Hacker News Reader

benblodgetton Uber's Original Blog and First Posts

Tone immediately changes post funding, brash excitement early customer phase -> pr.

benblodgetton Those making $1,000+/month on side projects – what did you make?

I wrote a site creator for non-profits that allows them to create customized fundraising sites.

benblodgetton Ask HN: Freelancer? Seeking freelancer? (January 2015)

SEEKING WORK - Remote

- Rails/Sinatra

Working on hopsie.com a fundraising platform for non profits, looking to split time between this and interesting freelance projects.

https://hopsie.com/portfolio

benblodgetton Goodbye Gmail

Why wouldn't you just use imap in an email client? I don't see any benefit to using a cloud email service when you can just host email easily on a cloud server..

benblodgetton Empty London

This is really cool, I've never been to London so I have no reference for how busy the places he photographs typically are. I would love to see a similar project for NYC.

benblodgetton Ask HN: What are you working on and why is it cool?

http://www.nkoso.org / http://www.hopsie.com - a crowdfunding api for non profits.

benblodgetton Opt out of Google using you as an ad

This is a perfect example of HN acting productively. Identifies a serious problem that effects the audience and pushes the solution to the top.

benblodgetton Switch to HTTPS Now, For Free

I agree it shouldn't change conversions, but I would also like to see some data supporting that. I run a lot of ecommerce sites and couldn't imagine the number of transactions not dropping if I just removed my SSL from every site.

benblodgetton Why I Moved My Startup to Oakland

Let me start by saying I like the sentiment here. The hardest thing about living in NYC is knowing too many people. They distract you and give a false sense of comfort towards your situation. I get that.

But, I have a problem with this, is moving an hour outside of a city really relocating? I'd argue if you don't want to be comfortable move to a city where you have no connections. Focus on somewhere not particularly welcoming to tech entrepreneurs and really get out of the comfort zone. Otherwise, I don't think you really moved your startup anywhere.

benblodgetton A startup accelerator for the world’s poorest

I am the founder of nKoso.org a sponsorship program for children in rural Ghana. We focus on at risk rural children and place them in one of our partner private schools. We're new, but have funded nearly 100 children's education since our launch in April.

If you want to chat further email me ben@nkoso.org

benblodgetton Duck Duck Go is blowing up again

I think DDG would be a much more viable option if they owned ddg.com. The reason I still use google is because it flows naturally on the keyboard. I use search as a navigation method, and typing duckduckgo.com is annoying. I would absolutely make the full switch if command + t + ddg.com + query returned what I wanted.

The search results are good, I salute you for that, but it's just not convenient so I still find myself at google. You are asking for a major workflow change but not making it easy.

benblodgetton What I learned from doing a Kickstarter

Can we take a peak at the campaign?

benblodgetton Show HN: Google Glass + Tesla Model S = GlassTesla

I can imagine the user base for this is a tiny yet interesting bunch.

benblodgetton Show HN: Find the email address of any GitHub user

I don't think it is as much news as a hack (which is completely relevant for this forum). The reason for its attraction is because most of the demographic here utilizes github and cares about privacy.

benblodgetton Airbnb Stay Illegal In New York City, Rules Judge

Spoken like someone who has never lived in NYC. We live in such proximity to our neighbors that their behavior has a larger impact than in most places. I had problems with an airbnber just two weeks ago when they had 50+ people partying in the loft above mine. Friends have reported similar experiences.

benblodgetton Nkoso: Global crowdfunding platform for education

Vittana is a great organization, we have a lot of admiration for them. The primary difference is the level of education that we focus on. Unlike Vittana we are helping students in primary school vs secondary or higher education.

benblodgetton Nkoso: Global crowdfunding platform for education

I think people prefer to donate to people vs a cause. I do like the idea of grouping students by class, however I want to keep the goal amount as low as possible. We are focused on making charity more accessible to the masses, so I want someone who donates $5 to feel like they have a direct impact. This would dilute if the goal was $1000 vs $100.

benblodgetton Nkoso: Global crowdfunding platform for education

That's a great question and it is one of the toughest problems with the model. We have decided to take a fee (3% of tuition) in order to cover our basic technical costs.

In order to become more sustainable we are building partnerships with other ngos who can benefit from our technology.

benblodgetton Why is Facebook blue? The science of colors in marketing

> 21% more people clicked on the red button than on the green button. Everything else on the pages was the same, so it was only the button color that made this difference.

I think it is a bit of a reach to immediately jump to concluding red outperforms green. Cohorts in a/b testing are not always equal (even if the traffic split is 50/50).

Imagine situations where 30% of a has 70% more mobile users than those of b. The green used for b is significantly less noticeable on mobile than desktop.

Can we still reasonably conclude that color defined the conversion difference?

benblodgetton Why I Let My Students Cheat On Their Exam

Schools emphasize the numerical values that represent the 'amount learned', not the actual acquisition of knowledge.

Any college student with the sole goal of learning how to learn & think unfortunately doesn't survive the education system.

benblodgetton Ask HN: Do you think public education can be fixed?

That story is related to a public school, private schools are not as concerned with standardized test scores. Unlike the public sector their funding isn't determined by government review.

benblodgetton Ask HN: Do you think public education can be fixed?

Wow thanks DanBC some really good points here. To answer your question we were specifically discussing primary education in developing countries, but I think she was just an interested bystander. I will take your advice on following back up with her.

Corruption is a foremost concern for us, we have an extensive due diligence process that allows us to understand the operations of any school we fund. In Ghana, where we started we also have a trusted volunteer who is regularly in contact with the faculty to make sure they are conforming to the standards they agreed to. I think a similar volunteer will be essential in any area we expand to.

The problem I have with just donating to existing NGOs is I don't know where the money goes. Most just blend it into their general budget, I want to know that my dollars are creating direct and immediate change.

benblodgetton Ask HN: Do you think public education can be fixed?

Exactly and the education of a child shouldn't be focused on keeping kids off the street. This is a positive by-product but unfortunately seems to be the extent of what the public sector can do in developing areas.

The private sector has to focus on providing a quality education or their tuition will dissipate and they will shut down.

benblodgetton Ask HN: Do you think public education can be fixed?

Thanks for your view, what nation are you residing in?

benblodgetton Ask HN: Do you think public education can be fixed?

Clickable: http://www.nkoso.org

benblodgetton I need a cofounder, so I built okcofounder.com

Well at least he has the best name out of the ones listed. Am I missing something though, his site seems to just be a description of what he's looking for a link to a contact form? Do we consider this a product now?

benblodgetton Show HN: Jotleaf is a free-form, collaborative canvas for web content

It's confusing that you have to go into settings then page options to get them back after closing. I'd leave a little tab on the right side of the page so you can toggle it back and forth.

benblodgetton FarmLogs (YC W12) Is Going To Change The Way That Farmers Manage Their Business

I am the co-founder of a cash-positive company that provides services to the crane industry, and while we do encounter a few problems with the older generation for the most part they are very receptive. I think that the older generation is losing that distrust for young innovation, and they actually enjoy and appreciate youthful interest.

benblodgetton Show HN: Github for recipes

I'd be interested in working on it as well, email me if you can't find someone.

benblodgetton Ask HN: What's your startup's analytics setup?

I agree with the 'don't pay for anything early' sentiment, however I don't think it's good advice to recommend just Google Analytics. The data is wildly inaccurate and while provides some good stuff, it should not be your only form of data.

I'd recommend pairing this with the free mixpanel plan and/or getclicky so you have a few different sources to check each other.