travisro

This is pretty cool. Love the Dropbox integration!

I can only imagine this number increasing with their new Adaptive Accounts API. It will allow developers to create PayPal accounts for users/online customers as part of the shopping experience.

So rather than sending people away to create a PayPal account, you can keep them in your app, send the info to PayPal and (only at the very end) redirect to PayPal to verify and setup sensitive info.

You can read more here: https://www.x.com/community/ppx/adaptive_accounts

My apologies for offending you with my "hijacking overlay." It's been turned off. I'm quite new to the HN community and didn't realize this was a problem for a legitimate site to have.

Regards, Travis

In all honesty, this title could have been re-written as "How to Run a Company that Everyone Actually Wants to Work For" since doing these things for just about any department would make people happier.

I wonder if he has each trade he made published somewhere. It would be interesting to see the exact progression trade-by-trade.

Do you have any sort of data to back up the claim that people are taking internships and going hungry because they don't have senior-level experience? I would think that it being a "systemic evil" would certainly warrant at least a few newsworthy articles or stories. Besides, nobody is arguing that something like that would be a morally acceptable situation or that people engage in that type of activity.

As for GSoC, again...voluntary. The kids have fun and they earn monetary rewards for their work.

"I understand if someone cold cases you for an internship and you cannot pay them but they want to learn and have some position in your company it's a bit more acceptable. But essentially if you send out job postings for interns you support a systematic evil in the job market of the US. These people have no choice but to work for you if they want to work in their field, and obviously no choice but to do so for free."

Wow! You're telling me that if I send out a job posting for interns, not only am I supporting a "systematic evil in the job market" but they have "no choice"? Really? First, what systematic evil are you referring to? Second, nobody is holding a gun to their heads. They have a choice. Do you want to give up some of your time for a chance to learn something? Yes or no. There's no duping involved. It's laid out. Also, at the end of the post, I clearly state that anybody offering an internship program SHOULD offer some sort of fiscal or other reward if the intern performs well.

As for the line you quote: in context, it's written from the perspective of the intern - not the employer. I'll concede that it wasn't entirely obvious, though. :)

While I appreciate your thoughts, this seems like a pretty narrow perspective on the arrangement. You assume there is no benefit to intern and that it's "flaunting labor laws."

It's a legitimate exchange of services for something of perceived value to the intern. They perceive the value they are getting from the internship program as well worth the time and labor they are providing to the company. Nobody is forced into "free labor." It's purely voluntary.

Many colleges offer course credit for internships (this has monetary value to the student). Many companies offer incentives such as permanent employment for stellar interns. Regardless, those who show up and do great work are usually rewarded with a network of contacts, personal referrals, industry experience and other things that can help move them to the top of the job pile when they graduate and actually go out looking for full-time employment.

All other things being equal, as an employer, I'll hire the candidate who has the experience over the one who doesn't. I'll hire the candidate who's desire to work in this field is so great, they'd gladly give up a summer to work for a company without pay because the VALUE of that experience is greater to them than any minimum wage job they could get paid for. If they are excited about working in the industry without pay, think of how much more likely they are to value the opportunity when they get a paycheck.