Programmers sought for tropical hackathon | Hacker News Reader

Programmers sought for tropical hackathon

bbc.com

31 pointsequilibrium35 comments

I would actually watch a reality show covering this. Watching them code, blaming each other over breaking builds, accusing each other of IP theft and so on.

Another interesting thing to think about is how patents come into the picture. Are they allowed to re-invent the wheel in their own world?

If they 'invent' an ipad-like device or another otherwise patented idea in "the real world," would it make people think about the absurdity of patents?

We have someone interested in doing a documentary already, but I hope it will be in a more serious fashion ;)

with the wrong attitude things like that can create a poisonous environment really fast.

Yeah, if we go down that avenue, we'll be extremely careful about it. Definitely no gameshow-elements involved.

Poisonous environments make for highly-rated reality shows.

although not a reality show, there was a BBC drama about building a startup around 2000 called Attachments

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachments_(TV_series)

I loved that show, but it only ran for 2 seasons I think. Shame.

If anyone doesn't want to wait for this to get started to come hack on a tropical island, we're[1] hiring iOS/Android developers to come work on Mahe, Seychelles [2]. Flights on us, bonus points if you can start ASAP!

[1] http://blackgranitestudios.com/2012/07/we-are-hiring/ (though that website is still being set up)

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mah%C3%A9,_Seychelles

How's the internet? How's the visa situation?

Congrats on the initiative. Suggestion: in the meantime, maybe a link from team to paulh.co

The internet is unbearably slow for the next two weeks until the fiber to the mainland[1] comes online -- right now there's a 600ms satellite link, which is no fun. At the moment I've only got about 2-3mbit (though at least there's no data cap), but I'm hoping that'll improve drastically soon.

Visas are no problem. There's visa-free entry for any nationality, and we'll sort out new hires work permits once they get here.

And yeah, I really need to finish adding content to the website. Up until yesterday it was just a static splash page :)

[1] http://www.nation.sc/index.php?art=27434

Man, I wish I was still 20 without a mortgage, wife and kids sometimes!

Yeah, I've had more people say that than have actually applied for the job :)

This looks really awesome. I did a company in Anguilla in the Caribbean during the 1990s crypto export ban period, and lived in Thailand for 6mo or so s couple years ago. A tropical place like that could be really great for a dev team forms while, although I think spending a few months a year back in centers of tech (us or asia or eu) would be really helpful.

Sort of thinking about a shared startup office in Hawaii for weeks or months with a team.

Hey, thanks! I just finished up six months in Thailand as a freelance dev myself, though in Bangkok mostly rather than an island. Seychelles is a nice change of pace :)

A few months back in civilization per year is probably a good idea. I'll make a note to try and do it -- probably the US is a little far, but Asia/EU is probably doable.

> (though that website is still being set up)

Even if it's just a quick-and-dirty list, or an appstore link, it would make a huge difference if the applicants had at least some idea about you.

Btw, for what timeframe are you looking for people? I don't think many people would want to live there for years. It would be fun for a few months, but I assume you wouldn't want to hire anyone not willing to commit for more.

Yeah, more information is coming. It'll be ready for the HN Who's Hiring thread in a few days -- I just saw this story pop up so I figured I'd link it in here too even though most of the site is still a placeholder.

Oh, and we're open to negotiation on timeframes -- though we wouldn't be looking to accept less than six months, ideally at least 12.

I've been to the Seychelles, my brother lives there now. I'm an iOS dev but don't touch Android, however if anyone else was thinking of applying, the place is even more beautiful than the pictures you'll see, do it.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/landscapes_and_seashores_of_the... gives a half-decent idea of what it looks like. But yeah, it's much more impressive in person.

Paradise on earth. That's a place I'd like to explore someday. Coding and kayaking, what else can a man ask for?

Come to Puerto Rico. You don't need a Visa if USA citizen, most people speak English, and we have a booming tech business industry. There are also many awesome engineers looking to build the next big thing. For example, Mayan EDMS was built by a fellow puertorican. So is Blimp, and Hiptape.

I call it the Silicon Island for a reason.

Sign me up. I'm serious. I have actually always wondered why people don't go to tropical islands with their VC money. If I got the VC money, my company's office would be a wireless access point in a box next to a pool/beach with chairs, umbrellas and laptops.

You can sign up to be kept up to date on the site: http://comehackwithus.com

Very impressed that this went from a one page cookie-cutter site, to a HN post, to 4K sign-ups, to a BBC article. Hopefully it is the start of something big -- if executed on well it could be very appealing.

A link would be nice.

here: http://comehackwithus.com/

Or refer to the old HN post here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4299956

"I'm a:

* UI/UX Designer

* Web Developer

* Mobile Developer

* Sponsor

* Others - Pls specify below"

Interesting there's no explicit option for other kinds of development (i.e. "Desktop development").

The site was a 30 minute hackjob, forgive us ;)

Just come to Sri Lanka.

Here you will find the nice tropical weather, decent infrastructure (there's 3G coverage in most areas) and living costs suits for startups on budget.

Interesting option for sure, we'll look into it. 3G internet is not super though, 12 people will easily saturate that when working..

I like it cold, and dark.

Stuff like this has turned up a few times, but I feel like they never become reality.

I signed up, and I hope this one becomes real, but if it doesn't I am crossing my fingers that someone will do the legwork to make it actually happen.

I seriously hope for them they can manage to get air conditioning there. I can't get any serious work done without my AC and I currently live in a "humid subtropical climate" according to Wikipedia.

There will most likely be airco yeah, although I personally choose to not use it for environmental reasons. Here in Kuala Lumpur it's usually 30+ Celsius and 90%+ humidity, you get used to it :)

Also, check out something similar we're doing this August in Ubud, Bali: http://www.startupabroad.org

This is a joke right? "The Hackathon that will make all other hackathons look like a joke." Ironically.

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