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alexandersingh

100 karma · joined October 21, 2013

Co-Founder, Domino (www.wearedomino.com) Find fantastic freelance jobs from your friends.
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alexandersingh··on 'Big Void' Identified in Khufu's Great Pyramid at Giza
Or, humans have always had to focus on their own self-preservation and only recently have we had the luxury to care for the past at the expense of the present.
alexandersingh··on Coda, a “next-generation spreadsheet” – from rows and columns to custom apps
Slightly off-topic, but speaking of lists...

http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/spiegel-interv...

alexandersingh··on Porsche will begin an app-based subscription service next month
Turo is a short term car rental marketplace. Fair is a flexible "long-term" car leasing service. They have two different business models and are serving two different problems.
alexandersingh··on My Sudden Synaesthesia
Off the top of my head, Jimi Hendrix had it...and Blood Orange
alexandersingh··on U.S. does not believe Cuba is behind sonic attacks on American diplomats
In the good old days, we'd have just gotten Mulder and Scully on the case...Those were simpler times...
alexandersingh··on YC’s Essential Startup Advice
Yes but "talking to your customers" is universally applicable and valuable advice. One could argue that it's of even greater value if you're targeting a niche with only "a few customers" because you need to ensure you really deliver enough value to get them onside and paying a rate that ensures you generate a profit.
alexandersingh··on Digital coins may be on the verge of going mainstream
As jogjayr pointed out, the Hawala system has existed before and after formal regulations. Crypto alone might not represent a viable mainstream alternative, but it does have potential as one piece of a composite solution.
alexandersingh··on Digital coins may be on the verge of going mainstream
250 million people isn't mainstream? These are people sending money to their families on a monthly basis, and where current transfer fees can take the equivalent of a half day of work.

That strikes me as an appealing use case.

alexandersingh··on Digital coins may be on the verge of going mainstream
According to Wikipedia, remittances were in excess of $560 billion last year, faciliated by 250 million migrant workers[1].

You and I are not the user demographic ;)

1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remittance

alexandersingh··on Uber Founder Travis Kalanick Resigns as C.E.O.
I don't know Kalanick, though I've read about how his brashness and "win at all costs" attitude was forged through his past startup failures[1]

If this is true then he is his own worst enemy, and I find it very sad when anyone - no matter how big a jerk you think they are - is trapped in a repeating pattern of negative and destructive behavior.

To be clear: I am not absolving him of his behavior, I'm just observing that the culture comes from the founder and his wounds run deep.

[1] Scour filed for bankruptcy, Red Swoosh was acquired after enormous struggles to keep the company afloat.

alexandersingh··on Instagram CEO on Stories: Don’t Call It a Copycat
That probably depends on the narrative they're told and their propensity to believe it.

"Copy this Snapchat feature" vs "Stories are a new storytelling medium" vs. "We need to do this because Snap is a grave threat and Facebook's survival depends on your work" are all very different narratives to sell to the team.

alexandersingh··on Essential Products – Andy Rubin’s new hardware company
The high-end smartphone market is dominated by Apple, with Samsung a very distant second.
alexandersingh··on MIT economist believes U.S. is shifting to be more similar to developing nations
I don't know about Bombay Beach but I was just in Wonder Valley in January and that town is a unique place with a self-selecting population that values isolation.

There are larger towns and cities in the U.S. which more accurately depict the broader economic challenges the country is facing.

alexandersingh··on Bill Gates questions worth of space exploration for improving humanity (2013)
Your point and the OPs are not mutually exclusive. It's sad to think that we may soon have the capacity to colonize other planets, yet remain incapable of calming the handful of petty & destructive emotions that plague us.
alexandersingh··on Ffffound is shutting down
Seconding this. Arena is a great tool with a really interesting community.
alexandersingh··on Why Facebook Keeps Beating Every Rival: It’s the Network
I'm just a happy person ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
alexandersingh··on Why Facebook Keeps Beating Every Rival: It’s the Network
Microsoft is far from dead, and under Satya they've actually found their feet again :)
alexandersingh··on Loss of Coral Reefs Could Cost $1T
Are you aware of any studies or successful real-world implementations of systems to promote and incentivize long-term thinking, planning & action?
alexandersingh··on LOT – A subscription-based service which distributes a basic set of clothing
Immediately. This is right up my alley :)
alexandersingh··on Naval Ravikant on Reading, Happiness, Decision Making, Habits [audio]
I'd say it's in the eye of the beholder.

You may not think it's profound, but I'm sure you know several people in your life who would. I believe we all do.

What is inspiring - to me - about Naval's podcasts is they're an encapsulation of - and blueprint for - a person's quest for knowledge and self understanding.

He is not passing himself off as a guru, or a know-it-all. He's just reading, learning, synthesizing and practicing and that's a formula that anyone can follow.

There are better ways to "curry favor" with someone than to post a comment on the Internet. :)

alexandersingh··on Naval Ravikant on Reading, Happiness, Decision Making, Habits [audio]
If you're looking for more, Naval was also on the Tim Ferriss podcast a couple of times:

1. http://tim.blog/2015/08/18/the-evolutionary-angel-naval-ravi...

2. http://fourhourworkweek.com/2016/01/30/naval-ravikant-on-hap...

alexandersingh··on I had an autoimmune disease, then the disease had me (2013)
I want to echo this advice. One of my closest friends was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease in his teens, having surgery not long thereafter. He began researching for ways to get it under control which led him to anecdotal evidence on the benefit of adopting a revised diet.

He has been vegan for almost a decade and has had no major problems since.

alexandersingh··on How to never complete anything
One technique that has helped me is what I call "atomic actions". What is the smallest action you can undertake, that you can build upon, which will help you realize your goal?

I've wanted to write for years but thought I had to pen esoteric essays composed of thousands of words. Recently I just started writing short, simple posts that are helping me establish a habit, develop fluency and enjoy the process of writing.

My first post was on this idea of atomic actions: https://alexsingh.svbtle.com/atomic-actions

Maybe it'll be of help to someone else :)

alexandersingh··on The Google project to put an aquarium full of water bears inside a phone
Coming across the Lapka concept for Project Ara[0] made me realize that the problem was to market this as a "phone" in the first place.

Few people are willing to take the risk on a phone with an entirely new form factor, let alone an entirely novel premise, and no one would carry two phones around in their pocket.

It seems like they missed an opportunity to position this as a customizable mobile computing platform. Or perhaps they did and thought it was too niche.

[0] https://medium.com/@my_lapka/lapka-x-project-ara-78fc5fe9f50...

alexandersingh··on Thirty Years After His Death, Andy Warhol's Spirit Is Still Very Much Alive
The myth and reputation surrounding The Factory has made it a popular point of reference for a lot of artists, many of whom identify their own studios or creative spaces as spiritual successors.

An equally interesting, albeit different space would be The Haçienda (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ha%C3%A7ienda).

And if anyone is after some bite-sized Warhol, you may enjoy this Twitter feed, sampling from Warhol's diaries - https://twitter.com/WarholLives

alexandersingh··on Ask HN: Non-technical readers of HN, why are you here?
I always click through to the HN comments about an article before clicking through to the article itself in the knowledge that I'll get a rigorous, open-minded perspective on the topic.

Many times the criticism and debate I've read here has been better than the original source material itself.

alexandersingh··on Launch HN: UpKeep (YC W17) – Basecamp for Facility Maintenance Teams
Good sir, I believe I may be of assistance: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=411
alexandersingh··on Show HN: GitHub user search engine
Thank you, Dave. Don't forget to search for yourself! ;)
alexandersingh··on Show HN: GitHub user search engine
We've built a Github user search engine to help people find great developers based on their Github activity. We've improved upon Github's own user search in a few ways:

1. We filter out the stuff that doesn't matter: We filter out forked repos that weren't built on, and only display code that's relevant to the search query.

2. Expanded ranking & sorting options: Developers can be sorted based on how many code contributions they've made, how many watchers their code has, or how many times their relevant code has been forked, giving you a quick way to find the most prolific coders for the technology you need, or the code most endorsed by their peers.

3. Improved location search: You can search accurately for developers within any city, metro area, region, or country.

4. A single click to view your code: We link directly to a developer's relevant repositories.

The search engine today includes over 40,000 Github users who have more than 50 followers. Together they've created over 470,000 repositories, with more than 12 million commits, and 14 million watchers.

We can only improve the product with your feedback and criticism, so please don't hold back. :)

alexandersingh··on “Children of Men”'s vision of the future is now disturbingly familiar
While the cinematography is a master stroke, it's not enough to carry a film seeking some level of depth.

I feel Children of Men succeeds because all of its elements - the direction, acting, art direction, writing, score, editing & cinematography - come together so well.

There are many films that get some of these elements right, far fewer nail all of them.

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