Metapony

I think I understand how it works -- and they have an option for installing a firewall on your server (htaccess file?) that will block any traffic that didn't come from them. That's optional, and I'd imagine that if you didn't use it you could be SQL injected right around this service by the attacker using your server's IP address.

But I'm going to hook up my nearlyfreespeech.net sites up and see how things go.

Buy Reddit.

I agree that tying these bonuses for everyone's participation is Larry Page's first big blunder.

I think there's two things that google can do to be a leader in the social space. Maybe you won't agree.

First. Buy Reddit. Buy all of Conde Nast if you have to, Larry.

Second. Given that search is an instant gratification thing (which google does so well) what would happen if, like in a subreddit, I wanted to be aware of goings on in a certain subject? Facebook is great for checking up on what a bunch of my friends are doing all over the world. But if I want a good daily overview of what's going on in a subject I'm interested in, with generally good coments, I go over to Reddit. Google could rule in this "automated newsgroup" space quite well. You would turn to this space to get commentary on articles all over the web. Google could keep it free from bots and not easily gamed. But Reddit's doing it right, and has the biggest userbase. (And yes, I find it pretty annoying most days, but now I filter out a lot of the subreddits I don't like.)

My point here is that Google should look at and learn from Reddit's model so much that it'd be better if they just bought it outright.

What does Cargo Cult programmer mean, anyway? Do you leave comments in your code pleading "John Fromm fix this!"?

Delicious has tagging -- and does automatic tagging -- but Google Bookmarks doesn't. That's a dealbreaker for me. And yes, I tried google bookmarks again because of this import, this feature is still missing. Google Bookmarks has 'labels' based on the folder that I have arranged (a few of) my bookmarks into, but I lose the ability to sort by the tags that Delicious has set.

I agree, Google Bookmarks is clearly a neglected service.

I know two people who work for GoDaddy. In their training for Tech Support they stress the upsell. This is why the web page control panel for their shared hosting is so horrible from a usability perspective. So that people will become confused, have to call in and then GoDaddy has an opportunity to upsell them. This is why I always advise "anyone but GoDaddy", even though my friends could get commision from my referral.

Couldn't log in under two browsers. Was able to register but no luck after that.

Lol, I just gave you a pep talk when you were mentioning a strategy and wondering who out there had goals to discuss. I've got goals (some private, some professional) but I'd prefer to not discuss them til I've got some code to alpha. I'll leave my comment here, maybe it'll help you. I swear I won't waste time checking for replies, but just writing that all out was good for me. I'm a code from home type, and I'm now all covered in sweat from dancing around, having spent all day learning node.js.

While HN is a bit different, I find that a lot of content aggregation sites are big timewasters. (Most notably Reddit.) What does it matter if you have spent 20 minutes composing your life's story (or opinion) when it's going to be downvoted and forgotten in a day or two? That's 20 minutes (plus 3 minutes here and there to check for replies) that you have now wasted. Yes, your opinion matters, yes you are a shining star, a special snowflake... but what matters more, your goal or the satisfaction of showing them that your insignificant opinion matters?

Also, people learn and work best in short intervals. Spend 20 or 40 minutes focussed and then get up and go to the window. Stretch. Don't go to the fridge, you little piggy. Center yourself and still your mind. Flip the album over and go back to work.

Also, setting an unrealistic time goal might just drag you down, as you'll spend more time kicking yourself for having missed it than you will working to achieve it. Set milestones, and they don't have to be perfect. The output doesn't have to be perfect if you can prove to yourself that you've got the socket open and it isn't crashing. Refinement should be it's own milestone, anyway.

You can do it. Don't take my word for it, only your own.