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Re:Amazon introduces new service: Simple Notification Service on Wednesday April 07, 2010 @02:00PM (#1247938)
They could, but I assume SendGrid has more checks in place to prevent their users from sending unwanted emails. That way SendGrid has little risk of getting blacklisted, whereas a presumably uncontrolled service like Amazon's would.
Re:Alfred App on Monday March 08, 2010 @04:25PM (#1176489)
Launchy is a similar app for Windows and Linux. It's not super great for finding and opening files, but it's a great timesaver for opening websites and applications, especially if you use your keyboard more than your muse (as I presume most hackers do).

http://www.launchy.net/

I believe I read sometime that all posts without a URL (i.e. "self" posts) get a discount of about 40%.
Re:Ask HN: Fastest way to make $300-400 a month online? on Saturday March 06, 2010 @10:02AM (#1171592)
Build a comparison site or two: look for a market where affiliate programs are ubiquitous, structure the data and write a small application that helps customers decide. Get traffic using some basic SEO. Then pocket the commission from sales.

I did this for the personal savings market and "sim-only" mobile telephony subscriptions market in the Netherlands. It brings in a couple of hundred euros a month with only 1-2 hours of maintenance.

I wrote a script sometime ago, which sells about 4 copies a month for $25 each. The only way I marketed was by adding it to directories such as HotScripts. That will you give you some traffic if you're providing a solution in a field that's not highly competitive (a niche). You could try that.
Re:Money making dreams and the reality on Sunday February 07, 2010 @08:03AM (#1107622)
Would you mind writing up a piece about your offline affiliate marketing experience, since it seems to be the most successful thing you've done?
You're right, I totally missed that announcement. That pretty much invalidates my whole point, sorry.
I always thought Google had a browser for the masses in mind with Chrome. Something that is easy to use, stable and fast: a good alternative for IE.

User scripts are something for power users, who will always prefer Firefox. Won't this create the risk that average users will accept installing all kinds of scripts without much regard for security implications? User scripts are a powerful yet low-threshold tool which could easily lend itself to purposes such as identity theft.

Re:I will make 100 redesigns because I'm sick of startups on Wednesday January 27, 2010 @10:25AM (#1080661)
The redesigns look great, way to go ;)

If this gains a little traction, you might find your inbox full of requests for your services. (Edit: I missed the dark gray bar at the top of the page and now see that you're aiming for that. Good luck!)

Re:Brain Hack: turn your Loss Aversion Bias on its head on Friday January 08, 2010 @08:08PM (#1040844)
Try the paper(s) named (Cumulative) Prospect Theory.
Re:Brain Hack: turn your Loss Aversion Bias on its head on Friday January 08, 2010 @08:05PM (#1040840)
Additionally - I am not certain about the mentioned scientists' exact definition of loss - you might argue that since the damage was already done (Joe had already been charged), the 11 dollars was a gain rather than an adverted loss.
Re:Personal Productivity Checklist on Monday January 04, 2010 @12:05PM (#1030630)
While "20% of the activity is responsible for 80% of the problem," I doubt if "dialing the wrong number," "opening the wrong document" and "making spelling mistakes" are the kind of problems you should be spending lots of attention on.

Introspection and self-improvement can both be powerful tools, but it is best used against much larger problems, many of which will not become apparent by keeping track of writing down every little stupid mistake.

Re:Ask HN: review my app - a minimalist's to-do organizer on Sunday January 03, 2010 @04:55PM (#1029202)
Maybe I'm dumb, but I can't quite figure out what the "Review" label means. What does it mean?
Hearing this, I changed my password and opened a ticket to have my account closed. About 15 minutes later, I got an email asking this:

May I have your username along with the first and third character of your password?

Re:Ask HN: What APIs do you wish existed? on Sunday November 22, 2009 @07:36AM (#955682)
An API for a service that prints and snail mails documents cheaply and professionally in the Netherlands. That would let me build a cool online billing app.
That is pretty much how the dominant payment system in the Neterlands works (iDEAL):

1. The merchant shows a list of banks that support iDEAL (all major banks, currently 8)

2. You pick yours, the merchant sends you to your online banking environment

3. You log into to your bank account (with your username and password)

4. You review the proposed transaction

5. A transaction code is sent to your mobile phone which you have to enter (alternatively, a list with numbered transaction codes is sent to you using snail mail in advance, the website gives you the transaction code it wants which you'll have to offer; transaction codes are used only one time)

6. The transaction is made instantly and confirmed with the merchant. To the merchant's advantage, the transaction is irreversible.

The total cost can be as low as 45 cents for the merchant, with no fixed or upfront costs.

Re:OSS (pre-CIA) Simple Sabotage Field Manual on Sunday September 20, 2009 @04:42PM (#833514)
For people like me, who get a Firefox security error message, try the links without the s in https:

http://svn.cacert.org/CAcert/CAcert_Inc/Board/oss/oss_sabota...

Re:Ask HN: Why does a url use ://? on Monday August 31, 2009 @03:15PM (#796515)
Tim Berners Lee, the creator of the Web and of URLs, wrote some time ago that he regretted the double slash in URLs, saying that one would suffice.
Re:Ask HN: My HN has vanished on Thursday August 27, 2009 @12:09PM (#789441)
When my IP was blocked I could connect but the HTTP server wouldn't respond. The ban was caused by a userscript posted here a couple of days ago that was poorly scripted and would thus trigger anti-DDOS/anti-scraping protection. I emailed PG about it and he unbanned me. The same thing happened to at least one other person.

See http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=781918

Re:Ask HN/PG: Is my IP banned? on Tuesday August 25, 2009 @10:23AM (#784874)
"Have you tried your same PC/browser but going through a proxy? Have you tried your same account on the same PC in a different browser? Tried logging in from a free/unsecured wifi somewhere? Tried deleting cookies in your browser? Tried a different PC (library, friend, other family member, etc.)."

I used a web proxy to post this and as I noted in my original post (see paragraph 2) I tried Google Chrome as well as curl. I have also tried accessing the site using a different computer on the same network/IP. I did not mention this in my original post and in hindsight I see that I should have.

Perhaps this question should have been just addressed to PG (and an email would have been sufficient), but on the other hand when I realized that the userscript might have been the cause a few minutes after posting, ashleyw's and jacquesm's comments were valuable.

So please excuse me if I wasted your or anyone else's time.

Re:Ask HN/PG: Is my IP banned? on Tuesday August 25, 2009 @10:23AM (#784873)
Thanks. I emailed him yesterday and asked the same thing, now I'm just waiting for a response.
Re:Ask HN/PG: Is my IP banned? on Monday August 24, 2009 @07:49AM (#781919)
I did install this userscript recently:

http://github.com/brainkarma/hnreputation/tree/master

Might that have triggered an automatic anti-scraping/anti-dos ban or something?

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