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aaronrc's comments

aaronrc | 14 years ago | on: Google switches GTalk's VOIP protocol to Jingle

Anyone know if this update applies to Google Voice? And whether it will now be possible to initiate a standard RTP stream via XMPP? That would make SIP interoperability with Google Voice practical. At the moment it's held back by the fact that Google Voice requires some custom ICE packets to be exchanged on the RTP sockets before it will commence sending RTP. Which means there are no SIP clients that can talk RTP with Google Voice when the call is initiated over XMPP :(.

aaronrc | 15 years ago | on: Ask HN: As a non-tech solo founder, should I hire this dev to build my MVP?

Rails devs are a dime a dozen so unless you are attempting to entice one to join your company you shouldn't pay a high rate. There's no reason you couldn't find a good dev on elance etc. It might take you longer and you might have to start with offering smaller tasks until you find that right dev but it could end up being a quarter the cost.

If I was you AND I was in a rush AND I thought this particular dev may end up being interested in joining forces as a co-founder I'd consider paying him the high rate. Otherwise I'd offshore it.

aaronrc | 15 years ago | on: Ask HN: How does a non-tech person interview a developer?

You really want them to be able to show you some reference sites and get them to talk you through how those sites operate at a high level. If what they saying doesn't make sense then they either don't know what they are talking about or do but aren't good communicators. If what they are saying does make sense then they are more likely to be a good developer.

If I was you I'd also further filter the potential good developers by asking for some sample code either from an open source project or some other means and get a trusted developer you know to give you an opinion on it.

aaronrc | 15 years ago | on: YC Reject - We've been offered an investment to fund our Summer 2011 class

I know it's been said over and over but why don't all these YC and now YC rejects just get on with it. Build their products, start their businesses and make some money. Why the obsession with being a YC'er and now a not-a-YC'er. Can't they see the whole thing is just a distraction from their already difficult task?! nikcub hit the nail on the head with his comment, it's just a shame YC doesn't lend itself to a plithy title such as "Boo Hoo" (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boo.com).

aaronrc | 15 years ago | on: Seeking CTO

What about HTML5, C++, REST, SQL, IOS, MS-DOS, ASM, CP/M, PDP, VAX? I think you should at least add those to the criteria to make sure you get the right person. I just wish I was qualified enough :(.

aaronrc | 15 years ago | on: Can you take programmers seriously if they don't know C?

Last place I worked had a guy who viewed C as the enemy and would not code in anything put Fortran - it was a production system running a totaliser.

However it's a silly assertion. Unless you need someone to program micro-controllers, devise codecs, do low level memory management etc. etc. understanding C is hardly going to be a mandatory requirement. If you're running a software company building web apps I'd much rather have someone that understands user interfaces and codes in a productive language - C expertise is superfluous.

I have worked professionally with C myself and studied it at uni. However you won't see me volunteering for C work. It's painful to go back to C after C#, Ruby etc.

aaronrc | 15 years ago | on: ASP.NET Deployment Needs To Be Fixed

Didn't really understand what's wrong with msdeploy?

Deploying can't get much easier than clicking a single button in VS.Net... Rolling back IS an issue but it can be mitigated by versioning one's source code and testing the site locally before deploying.

aaronrc | 15 years ago | on: Poll: Paypal or Credit Card for payment processing on webapp

You should take into account where your users are located. I've found that PayPal is good for selling to US customers, only a small number of complaints about no alternative. Whereas for non-US customers particularly European ones PayPal is not a favoured option. In a previous company targeting Irish/UK customers we removed the PayPal option and switched to credit/laser cards only. PayPal seem a lot easier to deal with for US centric transactions and are a lot more tolerant of US users. Once outside the US (and probably inside for some as well) PayPal seem to switch to their arrogant we don't give a sh*t about you or your business setting.

aaronrc | 15 years ago | on: Are there any five nines hosted database services?

For application layer servers the 5 9's redundancy can be achieved by deploying multiple servers. Deploying a multiple server redundant database is a difficult problem which distracts from the main application. Hence the desire for a hosted option.

aaronrc | 15 years ago | on: Show HN: My two-week MVP, Call2Record

Very nice. Now if you could email transcriptions of the recordings and use voice recognition to identify the call participants you'd be onto a winner :).
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