alexshye

I was raised in California but have spent considerable time in areas of the US with 4 seasons (such as Chicago). I have come to love the 4 seasons for this exact reason. Sure, hot/humid summers are tough, and winters can get chilly, but I would keep them for the cyclical nature they produce. They make it so life continually changes, but more importantly, they make the passage of time explicit in everything (what you see in the city, what you do, how you dress, etc.).

The difference in email strategies is very interesting.

However, this article assumes that the outcome of the election proves that one strategy is better than another. Is this true? If true, how much better is it? People vote for candidates and email campaigns are one part of the whole campaign machine. I'm not saying that the article is wrong, but it is hard to draw conclusions from it without knowing more information.

It makes more sense if you've seen this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=c...

which brought on at least one parody I've seen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2vfxnfWGRA

I somewhat agree but would de-emphasize the "sexist" part (although it is somewhat true), and emphasize that the nature of the site. If the site is meant to provide information quickly, or the users look for information quickly, a Pinterest-style layout is bad. If a site of this style has a Pinterest-style layout, it should give all tiles a constant height so scanning the information is easier. On the other hand, if the site is meant for browsing, or to be visually inspiring, the Pinterest-style layout works very well.

Great link. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks!

Yes, maybe the navigation bar isn't necessary for the login page and both the login and registration should be more prominent. Thanks for the feedback!

Thanks.. If you have any feedback or questions about anything, let me know!

Hello HN!

I quit my job in April 2012 to pick up web development. The HN community has been great for learning and startup inspiration, so I figure its time to share what I've been working on.

Here's what one could call my first real web app. Look forward to your feedback!

I also wrote up a blog post introducing the site a little here:

http://thrivegood.wordpress.com/2012/09/25/thrive-is-alive/

I agree with a bit here (doing what you love) and disagree with a whole lot more. I'll just make two quick points.

First, self improvement is a broad area that covers many topics. How can the author discuss one topic, make a vague claim, and then dismiss the whole area?

Second, things in life are rarely black and white. Saying 'forget self improvement' is like saying 'self improvement is the most important thing in the world'. Both stick to one end of the spectrum. What is right probably lies somewhere in the middle of this spectrum, and changes depending upon the person.

'Normies' are only hard to reach if you don't understand them. Similarly, normies may have a tough time reaching techies. If you can span the gap, it is valuable. If you can't, it's probably best not to do a startup that relies on bridging the gap.

This is why people often tell founders to target a niche you understand.

Kudos for reaching out to talk about this.

I'm sure the problem goes deep and has multiple layers, but it seems a major factor is that you hardly know anyone and probably feel disconnected from society. I used to be shy also, but for different reasons (I stuttered pretty badly when I as young). I can say for certain that opening up and truly connecting with people makes a big difference in life satisfaction.

If you haven't read it, a good starting point is Dale Carnegie's classic 'How to Win Friends & Influence People".

Beyond that, take small steps to connect with people. Here is a first big step IMHO: start smiling more and projecting happiness. It attracts people to you. Even more, psychologists have found reason to believe the act of physically smiling improves your mood. Fake it til you make it.

Here are a few others: start making eye contact with people on the street, smile at people on the street, start saying hi to random people (the waitress, the person working the cash register, co workers), make random small talk with strangers (about anything! you have nothing to lose really), etc.

All the small steps will slowly add up, and over time, you will find yourself connecting better with people, making more friends, etc.

Good luck!

After buying the ebook and taking a browse, I agree with the others. As a first-time web developer who has been using Heroku for a few months, I would gladly pay more than $5 for this now (and even more a few months ago).

Nice! Totally awesome that you might literally save lives. I agree with the others that the transparency thing is the most important.

That's great, but does that matter much? This isn't academic research where novelty is the key. They are trying to build a business, and there is clearly good potential for a business in this area. And at the very least, it will be good to have competition in this space.

Thanks for the share. Got a great new quote out of it for myself:

"When you're out there partying and wussing around, someone out there, at the same time, is working hard. Someone is getting smarter, and someone is winning. Just remember that."

I'm interested in the 15% of YC startups with a single founder. I wonder if that number is higher than average compared to other classes? And if so, how much higher? I'm also curious if there is a correlation with the average age.

Anyone privy to this information and willing to share?

"And this is not a passive experiment"

This seems to be the most important thing here. In any community, you have the chance to play an active role. If you stay and do good, you help it in your own way. If you jump ship, you leave the community with one less person that cares.

Great story! Thanks for sharing!

IMHO, this blog post only sees a narrow part of the picture, and gets it wrong.

To get anything done, we need to (1) have the desire, (2) turn this desire into action, and (3) continue the action and fight through barriers until we achieve what we want. "Just do it" works well as a mantra to turn the desire into action.

However, after this step, there is a whole lot more. How much natural ability do you have? How hard are you working? How much competition is there in the area? Are there political, legal, or other barriers in the way? There are many factors determining how far you will go. But, getting started is better than not getting started at all. This is an important step that is often not taken.

A more accurate way to put is is that "just do it" is necessary, but not sufficient.

I should say that I just wrote a blog post in the "just do it" camp so it may skew my views:

http://alexshye.wordpress.com/2012/07/10/the-most-important-...

Does anyone think it is still way too early to make a judgement on this? Steve Jobs must have been involved in iPhone 5 and it isn't out yet. There must also be other stuff in the pipeline. We aren't going to see a post-Steve Apple for a little bit, and until then everything is speculation.. and possibly negative speculation because it gets press and attention.

Many of the good domain names are still "available".. for the right price. It just means that companies need to resort to domains like getdropbox.com before trying to acquire the good ones like dropbox.com.

It's not that simple though. It is fairly well known that results from academic publications should often be taken with a grain of salt. For example, a 15% performance improvement in a simulator may mean 1% in a real system. So in many cases, the idea is what is interesting, and the results are suspect. In a startup, the idea is publicly viewable in many cases, and the result is also publicly viewable (success/failure). Obviously, these things are different, but I'm just trying to say there is a gray area here.

The world is complex, and chances are that any lesson worth learning isn't easy to learn.

This particular lesson is simple in theory, but can be very difficult in practice.

Yes :)

Or if you have a burning desire to chop your own hand off.

Yes, there could be many lessons. I took as broad an interpretation as I could: if there is something you want to do, there is probably nothing stopping you from getting started and trying.

Thanks for commenting, and I agree that it is often all about surrounding yourself with good people.

I can already tell that the motivation/drive part is one of the larger challenges. My approach to it so far is to work on something I know I can passionate about for years. But who knows? It has only been a few months. When I've gotten further into this entrepreneurship thing, I'll probably write a post on how I've succeeded/or failed at that challenge.

1000memories also has a shoebox app. May cause some confusion.

Good article. Before quitting my day job, I was constantly surprised at the number of meetings I could miss. I would sleep through many morning meetings. Other meetings looked boring and I would choose to miss. If there was anything important in most of the meetings, someone would find me later and catch me up in a minute or less. It is very easy for people to spend their whole day doing what they think is required of them, even if very little of it is actually required.