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jpastika's comments

jpastika | 14 years ago | on: Asynchronous UIs - the future of web user interfaces

You make some good points, but I don't think the approach I describe is wrong, unless like you said, I allowed requests to go on indefinitely. In the scenario you describe, it certainly makes sense to block the UI if editing uniquely identifying information is co-mingling with delete actions. I think the point we are both trying to make is that creating responsive applications should not be at the expense of the user's understanding of what is happening. This is a difficult balancing act, but perception is an important part of the UX, and whether we like it or not, if using an application feels faster it will generally be perceived as a better experience.

jpastika | 14 years ago | on: Asynchronous UIs - the future of web user interfaces

I recently used several of the techniques described, but I carefully chose when and where to implement them. For example, when a user "deletes" an item, rather than removing anything from the DOM before the request, I hide the appropriate elements, send the request, and if successful, remove DOM elements. The advantage of this approach is that the UI feels snappy, but it is easy to fall back if something goes wrong. Being optimistic that things will "just work" is alright in a fairly controlled environment, but when mobile is introduced, a mix of optimism with a soft fallback is a good approach.

jpastika | 14 years ago | on: Steve Jobs has passed away.

I'm guessing the black bar on top of the HN menu is for Steve Jobs. Apple is the most incredible comeback story of my lifetime. Under Jobs, Apple's stock went from $10 to $400. His dedication to the user experience and unwavering commitment to quality are his traits I most admire and desire to emulate. Some would say that he didn't get to enjoy his success after conquering the business world, but I believe he enjoyed every moment of the pursuit. RIP Mr. Jobs.

jpastika | 14 years ago | on: Rails in a week — day 7

Congratulations on your first rails app! I picked up Rails about two weeks ago and challenged myself to launch an app in 7 days. I'm not going to make it in that time-frame, but my app is turning into something I am very proud of. I'm hoping to have something to show within the week. I've been blogging about my progress: http://jpastika.posterous.com.

jpastika | 14 years ago | on: One App in Four Weeks: Week 1

I also began a "develop fast and get something out there" challenge this week. My goal is to get my app launched in 7 days. I'm documenting my progress on my blog: http://jpastika.posterous.com/. I'm not sure I'll have the app out by the 7 day mark, but I should have a functional product. I like your idea and will follow your progress!

jpastika | 14 years ago | on: Tell HN:Designing, Developing, and Launching in 7 Days

I setup a blog to chronicle my adventure of trying to design, develop, and launch a product in seven days. This is my first rails application, so I'll include information on the tools I'm using and where I am finding sources of information. I'll also post costs along the way.

jpastika | 14 years ago | on: Lifepath.me on eBay

First, I think Lifepath is beautiful. Being a developer first, and designer second, I often find myself having a hard time breaking out of the mold when it comes to designing my applications. Usability doesn't have to mean boring, and I think Lifepath is a great example of that. I could see a company like Greplin taking this and turning it into an auto-generated timeline curated from the various social networks they can tap into. It's obvious that Dustin out a ton of time, effort, and love into this project, so I hope there is a happy ending!

jpastika | 14 years ago | on: Introducing Play 2.0

I honestly don't know much about Play, but I like the website. Nice use of scroll/navigation. But, whatever you do, DO NOT look at it in IE 8!!! ;-)

jpastika | 15 years ago | on: Where Did Groupon’s Billion Dollars (Series G) Go?

Revenue can be a very misleading measurement of success. I agree that $4 billion in revenue is very impressive, especially considering the rate of Groupon's revenue growth, but overall losses and no profit plans any time soon, leaves me disappointed. What impresses me more is a company generating $10 million in revenue with $7 million in profit. Will Groupon eventually make money...maybe, but I'm not sure it will happen any time soon nor with their current business model. Groupon has two very valuable assets that I believe will eventually be used as the reasoning for an acquisition by Amazon or Google: 1) a large and growing list of consumers and 2) their buying habits.

jpastika | 15 years ago | on: Parody Color Pitch Deck

You had me at slide #2.

Seriously though, how many "social"...excuse me "elastic" networks do people need to be a part of? I'm one of those weird people who doesn't care that my "friend", whom I've never actually met or spoken a single word to, is getting ready to brush her teeth (yes, I know she is probably a he). With Color in particular, I don't understand how sharing photos with people who are within eye sight is interesting considering you are seeing the same thing!?!?

The presentation of Color is slick, but from a usability aspect, the video looked very confusing. Admittedly I haven't tried using the app since no one I've talked to about it has installed it and the app store description clearly states "Warning: Don't use Color alone". I personally hold nothing against the Color team for taking the money, but VCs COME ON! Even if VCs are investing in apps like this in hopes of a Facebook or Google acquisition, $41,000,000 seems ridiculous. Then again, I'm just a developer hoping someday I'll create something that someone thinks is worth a buck.

jpastika | 15 years ago | on: Ask HN: sideproject, generating revenue & profit what's next?

First, congratulations on making something people want. If people are requesting more exercises it probably means you have a user base that: a)cares about your product and b)wants to see it continue. Yes, going after schools is hard, but going after teachers may be easier. There was a HN post a couple of months ago about a student grading application someone here had created and in trying to sell it, he ran into similar difficulties with targeting schools. But what he was finding was that teachers valued his application enough to purchase it themselves, then they would tell other teachers at the school, and pretty soon the whole school signed on. I think you should focus on keeping your product at a price point that would allow teachers to purchase it themselves. Maybe even try to build in some social features that would encourage teachers to spread the word. Then, with the revenue, outsource content creation. Finally, once traction and revenue reach a point where it makes sense for you to leave your full-time job or hire an additional developer, add functionality that would appeal to entire schools or school districts. Also, congratulations on the little hacker on the way!

jpastika | 15 years ago | on: Show HN: My collection of web-apps that I'm finally comfortable in sharing

Chime, I admire and thank you for letting the HN community take a look at your creations. As a developer, I know I am sometimes reluctant to let my peers see what I'm working on. I really like the simplicity of TEXT and can't wait to try out Email to Voice. I'm about to launch a public application that I have been working on for about a year and will set up a filter to have Email to Voice call me when someone signs up! Here's to hoping my phone rings a lot, and to your continued hacking and success.

jpastika | 15 years ago | on: Offer HN: Tax Help for Startup Entrepreneurs.

Darn. I was thinking along the same lines as your response, but hoping there was an easy answer. I'll definitely do more research into FL's tax laws, but I appreciate your willingness to lend your opinion. [Startup idea: state and federal laws translated into understandable language...a Wikipedia of laws. Probably not the best idea since I'm sure that would result in quite a few law suits do to someone following incorrect or incomplete information]

jpastika | 15 years ago | on: Offer HN: Tax Help for Startup Entrepreneurs.

I'm in FL and have been trying to figure out how sales tax applies for my startup as well (http://www.spokesystems.com). We are building a web based, subscription paid, application similar in scope to Basecamp, but for construction project management. I would love to get an opinion on the sales tax implications for FL. Thank you in advance to the fantastic HN community.

jpastika | 15 years ago | on: Lessons from 150 startup pitches

Very well stated Jason. I think your opinion on "Pretending your faults don't exist" is especially spot on. Programmers, myself included, can sometimes become so attached to a feature or coding approach that any criticism, warranted or not, becomes a personal attack. I also think it has become way to acceptable to say "no" to customers. Rather than the constructive reasoning behind saying no, often times arrogance or even self consciousness leads to pretending faults do not exist. For this reason it is always helpful to have a trusted source for non-programmer feedback.
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