplish ...
Is this a scalable idea?
lauken: Here is an example of an attempt. http://www.cambrianhouse.com/
Cool Things You've Done (Brag Thread)
wlievens: Wow, after reading through this thread I'm pretty impressed with some of the folks here.As for me:* I worked on software that was used to design a small part of one of the sexiest consumer electronics products in the world.* I built a browser game five years ago that's stil running, with a few hundred active ...
Is this a scalable idea?
keefe: elance.com? After you assemble your star team, why not carefully select profitable projects instead? The team probably costs you $50K-$100K per month. It seems that a more typical consulting or product business would be more profitable.