robyates

Hey skorat,

Thank you for writing that blog post. The worse part of depression has definitely been the lack of productivity. Just saying no to doing a lot of things and doing the remaining things in small chunks seems to work the best.

Thanks again for sharing!

Why working from home is both awesome and horrible: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/working_home

Facebook Group: http://www.facebook.com/groups/startupkc

Startup Weekend Nov 11-13: http://kansascity.startupweekend.org/

Silicon Prairie News KC: http://www.siliconprairienews.com/?edition=kansas-city

Red Nova Labs Venture Fridays: http://www.meetup.com/VentureFridays/

Startup Digest: http://startupdigest.com/tag/kansas-city-mo/

Steven Chau and Adam Coomes host Startup Weekends and organize the Startup KC Facebook group. Willis Jackson runs the Startup Digest mailing list. Royce Haynes blogs for Silicon Prairie News. (Clint Hall also hosts 'Geek Night' on Mondays with many entrepreneurial geeks attending, more information in the Startup KC Facebook group.)

I lived in Kansas City for a year before moving to Silicon Valley in September, so that's how I know this. Hope it helps, good luck! :)

My alma mater, RIT, offered both CS and SE bachelors degrees: http://www.cs.rit.edu/, http://www.se.rit.edu/ I studied CS but know many people who studied SE. Feel free to contact me if you are interested in the details.

I was wondering about what the current policy was myself. I have been debating on studying in the UK and Europe, but ending up choosing to stay the U.S. for the startup resources. Thanks for explaining the new visa policy.

I talked with two guys from Germany and Australia, and both said incorporating in their respective countries was difficult. I'd research either Chile or Israel and see what their policies are.

For the entrepreneur visa, it looks like you must have 200,000 pounds in the bank, so for me that definitely takes the option off the table: http://www.visabureau.com/uk/entrepreneur-visa.aspx Feel free to let me know if you find other ways to do a startup in the UK or Europe. Good luck!

Also check out Israel, specifically Tel Aviv: http://www.amazon.com/Start-up-Nation-Israels-Economic-Mirac...

Try Chile: http://www.startupchile.org/

For bachelor's and Ph. D. degree programs, this is true. In programs that have master's degrees (like CS for example), there are loans and aid comes from CAships or RAships.

Great comment. As Thomas Edison said, "Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration."

+1 for Steve Hanov's blog. I enjoyed his post about how programmers/HR review your resume: http://stevehanov.ca/blog/index.php?id=56

I'm actually taking Introduction to Human-Computer Interaction Design with Prof. Klemmer and Design and Analysis of Algorithms with Prof. Roughgarden. Interesting to see the videos of them teaching the exact courses from last year.

This is not really related. But has anyone seen the video of Eric Schmidt practicing public speaking: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bA1I6MUOKkU Found it just yesterday and it's amazing to see how he used to be.

I think many companies won't sponsor a visa from far away, however you could try going for a master's degree at a university in a city you'd like to live in and looking for internships while you're there. Though I never ended up studying in Europe, one site I looked at lot was http://www.mastersportal.eu

Finally, the UK has a points-based Tier 1 and Tier 2 visa program for High Value Migrants (Tier 1) and Skilled Workers (Tier 2): http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/workingintheuk/tier1/ http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/workingintheuk/tier2/ (Note that as of April 2011, there have been significant changes to these visa programs, so make sure you have up-to-date information.)

There's this: http://www.hackersandfounders.com/ I don't live in Silicon Valley... yet, so I can't comment on what these are like. There's a possibly I might be down there during the same time, so feel free to contact me if you want to meet (contact info's in my profile). Also, maybe go through the SF Hacker News profiles on the Facebook group and write some "cold emails" to people: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_114326995294656...

A more interesting article by Tom Preston-Werner: http://tom.preston-werner.com/2008/10/18/how-i-turned-down-3...

SEEKING FREELANCER - Web Designers & Developers - Kansas City; Palo Alto

I'm working with a small group of freelance web designers and developers in Kansas City, MO. We prefer to work locally; but remote work is a possibly. Also, since I will be moving to Palo Alto in September, I am interested in working with developers and designers in the area as well. Contact information in my profile.

Actually, there are journeyman software developers. Here are some links:

1. Corey Haines: http://programmingtour.blogspot.com/, http://www.coreyhaines.com/, http://www.coderetreat.com/

2. Journeyman Programmer Description: http://teamdoty.us/journeymanwp/?p=4 (from http://www.thejourneymanprogrammer.org/)

3. Software Craftsmanship: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_craftsmanship, http://scna.softwarecraftsmanship.org/, http://www.softwarecraftsmanship.org.uk/

Ok, I know this post is a couple days by now, but if you want to read more the eternal debate that is the C++ programming language, check out this article: http://gigamonkeys.wordpress.com/2009/10/16/coders-c-plus-pl...

There's actually 2 Hacker News posts already linking to this article, so you can read the comments are posted there as well: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=885482 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2220917

Think about it this way: The web browser you are reading this on was likely written using C++. Here's a link explaining why C++ was chosen: http://programmers.stackexchange.com/questions/41883/why-are... Also, 99% of all commercial games for Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii are written in C++ (probably also with some Lua for scripting). Like it or not, C++ is still the dominant language for these domains.

Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse than the post about the Justin Bieber URL shortener... http://techcrunch.com/2011/01/13/bieber-ly-shortens-urls-whi...

For an in-depth discussion on the pros and cons of C++ exception usage, check out this article from the CodeProject: http://www.codeproject.com/KB/cpp/cppexceptionsproetcontra.a.... The Google style guideline simply presents one particular opinion on the usage of exceptions. They figure it's easier to maintain source code (particularly in large open source projects) that only uses error codes, than a mix of error codes and exceptions.

As they say that the end "Use common sense and BE CONSISTENT." http://google-styleguide.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/cppguide.x... If you are modifying a project that uses exceptions, then use exceptions. If you then modify a different project that uses error codes instead, then use error codes. Be consistent above all else.

I could come if it was later at like 7:30pm or so. Let me know what the final time is then.

Actually I might be interested in hacking their code as well. I just sent you an email now. Feel free to reply back if your interested.

Hi Shawn, have you heard of this: http://developersdevelopersdevelopersdevelopers.org?

Startups and small companies like Twitter, GitHub and Heroku are going to be there. I think registration is already closed, but maybe you take down the list of companies and apply to a few specific ones you like directly. Yeah, I know how the job market is, but often there are many cool companies that are overlooked because they don't have the 'brand names' like Google or Microsoft.

Sorry, I just found out about this tonight and already made plans. If you are meeting again, let me know.

It's also worth checking out the other posts under the "Related" sidebar on the bottom-right of both Stack Overflow pages.

I think either Python or Java are good first languages. I'd probably stay away from VB (too GUI based) and C++ (too confusing for a beginner). I was an Applied Math and Physics major my first year of college. I ended up switching to CS my second year after I had a really good professor for the Java intro class. Actually, for the mathematically inclined, Lisp can be a really fun language to learn because it's so simple yet powerful.

You also might want to try this:

1. Teach basics of programming in general (for example: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Non-Programmer%27s_Tutorial_for...)

2. If she wants to learn the theoretical stuff, go over Big-O notation, sorting algorithms, data structures, etc.

3. Then maybe teach her the basics of Lisp and go over recursion.

4. Next, try a fun small project. Maybe try to make Tic Tac Toe or a Word Search solver.

5. At this point she would be familiar enough with CS and can tell you what she wants to work on next (i.e. learn C or Assembly to do low-level stuff, learn theoretical CS, or try making more complex programs).

Finally, check out these Stack Overflow answers to see what others have suggested: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3088/best-ways-to-teach-a..., http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1858064/so-my-girlfriend-...

Hiring friends-of-friends seems rather common actually, especially for startups and small companies. (This is the whole reason why people join LinkedIn, right?) From the job seekers' point-of-view, this is "It's not what you know, it's who you know." I'm all for recommendations, but sometimes it seems it's more about networking (i.e. having a good friend refer you) than about your actual skills. There are probably plenty of talented people out there who just don't have the right connections to get jobs.

This looks like #5 on pg's Request for Startups: http://ycombinator.com/rfs.html

I've been meaning to check out "Start Small, Stay Small" for a while, glad you recommend it. Two more books to add as well:

4. "How to Get Rich" (Dennis) http://amzn.to/5s0Z02 - Not your typical get-rich-quick book. This book is all about the hard work and sacrifice it takes to accomplish your goal.

5. "Do More Faster" (Feld & Cohen) http://amzn.to/culsRy - Was recommended by a friend, this is probably the next best thing to doing TechStars or YC without actually being there.