Eddk
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15 years ago
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on: Higher education: Is it really the next bubble?
Don't flatter yourself... There is a lot that goes into building an advanced economy beyond startups...Not to mention start-ups need educated workers to become successful. This whole meme about education not being necessary is utter nonsense. Only someone who has the narrowest understanding of how our world works would subscribe to such a notion... do you want "half-assed"/"Sam teach yourself aerodynamics in 21 days" engineers building your aircrafts? I don't think so.
Eddk
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15 years ago
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on: Just relocated, hating it
Some of us moved from entirely different continents, leaving friends and family behind...hang in there, that is how you grow as a person... 2 months a definitely too short a time to make that determination..it seems you are just homesick which is not a valid reason to want to go back home, if there are other problems then maybe, but homesickness by itself would be a childish reason to run back home... Join a meetup group, join okcupid and look for dates (saying you're new to the area is an easy way to get dates)...definitely don't lock yourself in the house programming, it wont help, get out and meet people.
Eddk
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15 years ago
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on: The Curse of Xanadu?
Eddk
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15 years ago
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on: Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (Do You Have Asperger's?)
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Eddk
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15 years ago
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on: U.S. Files Antitrust Suit Against AmEx
Anti-trust is about anti-competitive behavior, size doesn't (or shouldn't) really matter. It just so happens that big entities have more incentives and capabilities to be anti-competitive which is why anti-trust charges are often brought against big companies by smaller rivals.
Eddk
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15 years ago
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on: Newark Public Schools To Get 100mm Donation.. Courtesy of Zuckerberg
Recently I penned down a rant against the social hypocrisy of so many startups (
http://colabopad.blogspot.com/2010/08/on-early-stage-hiring-...)
I did take a dig at Facebook at the end of that post, I must say now that I am more than happy to eat my words!! Kudos to you Marky Mark, as a Newark residence this is very much appreciated:)
Eddk
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16 years ago
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on: Ask HN: Just finished coding my new startup; need ideas for getting traction
Thank you very much... very sound idea.
Eddk
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16 years ago
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on: Ask HN: Just finished coding my new startup; need ideas for getting traction
sounds like a good idea!!
Eddk
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16 years ago
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on: Ask HN: Just finished coding my new startup; need ideas for getting traction
One way I intend to ensure trust is to have shippers use either Paypal or Amazon payments to accept shipment payments... By proxy, a shipper's identity will not be anonymous anymore since those services do require bank account information which is a thorough form of ID.
Eddk
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16 years ago
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on: Ask HN: Just finished coding my new startup; need ideas for getting traction
yeah... I made provision for carriers (people carrying packages) to specify by how much they are willing to deviate from their planned route. That is a key aspect in the search algorithm i developed. Say you are willing to deviate 5 miles then any package that is within 5 miles (both pickup and delivery points) of your planned route is a match. There are other issue of last mile that will be addressed only if the site grows, mainly how do you deal with receivers who aren't available to pickup their package at time of delivery, considering that carrier is traveling?
Eddk
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16 years ago
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on: Ask HN: Just finished coding my new startup; need ideas for getting traction
Shipping can be quite expensive through the usual channels (UPS, USPS,FEDEX). If you have ever tried to ship a used textbook then you know what I am talking about. The application allows the carrier (ie person carrying the package) to specify a rate(per pound per mile). Obviously the intent is that such a service should be significantly cheaper than what the existing shipping companies charge otherwise no one should use it.
Eddk
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16 years ago
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on: Ask HN: Just finished coding my new startup; need ideas for getting traction
very funny:) I have considered all those things, I think they are mostly knee-jerk reactions. You could pretty much make similar arguments against any web-initiated transaction, but as has been demonstrated by the incredible success of e-commerce I think concerns about safety are mostly just that. I don't see why a drug dealer would want to risk so much by trying to use such a service, on so many levels it will make no sense.
Eddk
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16 years ago
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on: NY Pays 230 “Consultants” $722M For Project 7 Years Behind Schedule
Very common situation in government contracts and dealing with consultants in general. I am sure IBM and Accenture are in there some how. NYC government could have created a small crack-team of internal IT people who could build the system for less than a 5th of the current cost. Unfortunately most organizations view IT work as something fit for mercenaries and if you ask any King who has ever had to rely on mercenaries, they'll tell you it should be your choice of last resort.
Eddk
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16 years ago
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on: That Facebook app is not your friend
lesson learned? don't put important private info on social networks.
Eddk
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16 years ago
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on: Why writing software is not like engineering
Computer Science in most schools is mainly mathematics and a couple of programming courses thrown in. To become a working programmer however is a craft that you learn and become better at through experience. The education that you get from Computer Science is similar to that you get from say political science. From political science you usually go to law school to learn something more concrete. Computer Science doesn't have a law school equivalent where you go to learn software development, usually you have to learn on your own. Depending on the type of software development work you do, you can find your Computer Science education quite useful. Basically any math heavy subject is a fine prerequisite education for software development craftsmanship.
