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Searching the Google Plus about pages returns about 8.88M users currently:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&biw=1366&bih=653&...

cappaerton Create a Robot Image from any text string

Anyone else notice the Microsoft bot has a 7 (as in Windows 7) on its head?

cappaerton How many .com domains are available?

I was interested a while back in finding short (5 or 6 letter) .com domains still available. Wrote a little script to do a bulk check at Godaddy.

There are a few variables you can alter in my script:

- pre: any text BEFORE the consonant-vowel-consonant string

- suf: any text AFTER the string

- ext: the domain name extension (defaults to .com if left blank)

- max: the maximum number of domain name results (starting at a random character)

Since GoDaddy limits the bulk check to 500, the quickest way to do a domain check is to run the script setting the max at 500, then just copy and paste the result in the bulk domain lookup.

Couple different examples:

http://tonycappaert.com/projects/domaingen.php?suf=it&ma...

http://tonycappaert.com/projects/domaingen.php?pre=go&su...

Paste the result in the Godaddy bulk check at http://www.godaddy.com/domains/searchbulk.aspx

cappaerton Who knew cereal was so bad for you?

Can't recommend Kashi GoLean highly enough. Pair that with Greek yogurt and you're eating 35g+ of protein for breakfast alone, all with comparably little sugar.

As for the comment about Kashi being too costly, I have a bi-monthly recurring shipment set up on Amazon. With the 15% subscribe and save discount, I pay $2.90 per box and it's shipped right to my door. Not too shabby.

cappaerton Ask HN: How do you evaluate non-technical co-founders?

See: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2378703 http://blog.hirelite.com/how-to-evaluate-a-non-technical-co-...

cappaerton Can You Survive the Shark Tank? Season 3 Auditions Come to Dallas Saturday

Having watched only a few episodes from Season 1, I was always struck by the emphasis placed on product (I invented this cool new gizmo) versus people (I've got the best team to actually execute this idea).

Seems contradictory to what actually happens when pitching most investors.

cappaerton A pulse no longer necessary for life

The Economist published an interesting article about the device (LVADs) a week or so ago: http://www.economist.com/node/18750728?story_id=18750728

Turns out they've been around since 1994. And yes, Dick Cheney is without a heartbeat.

cappaerton Your IP. In JSON

This is perfect. I've been looking for an easy way to find user location (city, state) based on IP address, without having to scrape a IP lookup service for it.

Great find!

cappaerton How I made an HDTV antenna so I could watch Jeopardy last night

Does this work in the US? I've been under the assumption that with the recent switch from analog to digital signal (and the need for a digital converter box), connecting an antenna straight to a TV no longer works.

Thoughts?

cappaerton Tell HN: I quit my job to bootstrap my startup by myself.

There's an increasingly-active startup community in DC -- consider staying here and saving money staying with the rents.

Here's a quick overview of the major spaces to meet-up with other tech folks in DC:

Best Resources for Web & Software Product Startups http://www.socialmatchbox.com http://dcstartupwiki.com http://www.meetup.com/DC-Lean-St... http://meetup.hackernewsdc.org/

Best Resources for Social Media & Consulting Startups http://www.techcocktail.com http://www.meetup.com/socialweb/ http://www.meetup.com/DCSPOTTER/ (also misc. startups)

General Networking http://ngagedc.org/

Best place for events all around: http://www.meetup.com http://www.dctechevents.com http://www.baltimoretechevents.com

Note: this list came directly from Quora. Be sure to follow and keep updated with any new groups/sites: http://www.quora.com/Business/Im-24-living-near-DC-working-f...

cappaerton Using a belt sander to foil biometric fingerprints

"It is estimated that 1 in 50 people do not have prints or prints clear enough to be registered by the fingerprint readers currently in use."

Can you provide a source? I'd be interested in seeing data to back this up.

cappaerton Local newspaper boasts ultimate passive-aggressive paywall policy

Why bother with the warning? If the site wants to monetize through subscriptions, put up a pay-wall. If it wants to distribute content freely and monetize through other means (ads, a paid premium section, etc), then do so. Threatening or attempting to guilt potential customers to subscribe is just childish.

How can a publication afford to charge its customers for online news content? Provide something people actually want. Case in point: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2009/07/the-news...

cappaerton A Google Suggest Venn Diagram Generator

I can obviously get it to work with most queries. I was just pointing out that it does seem to strip out letters or return a poor result if the query is part of a larger word.

Yes, I'm using "X is"; I used "MIT is" in my comment for greater clarity.

cappaerton A Google Suggest Venn Diagram Generator

Great project idea, but I can't get it to actually work.

I'm encountering a similar error to Toucan with respect to the spacing. If I enter a query "MIT is", Google is returning results that include "is" as part of a larger word. Ex: "MIT Israel divestment". I'd like to query "MIT is " -- including the space -- but it looks like your query strips it out. I think this fix would return much better results.

Also, it looks like even when returning the result "MIT Israel divestment," the returned result is stripping the first few characters. Examples:

ael divest ael divestment ael investment sael stock aeli stock samic society amic studies overrated tes

Thoughts? Query link: http://www.technomancy.org/google-suggest-venn/#20=&star...