scotto's comments

scotto | 13 years ago | on: A robotic dragonfly with a wingspan of 63 cm

Does anyone know what servos they run in these?

scotto | 13 years ago | on: Ask HN: Is YC really cool with a lifestyle business?

No one can predict the future - so my advice would be to not go about limiting your future options. You may be one pivot off from being the next big thing and YC could help find that. At the very least, YC will help you be a better entrepreneur.

scotto | 13 years ago | on: Ask HN: Is there a future for automatic summarization startups?

I believe there is, but like hbbio said it's a matter of the product. You can make the algorithm into a product by offering it through an API to other developers.

scotto | 14 years ago | on: Twitter's Storm (complex event processing system) is now open source

Yeeeeessssss! Thank you Twitter!!!

scotto | 14 years ago | on: Be Careful when Speaking to Federal Agents - 18 U.S.C. Section 1001

I am so glad this article is out and I read it. It may be extreme but as someone who has witnesses this type of thing go down, I live with the knowledge that we are all one false accusation away from complete ruin. EVERYTHING can be made to look malicious and calculated, and we should all, in this context, live in fear of the government. Stay out of their crosshairs and keep your attorney phone number close by.

scotto | 14 years ago | on: Ask HN: I've launched, users have dried up, what's wrong? (repodrop.com)

Adding some depth to the pitch might help. It appears on first glance to be one page - try showing users how complete and useful the service is with more screenshots and examples of use. Since security is a primary value prop it would be nice to know more about how the site is more secure than github.

scotto | 14 years ago | on: What fun and low-cost fringe benefits/perks would you offer to employees?

Let people choose what tools they use to get the job done. It really sucks to be forced to use inferior tools/software/hardware/etc at work than what you have become accustomed to using in more progressive environments.

scotto | 14 years ago | on: MUNI involved in another fatality on Friday

The fact that things like this happen make me crazy. I know we're all looking to make products that sell tons, but what about products that will save even 1 life? Couldn't some machine vision combined with automatically engaging breaks have helped? There must be something we as innovators can do.

scotto | 14 years ago | on: Show HN: Our Django Dash project: Proposalmatic

Possibly a naive question but: did you use a css template or something to make that design? I have a hell of a time making sites look that great in 48 hrs...

scotto | 14 years ago | on: IOS devs put out a call to unite against Lodsys, other patent trolls

I don't know who renowned iOS developer Mike Lee is, but I think this is fantastic. The only way small timers can effect this legal change is to band together like a union. And we've seen how powerful a union can be.

Trolls are going down, man.

scotto | 14 years ago | on: The End of Net Neutrality? British Telecom ordered to block access to NewzBin2

This is one of the few things that scares the hell out of me. On this path, we are all just one wrong piece of content/accusation away from persecution.

Call me a dreamer but what other solution is there than a completely de-centralized network ala P2P style. No backbones, no root DNS, no IP address authority. Just pure unadulterated internetworked chaos. There's got to be a way.

scotto | 14 years ago | on: Inside the War for Tech Talent

Agreed. It's hard to find engineering talent if everyone only squabbles over the Stanford grads, for example. But what about other graduates or even self taughts? IMO companies that over value pedigree have lost the hacker spirit.

scotto | 14 years ago | on: Progressive Internet Explorer

And for the utility sector in they Bay Area. Legacy systems were actually built for IE6. It's so proprietary and ingrained into the work processes, that in order to use current versions of vendor products they have to install Firefox! Ha!

scotto | 14 years ago | on: Ask HN: why so critical?

I've noticed this too and I usually just chalk it up to immaturity. It makes for an entertaining read so why care?

scotto | 14 years ago | on: Fog Creek releases WebPutty

I really like this idea and design. In particular the "Tour" is great! I think I will get real use from this service.

scotto | 14 years ago | on: Patent troll Lodsys now after apps with 'More Apps' links

Another option for developers: Start your companies in a country not covered by these laws.

I always remind myself that if I want to get around the US laws, I can just move to Nigeria (or something).

scotto | 14 years ago | on: Computer vision (online book)

Yup. Machine vision has rekindled my love of computer science since I fell into it early this year. And OMG the possibilities are endless!

BTW: Richard Szeliski has an excellent free PDF book too.