kiddz

This looks like a great idea. We are applying to the upcoming class with a different approach though. Instead of owning batteries (however spectacular they are), we think it's about creating a network to share batteries. Think bike share for batteries.

Would love to chat about using Gbatteries in such a network.

I read through a lot of the comments so far and they expectedly turned into a stream of educated opining for and against the validity of stipends for the poor. Although many points are well said, do they really matter? Seems like the fundamental point is the ongoing lack of experimentation around poverty alleviation that leads to a Duke researcher only having a small Indian community that she has been studying who then gets a casino to be the only opportunity to see potentially innovative policy initiatives.

I'd love to see block grants distributed to states for a competitive process of poverty reduction (or pick any another long term social cost) where such experimentation could become institutionalized and there'd be a lot more to talk about.

Why are you assuming growth on one plane? Can't these crops be stacked? Also from a hedging perspective, alternative supply from this (assuming fuel is interchangeable) doesn't need to be equal to oil.

This is a good example of the promise of distributed learning where "admissions" is based on progressively better performance. In a world where anyone can take an intro Harvard class online and their performance(s) earn them more access (e.g. actually physical enrollment/credits --things that use real resources), grade inflation would make such a system fail.

But until then, I think there's a general feeling that the admissions process accepts those who basically only do "A" work, and subsequent grading within the school follows as such. Brown does P/F and Yale Law School omits grading too.

I hate to think that my neighbor buying a hdmi cable means that my backyard will get a fly over by a camera enabled amazon drone. This does seem magical though.

Why would they announce it now. . . let's see a day before Cyber Monday and my guess is that 1) they are sincerely doing this, but 2) they are aware up the inevitable PR uptick the day before the busiest online shopping event of the year. Nice move to garner a lot a free attention that will result in greater overall (non-drone-delivered) sales.

The best discontinued feature is the experimental browser on 3G. Traveling abroad and being able to pull up nyt or gmail is like a permanent tether to home.

The USPTO should see this as an opportunity to have a mail-in form which would create redundancy and also obscure these problems.

Fantasy talk for a second. . . ok, so if robots have far greater accuracy and of course options for self-exposure within a battlefield, why can't their primary directive be to shoot (literally) the guns of the enemy. It would be great if the technology was directed in a way for the robots not be "killer" but rather to shoot at the actual weapon someone is holding and not their person.

I'm completely taken back by the simplicity of this + that it's free. So many times have I paid a contractor via PayPal as a "friend" to reduce PayPal's fees.

Moreover, why hasn't a bank or credit card company done something like this yet? Amazing how the solution disappears into a cc: address line and unique link in your email.

The round of applause from the students was likely because they were relieved to have the validation. I went to great schools and it seemed like many of us were always thinking that none of us were as smart/gifted/different as the next person (side note: doesn't take 100% audience buy-in to get the whole audience eventually applauding). But the twist is reminding students (and especially young alum) what such a prestigious degree means -- in short, not as much as you would hope. And for good reason because the tools of the "knowledge economy" are more freely available then ever before. I'm not saying that Khan Academy or Rural Broadband is equal to 4 years at Yale, but I do think that 4 years at Yale is less meaningful now. Like, wouldn't many of you rather have a Karma score of 5000 if you were applying to YC then a CS degree from Stanford?

You have accomplished far more by writing a note that becomes popular on HN than by reading all the HN submits for the last X months. To the extent that being an entrepreneur is a for profit endeavor, you've wisely set up a dragon-- that is, the guilt that we don't read enough, to slay for just recognition. Nicely done.

Money only gives you options, even if it's other peoples' money manifested in the resources of the State via taxation and public spending.

First world problems/opportunities . . . the underlying story here is that nearly none of this is possible without a well funded and run state. Riding 4500 miles across country, collecting sponsorships, going to a strangers house from CL for a fan. . . all speaks to road, police and the like allowing people to survive/thrive because there is general stability around them. These people experience none of the poverty problems that come from a lack of choices.

Nice post Gulnara :) As one of the first people you interviewed back when you had the webcast, I think it's also clear that you have an infectious personality that now pairs well with your new skills. Quite brave too, to not stay in SF and come back to DC when your transitioning into a cs career. Kudos, some more.

Sure. . . will send an email. But just a point of advice, even at $800 per month, that is quite an investment in faith when there are not any profiles of "lead geniuses." And as many folks who do sales, it generally takes a nuanced understanding of your industry to generate leads. Any lead that is easily attainable by any other competitor, is not too valuable.

It would be great to have real profiles of the teams/individuals who are the "lead geniuses." Or offer something like the first 10 leads are risk-free.

I was close to signing up, until I went to the about page; isn't this a pivot/spinoff from a VA service you guys launched several months ago. I tried that, and was not too impressed by the research. This seems like taking the VA system and just charging a lot more. I'm assuming that "Lead Geniuses" are non-usa based?

I have rented up to four apartments at a time on AirBnB in both DC and LA. Also I advised a good friend of mine, GSB grad and former investment banker, on how to use AirBnB so he could pursue a comedy career in NYC.

From my experience, if you are renting apts to put them on AirBnB, you seek out low cost apts where you a guaranteed a return. I don't think that apt pricing overall increases by this behavior, because as a sub-letter (unlike if you are paying a mortgage), you are looking for monthly positive cash flow because you don't get the real estate appreciation.

For the last three years, I just look for studios and small one-bedrooms that if rented for 12 or less nights covers the rent. So in DC, I'd never rent a $2000 month place for AirBnB because that would require me to rent out the place 15 nights a month just to break=even. Too much risk. But a studio at $1200 a month starts to make a lot of sense. Yet, I would not want to personally live in a studio.

So I don't think AirBnB leads to increases in overall rents. It does lead to winnowing of small cheap well located apartments though, that you would otherwise move from but now you have a great opportunity to hold onto and put on AirBnB indefinitely. Oh, and if you really get into AirBnB, it can really affect your relationship with your gf/bf . . . let me crash at their place for three nights so I can make this $450 :) But that's another story.