geekdesigngirl

Hooray for Boston! As another commenter said, it's nice to see some Boston action. I moved here in July and am loving the start-up scene here.

I released Zen To Done App last fall (http://zentodoneapp.com), which is a to-do list manager based on Leo Babauta's Zen To Done. It's a simple app that allows you to define a few major tasks for the week and then fit in all the little tasks around them.

Also working on a wine management system that my father wants but no link for that...yet.

Email is in profile.

I've got to disagree. Libraries are not just a book repository. They are community centers and often the location of free or low-cost workshops. They are places to bring your kids on a Saturday to listen to stories. And librarians are a vast treasure trove of information. Libraries also provide free internet to those who don't have it, access to computers to those without. I take for granted the 3 computers I own with the internet connection that is always available but this is still considered a luxury.

As for losing the print editions or print editions being based on the digital ones, I certainly hope not. I can't imagine sitting in front of my laptop, or holding a nook, or reading on an iPad for hours. But that's my personal feelings and often see people on the T with their ebook readers.

That's clever. Love the back stories created and little vignettes into these characters. Well done sir, well done.

I'm about to do this and am actually looking forward to it. I cut the TV cord over 2 years ago and haven't missed it. There have been days I forget to bring my cell phone in (it's an older Blackberry model). The only thing I've used it for is to check my email and text messaging, all which is accessible on the web.

I wholeheartedly agree that what the editor, Ms. Griggs, did was unethical and copyright infringement. I believe she should, and tried to, make it right. However, after watching the whole debacle through Facebook and Twitter and reading some of the reprehensible things, I was disgusted. The things that were said or written about were very often irrelevant from people who had no dog in the fight. And, there were some things that were written that would never have been spoken. I fear this event goes beyond copyright infringement.

Douglas Rushkoff, in his book 'Program or Be Programmed' has an entire chapter about the social aspect of the web and the mob it/we produce; it's quite a good read: http://www.orbooks.com/our-books/program/

It's not just the 10 character limit but also they disallow special characters (i.e. no exclamation mark). When I developed my web app, I had a wise programmer tell me to allow up to 32 characters with special characters. I don't like being limited to what my password can be. My bank's website is horrible at that.

I have to agree with a lot of the posters here that fixed bids are better than hourly. I've been doing the freelance thing for a while, as well as working for another company, and have a very good understanding at how long it takes me to complete task X.

When looking at a new project, I can usually estimate the time it will take me to within a few hours and then I always add an additional 25%. I don't ever bill a client for phone calls or emails and even when the project is completed will answer emails/phone calls from them to assist. Yes, my prices are a bit higher than average but my clients don't mind paying it and don't mind passing my name along.

When dealing with a new project that I haven't a clue as to how long it will take me, I give an estimate about how many hours I believe it will take me and, if it gets close to that, the client is immediately told and we decided together how to move forward.

My contracts are also pretty detailed. I learned early on that specs that aren't spelled out in a contract have a way of coming back to bite you.

I grew up with that drilled into my head in typing class but, come to find out, now it is not followed in many cases. Most type faces should only have 1 space after the period. http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/spaces.html

It took me forever to stop hitting the space bar twice after ending a sentence.

I've just started working with a recruiter a former manager introduced me to. While I appreciate what they are doing, as jrockway pointed out with playing hardball regarding salary, I often feel that they don't have any interest in me whatsoever. Communication is, at best, sporadic and every time I've been to their office, I hear a bunch of yelling, see paper airplanes flying and general lackadaisical attitudes.

This is my first experience with a recruiter and I can't say I'd recommend it to anyone. It's much better to market one's self than to rely on others, even if they can negotiate a better salary.

Ya - that's an amazingly simple 'Dropbox' like concept. Nicely done. Love the simplistic style of the site.

I like the site too. I have to agree that the site's design isn't too captivating. My suggestion would be to highlight a random story on the front page, with a call to action to submit a story right below it.

Your site is one I can see myself spending time on for a good laugh.

I've also tried many different things. I also went the digital route by creating Zen To Done App (http://zentodoneapp.com - also on github). But even with designing and developing my own app, I prefer the pen and pencil method. It's just so much more tactile and responsive. I use a blank moleskine with a #2 pencil or pen; that's always with me.

Wonderful! I stand corrected then. This app is proving to be useful and educational.

I suppose I did over-react. My apologies. Perhaps I am in the wrong since I seem to be the only voice that opposes this application. Before coming to the web development world, I was a counselor for troubled youth and adults with mental disabilities (2 separate jobs); our words were important in those positions and I think I'm carrying that over into this current space.

And, I wasn't complaining about the short connection. Everything's inter-related. But I feel that instead of using Hitler as the constant, some other object/person might have been more considerate; I still believe in the power of words. We have those little 'karma' points next to our usernames on this list, don't we? Is the karma just meant to indicate that what we say jives with the collective whole? Like I said, that was my second post; I may have misunderstood what the community 'rules' are.

This is my second post on HN and I, for one, think this is disgusting. How is this right? Most of the comments on this thread are defending this app and yes, it does what it sets out to accomplish. However, are we so much in an echo chamber that we don't realize how the things we build affect other humans?! We deal in a world of systems, where point A leads to point B. But the systems we put in place are interpreted by human minds and human emotions, all of which don't have a point A or point B. I have a friend whose family doesn't go back more than 2 generations because they were all murdered by Hitler's regime at Auschwitz.

It's easy to make stupid apps (your word) but, in a post earlier today about creating apps for the greater good (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1770435), this is just blatantly adding bad. I mean, come on, do something worthwhile with your talents.

What's the point of this app? Is it just to get a rise out of people? I put in Dalai Lama and there's a separation of 3. I expected more from this community.

That's a brilliant and simple idea! Can I ask how you send out texts? Do you use a third party API like Mobile Messenger?