AmberShah

Just a guess, but between his indep contractors and volunteer moderators (as well as all those members), I'm betting he doesn't feel too alone. I have a tendency to say "we" when talking about running a group I started and it has < 200 people :)

This is true, and is basically what I pay my nanny. I clearly could not afford to do this if I worked in a less lucrative industry. In that case, I would most likely stay home.

I did for awhile, first for my local employer where my team was in the office and I worked from home, and then from a distributed company. These were both full time, and then I did part time for a different local company.

I had a nanny there watching my kid the entire time I was working. I did get to take little breaks to see what he was up to (and when he was younger, nurse him) and that's what was great about it. However, I really could NOT have watched him and worked AT ALL.

Taking care of a kid really is a full time job and you won't be able to get any work done if you don't have childcare there as well. Even the 1-2 hours you might get in a nap are easily taken up by cleaning up your messes, collapsing in exhaustion and, if you're lucky, checking your email.

If you CAN afford a nanny so that you're at home with your kid, then that is an awesome setup. It's the closest the thing to having your cake and eat it too, in my opinion.

And if you're feeling uneasy about your daycare, get your kid out ASAP! These little gut feelings are all you have, since you aren't there yourself. If you can't watch him yourself or get nanny, then at least find a new daycare. I used to work at a highly praised/awarded day care and based on that experience alone, I will never put my kid in daycare. Like I said, we were one of the better ones, because I've heard horror stories way worse than what happened where I worked. So... that sounds scary and I'm sorry but you have to trust your gut.

Low pressure and also you have to sacrifice a goat just to actually GET anything to do. Went stir crazy.

This is sort of what happened when they asked for the new features, we responded with estimates for that work and explained why it wasn't included ... they got pretty upset. Implied WE were the ones playing a game or something, when of course, from our end this is just totally straightforward.

This is good advice, and I think that's what went wrong in this case. We were told to estimate based on what we had, even though we needed to go deeper. The rationale was that we couldn't put so much time into a proposal that was so small. And on a smaller project, more risk was acceptable, which is okay, I guess, but then this is what happens.

"Setup development environment: 40 hours"

This is ridiculous, though, well UNLESS you are hiring someone to pick up work on a large existing project, in which case they may actually need the time to get all the dependencies and get it running. To be clear, our items are always in chunks of actual functionality, because this makes the most sense to ... well, everyone. And it makes it easier for them to pick and choose/set priorities/etc.

Well, the problem is that they insist on neither: that both the price stay the same and that the extra stuff is required. Rock - Me - Hard place.

BUT I do feel bad in these cases because I believe they thought it would be included. Plus it may truly be necessary for the final product to be useful for them. So I want to help them, plus, ya know, don't want them pissed at me :)

Based on the description of the design here I was expecting it to be a lot worse. The design is okay, but yes, A/B tests will let you know for sure.

But the building-the-site-first idea is tops particularly because people can get worried that (1) it will be too hard, or (2) there won't be a theme/design they like. Instead of trying to prove it with words/pictures, just let them start. At this point, even giving your email address away is a commitment, not even just CC info.

Yep, this plus look at the ones for sites that are similar to yours. Of course, you cannot copy those but they can give you ideas of areas specific to your app that wouldn't be covered in the WordPress ones.

This is one of those things that took longer than I expected and still am not sure I got right.

I have to agree here. Personally it is too buzz-wordy for me and I wouldn't really be interested. Can you find like one or two solution statements in regular, even overly-simple, words? Tell me one thing I could do that I can't do now or would be easier. If it's a big enough problem I will do it, but otherwise shifting my email setup is just an annoyance I'd rather avoid.

I think this is a good idea because it is both simple and useful. There are lots of possibilities and I like that you already have the option for private or public flashcards.

Here's the thing: you HAVE to update the design. This is very 1990s geocities and honestly plain white space with black text would be better. The logo truly hurts my eyes. And the text that randomly shakes... just no, please. Sorry if I sound harsh but I'm dead serious - I could not in good conscious send people there even if that's what they needed (at least without a disclaimer, or not even then)

Assuming you are talking about the Tim Ferris 4 hour workweek (http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/) then yes, but that's not really the problem. The problem is the unreliability of the pay when you work for yourself.

Love it. I'm a mom and I already know I'd use this.

Currently we use a combination of Facebook and email to get stories and pics out to people. So it would be nice if we could continue using them that way (ie. family members subscribe via email, and when we post something it automatically emails them the new text/pics AND it also posts on our facebook accounts)

My husband's response when I showed him the link: "thats brilliant / why didnt i think of that / damnit / its awesome" (over IM)

You know I like HN and reddit and other things but ever since reddit has been down all I can do is keep hitting refresh going, oh noooooes, please come back....

It's the whole denial makes you want it more thing.

A few more suggestions I thought of:

literotica.com is similar to fanfiction.net except focused on erotica and some crossover into romance or other. Some of the authors there have published their stuff (from the site and otherwise) through regular publishers. I have personally polled certain author's profile waiting for the next installment of a novella, and since they are doing it on the side (for free) it can take awhile. That is what I first thought of when I read about storyfunded, that these authors could use that to get some $$ to write the stories, and thus justify spending the time to write the stories (the money made selling it after the fact would just be gravy)

In case you haven't heard of it, Absolute Write is a really popular forum for writers (http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/index.php) And of course, all these writers are readers and they are already into the community-support spirit since they are on a forum. If I were you, I'd totally take out an ad on there and/or get active on their forum (not spamming, of course, just providing help with your site in your signature)

I signed up as an author and the email I got said samples should be 10 pages. This seems like a lot. Of course, some could be that long, but it seems odd to make that the average. Not just as a writer, but as a reader, I am not going to take the time to get invested in a story 10 pages worth when I know there is nothing coming. Unless you do partial chapter releases? That would be cool. Not sure if you've heard of it, but Dear Author has a "First Page Saturdays" where they, obviously, provide the first page of a novel and people can critique or whatever. It's pretty easy to decide whether you'd keep reading from just that much alone (try it and see: http://dearauthor.com/category/features/first-page-features/) and btw, I'd have funded a couple of those myself...

Just an idea, but you could whitebox the software and sell it to congresspeople to use on their websites. You are right that without the traction they may not want to affiliate themselves with you, but they still want the functionality. Technically other voting software may fulfill requirements but people always like specialized and you are already in this space and would be considered an "authority".

I pretty much suck in a group setting. I mean I can follow okay, of course, but I rarely interject anything. This used to bother me but now I have mostly accepted this is the way I am. In a one-on-one setting, I am much more "normal". I talk a regular amount and if it's something I'm passionate about, I talk a lot. So I am rarely in large groups of friends, as some people are, but rather have a few friends that I hang out with individually. And the people that I do tend to hang out with tend to be outgoing types, or at least talkative people, so that we complement each other. All of this is just to say, work with what ya got, rather than trying to be someone you're not.

As for how to get from point A (small talk) to point B (friendship) I would just keep in mind a few upcoming things and take the opportunity to invite someone out when it arises. Like keep tabs on upcoming events (concerts, festivals, etc) that sorta interest you and then if there's someone you want to get to know better, just mention it and see what you think. Or even if you mention that you both like roller blading (or whatever) you can make an open ended offer to invite them out. Even if they are not interested in that particular thing, if they want to get to know you better too, they will offer something back, then or later. Some people will say always say yes but don't mean it, but that's pretty easy to spot when they don't follow through, but no biggie.

I met a mom at random at a park and she mentioned that she wanted to do more playdates with her kid, and I offered that she could call me and we could set one up, and now she's my best friend. I've met lots of moms before and since, and some we even met for a playdate, but we didn't click as well so we didn't really make a friendship out of it. I think when it comes to making friends, I would say, cast a wide net early on and just be really open to hanging out with people without the pressure of this being a long term friend.

Love this idea. Would definitely love to fund some of my fav authors, esp ones that post on free sites in spare time. I am wondering how this would work though. As a reader I'd totally do it for an author/excerpt I was psyched about.

As an author I'm wondering how useful it would really be. After all, if you already have a large following, getting a publishing deal would be pretty easy. And if you don't have a large following, then you're getting little to no money through the site. Is the site designed to actually help you gather an audience, or is it expected that people will divert their existing audience from other means (social media, etc)

I'm assuming if I give money I'd get the book for free (at least digital version). And how much would I have to give to get this. Would I get anything else? Like maybe a "funders-only epilogue" or something?

What can I say, I'm a lists girl. There was actually a social lists site some time back, but I can't remember it now. I think it allowed you to make and share lists of anything, not even just lists (like, "what to pack for a camping trip", "my favorite books", stuff like that) Would love to find it, might be good for my purposes.

This looks good. Fulfills requirements, but a bit cluttered. Will try using for awhile and then upgrade to ads free.

Thanks!

And I humbly submit that my presentation, "Debunking Agile: How to put Agile to work to make your life easier and your software better" is at 5 pm in case anyone is interested. Come say hi before or after ;)

I'm looking for alpha employers to find very qualified programmers through Code Anthem. Email me amber at codeanthem dot com.

They may not know the details of the solution, but they should know the details of the problem and it should be a very painful one. I am in this scenario where no one is asking for my solution, but when I describe the scenario everyone is like "Yes, I hate that!" and also "You can fix it? Awesome" If it is a big painful problem, then people will be willing to learn new technologies and change just to fix it.

A similar question was asked on a recent 'This Week in Startups' http://thisweekin.com/thisweekin-startups/this-week-in-start...

The gist of the answer was that if you were clearly making a play on the word eBay or if people might get them confused, then you have to stop. It doesn't sound like your case, so you are probably in the right, but the next question is how to deal if you want to fight it or ignore it.

I think they are also trying to help consumers. I listened to an interview where they said they have people on staff that will talk to customers and help them through the process. They are trying to make the searching process (and fees) make more sense. I think what you are describing may be more of a feature to RedFin than a brand new idea.

I agree with this line of thinking completely for any hiring where the quality of the job is important. Programming? Yes. Nanny for my children? Yes. Washing my car? Shrug.

And yes, for the short period I had a nanny for my son, she was paid very well (well above "market"). And now that my dad is watching my son full time, I pay him even more. I don't understand the people who balk at paying $100 a week for childcare. Yes, it's expensive (although a lot cheaper than a nanny, by the way), but it's your child! Geez...

The "Free SEO Analysis" tool is pretty cool - although surely that required some amount of programming development, and it's not mentioned in the blog post.

Hmm... this wasn't really what I was expecting.

It's a good list of job boards for IT jobs. And if you're looking for a job (and moreso, if you're currently unemployed) you should probably be taking the time to go through each one (and more).

However ... I wouldn't say that any of them "help" you find a job anymore than a billboards "helps" you find a new skirt to wear to work. When I saw the title, I expected to see a list more like this:

http://standoutjobs.com/

http://www.visualcv.com/

http://www.linkedin.com/

http://stackoverflow.com/

and of course, my very own: http://codeanthem.com/

1) I can actually get a lot more done in a 1 hour lunch break at work than a 2 hour session at night. Other people prefer to work in the mornings before work or even work a full weekend day. There's no reason why it has to be in the evening.

2) I'm lucky enough to have a high paying job, enough so that I can afford to have house cleaners, and I also pay my brother to do our laundry every few weeks (this is a win-win, since he gets spending money). Sometimes I feel bad for not doing these things myself, BUT in reality it's working and that's what counts. To be honest, if I made less, I might consider going for funding instead of working, but since I make good money, I consider that to be my investment in my business. That being said, I still have household chores to do, but you just have to get realistic about how much you can really do, whether that means getting help, or just NOT doing chores (sad, but true)

3) Since I know have much more limited time than other people, I really really REALLY need to find ways to keep the product lean and focused. Everyone says they try to do this, but you know, necessity is the mother of invention.

4) Finally, sometimes I'll be in bed, it's midnight and I need to wake up early for work. I'll start thinking about the product and get so excited I have to get up and work on it for an hour or so. And of course, since I'm pumped, I'm much more productive. This is horrible for my sleep, but I think it's a fair trade for starting a startup, in addition to living a full life with family and work.

5) Assuming you have a supportive spouse, he can take the kids for an outing to the zoo, or whatever, on Saturday mornings and you can get a good 6 hours in. We find it to be a win-win, since they get to spend quality time then.

So far, it has been going the part-time, bootstrapping route versus actively trying to raise funding and go full time.