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zacharye

2,446 karma · joined July 2, 2008

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zacharye··on The iPhone is the worst...
Snarky as it may be, "you're using your iPhone wrong" is a pretty myopic way to end that sentence.

There are several reasons a user might want to close an app without saving its state. One is to prevent the app from using background APIs. VoIP apps, GPS apps, etc can continue to access several APIs while their states are saved. In many instances, users might not want this.

Another reason is that many users make use of the app manager as an app switcher. This is one of its intended functions, of course. Switching between commonly used apps with a quick double-tap is far easier than swiping through home screens and digging through folders. It's also easier than using Spotlight.

In this scenario, when I open the app manager why should I have to swipe past the Settings app, the Phone app, the Weather app, the App Store, the Clock app, etc... just to get to the more commonly used app I'm looking for? (Why would I ever want my iPhone to save the Clock app's state in the first place?) The result, for someone who uses the app manager in this way, is a poor user experience.

And this poor user experience is easily avoidable: "How about a long-tap on the home button to close an app, fellas?"

zacharye··on The iPhone is the worst...
That's only the case if you have certain international keyboards enabled, which is why many people don't know about it and why it wasn't mentioned in the article.
zacharye··on RIM on Apple's claims of Blackberry Bold signal loss
You lost me. AT&T's data, according to Jobs, suggests the iPhone 4 drops one additional call per hundred when compared to the 3GS.

"It means that if the 3GS drops 1% of calls, the iPhone 4 drops 1.01% of calls."

"If the 3GS drops 1% of calls", it drops one call per hundred.

That means the iPhone 4 drops two calls per hundred, or 2% of one hundred calls. Not 1.01%.

zacharye··on Dan
Terrific, heart-felt piece -- I hope writing and publishing it was therapeutic and helpful on the road to recovery. That road has no end, but the further you get, the closer you are to 'normalcy'.

Knowing how much respect and admiration I had for Dan from the dozen or so interactions I had with him, I can't imagine the impact he had on a life-long friend. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I doubt I'll ever encounter anyone as genuine and charismatic as Dan.

Best of luck to you Tom. Though we've never spoken, Dan held you in the highest regard. My thoughts continue to be with you and everyone else Dan left behind.

zacharye··on My Hilarious Warner Bros. Royalty Statement
Terrific read, as unfortunate and common as the content may be.

As an aside that some may find of interest, and since the article mentions the Red Hot Chili Peppers, I forwarded it to a friend who works with the firm that does royalty audits for the Chili Peppers. His response (the auditor's name has been removed):

"The Chili Peppers use ____ to audit their royalty statements, which they pay ____ a lot of money for, and they always get checks for hundreds of thousands of dollars when ____ settles the audits with Warner Bros. Obviously, Too Much Joy can’t afford ____’s level of expertise. So the little guy gets screwed... No surprise there!"

zacharye··on Ask HN: Is a patent app a product killer?
You guys are awesome, can't thank you all enough. It looks like I definitely need to talk to a patent attorney (I've already had a preliminary conversation with one but this was prior to learning of the existing application).

My issue is that I am not independently wealthy and so to make this happen (technical design, schematics, sourcing, manufacturing, etc etc) I'm definitely going to need to secure funding. It is my understanding, and this may be way off, that a patent is a requirement of sorts when seeking funding. Of course a licensing agreement would circumvent the need to an extent but as was mentioned by noonespecial, you can never really be fully protected.

Thanks again guys -- invaluable.

zacharye··on Ask HN: Need a TI-85 calculator?
Calculator is spoken for, thanks guys.
zacharye··on [dead]
I first saw this stuff years ago and had completely forgotten about it - thanks for the reminder! Here's their site:

http://www.animusic.com/

Some are cooler than others but they're all worth watching. Here's an interview with the creators:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYrYqA8lO0U http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TzvuPB8ttU

zacharye··on Boxee, Used to View Web on TV, Generates Buzz
As of right now I don't think there's any private mode in Boxee, just FYI.
zacharye··on Ask HN: Review our PDF/Web form startup - www.doculicious.com
Yessir - that answers my question precisely. It's also the answer I was hoping for. ;)

Great work and I'll definitely be showing your service to a few people...

zacharye··on Ask YC: Relaunched my site... Markets.com FEEDBACK PLEASE
First off, I would lose the animated emoticon. Please.

It looks like your site aggregates and displays data - and plenty of it - but in the short while of checking around I'm unclear as to what features and benefits set you apart from the big boys (Yahoo, Google, Marketwatch, Motley, etc etc). If you're going to go up against big boys like Yahoo and Google, you need some distinguishing factors, among other things...

zacharye··on Ask HN: Review our PDF/Web form startup - www.doculicious.com
That's exactly what I wanted to know, thanks carpo. And yes, despite the other comment I think that the name is creative, memorable and spelled logically. ie: If I pronounced the name to someone suggesting that (s)he should check it out, (s)he will likely have no problem remembering it or getting there.

Yes, that's exactly what I wanted to know thanks. And I like the answer as well - I'll be showing this to a few people I know as a possible solution, no question.

Last question(s) - is it possible for the form creator to omit "store" as an option when creating the form? How about an option to have each form submission automatically stored?

zacharye··on Ask HN: Review our PDF/Web form startup - www.doculicious.com
I like it, a lot actually. And I don't mind the name at all.

The site is very simple to navigate, the home page explains the service well and the examples pick up the pieces.

I did browse the terms but perhaps you can elaborate quickly - how secure is the data and how long do you store it? I know an NPO (art school) that would likely love a few simple PDF registration forms on its site without having to pay a developer...

zacharye··on Ask YC: Saving Inspiration
I would donate.
zacharye··on Ask HN: Review my webapp.
The design is awesome, most definitely. My only comment that hasn't been covered is the tour page - I would much rather have a short video than scroll up and down to match numbers with their descriptions. Great work.
zacharye··on AskHN: Where to hold naming contest?
Unsolicited advice: Provide choices. I held an open naming contest to name one of my blogs and the result was not great.
zacharye··on Ask HN: Is there a HN for music?
Music is such a polarizing topic, if there is a place that has managed to put together a community of reasonable people and consistently interesting/civil discussion I will be surprised and impressed.
zacharye··on Ask YC: Free Online Fax Site?
It's not free but it's cheap and it integrates with Skype (uses your Skype credit for payment as well): http://www.pamfax.biz/
zacharye··on [dead]
Umm, is Nokia spamming HN?
zacharye··on Ask HN: Pre-launch feedback on my site
Yes Chrome has been a point of difficulty for the developers since the onset of the project (as has Safari on PC). They're still working on a solution and I hope to have it ironed out before launch.
zacharye··on Ask HN: Pre-launch feedback on my site
Thanks for the feedback toddcw. There actually are feed / email subscription options but the locations are intentionally 'out of the way' as this is not my preferred method of consumption. Beyond the homepage, you can find subscription options at the bottom of the sidebar on every page.
zacharye··on Ask HN: Pre-launch feedback on my site
Awesome point. I'm afraid addressing the issue will fall outside the scope of v1 but I've already added it to my list of functionality to examine for the next build. Thanks!
zacharye··on Ask HN: Pre-launch feedback on my site
Thanks! I thought about putting the bar at the top but I didn't want to obstruct logos and headers by setting the iFrame as-is, while starting the main frame at the bottom of the bar would then eat up too much real estate.

As for your question, it's an awesome one. To this point I have not received any negative feedback from developers but I've also only pushed testing traffic through the site. It's entirely possible that I will receive negative feedback as the site grows, though I obviously hope developers see worthyy as helping more than hurting.

My perspective is this: I could easily start yet another blog that covers web services and each post would be just another singular perspective on each site. Try as I might to avoid it, my opinions, impressions and perspective will inevitably come through as visitors read my take on each site. My perspective will weigh heavily on whether or not readers end up clicking through. I don't want this.

I want the developer's work to do the talking. Developers put tremendous amounts of time and thought into building these sites. I obviously don't need to tell you that. Why should I be just another guy who covers their work on my blog, inevitably misrepresents something, misses covering key functionality, etc? I want worthyy users to see and experience each site as the developer envisioned it - without preconceived impressions from my opinion or anyone else's for that matter. I then make it as easy as possible for the user to bookmark the site and should they choose to click through and discuss the site, there is always a direct link waiting for them.

That said, my intentions hardly invalidate the fact that some may potentially view worthyy as stealing their content. To that I can only assure those concerned that I will, without hesitation, remove content from my site immediately should the owner of the content request that I do so. No argument and no questions asked.

zacharye··on Ask HN: Pre-launch feedback on my site
Point well-taken, thanks. I tried to use the tag line that appears in the browser header as an aid so as to avoid occupying more real estate within the bar but it might be unavoidable.
zacharye··on Ask HN: Pre-launch feedback on my site
Yeah, the bug in Safari on Mac is a showstopper - my browser window was way too big during testing to notice it, but if your window is shorter than xxx pixels the bar is 100% obscured. Rest assured though, this issue will be addressed asap.
zacharye··on Ask HN: Pre-launch feedback on my site
That's my hope, for sure. Ultimately, I'd love enough interest to be able to fan out a bit. By that, I mean keep the "less is more" one site, one day theme but break it down into less broad categories. ie hacking.worthyy.com, art.worthyy.com, social.worthyy.com, etc

Thanks again for taking the time to shoot me a screen shot - much appreciated.

zacharye··on Ask HN: Pre-launch feedback on my site
I will definitely be cleaning up the individual post layout pre-launch. Thanks mssteff.
zacharye··on Ask HN: Pre-launch feedback on my site
Thanks unalone, would you mind elaborating a bit? Do you mean it should allow the user to add his/her own tags beyond the existing tags - or that the user should be able to find related sites from the homepage as opposed to the supporting pages?
zacharye··on Ask HN: Pre-launch feedback on my site
Thanks blogimus - highlighting the name/URL of the current site somehow will definitely be implemented.
zacharye··on Ask HN: Pre-launch feedback on my site
Great point rw, thanks. Perhaps I can pop up a warning if JS is not detected.
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