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SurfScore

455 karma · joined August 22, 2011

I'm Jon Mattingly, a founder of Kodable.

Kodable

submissionscomments
SurfScore··on Ask HN: Who is hiring? (October 2015)
Kodable - http://www.kodable.com - Sunnyvale, CA | ONSITE

Kodable is a programming curriculum for elementary schools. Already used by 1 in every 7 elementary schools in the US, we give teachers the ability to help their kids learn to code without any prior knowledge. Kids go from learning how to think like a programmer to being able to pick up an actual language by the time they hit middle school. Kodable is designed to encourage everyone to learn programming. Over 50% of Kodable users are girls, and it has been used in over 130 countries.

Role 1: CTO - https://angel.co/kodable/jobs/86699-chief-technical-officer

Role 2: Fullstack Engineer - https://angel.co/kodable/jobs/86700-full-stack-engineer

Role 3: Senior Game Developer - https://angel.co/kodable/jobs/86701-senior-game-developer

Alternately you can email jobs@kodable.com.

Keywords: Ruby, Java, AngularJS, PostgreSQL, LibGDX

SurfScore··on Stack Exchange Raises $40M Led by A16Z to Boost Its Programmer Forums
They said they aren't profitable, they're hiring too quickly for that. They're using the money to hire quicker, just like most other people use investment for.
SurfScore··on Biz Stone: How I Faked My Way into Google (2013)
The story says "Google had a reputation of hiring only people with computer science degrees." Dunno if it's true or not, I'm just curious.
SurfScore··on Biz Stone: How I Faked My Way into Google (2013)
Does Google still refuse to hire people unless they have computer science degrees? In this day and age that doesn't make sense.
SurfScore··on Ask HN: How was your experience using parse.com?
These are exactly the same feelings I've had, glad I'm not the only one who saw those answers as smug...
SurfScore··on Ask HN: How was your experience using parse.com?
I have had tons of problems with parse. Our app has both the iOS and website backends using it. While it is useful, and a lot of stuff is well done, when you operate at any kind of scale you keep running into all kinds of hidden limitations. We have ~30k+ weekly actives.

For example - Horrible limitations on queries. You can only get 1000 total objects at any time, batch requests are limited to 50 objects, limit of 100 count requests a minute (not sure the exact number but it's really close). Not just for each client, for your ENTIRE APP.

No good backup solution. They say they back up their servers, but backing up your own data is left to you. Which is a pain in the ass because of point one.

Awful support. I get that they have a lot of people and can't support everyone well, but I have always gotten the feeing that Parse just doesn't care that much about users. Maybe they do if you pay them a bunch of money, but until then you're on your own. Half the time my support requests go unanswered, sometimes the rep just stops responding midway through the conversation. Only recently did I ever have a good experience with Parse support (thanks Christine!)

To top it all off, apparently they silently changed the way batch API requests were counted and never told anyone. Instead of a batch request counting as 1 request, apparently it now counts as each individual object inside the request. So batching 10 objects is one http request but 10 Parse API requests. Sketchy. When you reach over 30 requests per second, they just start dropping requests.

SurfScore··on Who wrote the text for the Ctrl+Alt+Del dialog in Windows 3.1?
Hack the program and change it so Windows surrenders, duh.
SurfScore··on Ask HN: Who is hiring? (August 2014)
Kodable (http://www.kodable.com) - Full time, Mountain View, CA

What could be better than impacting the lives of millions of kids? Kodable teaches kids the fundamentals of programming starting before they can read. Used by over a million kids around the world, Kodable is designed to encourage everyone to learn programming. Over 50% of Kodable users are girls, and it has been used in over 100 countries.

We're a team that knows how to work smart, have fun, and get results. We're passionate about empowering people with great educational tools and 21st Century skills. We’re looking to hire our first full-stack engineers (including a CTO) to bring Kodable to more platforms and build Kodable 2. You will be given the freedom to shape the future of programming education for the entire world!

We have an iOS app written in Objective-C with a backend in Parse, and a web reporting system written in Ruby and Sinatra. Experience with these languages in a plus, but we’re mostly looking for experience. The position includes a lot of responsibility, you’ll make key architectural decisions for the future of our codebase, so you should have experience working on a production application in use by 100k+ users. We also offer generous equity - we consider our first hire to be nothing more than a late co-founder, and feel you should be compensated accordingly :)

If you’re interested, email jon@kodable.com or to learn more visit http://www.kodable.com/jobs

SurfScore··on Yo Is Trying To Get Parody App YOLO and Others Pulled From The App Store
I was talking about the Hodor "Yo" clone. Instead of saying Yo, it says Hodor. I've got it on my iPhone
SurfScore··on Ask HN: Where is the who is hiring thread?
That one wasn't posted by whoishiring. Someone saw that and killed it, but didn't feel the need to make sure the whoishiring one was posted
SurfScore··on Yo Is Trying To Get Parody App YOLO and Others Pulled From The App Store
As long as my "Hodor" app can stay around, I don't care.

Hodor

SurfScore··on [dead]
Kodable (http://www.kodable.com) - Full time, Mountain View, CA

What could be better than impacting the lives of millions of kids? Help us teach the skills kids need in the 21st Century. Kodable is an addictive game that teaches kids the fundamentals of programming starting before they can read. Used by over a million kids around the world, Kodable is designed to encourage everyone to learn programming. Over 50% of Kodable users are girls, and it has been used in over 100 countries.

We're a team that knows how to work smart, have fun, and get results. We're passionate about empowering people with great educational tools and 21st Century skills. We’re looking to hire our first full-stack engineers (including a CTO) to bring Kodable to more platforms and build Kodable 2. You will be given the freedom to shape the future of programming education for the entire world!

We have an iOS app written in Objective-C with a backend in Parse, and a web reporting system written in Ruby and Sinatra. Experience with these languages in a plus, but we’re mostly looking for experience. The position includes a lot of responsibility, you’ll make key architectural decisions for the future of our codebase, so you should have experience working on a production application in use by 100k+ users. We also offer generous equity - we consider our first hire to be nothing more than a late co-founder, and feel you should be compensated accordingly :)

If you’re interested, email jon@kodable.com or to learn more visit http://www.kodable.com/jobs

SurfScore··on History of Lossless Data Compression Algorithms
But what about Pied Piper?
SurfScore··on The FCC is so swamped with net neutrality comments, it’s extending the deadline
Does the number of comments really change anything? Not criticizing just wondering. This seems like a letter-writing campaign without the added inconvenience of an office full of paper.
SurfScore··on Automatic Build Numbers in Xcode
Say I have 3 iPads in the office, and I want to load a build on each of them. I know I can use Testflight or similiar, but the easiest is to just plug them into my computer and press the play button. If I do that, it increments the build number, so iPad #1 gets build 4031, iPad #2 gets build 4032, etc.
SurfScore··on Automatic Build Numbers in Xcode
Well I'd like to know build numbers internally, just only when I change things. So if I put build 12500 on 3 iPads, I can track the crashes.
SurfScore··on Automatic Build Numbers in Xcode
I've been using a version of this for about a year now. I even modified the script to work with two build targets. The only problem is that every time you press the "play" build/run button it increments the build number, with or without any changes actually being made to the app.

It isn't a huge deal, but when I'm loading the app onto multiple iPads via Xcode, it would be nice to keep the same build number.

SurfScore··on After Announcing Plans To Destroy Microsoft Windows, HP CEO Pulls A Gutsy Move
Couldn't they have come up with a better name for a super-smart computer than "The Machine?"
SurfScore··on Say Hello to Cocos2D-Swift
I've used cocos2d for my iOS app, Kodable, for two years now. It has worked great...for the most part. If I didn't need to support iOS 5 and 6 for schools, I would have already switched to SpriteKit.

The biggest problem with cocos2d now is that SpriteKit is slowly making it irrelevant, at least for iOS-exclusive apps. Apple basically ripped it off and remade it and packaged it with iOS. It even has the same mode/scene structure! Cocos2d has almost nothing that SpriteKit doesn't except for being open source and a few extensions.

Why would I use cocos2d with swift when SpriteKit has such close integration with it already? There's still a place for cocos2d, but with cocos2d-X, the C++ cross-platform version.

SurfScore··on Coda 2.5 and the Mac App Store
I remember Tim Cook saying that hybrid tablets devices were doomed to fail because they tried to do two things and failed at both. That the desktop and mobile experience were separate experiences and should be treated as such. Yet it seems like this is the exact mistake they're making trying to make the Mac App Store into aa iOS App Store - Mac Edition.
SurfScore··on Teaching Devina to Code
If I can sneak a shameless plug in here, I'm the developer behind Kodable - http://www.kodable.com - an iPad app that introduces kids to programming before they can read.

I know the article said you'd like to keep Devina away from screens for awhile, but we've had kids as young as 18 months using it to learn all about functions, loops, and debugging. Even if she's too young for Kodable, or you'd like to go a different route, we've talked to tons of parents teaching young kids programming and I've learned a lot about the process. I'd love to help any way I can. You (or anyone else interested) can send me an email at jon-at-kodable dot com.

SurfScore··on Elon Musk: To the People of New Jersey
Our stores will transition to being galleries, where you can see the car and ask questions of our staff, but we will not be able to discuss price or complete a sale in the store. However, that can still be done at our Manhattan store just over the river in Chelsea or our King of Prussia store near Philadelphia.

"Cross an imaginary line a few miles down the road that the auto dealers can't access and everything will be A-OK!"

This is everything that is wrong with politics in a sentence.

SurfScore··on In-App Review Mechanics pushed Flappy Bird to the Top of the Charts?
Apple keeps it very close to the chest, a lot like Google does with their algorithms. If people know what makes rankings rise and fall, they'll inevitably find a way to game the system. The only things I've seen that definitively affect rankings is downloads and ratings. Sales affect the top grossing rankings only.
SurfScore··on Flappy Bird creator, Dong Nguyen, taking down game; "I can't take this anymore"
I think it's about more than money for this guy
SurfScore··on Facebook is basically dead and buried with UK teenagers
I've found myself using Facebook less and less the older I get. I used it every day in high school, relatively often in college, and barely go on anymore. I have an account simply because I have to. Its always changing on me, there's a bunch of new stuff that I have no idea how to use, and my news feed is a bunch of annoying gibberish that I don't care about and don't feel like spending the time to improve. I'm not sure if I'm the norm or not, but if they're starting to lose the age segment I personally was most active in, that can't be a good thing.

It will be interesting to see what happens in the next few years. On the plus side for Facebook, they own Instagram, one of the things said to be gaining the market they are losing, so they can still reach it. However, it remains to be seen how well they can monetize Instagram.

SurfScore··on How I Got Kicked Out of Y Combinator and Then Raised $6.5m for My Startup (2011)
Having "product, customers, revenue, and whatnot" does not a successful startup make. You have to continually execute, improve, and grow at a very high clip. YC is probably one of the best, if not the best, resources for advice and direction on how to do just that.

Startups are so hard you have to take every bit of help you can get.

SurfScore··on Yahoos Bristle at Mayer’s New QPR Ranking System and “Silent Layoffs”
If you want to make an omelette, you've gotta break some eggs.
SurfScore··on It’s time for Silicon Valley to ask: Is it worth it?
Ironically enough, when I first saw this title I thought it was going to be a piece about the astronomical cost of living. Oh well...
SurfScore··on App Review rejection 10.6
I had this happen on an app I worked on before, but it was accepted on appeal.

From what I have seen in the App Store, I think standard procedure is to reject "basic" looking apps like this as a matter of process. The thinking is that rejecting them weeds out the spammers who won't bother appealing the rejection, and people who actually appeal are obviously more emotionally invested in the app, which leads to a higher chance of being accepted.

SurfScore··on iPad Air
So glad to hear it!!
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