News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

brianmac

Is a Kickstarter Against ISIS Possible? Hire Private Army

So I don't follow the news regularly, it just so happens a lot of the brutal, animalistic actions of ISIS have made it's way into my Facebook. What spurred this post was I saw an article on ISIS to target the assassination of Jack Dorsey (Twitter) for suspending their accounts.A maxim came across is stop complaining and solve it, so I am curious with the technology and crowd funding we have,...

( Read More... | 3 comments | 6 points | on HN )

Ask HN:Best places for Happy Hour Fridays in SF?

Hey just in SF for work for 3 weeks in the SOMA area. Wondering where all the YC companies, alumn, and other techies go to enjoy a refreshing beverage friday after work? I am moving here in August and don´t know that many ppl (mostly finance guys and friends from berkely) so be nice to mingle.

( Read More... | 1 comment | 6 points | on HN )

Ask HN and Ask PG: Anyone not get any YC answer email at all yet also?

Haven't been able to focus/sleep much yesterday (euro time) so waking up this morning was hoping to have some sort of answer. We are moving forward anyways but it would be nice to know YC's response :) Checked email (every account I have), spam folder, etc. Anyone else in the same boat with no email? All the other co-founders have checked as well.

( Read More... | no comments | 2 points | on HN )
Re:Why is there no Facebook for programmers & hackers? on Tuesday April 17, 2012 @01:51AM (#3851358)
There is, it's called github ;). More seriously, we don't feel the need to update our status every day. pushing code is our status, isn't it?
Very cool that these guys are from Canada and friends with someone I know. Reminds me of PGs ambitious startup ideas, the more ambitious and far fetched the less competition as people write off what is possible before they even begin.
Thanks for your guidetoyc site was really useful in getting down to the stuff that matters :)

Either way things are going to move forward! Difference between Entrepreneur (finding solutions to problems) and Wantrepeneurs (wanting answers handed to them).

Re:Ask HN: YC applications are up. Did you submit? on Friday March 30, 2012 @06:29AM (#3775262)
Yup! Was a great process trying to cut the thing down (easy when your excited to blabber on). Also died laughing making the video. See what happens next, "IF YOUR GOING TO SAN FRANCISCO..."
Re:I don't know who I am anymore and I can't tell anyone on Wednesday March 21, 2012 @12:08PM (#3734991)
I commented earlier about 4HWW from Tim Ferris, but one post from the his blog has continued to resonate and help me through the ups and downs, especially when you feel like you have hit the wall.

It is actually about a letter written by Seneca a famous Stoic philosopher. Take 30mins to read, will be worth it. Stoic philosophy in general has really helped me build a framework/value system.

Excerpt: "It is not that we have a short space of time, but that we waste much of it. Life is long enough, and it has been given in sufficiently generous measure to allow the accomplishment of the very greatest things if the whole of it is well invested."

http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2009/04/24/on-the-short...

I am 26/running my own distribution company + working full time sales/bus dev for enterprise tech company/side FB game project - applying for YC/Working PT as Crossfit instructor and training (exercise is a great break)/Living in Norway on my own (away from family/friends but still stay in touch online as I can).

Hope it helps!

Re:I don't know who I am anymore and I can't tell anyone on Wednesday March 21, 2012 @12:01PM (#3734957)
Great suggestion in regards to 4HWW, it definitely adds perspective and the concept of the mini-retirements is great.
Hi, I don't think I would, it's nice to have the URL lookup, but a tab in chrome with whois opened up is free while using trello or a google doc. Plus the market segment that would find this tool useful is quite small of start-ups. However, I would argue this would be great tool worth paying for enterprise wise, ad/design agencies have a nightmare trying to find a URL for projects, or new rebranding projects.
Re:I'm burning out and I can't tell anyone on Tuesday March 20, 2012 @06:02AM (#3728519)
Check out Leo Babauta: http://zenhabits.net/ Lots of great posts about creating habits everyone is suggesting, like sleep, rest, meditation, to find balance and letting go of stress.

Ask HN: Other Examples of A- to A+ YC Applications?

So we have finished our application and as per suggestion from guidetoyc.com (@jasonshen - Ridejoy)we are going to start getting some feedback before submitting Sunday (any Alum interested? send msg). Just wondering if there are other applications other than Dropbox we can have a look at for reference?

( Read More... | no comments | 8 points | on HN )
Great idea! I know we spent tons of time with a google doc back and forth checking domains.
Re:Ask HN: Codecademy for Photoshop? on Monday March 19, 2012 @10:20AM (#3724014)
Check out www.psdtuts.com they have a lot of good guides but believe there are some introductory courses too (might be premium the courses).
Re:Ask HN: Do you live w/o a car (outside the US)? on Monday March 19, 2012 @10:15AM (#3723993)
Oslo, Norway - No car, easy to walk everywhere, great transport, and city bike system.
Re:How's your (Hacker) Love Life? on Monday March 12, 2012 @10:19AM (#3693584)
Thanks for the positive encouragement :) We are working more of a tool for one of our founders to find a gf (will admit it is me lol). With working and graduated from school, meeting someone in the clubs the track record is not gf material. So just wondering if other HN readers have similar trends when it comes to online dating.

However, to your points, you are right with the whole chicken and egg problem of facebook/dating concepts, along with that successful matching destroys your client base, yet with that all in mind we are tackling it from a different perspective.

Also, the insight about people have "types" vs. an algorithm is coming through so far in the survey results. People want shared interests or places they go. Just how to do it seamlessly in the background will be the challenge.

Thanks again for the thoughts!

Re:Ask HN: YC European Alumni on Sunday March 11, 2012 @01:28PM (#3690724)
That's great to know, I guess it is a matter of get over there and deal with the visas afterwards once you get more traction on what direction you are going.

Do you know of any cases where people were accepted into say YC summer, but were able to postpone until winter?

Re:How's your (Hacker) Love Life? on Sunday March 11, 2012 @10:23AM (#3690383)
Good call thanks! Fixed.
Re:Frighteningly Ambitious Startup Ideas on Saturday March 10, 2012 @05:02AM (#3687527)
In regards to email, google wave took a stab at attempting to change the dynamic of communications but that project has now been shelved.

The difficulty in a new "email" replacement is overcoming the hurdles of engrained habits - see http://zenhabits.net/ for more on that psychology or even www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com (people see the inbox as a to do, that they grind through in mechanical fashion).

Think to tackle the problem of email is to put a new UI layer that wraps messaging into context while piggybacking off the traditional email protocol. For example, with my own work email we tag are subjects with TASK, FYI, MEETING, FOLLOWUP, FEEDBACK, etc. indicating what action we need done, helps with searching and labels now in gmail, however take that "context" element and combine with say www.trello.com UI concept of boards/cards in a visual dashboard type of style would be stellar.

I just imagine something like this on an ipad i am just swipping/slidding through my different buckets of communication (sort of like flipboard). KILL THE INBOX :)

Re:Ask HN: YC European Alumni on Friday March 09, 2012 @09:48AM (#3684234)
Hi Simon, Thanks for responding so quickly. Well one of the questions we had being from Euro (Norway based) is around the turnaround time from say interviewing end of April till starting in June. Such a short time frame must be tough to sort out visas and a place? Any advice on visas?

We are going to start getting some feedback on our application as well (have some friends in SF with friends from YC that are going to review), and there is tons of competition for the program, it would just be a shame to get in and not be prepared/able to go to SF. From what I understand Visas take awhile to process and T1 is difficult to get.

Ask HN: YC European Alumni

Hi we were wondering if there is a list of YC Euro Alumni? Trying to get the Euro perspective about applying to the program, the experience itself, and solutions for work visas. Thanks in Advance.

( Read More... | 4 comments | 2 points | on HN )

Older »