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Have you thought of using Twitter Bootstrap (http://twitter.github.com/bootstrap/) or Zurb Foundation (http://foundation.zurb.com/) to help you out with a cleaner and easier UI?

ch00eyon Ask HN: Alternatives to Google analytic?

Here are a few analytics companies:

http://www.kissmetrics.com/

http://www.woopra.com/

http://getclicky.com/

ch00eyon Ask HN: Looking for paypal alternative I could use for subscriptions.

Here is a selection:

http://www.recurly.com/

http://www.braintreepayments.com/services/recurring-billing

https://stripe.com/docs/subscriptions

ch00eyon Ask HN: New curriculum needed for university's Web Application Development

Purely out of curiosity where about in Africa is the university?

ch00eyon Ask HN: Costs of IT startup in Montreal, Canada

In regards to rent it all depends on where you're staying in Montreal. I suggest taking a look at PadMapper(http://www.padmapper.com/) to help you find a place to live.

For internet I'm using TekSavvy (http://teksavvy.com/en) they seem to have the most affordable plans when it comes to what you're paying for and what you're getting.

Startup lawyer wise check out this thread on Quora (http://www.quora.com/Montréal/Who-are-the-best-startup-lawye...)

Lastly, if you're looking to get involved in the startup community we ALWAYS have a ton of stuff going on. You can find more on these sites:

Next Montreal (http://nextmontreal.com/)

Montreal Tech Watch (http://montrealtechwatch.com/)

Notman House Calendar (http://notman.org/en/events/)

Montreal Statup Digest (http://startupdigest.com/)

Cheers!

ch00eyon Ask HN: Non-technical people, how did you learn to code?

Hey Freshfey,

Over the summer I taught myself how to code (PHP). The route that I took was the following:

1) Watch screen casts without doing any coding and just understand the basic concepts and syntax. This was done via Lynda.

2) I then went to the tutorial Zend has on PHP 101 and did each and every exercise until I understood it.

3) Lastly, (this I am still in the midst of doing) is attempt to replicate a website or a certain functionality of a website. Meaning apply everything you just learnt from step 1 & 2.

By going through those three steps I've become pretty good at coding and now it's all about practising and to continue putting together things I've learnt into real stuff.

Some AMAZING resources that I highly recommend checking out (no matter what language you're learning is:

http://stackoverflow.com/ <-- Amazing Q&A site that SHOULD have the answer to just about any problem you run into

https://github.com/ <--- Take a look at other people's projects and see how they are doing things in the language that you are learning.

The last and final tip that I can give you is stick to it and don't give up.

ch00eyon Ask HN: Best resources for learning to build good products?

Additionally, I HIGHLY suggest taking a look at the Business Model Generation by Alex Osterwalder and Running Lean By Ash Maurya.

LINKS:

http://www.businessmodelgeneration.com/

http://www.runningleanhq.com/

ch00eyon Ask HN: Best Books for Learning Web Design?

I'm not quite sure on books, but there are a TON of resources out there to help you get a solid web design foundation.

Here are two resources that I read daily and provide a lot of good juicy material:

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/ http://webdesign.tutsplus.com/

ch00eyon Where can you learn more about biz dev best practices?

Try checking out Mixergy's interview with Harley Finkelstein of Shopify. He has some really good practices, you can find it here (http://mixergy.com/harley-finkelstein-shopify-interview/)

ch00eyon Ask HN: Any CS/MBA combined degree programs out there?

If you're okay with moving up to Canada this may be of interest for you (http://cbet.uwaterloo.ca/).

From what I've heard it's a pretty good program and the startup community in Waterloo is quite active as well.

ch00eyon Africa is still Green

...What do you have in mind?

ch00eyon Ask HN: How to Motivate Unpaid Interns?

A couple years ago(my first year in Uni) I took an unpaid internship and I ended up getting a job out of it. So, from personal experience I'd suggest to do the following: - Have them do work that will in turn actually teach them things they want to do in their career. - DO NOT make them do boring menial tasks. - Engage them in actual company decisions. (Just because they are an intern doesn't mean they don't have good views) - Get to know them both on a work and personal level. (...or even offer being their mentor or introduce them to people they'd like to be mentored by)

All in all, since you aren't paying the interns you have to provide them with an experience that will be equivalent of getting paid.

Just my 2 cents though.

ch00eyon Best Start-up Presentation/Pitches you've ever seen?

Dave McClure has an awesome breakdown of a startup pitch. You can find it here (http://www.slideshare.net/dmc500hats/how-to-pitch-a-vc-aka-s...)

ch00eyon Ask HN: When was your "ah-ha" moment when learning how to program?

hmmm... ok. I've been hearing a lot on how learning Data Structures (from creeping other Ask HN questions) helps.

Can you recommend a good source on learning data structures?

ch00eyon Ask HN: When was your "ah-ha" moment when learning how to program?

>what is it in programming that excites you?

Not quite sure actually. I've always been fascinated with computers and the web from a young age. And I've gotten to a point where I have (at least what I'd like to think of as) great ideas and not being able to program is what's been "holding me back" from executing them. So, I bit the bullet and decided to start learning how to program.

ch00eyon Ask HN: Would this make finding a new place suck less?

Have you taken a look at Walk Score (http://www.walkscore.com/)? Is it something that comes along the lines of what you we're thinking, except a bit more personalized with taking into consideration your workplace?

ch00eyon Ask HN: Summer internships in Canada?

+1 for Montreal area

ch00eyon Going back to school for programming? Yes? No? Are you crazy?

If you're thinking of going back to school strictly just to learn how to program in a "structured" way that you do in school, I would suggest checking out the free courses that MIT offers online. (http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/#electrical-engineering-and-compu...)

And it will give you a taste if learning programming in a school like environment is right for you.

Good luck!

ch00eyon Idea for web-based startup, but no programming skills.

Check out your local startup community on events going around and you can also ask various tech influencers in your area for introductions to possible cofounders

ch00eyon Ask HN: Where can I find a summer internship?

Hey Dan!

The first internship I had at a startup I found on craigslist.

If that doesn't cut it for you, you can always check out YouTern (http://www.youtern.com/) and InternMatch (http://www.internmatch.com/).

Lastly, and possibly the most effective would be just going to local start up events and networking and asking around. The startup community (at least here in Montreal) is really friendly and are always up for helping others.

Good luck!!