Seems very susceptible to cheating...as in player X, who sucks, can record superb (but fake) stats on this app. Correct? Or is there something to block this?
1,644 karma · joined January 23, 2013
I'll also add that I absolutely love the product, it has so much potential for future applications. And the market for it is essentially everyone IMO.
Until these actions and changes are stated, it is really tough to have a good debate about the topic. The article is pretty general and can really be condensed into a tweet, maybe even less. There has to be more substance behind how they plan to determine the so-called trolls versus companies such as Arm.
Timing is everything. IMO, this is the perfect timing to start a mission such as the one Mr. Gates is. Why? Well having just been to India last year, my cousins were complaining about how India is filled with geniuses, yet very few who want to take risks (whether it be to help fix the poverty, the political system, or just start cool companies). A couple months after I got back from India (I live in the States), I was talking to my cousins and they were telling me how some cities in the south are really starting to embrace a tech culture and were trying to resemble that of Silicon Valley. And it's grown magnitudes since then; in fact, in recent months, there have been a lot of posts on HN about India's tech expansion.
So Mr. Gates says it well: "To make real progress on the problems of the poorest, you need at least two ingredients: a deep understanding of the problems, and the technical ability to solve them." He probably is going there to better understand some of the problems that exist, but I bet he also understands there are a lot more people there that can help solve these problems. He's a pretty smart guy, I trust he'll actually do good on his visit and it will be constructive to India and its people.
But then again, when smartphones came out and Apple expressed interest in them, no one could thing of something as beautiful as the iPhone. So maybe it's the same thing here. Still weird to me.
"Why is this on HN?" Well I think the cheating part has a some transferrable takeaways, the main one being online education. Online education is much like Harvard's honor system in that every assignment, quiz, and test can be completed on your own time (at least that's what I hear Harvard's policies are) and just have to be turned in by a certain date. But what you do to finish in that time is totally unknown to the administrators. Personally, I think it is the biggest obstacle for online education and this so-called Honor system. When there are people who want to succeed, and in class succeeding is generally represented by high grades, they will do whatever it takes and if using external resources is the way, why wouldn't they if no one is going to stop them? Not saying this is everyones mentality, but it obviously exists in many intelligent brains.
The problem is outlined and has been for a while...the solution will have to be amazing.
I once heard a neat metaphor and I think it applies quite well here (I've adjusted it a bit for this context): Imagine the x-axis to be representative of appeasing the internet. Now you must understand that every service/company has a graph that is asymptotic to the x-axis. So services like Apple and Google are pretty close but they will never truly be able to appease the entire internet.
I guess I was nit-picky but some food for thought nonetheless.
One thing that irks me about TS is that there are different managing directors for each location...I mean there has to be given the number of locations TS is now at, but it makes me question whether or not there is even a 'TechStars' culture that exists throughout the programs or if each city operates individually and do things differently from others.
I promise I'm not trying to criticize TS, it's just a thought that came to my mind when I saw that they had opened another location.
I think this is such a huge, and excellent, point that most other "Why Silicon Valley is the startup hub" arguments miss. The idea of openness is simply taken for granted in the bay area while the rest of the world still lives in fear of someone stealing their idea if they say too much. And it goes beyond that. Two simple examples, both YC companies actually: Airbnb and FlightCar. I am from Pittsburgh but go to school in Ann Arbor. I've talked to friends from both cities about each of those startups and I get the same response every time, "But would you really give up YOUR place to a stranger?" or "Would you really want to give up your car to a stranger?" Airbnb takes me a little less convincing now that it is so successful but FlightCar, holy shit...I am told that I am way too trusting and quite crazy. So in whatever way you look at it, the sharing culture is something that is embraced in the bay area while the rest of the world is just starting to catch on to it.
Now that I mentioned that I'm from Pittsburgh, I'd also like to nix the 'Stanford is a great engineering school" argument as well. Why? Well because so is Carnegie Mellon--has boasted the #1 Comp Sci program in several rankings but Pittsburgh is galaxies away from the bay area in being a startup hub.
Playing devils advocate, however, I do feel that a city like Pittsburgh may also have the greatest chance of booming into one given that a great school such as CMU is based here. Look at it this way--right now, almost all CMU CS students interested in startups, whether their own or to be a part of one, want to get to get to the west coast. What if they all started to stay here? I think you'd naturally see a boom of startup culture here. Just a hypothetical thought/situation.
[1] http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/05/14/google-ceo-larry-page...
Furthermore, instead of a water screen, wouldn't a brick screen be more effective? Personally, I wouldn't mind going through water nearly as much as I would be running into a brick wall. Nonetheless, as I said before, a really neat idea and definitely a solution for some instances--limitations need to be addressed though.
My basic idea was to create a stock market of sort but just for players. And the 'stock market' is only open during games.
And there are mentions of a contract. What would this type of contract consist of?
The job candidate-agent relationship...is it like sports where agents can represent multiple job seekers but a job seeker usually only has one agent? And is there a legal side to this?
Sorry for all the questions, just trying to learn!
On a similar note, isn't it odd that this position is just being filled?
Elon's Twitter Page: https://twitter.com/elonmusk
Looking back, it was great for the numbers and a was a good marketing strategy, but we didn't gain much else from it. I wish we had setup a demo or something of the sort so that we could have also received feedback. Asking vital questions about the product should be geared toward customers, not as much founders, and we learned that the hard way.
I agree with almost all the points, but as someone looking from the outside in, I see YC as the most prestigious fraternity in the tech space. What do I mean by this? I go to the University of Michigan; coming in as an out of stater, I didn't know what to expect but I kept hearing this one piece of advice from current students, faculty, and friends that had also gone to big schools: "Find a way to make the school seem smaller to you." I never really understood it but when I arrived at campus for my freshman year, I quickly understood what everyone meant. There are SO many people and it's easy to get lost and have no sense of direction. So finding a community that aligns with your interests is ideal at a place like Michigan--I knew I wanted to get in with a group of bright, driven, and fun kids. One such place was described to be like this by almost everyone I spoke to in the beginning, it was a 'professional' fraternity where about 250 rushed and only 15 got in. I figured I'd give it a shot and went through the process and was selected. When asked why it's so great, I simply respond with, "The people in it make me a better person". It sounds vague, and it is to some extent, but it's true. Constantly surrounding myself with a small group of bright, driven, and fun individuals has truly made me smarter, more fun, and more open. It's been two years now (I'm a junior) and it is the single best decision I've made.
My long anecdote can be paralleled to YC. The tech space, especially in the bay area, is HUGE. Someone starting from scratch can be easily overwhelmed. YC seems to be the best place to get in a group with bright, driven, and fun individuals pursuing quite groundbreaking ideas, assuming you are one of them as well. That is why it is a desired place to someone like me.
All that being said, the aspect of mimicking a YC lifestyle is a great idea, I think all startups should do this and CAN do this given that it is not to expensive to get going.
[edit] this comment was posted (somewhat so) in the hopes that one of the partners will respond with their thoughts and if they plan to address this and if so, how so?
But playing devils advocate, it may be tough for startups to find the resources to have a hybrid hardware/software company from the beginning. It just seems like a daunting idea to start a hardware company. BUT, with crowdfunding having become so popular, startups may be able to raise enough money through initial sales from their hardware that they are able to put that money towards creating unique software.
Sorry for all the back and forth, just was thinking/writing out loud!
Replacement should never be the main goal. Rather, making Matlab IRRELEVANT should have been/be prioritized.
http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2013/apr/HQ_13-121_Saturn_Hu...
So rather than spreading knowledge about these issues (which, don't get me wrong, is also good), there has to be an attitude change. You can't blame the government and I never like doing that, but it would be wonderful if the government would get involved in preventing these environmental/health jeopardizing actions. The problem with this, of course, that the country is so populated that it is extremely hard to make this drastic of an imposition and follow through with it.