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bengali3

369 karma · joined May 9, 2014

boston - enterprise dev lead with a love for beautiful product & marketing Aviation, Travel, UX, Mobile
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bengali3··on New U.S. FAA rule requires drone owners to register by Feb 19
I wish it was clearer when/how/where to fly. I envision an app soon that lets you 'report' your planned flight activity in advance which notifies the appropriate ATC facility based on your GPS, and logs that you've notified the appropriate agency.

Aside from extending the runway center lines on a map to predict approach and departure paths, you may have seen the heli route on skyvector https://skyvector.com/?ll=42.2662102318687,-70.9130790877564... regarding the harbor islands.

bengali3··on Apple Speeds Up Electric-Car Work
Tesla tried to snag Ive.. Apple retained him...

I have to believe (car guy) Ive gets what he wants at Apple?

edit: Which would hurt the stock (ie Cook's #1 goal) more in the short term? Announcing a car in 2019 or announcing Ive leaving in 2015? I'm thinking was part of an earlier deal to keep Ive.

bengali3··on Testing for common sense violation in airline pricing
Agreed, I think the assumption that ticket price is somehow related to cost is the violation here.
bengali3··on Candy Japan hit with credit card fraud
FYI take a look at SiftScience and ThreatMetrix products. They wont process your transaction, but at least one of them offers a zero chargeback guaruntee, at $0.03 per transaction I believe.
bengali3··on The challenges of building a hypersonic airliner
Also there were over land speed limits applied. Apparently while at BOS you could hear the boom as the JFK-LHR flights accellerated once far enough off the coast
bengali3··on The challenges of building a hypersonic airliner
> (caption) The Soviet Tu-144 was the only only airliner to take passengers faster than the speed of sound

I would agree with your bot assessment.

bengali3··on Ask HN: I'm being stiffed by a client. What are my options?
The proposal and invoicing process isn't fun. Check out some tools that may make this task less painful in the future? something like BidSketch comes to mind.
bengali3··on Building a hut with a tiled roof, underfloor heating and mud and stone walls
dont miss the preview clip. https://youtu.be/z7jxFbscIJY
bengali3··on Applications for YC Winter 2016 are now open
Maybe you missed it, or it's since been edited, but see item #1: "Groups that submit early have a significant advantage because we have more time to read their applications."
bengali3··on Financial Misstatements
but only if the contract period was for less than 1 year, iirc. and also the issue of authority-to-bind comes into play as well..

for protection from a verbal deal going bad, see also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estoppel#Promissory_estoppel_2

bengali3··on Stop Looking for a Cofounder
how did you and your cofounder meet?
bengali3··on Stop Looking for a Cofounder
agreed, someone to bounce ideas off of and someone who encourages you to continue when you're down.

The closest things i've found for solo-support:

a) micropreneur academy ($50/mo-in 2009- but all solo software folks)

b) mastermind groups

Other Suggestions?

bengali3··on Zirtual: What Happened and What’s Next
yeah, that 'isnt talked about' line caught me as well. plus mention of the 'Horrible CFO firm' sounds like an excuse. I think id have taken the 'lessons learned' approach.

In the TWIST podcast she mentions her assistant has an MBA. So thats at least one person in the org with at least 1 semester in accounting. So you should be able to create a statement of cash flows and at least a pro forma budget.

Maybe investors would be wise requiring access to baremetrics dashboards or something similar.

bengali3··on War in Space May Be Closer Than Ever
some sort of aerogel?
bengali3··on Why Dropbox is Failing
yup, I love DB, but I cant even edit text files on dropbox.com. I'd have stuck around longer to at least have this but they haven't innovated around my needs in a while - so it rarely comes up as a solution to others issues.

During school dropbox was great for groups as well as my multiple devices, but anecdotally over the last few years i've changed my behavior:

Photos & Videos - now on amazon CloudDrive since i'm already a prime member - now I finally don't have space issues on my phone anymore, Amazons iOS app convinced me that they're serious (for now..)

Documents on Google drive - mainly due to simple online editors for XLS and DOC - resume and daily logs

Static websites now on S3 (anyone recommend an S3 sync tool?)

Grocery lists shared with the wife - now using SimpleNote since we can edit on devices and cloud

I haven't gone to my free Dropbox account in a while, so its becoming an archive with less traffic for my account. I'm sure they track dormancy rates as well, i'd wager i'm not alone. I did get dad to put his photos & docs up on dropbox and he loves it. Meanwhile I just upgraded to start paying for amazon cloud drive so my wife has a one click solution to backing up her photos and videos from her phone.

Edit: Drew took the first bite out of the multiple device problem and rocked it better than anyone else because he put the users experience first, above all. Today plenty of big players host consumer data, but i feel none are truly focused on the everyday problems of the average joe, Drew could do it again.

bengali3··on Ask HN: Do you aspire to be a venture capitalist?
reminds me of this, not sure about equity but "come build cool" is more important than "get next round"

http://www.raizlabs.com/services/startup-incubator/

bengali3··on Show HN: A Hand-Drawn QR Code Alternative
Agreed. There's still no easy way to get from physical to digital. Be sure to focus on the problem you are solving. Show how many mediums can be used as well to solve the problem. (chalk, toothpicks, box of pencils, bricks etc.) Maybe even one page dedicated to each use case. (retailers, restaurants, street performers, celeb events, app unlock codes, etc) some other thoughts:

How can I get someone walking by my restaurant/store who has a question or is looking for more info to interact with my website and get today's coupon?

Be sure to allow camera photos/screenshots to be used via app. If I can scan a tag i see in a video or on a page then that's one more use case.

Your tag is simple enough, can I draw it myself in your app if it doesn't scan, or correct it if its unrecognizable? Knowing I can sketch it manually in your app might avoid some frustration.

Maybe reach out to some snapchat star and brainstorm innovative use cases you can highlight (xyz was here etc?) good luck!

bengali3··on Show HN: A Hand-Drawn QR Code Alternative
Sam, Cool stuff. I get what you're doing here, but from these comments I think QR code reference really throws people off. While comparing to QR might explain how it works, I would do my best to position this as nothing like QR codes (and highlight use cases that make it unique from QR) to avoid the comparison.
bengali3··on Gravity assist (2013)
More natural resources wasted! We must preserve the limited orbital energy that our solar system has!
bengali3··on Ask HN: What data visualisation tools do data scientists and developers use?
It appears none of the Featured Products are currently working.
bengali3··on Time-Series Database patented by GE
>you probably agreed to sell them all your IP for $1 or something when you hired in

usually a condition of employment. FMI see Assignment of Inventions clause - all companies should have employees sign before hiring.

bengali3··on Ask HN: How would you represent a downvoted comment in text-to-speech?
add some artifact in the background? maybe something unpleasant that gets louder with the more downvotes?

Or possibly the more 'shunned' the comment is, the more it sounds like it's in an empty space? reverb delay increases, the more isolated the comment is?

bengali3··on Hackers Remotely Attack a Jeep on the Highway
be sure to check out the video http://dp8hsntg6do36.cloudfront.net/55ad80d461646d4db7000005...
bengali3··on Hackers Remotely Attack a Jeep on the Highway
Make sure you watch the video, i missed it the first time through.
bengali3··on Hackers Remotely Attack a Jeep on the Highway
Agreed. I missed the video the first time and didn't believe the text that described the shutdown, video shows the stupidity here, let alone release a recording of it. I expect that will come down soon.

Important research but very poorly tested. Wired and Chrysler (research was funded by Chrysler?) legal teams would not like the contents of this video.

edit: wired's link to video, jump to 2:00: http://dp8hsntg6do36.cloudfront.net/55ad80d461646d4db7000005...

bengali3··on YC Fellowship
agreed, don't forget the other salaries and expenses involved with running the class twice a year. Possibly another 100k per company cost to YC.
bengali3··on YC Fellowship
I love Cialdini, thanks for linking. I recommend his book on Influence to everyone.

I did think about this reciprocity initially when I heard no equity involved, however I don't think YC & Co's problem is getting startups to agree take their money after mentoring? Their issue is likely getting enough investment opportunities to put cash into as fast as they can raise it. ( ie-pretty fast ). For that they need a bigger opportunity pipeline.

So, i basically agree that they are getting first dibs, but due little to Cialdini's rule on reciprocity. I'd point more towards 'Liking' (ie building the trust early) or 'Authority' since they are getting in the door first with founders and are likely the initial startup mentor.

What I see, is that this program is just a simple (relative) way to ignite some ideas that are on the cusp of being implemented, remove some of the founding barriers, and start a conversation with their team earlier on in the process (no one wants to be the third on the list to call to invest in a great co.). The standard YC class schedule and size limitations are likely the gating factors to their growth, especially when interest in 'startup investing' isn't declining, and YC has already made moves to make it easier for non-accredited investors to invest.

Maybe this is in line with what you were referring to.

bengali3··on Ask HN: What problem in your industry is a potential startup?
FYI in my opinion there are only a few travel sites.

sure theres plenty of hotel or airfare or rental or 'town of xyz events calendar' sites but no one solving the entire problem.

I've yet to find an end to end trip planning site, especially one that is family oriented.

bengali3··on Four-day work week – Lessons learned
What kind of gig was the 10p-6a?
bengali3··on Four-day work week – Lessons learned
>For example, next time I could take new client is after autumn and it's now June 5th.

Sounds like demand is greater than supply. A nice spot to be in for any business! Have you considered hiring help? Are you able to figure out a way to delegate some of the additional work and someday claim another day of the week?

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