Hacker News Reader

newsioon The worst project I ever funded on Kickstarter

When you are designing a product for Kickstarter and you show prototypes, backers will assume you have worked all the bugs out first.

Do backers on Kickstarter really assume that all the bugs will be worked out before the prototype is shown? I'm not familiar with how the community works, but would assume that the prototypes would be used to identify more bugs and design flaws, as well as elicit feedback from early users.

newsioon GoDaddy no longer on SOPA supporter list.

Let's see a public statement by the CEO that not only says "we've been removed from a list" but also "we will never support SOPA or any other far-reaching legislation designed to undermine the Internet."

newsioon Winning the war on cancer? US death rates show broad decline

Here's one problem with screening: A colonoscopy is a $2000+ procedure, and insurance won't always pay for it unless it's medically necessary.

So, if you have a family history of colon cancer and you've entered the age range where screening typically starts, you may be out of luck. Yes, treating cancer is vastly more expensive than screening for it. So why not pay for regular screenings? I think health insurance companies (and employers) probably do a cost analysis and determine that the cost of detecting and catching stage 1 colon cancer in a screening is more expensive than the cost of waiting for it to develop into something that requires treatment, because by that time there's a very good chance that the worker will no longer be at the same company.

I'm hopeful the costs and effectiveness of non-invasive imaging technologies and auto-analysis will come down in the next 10 years to the point where "screenings" can be done for a fraction of a colonoscopy. But, of course, the manufacturers of the current generation of imaging technologies -- the Siemens and Intels of the world -- are perfectly happy with the jaw-dropping price tags that hospitals and clinics have to pay and pass onto the consumer. If some smart startup comes along with a cheaper solution, just buy 'em out or use monopoly muscle to take them out of the picture.

OK, end of rant. Back to our normal programming.

newsioon Ask HN: Great tech entrepreneurs who saw success in their mid 30s?

Marc Benioff was in his mid 30s when he founded Salesforce, after a pretty successful career at Oracle.

The guy who founded Android (can't recall his name) was as well, but he already had founded some companies.

newsioon Ask Jessica: What makes for a good founder?

Also, is a follow-up to "Founders At Work" planned? It's a really inspirational book, and I am sure there is a huge new crop of potential subjects from the last three years of ups and downs in the startup space.

newsioon A baseball star funds a gaming company. What could possibly go wrong?

I hate to say it, because I haven't played the game or read the case study, but maybe Schilling would be better as an angel as opposed to a startup founder.

As for spending his personal fortune, he has a lifetime of employment as an ad pitchman in the Boston area -- at least if he wants it. He broke the Curse for the Red Sox, and people here will never forget that.

newsioon Engadget - We're turning comments off for a bit

Ditto for both Boston newspapers. It can literally ruin your day reading some of the comments below even mundane articles.

The NYT has a good approach: Approve only those comments which present reasoned arguments in a semi-intelligent way. There's a lag, but the comment threads are excellent reading.

Another approach: Force everyone to use real names when leaving a comment. I am not sure how that would work, but the trolling would drop away if real identities were tied to people's words.

Unfortunately, it might also inhibit people from commenting, too. Anonymity is a great way to say what you actually think.

newsioon Explain This, crowdsourcing journalistic questioning and answering

Needs more input to be useful, IMHO. Crowdsourcing doesn't work with a small sample size.

newsioon HN needs to post new stories on the front page to give them a chance

There's another option that should be added: People with multiple accounts.

newsioon Jason Calacanis responds to Aaron from SEO Book

Jason is full of it. Playing stupid and meek because he got caught.

The original SEO book post and HN discussion are here:

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1073723

EDITED: Added correct link (thanks icey!)

newsioon What Is the Chinese Economic Model?

The list under the subheading "What Is the Chinese Economic Model?" is worth reading. He is overly harsh on some points ("there is perhaps a 30-year supply of poverty-level wage earners happy to make export goods at below global cost") but he is right on the money for others (currency manipulation, stolen IP, etc.)

Note that this came out more than a week before Google made its announcement that it was considering pulling out of China. I think other startups or established companies considering an expansion into China should read this first. There are certainly opportunities, but lots of asterisks too.

newsioon Warn HN: Google Calendar is not reliable

I use Google Calendar alerts and have regularly noticed late email notifications (up to an hour or two), but never failed deliveries. I use Yahoo mail.

newsioon Fancy Buttons - Customize Buttons Effortlessly with CSS3 & Compass [video]

Excellent little demo.

Shows how long I've been out of touch with CSS. Didn't know stuff like variables or rounded edges was supported.

newsioon [dead]

Short version: American journalist discovers the rest of the world isn't like home.

Disappointed to see this getting a lot of upvotes. It's hardly a new issue for entrepreneurs or governments. Traffic control on the roads, in the skies, and on the rails is a known problem that transportation engineers have been working on for decades. Sarah Lacy is talking about it like she just discovered the problem.

newsioon Microsoft's Ray Ozzie: "Apps Don’t Make Your Phone Special"

Some people who claim to have been at the talk said that Ozzie's opinions were more nuanced than what's been reported on Gizmodo and VentureBeat. Check the comments at the bottom of Scoble's blog post:

http://scobleizer.com/2009/11/17/ray-ozzie-is-wrong-about-sm...

Wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft or Ozzie issues a clarification about this.

newsioon Shameful Innumeracy in the New York Times

The author is the same person who wrote the much-commented scienceblogs post about why he won't go to his high school reunion. The post and the comments are well worth reading, if you haven't seen them before:

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=709733

newsioon What I Wish Someone Had Told Me (about starting a company)

I downvoted it. It is a crass overgeneralization, clearly based on stereotypes that have been reinforced by the narrow opinions of a couple of your friends.

I lived in Asia for more than six years. Speak Mandarin. Married locally. The idea that Asian women tend to "demand less attention," or what you refer to a "Fresh Off the Boat" Chinese girl giving birth will urge her mate to "don't wory about the baby" and "make sure you get the money" is absolute, utter B.S.

newsioon What I Wish Someone Had Told Me (about starting a company)

This is the best link I've ever seen on Hacker News.

It's honest, it's filled with good advice, it has warnings that people should be at least aware of (e.g., "mentors" who provide an hour of advice and expect an equity stake in return), and it's very, very well written and is a pleasure to read. I knew the author had some serious writing experience when I read the post, and sure enough, he has background as the founder of an online literary publication.

Thanks hariis, and thanks Paul.

newsioon HN Help: I'm lost

So, it is preferable to deprive kids of attention/love/help with school (OP says he barely sees his children) as opposed to depriving kids of "things"?

newsioon Harvesting data from websites using WebKit and PyQt4

For anyone who is interested, parts II and III:

http://www.rkblog.rk.edu.pl/w/p/harvesting-data-websites-usi...

newsioon JWZ Unable to Distribute Two Free Pre Apps

Wow. If this is a battle over developer mindshare, Palm is definitely losing an early opportunity. Apple may also be shooting itself in the foot.

Any crazy Android stories like this?

newsioon How to Apply to Y Combinator

I read this, and I like your thinking about the types of people you are looking for.

But I have to say: You're asking for clarity, want applicants to avoid unnecessary or confusing language, etc. Why not practice what you preach? Why not include some of the "read between the lines" bits in your essay ("If this wasn't already clear, we're not looking for the sort of obedient, middle-of-the-road people that big companies tend to hire. We're looking for people who like to beat the system") and copy and paste them directly into the application form? It will make your life easier, and it will make it easier for YC applicants who are struggling with the process. Judging by the fact that you had to write this essay, people obviously don't know what you want.

newsioon [dead]

Going after advertisers is actually an effective method for protesting. The only way a lot of companies "get the message" is when they get hit in the pocketbook.

But is it the right strategy in this case?

I'd be furious if it were my company that was exposed like this. But if it were an internal leak -- as opposed to receiving stolen information -- would the anger be justified? Some publications (the Wall Street Journal and AllThingsD spring to mind) live off of leaked internal documents and tips. No one is going after their advertisers.

How should TC have handled it?

newsioon Couldn't sleep. Wrote some code to displays live feed of latest twitpics.

It is addictive. Simple, but addictive.

newsioon The Press is Our Best Product

Shows how easy it is to manipulate the press. That was true in the 1990s and its true now. Lots of stories in Wired, NYT, WSJ etc. are prompted by vendors PR agencies, and do not ask enough critical questions about revenue, business models, product claims, and more.

newsioon Ask HN: What are you working on?

On my nights and weekends, I am trying to get the pieces aligned for a mobile news startup, and stumbling on the back-end challenges (not surprising, considering I am not a hacker).

newsioon How The Average U.S. Consumer Spends Their Paycheck

America's obsession with cars explains the high transportation outlay (currently > 17%). So many assume that they have to buy new cars (preferably luxury brands, which connote status) and change them every x years. They'll buy them on layaway even if they can't afford the payments.

newsioon Professor Studies Social Customs in Video Games - Becomes Most Hated Player

The research article is here:

Play and Punishment: The Sad and Curious Case of Twixt http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2009/07/loyola_university...

The only thing I would like to add here is the study tested ethical codes of conduct governing research. People weren't consulted, and they were emotionally manipulated for the sake of the study. Surely that must have raised red flags at Loyola.

newsioon Ask HN: Best 'Unknown' Tech/Web blogs

A couple more:

Zoli's blog: http://www.zoliblog.com/

Information aesthetics: http://infosthetics.com/

newsioon Ask HN: Best 'Unknown' Tech/Web blogs

Redeye VC: http://redeye.firstround.com/

Jetplane Journal: http://www.jetplanejournal.com/

Emergent Chaos: http://www.emergentchaos.com/