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Ganthor

Re:PowWow - Collaborative Screen Sharing on Saturday December 15, 2012 @02:04AM (#4924802)
Does this differ from Goinstant (http://www.goinstant.com/ )? It was aquired by Salesforce in July 2012 for $70MM.
Re:Sorry Dan Shipper and other coders, you are wrong. on Friday August 17, 2012 @02:16PM (#4397864)
I'm a business student and I feel ashamed the rise of non-technical people in the startup field acting like they've got incredibly valuable skills. I learned more in introductory compsci classes than all the BS in my business classes combined.

In regards to startups, technical people are so much more valuable than non-technical people. Non-technical people keep on perpetuating this: http://whartoniteseekscodemonkey.tumblr.com/ -esque mentality by saying things like this:

>"I am the nontechnical founder of several great startup ideas (I didn’t say startups) sometimes very poorly executed."

The founder of an idea? That doesn't mean much in my mind (then again, I don't know much about the author at all, nor could I did up much). Execution is key to a startup - and technical people are largely the ones that get the important shit done.

Non-technical people can add value for sure - but I think only a small margin of them have valuable skills that rival technical talent in a startup setting.

Re:Tell Your Boss Anything on Thursday August 02, 2012 @08:10PM (#4331781)
While the design seems fairly nice, the idea is nothing new.

Rypple, founded in 2008, started out with an anonymous feedback application built for the enterprise (albeit, I don't think the messaging was quite as forward as it is for this service, I think it required the manager opting in). Rypple eventually pivoted into a performance management cum next-gen performance review app, but the anonymous feedback feature is still a component. It was acquired by Salesforce.com last year.

I love the idea of anonymous feedback, it's one of the aspects of Rypple that initially attracted me to work at the company (I used to work at Rypple).

However, I'm not even sure Rypple was the first mover in the corporate anonymous feedback space, there's been quite a few similar services over the years. I think an app with just this feature, given how there's been consolidation in the HCM industry and providers now often offer a full suite of HR/performance management tools nowadays, is unlikely to achieve major success. That said, there's still a ton of small startups in the space that have similar ideas to Happiily.

Re:Show HN: Use Excel as a simple CRM on Monday July 23, 2012 @06:00PM (#4283276)
It's not the built in functions they're trying to replace, it's using python instead of VBA to make macros.

While Excel functions are relatively robust, doing more complex operations that impact more than one cell typically require macros. I was attempting to process 50,000 cells and I tried making a function, but it was a pain in the ass given how complex it was. Since, I didn't know VBA, but did know Python, I used Ironspread to use write a script to do the job. I was impressed, it's pretty smooth to use.

Re:Like Secret Finds Romance Within Your Social Circle on Sunday February 12, 2012 @05:58PM (#3583325)
Joysper.com is another similar app. It's gotten quite a bit of traction at the few major Canadian universities it has been rolled out at.
Re:I am an HFT Programmer on Sunday July 31, 2011 @02:54PM (#2829168)
How did you manage to work in HFT straight out of high school?
Re:Sal Khan has started videos about Python on Wednesday June 29, 2011 @08:38PM (#2711978)
Anyone else getting a "This video has been removed by the user" message?
According to his Linkedin Profile (http://ca.linkedin.com/pub/scott-h-young/1/ab2/867), he attends University of Manitoba.

I imagine UoM isn't as competitive as top universities in Ontario/BC & McGill.

His newsletter still is pretty damn good though, some pretty good content despite the sales pitches for his seminars/programs.

Re:Tell HN: Breakup Notifier is now Crush Notifier on Friday February 25, 2011 @10:35PM (#2264793)
It's the exact same thing as http://adore.ly, a Facebook app that's been out since the beginning of January.
Re:Anyone afraid? on Tuesday January 11, 2011 @11:25PM (#2094951)
Let me know when you get that frisbee-yo-yo thing working, it sounds awesome!
Re:Mixpanel - Internships. A story. on Tuesday January 04, 2011 @10:54PM (#2069805)
If the intern finds that he is learning a lot, having fun, and working with a great group of people, I don't see why s/he wouldn't want to spend 12-14+ per day working at a startup.

Disclosure: startup intern who commuted 3-4 hours per day.

Re:Ask HN: What are you reading right now? on Wednesday November 03, 2010 @04:46PM (#1866430)
I'm reading The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami.

I was just wondering whether anyone else experiences the problem I do when I read books: falling asleep after about 15 minutes. Any suggestions?

Re:Poll: Your favorite presentation at Startup School 2010? on Saturday October 16, 2010 @10:03PM (#1799401)
Does anyone know the best way to download the videos off justin.tv? Chrome specifically?
Can anyone point me towards some good online resources about getting started in online poker?
Re:CSS3 lasers on Wednesday August 18, 2010 @01:04AM (#1613313)
You are now a god.
Re:CSS3 lasers on Tuesday August 17, 2010 @10:44PM (#1613087)
Can you make the audio loop?
Re:Ask HN: Daily schedule on Sunday July 11, 2010 @08:45PM (#1506449)
Weekday Schedule for Summer:

05:40: Wake Up

05:45 - 06:00: Shower, eat a granola bar, and brush teeth

06:00 - 06:05: Make Lunch

06:05 - 08:30: Take bus to commute to work, attempt to sleep on, take subway to office

08:30 - 12:30: Work (@ startup)

12:30 - 13:15: Lunch

13:15 - 17:50: Work (@ startup)

17:50 - 20:00: Commute home on bus, while reading

20:00 - 20:10: Supper

20:10 - 22:00: Read Hacker News, Techcrunch, check e-mail

22:00 - 00:30: Watch TV (Seinfeld & Daily Show), fall asleep on the floor

00:30 - 00:31: Wake up and collapse into bed

Ask HN: How to ace exams?

In terms of high school as well as university exams, what are some tips in tricks in order to ace (not perfect, but do exceptionally well) exams with minimal study time?I assume the best way would be to study a little bit over a long term prior to the exam, but how would one go about successfully cramming the few days before, especially when the exam is focused on problem solving (not just...

( Read More... | 4 comments | 2 points | on HN )
Re:Ask HN: I want to start a News Website on Monday June 14, 2010 @11:08PM (#1431680)
Why not just use Wordpress with a few add-ons and a theme that looks like a news site?