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How many domain names do you own? | tumblen: Wow. Never actually counted before. 34. Somehow, I think most are in use somehow or another. |
How did you learn about stock market/trading investing ? | maigret: Through a recent HN discussion, I discovered the finance course from Robert Shiller at Yale, and this is really only joy to look at this lecture. You get the whole semester in video: http://academicearth.org/lectures/finance-and-insurance |
How did you learn about stock market/trading investing ? | pathik: I stopped day trading when I discovered that the time I spent tracking my investments and researching stocks was not worth the profits I earned.I would rather buy an index fund or go long on certain stocks with excellent fundamentals. |
How did you learn about stock market/trading investing ? | brc: The first thing to do is decide whether you really want to invest the time and effort into learning. Realise that the people you are playing against are professionals who do it all day every day. That's not to say you can't develop an edge and beat them, but don't assume you can walk in with no experience and set the world alight. Nobody here would expect a novice programmer to sit down and write the most awesome web app in a weekend - the same principle applies.In this thread I've seen 'day trade', 'don't day trade', 'index funds' , 'don't do index funds'. Realise that all this advice is contrary, and only applicable to the specific people providing it. What matters is finding something compatible with your belief system, not twisting your mind to try and accept somebody else's belief system. Because when the pain and stress arrive, if you're not fully aligned with your strategy, then you're going to make the wrong choice.Once you've decided you're going to put some effort in, then you need to work out a strategy that aligns with your personality. This needs to evaluate things like:- your risk tolerance- your expectations of returns- your starting capital- your analytical skillsEveryone is different, and the only people who succeed are ones who find an approach that works for their personality, and then take the time to get rid of their mistakes.As for books, here's what I recommend:- Intelligent Investor by Ben Graham - the take away in this book is the 'margin of safety' concept- Trade your way to Financial Freedom by Dr Van Tharp - the take away in this book is that active management by position sizing and risk setting dictates more of your return than your actual strategy.- Market Wizards, The New Market Wizards and the Stock Market Wizards, all by Jack Schwager. These books are all a series of interviews with top traders in commodities, currencies, funds, stocks and probably something I've forgotten. By understanding how an incredibly diverse set of traders have made astounding returns in the same markets should make you realise that there is no one approach that works, there are only approaches that work for specific people.Good luck, and pray your first trade is a failure, not a success. Because you need to learn the pain of loss and how to minimise it before you taste the sweetness of profit. |
How many domain names do you own? | pw: Around 20. |
How many domain names do you own? | Concours: http://mcsquare.me is one of probably more than 20 Domains I own. |
How many domain names do you own? | hga: Two for myself (one it in the "will I follow through?" stage), several for a business that my father is trying to put together (nature (as in geology) is currently being uncooperative). |
How did you learn about stock market/trading investing ? | known: Any good videos/books ?http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumi... |
How many domain names do you own? | consultutah: 40 - let me know if you want one, I'll make you a killer deal. ;-) |
Hacking Learning Resources? | pw: I'd suggest the book Why Don't Students Like School? (http://www.amazon.com/Why-Dont-Students-Like-School/dp/04702...) to those interested in applying the findings of cognitive science to their own learning. I'm finding it very useful in that regard. |
How To Become Quantitative Analyst And Achieve Greatness? | secret: Here's a post of mine that may help: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1173683 |
How many domain names do you own? | AdamGibbins: Around 10 |
How many domain names do you own? | proexploit: 100+ but I only actively utilize 10-15. |
Please review "Pivotal Tracker for SEO" - SEOaholic.com | megamark16: Well, I tried it on one of my projects and it was very insightful. I think I'd really have to sit down with it and spend a few hours digging in to the info it's giving me. The auth integration was very helpful in getting me to try it out. Design and layout is concise and functional, so good job there. I like it, and wish the best of luck. I'll probably be back. |
Designer co-founder? | proexploit: proexploit@gmail.com. Let me know what you're needing in terms of design and I'll see if I'm interested or can recommend someone for you. |
Please review "Pivotal Tracker for SEO" - SEOaholic.com | sidmitra: Clickable link - http://seoaholic.com |
Possible to learn to develop iPhone apps with no coding experience? | adelevie: You're facing an uphill battle. |
What was a time you hacked a (non-computer) system to your advantage? | benedwards: I once hacked an older hotel pay-per-view system by ordering a movie and rearranging/disconnecting wires while it was "activated". Had free soft-porn (and other movies) all week at COMDEX (about 12 years ago, in high school). |
Possible to learn to develop iPhone apps with no coding experience? | st3fan: See http://norvig.com/21-days.html |
Anybody else see an iPad Sales Bump this Weekend? | maxklein: Yeah we had much better sales also. I attribute this more to the easter weekend and not to the iPad. |
Would you use a cord bank? | fragmede: You might be interested in ask.metafilter's discussion on the practice:
http://ask.metafilter.com/15638/Whats-the-deal-with-cord-blo... |
Would you use a cord bank? | jswinghammer: We didn't for our daughter who is two and a half now. It's expensive and provides dubious benefits. We're hoping to have a child next year and we won't do it then either. There's a lot to worry about when you're expecting your first child but this isn't really a big deal. I'd spend more time worrying about other things.Congrats by the way! This is a very exciting time. My daughter is an absolute joy and I'm sure your child will be for you too. Good luck! |
Would you use a cord bank? | GrandMasterBirt: Would not do that. Currently they take YOUR skin cells and turn them into stem cells. A couple of years ago the process was discovered/perfected. I have a friend who has a degenerative eye condition and this was discussed with him very recently. Basically babies are not needed for stem cells anymore. Its why the stem cell research was allowed again in the US provided that the cells are retrieved using the skin -> stem cell method not the aborted fetus -> stem cell method. |
Would you use a cord bank? | pg: What does your obstetrician say? |
Would you use a cord bank? | dzlobin: My sister's cord blood was stored.
I cant remember details but just recently I read an article in the news about a child who was saved due to the doctors being able to use her cord blood to do something or other. |
Would you use a cord bank? | asmithmd1: The chances of your child needing it are vanishingly small, but their is a chance it could help a child. So it's a great idea to donate to a bank but paying money to store it for your own use is probably a waste of money.http://www.marrow.org/HELP/Donate_Cord_Blood_Share_Life/How_... |
Would you use a cord bank? | aphyr: Before I read the summary, I thought a cord bank was a co-op where you could share all those electronics cables and cords you rarely need with others. I have so many cords the manufacturer included that I can't get rid of. Yes, yes I would use that. You should start a company on that model.I'm not planning on having kids any time soon, if you couldn't tell. ;-) |
Would you use a cord bank? | mindcreek: My second child was born about a week ago. I kept both their cord blood in sepearate banks in separate cities in case of a disaster or an emergency.I paid 20 years of storage for both of them also. I believe in the future their stem cells will be beneficial to them in at least one area of their lives, and I hope never to need the cord bloods for health reasons.But there is one crucial point you should be aware of, make sure they are not sharing personal information or genetic profile with international third parties make sure the service agreement between you and the bank covers this explicitly, banks that I stored my children's bloods had no such clear points in their agreements and i made them add my own no third parties article for me. |
Would you use a cord bank? | geuis: If it's inexpensive enough, why not? My sister just had her first baby about 7 months ago. They were talking about using a cord bank but didn't follow through with it. More out of distraction than anything else.At this point in time you can't know whether or not it will be used later on. But if you don't save it now, if the event happens you won't have it to use. There is also the perspective that if your child never needs it, there might be other kids that it could help years down the road.You are looking at long term storage of cells, so make sure whoever you go with is legitimate and has a long established history. |
Would you use a cord bank? | synnik: I wouldn't -- your baby can use that blood TODAY.For more info, Google: benefits of delayed cord cutting |
What do you think of this 3D fad? | motters: At least partly it's about keeping people watching TV and away from the internet. In a recent interview that I had with a TV company they were quite fearful of the move away from TV and the loss of advertising revenue which that entails for them. Personally I can't see any reason why this isn't just a passing fad. Although I'm interested in 3D vision, I've very little interest in watching TV wearing goggles, and think that the novelty would wear off very rapidly. At the end of the day making good quality shows or movies easily trumps 3D gimmickery. |
Would you use a cord bank? | carbocation: I work with people who do iPS (induced pluripotent stem cell) work. The technology is quite promising: take a skin punch biopsy, add Yamanaka factors, and obtain iPS cells. They have not supplanted embryonic stem cells for most purposes but someday they may (there are various scientific advantages and disadvantages to both).I think the most honest answer is that even those of us in this field don't yet know if storage of cord blood will prove to offer something that iPS can't. Perhaps there is someone even closer to the intersection of those topics than I on HN who can weigh in. |
Would you use a cord bank? | uptownben: My wife and I had considered storing cord blood for our second child (now 1 year old). We ordered the kit and in the delivery room the nurse had begun unpacking and asked us to sign a form authorizing it. She briefly explained the process where, after delivery, she would cut the cord immediately in order to "capture" as much as possible for storage. I guess we hadn't thought the whole thing through because this concerned us. It is my understanding that it is recommended that the new born be left with the cord intact for as long as possible, until the cord goes white (empty) because that blood makes up a large percentage of all the blood the baby has, which provides the baby with what s/he needs for the first part of his/her life. So by not letting this blood flow back into the baby we were essentially jeopardizing it's health from the get go. My wife and I are not doctors and this is only my opinion but we decided to not store the cord blood and let the baby have all of it, hopefully giving her a head start to a happy, healthy life. I would suggest reading up on what possible problems may arise when the cord is cut too early. Just something to take into consideration. |
What do you think of this 3D fad? | nosse: It's kind of pet peevee of mine, but 3D graphics could really play some role in 3D CAD stuff. But that needs better controls too. Mouse moves on your desk which is essentially 2D plane, and that makes it difficult. |
Would you use a cord bank? | babar: I think the best option right now would be to donate the cord blood to a public blood bank if that option is available in your area. That doesn't cost you, and it benefits a child more immediately and helps to advance the research. I think there is a chance of benefit to storing it yourself, but the marketing from these companies seemed to be preying on parents' sense of guilt so much that it was off-putting to me. I can put those thousands of dollars to better use to benefit my children. Of course, if the money isn't a meaningful amount to you, your decision process may be different. |
Would you use a cord bank? | maineldc: Our first child is 11 weeks old now and we asked the same question to our pediatrician. Her answer was that "neither she nor any other pediatrician she knows would do private banking at the moment". I agree that public banking is the best idea and we were going to do that, but our child came 5 weeks early before we had a chance to set it up.The thing that became clear during this whole thing is there were going to be MANY times in the coming years when spending "only $3K just in case" was going to be offered and this seemed like a bad precedent to set. The vast majority of children will never benefit from private banking, so go public! |
Would you use a cord bank? | terra_t: When I hear "stem cells" my first thought is "scam."A lot of people want more from medicine than it is ever going to deliver. Just say no to another expensive procedure that has no demonstrable value. |
What do you think of this 3D fad? | car: After experiencing a couple of movies and recently HDTV in 3D, I'd say 3D is here to stay. It just makes for a better experience. In essence, 3D technology is piggybacking on our highly evolved visual processing ability.The added cost for TV's isn't that much, mainly for the LCD shutter glasses. With the combined push of the display and content providers it should become mainstream within the next couple of years. |
Would you use a cord bank? | ephermata: Cord blood can today save the life of someone with leukemia or other diseases that require bone marrow transplants. While other cord blood stem cell therapies may be speculative, this one is real and already works to save lives. My sister has leukemia and we just found out that some kind person donated cord blood which matches her tissue type...I can't describe how grateful I feel now. Thank you, whoever you are.In my case, for my children, I would certainly make sure the blood is saved. The only question is whether to do private cord blood banking or to donate the blood to the public blood bank. I would find out how rare is my child's human leukocyte antigen (HLA) tissue type as part of making the decision. If it's rare then it becomes much, much more important to bank known compatible blood.One confounding factor: if your child turns out to have a blood disease later in life, it's not clear to me whether there is a risk in using your child's own stem cells. For example we know little about the causes of leukemia, it could be that even the cord blood cells are potentially cancerous. I'd suggest reading up on this and reaching out to researchers in the area on this front, since it's unlikely your OB/GYN would know the most recent results. |
Would you use a cord bank? | dnsworks: I did this with my daughter. |
I'd like to find Co-Founder(s) / Developers | djb_hackernews: neat idea. But your pitch is missing the other side of the equation. Who is going to be making such requests?Journalists? Stay at home moms? bored people with money?
Provide some use cases.It's too easy to say "If we build it, they will come." |
Please suggest me a PHP book | ryandavies: Well, from somebody who has coded PHP for a while and wants go to back and "relearn" a lot of stuff, I want a book that's heavy on the "why" and deals more with the mental side of development and less "syntax" toys. I'm planning on "starting over" learning how to code, this time with Python, and doing it the "right" way. |
restrictive employment contracts- IP rights for side projects | anigbrowl: IANAL. It is a tightly written contract which on its face restricts your rights arising out of any extracurricular activities as well as those performed in the course of your employment.State laws about the enforceability of such provisions vary, and your situation might be more complex again if you and the company HQ are based in different states. Your employment contract will say which jurisdiction applies in the event of dispute. I would suggest calling your local bar association and requesting a referral to an attorney knowledgeable in employment law, even though your actual question is about IP. Some attorneys will offer a free or fixed-price initial consultation, otherwise expect to spend maybe $300. I would not discuss the issue with your employer until you have done so.You probably know this already, but basically any more specific advise you get via the internet won't be actionable - even an attorney will only feel able to speak in the most general terms so as not to risk a charge of malpractice. |
Please suggest me a PHP book | picasafan: i would php for dummies |
What Recommendation Algorithms Do You Use? | helwr: i coded a simplified variant of Koren &Bell for my term project, it ran on Hadoop with some Jama components for SVD:public.research.att.com/~volinsky/netflix/BellKorICDM07.pdf |
How To Become Quantitative Analyst And Achieve Greatness? | subud: http://www.ederman.com/new/index.html |
What Recommendation Algorithms Do You Use? | vitovito: One of the gentlemen who run Directed Edge, the recommendation-engine-as-a-service startup, pointed me to his list of recommendations research at Mendeley:http://www.mendeley.com/collections/796791/Recommendations-r...(I suspect "all the good research from the past N years" is a broader answer than you were looking for, but perhaps this will be generally useful.) |
efficiency, efficacy, effectiveness?! | stonemetal: Efficacy is the noun form of Effective. Efficacy = Effectiveness. Efficiency is the ratio of output to input.
Though it seems there is some slight variation in their use in different fields. |
How many domain names do you own? | nfriedly: 7 that I'm using 5-10 that I'm looking to get rid of, and around 10-15 that I'm hanging onto for other people.The ones that don't want: http://misticflame.com/blog/2010/03/11/domain-names-for-sale... |
How To Become Quantitative Analyst And Achieve Greatness? | jayruy: Congrats for your newfound love and condolences for your grandfather. Tread carefully - intellectualizing love is existentially rocky territory.I have worked in algorithmic trading, hedge funds, and investment banking. I have degrees in CS and Mathematics.There are a rare few people who have walked these footsteps - see Jim Simon of Renaissance or Doyne Farmer of Prediction Company. And of course there are more you never hear of because they don't have enough money or interest to garner media attention. This community is not an open community because unlike the open source world, it is not beneficial to share knowledge. Governments have to force them to.One question I wonder if you've considered: do you feel comfortable working within boundaries that governments have the power to change? It's an aspect of the job I find interesting, but I feel many members here would find frustrating.Mathematics is far more important than C.S. at crafting algorithmic trading strategies, but developers are in far more demand. Quant shops only really need one genius, and maybe a few in training in case the first gets hit by a bus.In terms of what mathematics: you're going to need stochastic calculus, but don't worry about that yet. Unless you are blessed you're going to need a PhD in math or physics. The importance isn't the thesis, but the topical knowledge along the way regarding which relationships break down under what conditions. Most entry-level quants go for the PhD and pick up stochastic calc while job searching. Machine learning is no panacea: regression (a form of machine learning) is the oldest trick in the book.So I'd suggest forgetting about finance altogether until you absolutely have to. If you're absolutely serious: ride the academic train for as long as you can. It's not easy riches, but neither is quant finance. Easy riches is swapping MBO's to your buddies on comission. |
How many domain names do you own? | bjplink: I'm just under 50 at the moment. Off the top of my head, I think five of those 50 are idle. |
which bike would you recommend | samratjp: Honestly since you have to deal with crappy roads at some point in your journey, you are better off investing in a cheaper sport bike initially. If you are not looking for mission critical speed, you'd be surprised how long a cheap wal-mart sports bike can go; besides, those are far easier to replace and cost 10% of your budget.That said, if you are looking into a serious racing bike, by all means check biker friendly forums or even look into a central park bikers group on meetup.com. |
ASK HN: From lit major to Computer Science Masters? | samratjp: Well, even not half-decent schools (the good ones) accept non-cs folks, but with the stipulation that it would serve you better if you came from a math background (engineering, etc.)What the admissions folks want to know is whether you can handle the workload and can contribute something of significance in the form of a thesis or a project. As about workload, you will invariably encounter systems programming, operating systems, compiler construction and some theory class. Of course, this may not be true everywhere but is an indication of a good grad program's basic requirements. To succeed in those classes (and beyond), you would be advised to have a good grasp of at least C, Java or C++, data structures and algorithms.Now, if you really want to go through with this, you can succeed if you spent some time studying. Start with MIT OpenCourseWare. Master the intro class with python as a gentle intro (checkout Google's Python class for great intro). Then write those some programs in Java. Then, write those same programs using Object Oriented Programming.Then look into data structures (arrays, lists, hashes, trees) and the big algorithms (start with path finding - dijkstra, other shortest paths, sorting, and if you have time - strongly connected components, suffix tries, etc.) Another big concept you need to understand is Big O notation - something that tells you how complex a given program or algorithm is (it's nice to know sometimes to compare one algorithm to another on basically how fast it can run - e.g a big O of n^2 O(n^2) is worse than O(n))Now, all of the above is just good preparation for the fun parts you will do in a Master's. You should spend some serious time hacking around with C (get this book - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_C_Programming_Language_%28b...). The best way to play around with C is to mess around with Systems Programming in UNIX. Get Systems Programming book (http://www.amazon.com/Advanced-UNIX-Programming-Marc-Rochkin...)Having said all of the above, do you know what you are interested in doing with a degree in C.S? There are some nice interdisciplinary programs where you may not have to do all the hardcore stuff I mentioned above but still dabble into as much detail as you'd like. Look into programs like Michigan's School of Information, for example.Hope that helps. |
ASK HN: From lit major to Computer Science Masters? | adelevie: Take a year off and learn programming on your own.
Then knock their socks off and get accepted. |
Toolset to write an e-book | samratjp: This may not be directly relevant, but it doesn't hurt to use version control to keep track of changes or for just giggles to see what the heck you were thinking through the writing process. |
Toolset to write an e-book | crazydiamond: There was an article a while back by the person who writes those "Dive into" series (Mark ??). Iirc, he stopped using markups and began writing directly in HTML. That way he could see exactly what he was getting and not waste time fighting a markup. See if you can google him. (dive into mark - iirc).I used to have a lot of problems with textile some years back. One never knew when it would just ignore a markup. Same often happens with markdown. |
What do you think of this 3D fad? | samratjp: 3D will enjoy success in the living room for sure, what with even an iPad app (X elements) supporting 3D http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/the-elements-a-visual-explora... |
How much customer support time would 100,000 users take? | coryl: 100k active users might mean its time to hire customer support so you don't stretch yourself to do it. |
How much customer support time would 100,000 users take? | patio11: How long is a piece of string? This is going to depend on how sophisticated your users are, how sophisticated your application is, what your users' expectation for handholding is, and how optimized your processes are for dealing with user issues before they get to your inbox.The great thing about words like "active user" is that they mean whatever you want them to mean. For certain definitions of active user such as "Has downloaded the trial version of my software recently", I have a hundred thousand of them. (For very strict definitions of active user, ~2,000 or so.)My support burden averages out to well under an hour a week.On a very bad day, it is four emails, three of which will be about transactional issues ("I paid but didn't get my software!" "Begging your pardon, ma'am, but the payment processor doesn't tell me about it if you don't hit the confirm button on your confirmation page." "Oh thx!"), forgotten passwords, and lost Registration Keys, and that will take twenty minutes. An average day sees checks stats 1.2 emails. Many days have no emails at all.It has not been my experience that support scales linearly with user count. It is closer to logarithmic but with major decreases when you take affirmative steps to resolve the 20% of the issues that take 80% of your time. |
How much customer support time would 100,000 users take? | honopu: i'd say find a way to weigh and rate the most common queries(human intervention i know it sucks) then eliminate those through tooltips or faqsYou really need to sit your Mom, Dad, wife, golfing buddy, whoever else is close to your target market and get them to interact with your app to find the inherent flaws. |
How much customer support time would 100,000 users take? | samratjp: Find ways to help your customer find ways around common stumbling blocks - "FAQ"s. A subtle tour may not be too bad (think new YouTube).As about customer support scaling at that volume, it is a good problem to have when you do hit that milestone :-) Having said that, do reverse customer support, i.e. preempt their questions by educating your customers. Better yet, get your users to write some of your FAQ's for you and delegate support to your nicer members via some sort of forum. |
How much customer support time would 100,000 users take? | oomkiller: Not enough info about your idea here to give you any useful information. You should share more about your idea, we won't bite! |
ASK HN: From lit major to Computer Science Masters? | krf: Check out this one:University of Chicago - http://masters.cs.uchicago.edu/If U of Chicago is doing it, likely there are others. I would also suggest looking at UK universities - the 1 year taught course Master's degree is a popular cash cow for many universities. |
Toolset to write an e-book | pmiller2: My personal toolset consists of emacs and pdflatex. I don't care about rendering to HTML, and my writings typically include math formulas, so I suspect my requirements are a bit different from yours. Nonetheless, when it comes to typesetting beautiful PDFs, you really just can't beat LaTeX. |
Toolset to write an e-book | pramit: I have created 3 ebooks so far. Typed them in MS Word and printed as PDF using Pdf writer. |
Toolset to write an e-book | eli_s: If you are going from HTML -> PDF then by far the best tool I have found is princeXML.Outstanding HTML -> PDF rendering with automatic TOC, page numbering, splitting tables across pages. Excellent CSS and SVG support.Pricing is reasonable too. |
Toolset to write an e-book | urlwolf: I think LyX is a good alternative here. Good converters to html, pdf, text... great outliner (much needed for a long piece such a book). Has track changes, and it's plain text so you could use a vcs with it. |
Please review "Pivotal Tracker for SEO" - SEOaholic.com | sbc: Looks like a useful tool, but seems overpriced in comparison to the competition, so perhaps you could look at the pricing structures.One obvious competitor is caphyon.com who do Advanced Link Manager and Advanced Web Ranking which have vastly more functionality for a similar price to your Bronze license, and no limits on sites and keywords. They run as desktop apps which can be seen either as a disadvantage but probably an advantage (in that a user doesn't have to trust someone with valuable commercial information on profitable keywords and so on ). |
Toolset to write an e-book | ScottWhigham: I did an ebook recently and it was an awful experience. I started with Adobe InDesign and tried to port to PDF - failed due to image support and integration with Kindle/ebook readers. I then switched to Word and tried to do PDF export and that failed for the same reason. In the end, I ended up having to go through multiple exports using multiple tools - one set for PDF, one set for HTML, one set for Kindle, one set for other ebook readers. I originally had planned on doing several ebooks but #$%^ that. |
Feedback on our startup (LabApp.com) | tbeseda: Click it.
http://www.labapp.com |
Feedback on our startup (LabApp.com) | liamk: "Browse the LabApp Catalog" needs to be much more prominent - perhaps make it look more like a button? Overall I really like the idea though. After working in research labs for the past few years this service is sorely needed |
Feedback on our startup (LabApp.com) | pWneD: Oh, I'm bookmarking this for sure. |
Feedback on our startup (LabApp.com) | heyjonboy: Looks pretty sharp. When building a homepage for marketplace-type sites, it can be really difficult to effectively connect with both your buyer and seller audiences at the same time. I think you guys nailed it.I'm sure this is already on your todo list, but a friendlier login would make the checkout process much smoother. It's jarring to click the button to download software and then get directed to a page that simply says "You need to log in."The button to download software is confusing -- the button text seems to default to the license name. Looks like you're planning to offer software under multiple licenses, but the button text should still contain a verb. Maybe "Download [license]" or "Purchase [license]".With all the attention Apple's App marketplace gets, it's surprising that there aren't more marketplaces for traditional software. Seems like a big opportunity. |
Feedback on our startup (LabApp.com) | mpobrien: Looks cool. I'd suggest putting some screenshots on the app pages, to make them more inviting. |
What's a good topic for a technical presentation? | xox: Your thoughts on some language or technology that you are interested in but that is not used at your office. |
What's a good topic for a technical presentation? | shmichael: Javascript is always a nice topic to discuss.
Depending on the technical level, you could take it in different directions:* "good" paradigms in Javascript (using concepts of functional programming). I always recommend Crockford's Javascript: The Good Parts - http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596517748* Demonstrate some interesting JS libraries such as mootools or Raphaël - http://raphaeljs.com/* For less technical folks, you could demonstrate new JS graphical capabilities, such as the porting of Quake and the chrome experiments gallery - http://www.chromeexperiments.com/ |
What's a good topic for a technical presentation? | HeyLaughingBoy: Avoid languages. I have yet to see a language presentation that didn't devolve into a discussion of some esoteric "feature" that was cool but almost completely useless.Instead choose concepts, e.g., functional programming and use a well known language to illustrate its benefits.Or choose a new, interesting and relevant technology to discuss.What would I like to see? A presentation on what it takes, from start to finish, to develop and release a simple iPad application, along with a short sample app you've written for illustration. Fit that in an hour and you'll have a packed room. |
Feedback on our startup (LabApp.com) | samratjp: Definitely will keep an eye. Since you're gonna have marketplace, you might as well have existing products out there as well.Also, use your blog wisely by showcasing new products and some product screen shots. The same goes for your product lineup - screen shots! Think Apple App Store ;-)Also, don't neglect SaaS side of things. |
What are some alternative YC-like programs? | jedi_stannis: Wikipedia lists most of them here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seed_money |
Feedback on our startup (LabApp.com) | rufugee: I'm going to start asking this in every HN review request: what's it written in and how well is the technology working for you? |
How much customer support time would 100,000 users take? | hajrice: I don't wanna come across as a spammer or anything, but I'm building something that'll hopefully solve that pain for you. |
UCLA or Rose-Hulman | manderson2080: Go for Rose-Hulman, it may be less expensive now but the way the California economy is going, UCLA may catch up. I have a friend in the honors program at UCLA for econ and he had hard time even getting into the intro econ class last year because there were too many people vying for a spot (something that being in the honors program is 'supposed' to help with).UCLA may be more well known all around, but if you want to study any discipline of engineering, Rose-Hulman is the way to go. And in fact, RHIT probably has a better reputation when it comes to engineering anyways. |
input on the idea please? | yan: Contact me. I had another idea for a similar goal but vastly different implementation. Maybe we can create a hybrid or tear down each other's ideas? |
input on the idea please? | mlLK: I've been kicking around a similar idea, but with a stronger emphasis on the user model as a mentor/apprentice experience. It would be certainly harder to implement than what you are describing, which, and correct me if I'm way off here, would be a set of interactive lesson plans presented in a fashion similar to a wiki where the end-user gains experience and credibility given their progression and rank (or karma, points accumulated) for a set of lessons belonging to a particular category or domain of interest. As they gain more credibility for domain they are granted additional permissions for editing or adding content for that domain. |
input on the idea please? | asimjalis: Is this like a wiki for education plans? Sort of like ehow except for education plans? |
What's a good topic for a technical presentation? | frossie: Lunchtime? As in, people are eating? The sleep risk is real with those. War stories, whether they had a happy ending ("I fixed it") or not ("I learned from it"). If you don't have your own, you can walk though someone else's provided enough technical information is available - for example the lost NASA Mars Rover is a good way to explain race conditions, depending on your audience. |
input on the idea please? | gojomo: Sorry to be a broken record, but I always plug David Gelernter's 'tracks and clusters' concept when similar ideas come up:http://edge.org/q2009/q09_9.html#gelernterRoger Schank's ideas about just-in-time, story-centric curricula may also be interesting:http://www.edge.org/q2009/q09_print.html#schankhttp://www.rogerschank.com/ |
input on the idea please? | delano: If I imagine this as the best possible way to develop a curriculum (which it may or may not be), there is still a big problem: learning is driven by curiosity. What is curious to one person is boring to the next so the specific path from
"novice" to "expert" is very personal. |
input on the idea please? | jashmenn: Just do it. Like Seth says, there's no Idea Approval Board. Where you run into trouble is when you fall in love with your solution to the exclusion of seeing the actual problem.I once had a boss/mentor who believed that teachers should have a nation-wide lesson plan repository. He lamented that there was no way to get teachers to use even the most "simple" version control system (e.g. TortoiseSVN). I realize you're doing more than lesson plans, but you may want to consider teachers as a good first market.That brings me to my next point: make sure you find out who your market is _soon_. This advice is old-hat for HN folks but its worth repeating:1) Read up on mvp [1]. Create a "smoke test" to see if you're even in the right universe. We could psyche you up and tell you this the best idea ever, but until you verify that with The Internet you don't really learn anything2) Read Steve Blank's book [2]. Get out of your bubble of encouraging friends and contacts and, say, find some teachers and ask them if they would _pay_ for that sort of service. (Find people who have a problem, know they have a problem, have hacked together a solution, and who are willing to _pay_ for a better solution.)It's these visionary customers who are really the only ones who can answer this question for you.[1] http://www.startuplessonslearned.com/2009/08/minimum-viable-...[2] http://www.cafepress.com/kandsranch |
input on the idea please? | underdesign: It's a rehash of other established ideas:
Get a bunch of people to do it, call yourself a college. Use the credentials of your teaching staff to raise the rates you charge 'students', you have a university.Who's to say who is the 'expert'? As they say, those that can't do, teach.You can expect a ton of poorly created curriculum, with the assumption that the expert _might_ fix them at a later date, but without ownership, why bother? And without the front payment, why make the effort? |
input on the idea please? | evandavid: I like the idea. I've often thought about this within more narrow verticals (e.g. programming).I like to learn using iTunes U, but it would be nice to have those video lectures included in a broader curriculum recommendation from somebody whose credentials I trust.<Off-topic rant for your consideration>: Personally, it would be nice to force me into a certain timeline. Perhaps using some form of calendar style metaphor where I can check things off as I complete them and it lets me know if I'm getting behind (or even how I'm doing compared to the average). Maybe it's just me, but sometimes it is nice to have some enforced discipline when learning. Further to this idea, imagine if an author could create a curriculum and then constrain it to what they considered an optimal timeline; that way a group of learners could be working through the curriculum simultaneously - asking questions in the forum about "this week's task" etc. Or meeting up with other local learners. Then again if you had enough learners participating, there would always be someone at the same stage in the material as you anyway. Maybe I just miss my undergrad years :(Anyway, I really like the idea; would love to know how you will recruit curriculum authors with the necessary credibility. |
Language, thinking, and intelligence | ready: Yes, it is absolutely possible to be intelligent and inarticulate simultaneously--as any video of Richard Feynman on YouTube can attest.Articulate people tend to be well-read. In fact, being well-read is often sufficient to give one the appearance of being articulate, as it enables you to recognize literary allusions and references made by others and empowers you to make your own. Being well-read also gives you a better appreciation for language as a tool and ideas on how best to wield it. You need to start reading much more, particularly the Great Books of centuries past. Yes, it will be difficult and slow-going at first, but as your vocabulary and literary knowledge grows, it will get easier and more enjoyable. |
UCLA or Rose-Hulman | julius_geezer: One minor point: Los Angeles is a large cosmopolitan city, Terre Haute a small, Midwestern city. Nothing against RHIT--a grandfather went there (before the Hulman)--or Terre Haute, where I have relatives. But if you are new to the US, and particularly if you are from outside of Europe, you might well find LA more congenial. |
Which EU countries are least unfavorable for entrepreneurs? | scottallison: Can you be more specific as to the types of legal restrictions you are concerned about? Or is this just a general question on what countries are more/less supportive of start-up businesses? |
Which EU countries are least unfavorable for entrepreneurs? | Kliment: London appears to be a fairly popular place to start a startup. A limited company can be started in the UK with 1 pound in capital, plus a few hundred in various fees. Several countries offer more favorable tax climates and there are also benefits for starting a business in specific (typically underdeveloped) regions in a number of EU countries, so you might want to check that, but it appears that the UK is the go-to jurisdiction for EU startups. Note that you can run your company from any EU country and register in any EU country (though some countries require more solid legal presence in the country to be registered there). |
What tools do you use? | ihodes: The primary tools I use are ssh and sftp, emacs and git. Those do most of what I need, though occasionally I find myself saving some time by using Filezilla. If I can manage it, I use Acorn for image editing, and fall back to Photoshop if it doesn't crash too much. I'd count Mail.app as one of my tools, too.emacs is my favorite, and I learn more about it every day. |
What tools do you use? | myth_drannon: Console 2 - instead of the generic windows command prompt.
Jing - for screen captures. |
What tools do you use? | dmpayton: Komodo Edit for most coding because it gives me a consistent UI at work on my Mac and at home on Ubuntunano for editing files server-sideGit/Github (work) and Mercurial/Bitbucket (personal) for version control and deploymentscp for those rare instances when I need to transfer files manuallyWindows XP in VirtualBox for IE testing and Photoshop |
What tools do you use? | kadavy: I mount my server via SSH through MacFusion, then create a project in Aptana.I'll add files by dragging and dropping into Aptana, or I'll use scp to upload through terminal.I'm a designer by training, so I just know a little command-line and emacs, so I'll use that for quick edits from time to time.I also use the Adobe Suite for image editing and creation. I haven't dove into Fireworks yet, but I keep meaning to as I hear it's great. |
Language, thinking, and intelligence | Mz: Temple Grandin thinks in pictures. She has written several books, including a book called "Thinking in Pictures". You might find that helpful. You might also try reading illustrated works, like webcomics, to help bridge the gap. You could also pick up "The Cartoon Guides..." by Larry Gonick. They aren't at all watered down. My oldest son thinks in pictures and had trouble learning to speak but he is quite intelligent and, these days, articulate. These are things that helped him.Good luck. |
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