The graveyard of good ideas
Solutions that were tried, and what stopped them.
Patents that were rejected or abandoned, products that shut down, projects that went quiet. Borrow the idea, avoid the dead end.
3,100 solutions
- startupShut down2017
Cameroon Government shutdown social networks. Facebook, Whatsapp, Twitter cutoff
I woke up this morning and discovered Internet Services in Cameroon have somehow been limited. I am suspected the regime of Paul Biya have tampered with the internet service and Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, VPNs, Vcontact aren't working. I am sure many other social media have been cut off as well. I am sure you guys are aware of the ongoing crisis that have rocked the "English speaking regions" ( Former Southern Cameroons) of Cameroons since November 2016. There have been plans to celebrate the symbolic independence of this region " The Former British Southern Cameroons" on the 1st of October 2017. That is on Sunday and the region have been heavily militarized by the Biya regime, Homes of people invaded, beaten , some killed, many kidnapped and with this shutdown to major social media to which it is where most of these crimes are exposed, many have been fearing a
Why it failed: I woke up this morning and discovered Internet Services in Cameroon have somehow been limited. I am suspected the regime of Paul Biya have tampered with the internet service and Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, VPNs, Vcontact aren't working. I am sure many other social media hav
ndifor
- startupShut down2017
Ask HN: Are you doing what you want to do or what you have to?
I have recently started watching the new National Geographic show 'Genius' about Albert Einstein. The way Einstein was obsessed with Physics took me to my childhood days when I used to ponder over why everything is the way it is. I always wanted to become a physicist. But being an Indian, I was repeatedly bombarded with the idea how essential it is to make a living. As such, I strayed from what I wanted to do and got into engineering (CS). It's now the end of my engineering and I am now occupied with the thoughts of what my life had been if I would have chosen the road not taken. It's not that I don't have a good job, but the thought of losing a chance to do something I love that keeps me awake these days. Personally, I think that the advancement in technology is also responsible for this. The internet, though providing us the means to access a vast amount of inf
Why it failed: I have recently started watching the new National Geographic show 'Genius' about Albert Einstein. The way Einstein was obsessed with Physics took me to my childhood days when I used to ponder over why everything is the way it is. I always wanted to become a physicist. B
rochak
- startupShut down2017
Ask HN: Sell my startup for $14M because I can't raise $2M?
I founded an vertical-focused enterprise startup. We signed a few huge customers in the space on a build-and-beta basis, and that led to industry awards and a full pipeline of leads and signed contracts for installation (SaaS pricing with small implementation fee). We've done it with a ridiculously small team, however. And it's become impossible to handle the dev and deployment, support and training, security reviews, feature requests, etc. So we are looking at options. We've been approached by a few large companies in the industry regarding acquisition. It looks like we could sell for $12-14M. Kind of exciting, but also well under the value that's possible (which would probably be something north of $400M in our industry alone, with the possibility to move laterally). The alternative is to raise money. We've put together a solid deck and model (I think), but the
Why it failed: I founded an vertical-focused enterprise startup. We signed a few huge customers in the space on a build-and-beta basis, and that led to industry awards and a full pipeline of leads and signed contracts for installation (SaaS pricing with small implementation fee). We've don
thisanonguy
- startupShut down2017
Ask HN: Best budget Linux laptop for a developer?
I am looking for a laptop to use for Linux development. There have been a number of "Ask HN" topics about this, but this one is a little different - I am not looking for a brand-new, top-end machine, but rather something to use alongside my MacBook Pro (which runs macOS and Windows via Boot Camp). My budget for this machine is only around $300. If I spend the money on another MacBook (Air or 13" Pro) I am probably looking at a machine of 2011/2012 vintage. Unfortunately I'm not sure the Air machines will be sufficiently powerful for my needs (low-voltage CPUs, only 4GB non-upgradable RAM). Also, all of the the pre-retina MacBooks seem to be let down by their screens: glossy, TN panels with (except for the 13" Air) at most 800 vertical pixels. Another option is a Lenovo ThinkPad, again probably from around 2012 (with the traditional 7-row ThinkPad keyboard).
Why it failed: I am looking for a laptop to use for Linux development. There have been a number of "Ask HN" topics about this, but this one is a little different - I am not looking for a brand-new, top-end machine, but rather something to use alongside my MacBook Pro (which runs macOS
gustuy
- startupShut down2017
Considering leaving job because of SCRUM
I am a software developer and I love software development. I love coming up with clever solutions to problems, I love refactoring parts of a codebase - reduing the number of lines of code and making things more understandable, I even love the boring bits - fixing bugs etc. However I feel that the practice of SCRUM in my current job is preventing me from doing that. Anytime an interesting problem comes up to solve we reduce it into ridiculously small cards like "research how to connect to this API", "Evaluate if we can use this library", "Write a proposal on how to do X" etc. So a problem which would take 1-2 months for a couple developers working together to solve now takes 6 months. Because we break it into unrealistically small steps and as soon as you finish one step you have to wait for the end of the sprint (2 weeks) and present it, then groom/plan
Why it failed: I am a software developer and I love software development. I love coming up with clever solutions to problems, I love refactoring parts of a codebase - reduing the number of lines of code and making things more understandable, I even love the boring bits - fixing bugs etc. Howeve
chuck4932
- startupShut down2017
Ask HN: How to get a job when you suck at coding?
I have a strong feeling I suck at coding. I have a B.S. degree in CS from an average school in the USA. 1) I have a bunch of projects, but they're terribly boring and have ugly looking code. For example, I spent a year working on an ecommerce site. It does what it needs to do, but there were no smart decisions behind the back end. I never had to use design patterns nor data structures. I just pieced it together. 2) I have a lot of trouble with "HackerRank" style problems. I just finished one, an hour ago, called Codility. Even though I passed all the shown test cases, the final results showed that I got the following scores 13%/95%/0%. The 0% was a debugging problem that required a max of 2 line changes. I have absolutely no clue how I got a 0% there. I've been trying to get a job anywhere, doing some programming, but all the rejections have destroyed me. As
Why it failed: I have a strong feeling I suck at coding. I have a B.S. degree in CS from an average school in the USA. 1) I have a bunch of projects, but they're terribly boring and have ugly looking code. For example, I spent a year working on an ecommerce site. It does what it needs to d
anon23422
- startupShut down2017
Ask HN: Is there a way we can prevent down-voting for disagreements?
My biggest gripe with HN is that it appears to me that comments are often down-voted over differing opinions rather than an issue with the comment as per the HN guidelines[0]. As someone who has unpopular opinions, this often leaves me fearful of participating in discussions. Maybe this fear effect is the very thing keeping our community more cordial though? :) I like HN a lot and it really is the only site where I regularly read comments. Keeping that in mind, I wonder if anyone has any ideas as to how we might improve this aspect of the community without also ruining it in the process? It is quite possible that any solution will wind up with worse adverse affects than benefits. One small idea I had was to add a section on "When Voting" to the HN guidelines[0]. I may have missed it but I do not believe there is anything pertaining to what one should be considering when voting.
Why it failed: My biggest gripe with HN is that it appears to me that comments are often down-voted over differing opinions rather than an issue with the comment as per the HN guidelines[0]. As someone who has unpopular opinions, this often leaves me fearful of participating in discussions. May
wuliwong
- startupShut down2017
Ask HN: Can we find out why a specific ad appears in our Facebook feed?
Last week I went to a restaurant with some friends and while checking the menu we saw that there was a cocktail with Campari (alcoholic liqueur) - this triggered a 30 sec conversation about the drink. Following day I open my FB feed and something weird happened - there was a Campari ad just in front of me! In the last months of my online life I didn't search for Campari, cocktails, beverages or anything related so I think it would be great if there was a way of finding why that ad end up there!
Why it failed: Last week I went to a restaurant with some friends and while checking the menu we saw that there was a cocktail with Campari (alcoholic liqueur) - this triggered a 30 sec conversation about the drink. Following day I open my FB feed and something weird happened - there was a Camp
lampzzy
- startupShut down2017
Ask HN: How do I program with more discipline and less emotion?
I'm used to being a hacker. I like doing 48 hour programming "binges". These were incredibly effective and I could often build more in those 48 hours than most people would build in a month. It worked great when panicked, but as I get more senior and used to the heavy pressure, it doesn't work any more. I have a more comfortable life now and failing projects is not as bad as they used to be. So it's hard to dig up the emotion I used to hack long hours. Now I just end up staring at the code for 2 hours at 2 AM. Besides, exhaustion kicks in and makes me less effective in the long run. And it doesn't scale as well with a team. I find disciplined techniques like Scrum and XP appealing. I know I should start adopting them. But a part of me worries that my hacker spirit would die out. So how would I go from being a code berserker to being a more organized, discipl
Why it failed: I'm used to being a hacker. I like doing 48 hour programming "binges". These were incredibly effective and I could often build more in those 48 hours than most people would build in a month. It worked great when panicked, but as I get more senior and used to the he
muzani
- startupShut down2017
Ask HN: Should I invest in a desktop PC in 2017?
I'm currently using a Thinkpad X201, with a first gen i7 processor, 8GBs of ram and an SSD. I want to purchase a new computer to own a faster machine. Currently I'm mostly using the thinkpad on my desk with two external monitors. On the other hand, the battery life of it is pretty good and I like that it's small and lightweight. I'm not a gaming person, so I don't need a discrete graphics card. I'm mostly using either Linux or FreeBSD with single-boot, but for Photoshop and school-work I sometimes need to work with windows. If I had two graphics cards I could forward one to QEMU and get near native response times on VMs. Last but not least, one part of me wants to experience building a desktop. Calculating the expenses, building a desktop would cost me arround 550 euros. But in the same price range I could buy a low-end 7th gen kaby lake laptop. I know that
Why it failed: I'm currently using a Thinkpad X201, with a first gen i7 processor, 8GBs of ram and an SSD. I want to purchase a new computer to own a faster machine. Currently I'm mostly using the thinkpad on my desk with two external monitors. On the other hand, the battery life of i
terminalcommand
- startupShut down2017
Ask HN: Stories of startup persistence
I've recently closed the doors on my 6th bootstrapped startup in 15 years. This is in addition to many, many side projects that i wouldn't consider calling a startup. I've never been able to find product/market fit. I'm getting better, and thanks to ideas from lean startup, each attempt is taking less time and resources, but i cant help but wonder if I'm cut out for this. Are there any examples of founders who tried and failed multiple times before getting their big success?
Why it failed: I've recently closed the doors on my 6th bootstrapped startup in 15 years. This is in addition to many, many side projects that i wouldn't consider calling a startup. I've never been able to find product/market fit. I'm getting better, and thanks to idea
exampledotcom
- startupShut down2017
Ask HN: Which laptop for development?
Moved across the country for a startup and had to put my desktop in the office (the only machine I own) since they don't give you a computer. I feel like I'm missing out since the other devs take their shiny MacBook pros and sit around a table and work (and chat) while I'm tucked away in an obscure corner. Also, driving to the office everytime time something breaks on a holiday could be a major inconvenience. Still gonna keep my desktop in the office so looking for a cheap laptop. I work on python Django so as long as it can run PyCharm and slack and a few chrome tabs, I should be fine (no need to run VMs or anything fancy). I live in India so my options are somewhat limited since many models are either unavailable or simply more expensive than in the US. These are the models I narrowed down on to: 1. Refurbished Lenovo T420. 2nd gen i5, 16 gigs of RAM. Really cheap for 25
Why it failed: Moved across the country for a startup and had to put my desktop in the office (the only machine I own) since they don't give you a computer. I feel like I'm missing out since the other devs take their shiny MacBook pros and sit around a table and work (and chat) while
lonesword
- startupShut down2017
Ask HN: Will we ever have affordable and attractive urban housing for all?
It seems every area of our lives has been improved through technology except for the cost of housing. Food and produce has reduced in price to the point where the average minimum wage provides a decent standard of living but the prospect of house ownership is a 25 to 30 year loan repayment (if you are able to get a loan). I know world populations are increasing causing scarcity and that we are also improving our transportation technology but human accommodation needs have not changed and we still seem unable to "hack" urban housing at scale. Do you see any changes coming down the line that will improve this situation?
Why it failed: It seems every area of our lives has been improved through technology except for the cost of housing. Food and produce has reduced in price to the point where the average minimum wage provides a decent standard of living but the prospect of house ownership is a 25 to 30 year loan
drcross
- startupShut down2017
Ask HN: Why don't developers unionize?
I'm not talking about your Dad or Grandma's union of yesteryear but a new type of union focused on collective bargaining for issues that matter and taking decisive action. Our new style of union would: - Encourage corporations to take security and privacy seriously - Advocate for those affected by automation - Aide in the creation of standards - Support free and open source software communities - Strengthen the efforts of organizations like EFF, Archive.org, Tor, etc - Advocate for a free and open internet - Counterbalance corporate interests Once upon a time, unions did a lot of good for working and middle class people and they failed ultimately in the end. It seems we as developers have the power to create a new type of union. A new model that disrupts old ideas for collective bargaining and actually does some good in the world. What will our legacy be? Some things in life ar
Why it failed: I'm not talking about your Dad or Grandma's union of yesteryear but a new type of union focused on collective bargaining for issues that matter and taking decisive action. Our new style of union would: - Encourage corporations to take security and privacy seriously - Ad
quinequine
- startupShut down2017
Ask HN: How to answer properly “Why we should hire you” question?
I've ask somewhere on the internet about this question. But, never receive good response and also the answer is not related on my field. This question, has make me failed on interview process on one of antivirus company, despite, it was long a ago, sometimes I cannot move on and still wondering what is the best answer for this typical question. Since, this site a lot of IT guys, it might be related and I hope I will received very good advice and answers. Thanks.
Why it failed: I've ask somewhere on the internet about this question. But, never receive good response and also the answer is not related on my field. This question, has make me failed on interview process on one of antivirus company, despite, it was long a ago, sometimes I cannot move on
neurobot
- startupShut down2017
Ask HN: How can we stop the plan to end net neutrality?
In the following week the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is expected to roll out their plan to end net neutrality. It appears that the public at large and even some internet stalwarts have become apathetic to the coming changes, which threaten to alter the internet as we know it going forward. If this happens without massive public outrage it may indicate to other democratic nations that treating all traffic equally is no longer the norm, and they are free to enact their own "play-to-play" schemes in addition to those imposed by the U.S. What can be done to reverse this course of action?
Why it failed: In the following week the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is expected to roll out their plan to end net neutrality. It appears that the public at large and even some internet stalwarts have become apathetic to the coming changes, which threaten to alter the internet
Dangeranger
- startupShut down2017
Show HN: LiveCoder
LiveCoder is a fun tool I built almost a year ago to simulate live coding Frontend technologies for my presentations. You actually don't have to live-code, but just prepare beforehand the program, snippets of HTML, CSS and Javascript and you feed the tool with it, so you can just focus on explaining what's being coded. Simple :-) I never really shared this tool, but I used it in a few presentations quite succesfully, so I think it could be an interesting tool to use. You have full control of the speed. You can pause and resume... An entire app can be live-coded with this. It's quite fun to watch ;-) There is a Demo in the repo, a bit slow at the beginning but wait until the end, gets better. Hope you enjoy it and please, feedback would be very much appreciated. Repo: https://github.com/jscriptcoder/live-coder Fran
Why it failed: LiveCoder is a fun tool I built almost a year ago to simulate live coding Frontend technologies for my presentations. You actually don't have to live-code, but just prepare beforehand the program, snippets of HTML, CSS and Javascript and you feed the tool with it, so you can
jscriptcoder
- startupShut down2017
Ask HN: Where should a UK-based company move to if encryption is outlawed?
Throwaway account for probably-obvious reasons. We would be grateful if people avoided speculating about who this is in the comments :-) We're a UK-based PaaS. About 90% of our customers are from outside the UK. The party most likely to form the government after the upcoming election here is strongly averse to encryption. Although it remains to be seen what, if any, legislation they will actually enact if they get in, we need to do contingency planning. The worst-case scenario (which, to be clear, we think is very unlikely) is that they might pass laws that would mean we would not be able to offer a service with sufficient security for our international customers. In this - again, we think unlikely - event, we'd either have to close the business, as we can't keep going on our UK revenue only, or we'd have to move to another country. Our question for HN is: which count
Why it failed: Throwaway account for probably-obvious reasons. We would be grateful if people avoided speculating about who this is in the comments :-) We're a UK-based PaaS. About 90% of our customers are from outside the UK. The party most likely to form the government after the upcoming
throwawayblwBz
- startupShut down2017
Tell HN: Yahoo Finance has apparently killed its API
Yahoo Finance has apparently killed is API. Zero warning. Lots of apps probably use this. Before, you could get stock information by using http://download.finance.yahoo.com/d/quotes.csv Now, you get the following message: It has come to our attention that this service is being used in violation of the Yahoo Terms of Service. As such, the service is being discontinued. For all future markets and equities data research, please refer to finance.yahoo.com. What violation of TOS? People have been using this for years without any issues. If you are going to cut this off, how about a warning and heads up? Guess that's what we should expect from OATH / Verizon.
Why it failed: Yahoo Finance has apparently killed is API. Zero warning. Lots of apps probably use this. Before, you could get stock information by using http://download.finance.yahoo.com/d/quotes.csv Now, you get the following message: It has come to our attention that this
php2011
- startupShut down2017
Ask HN: What old, discontinued desktop software do you still run?
What are your reasons for running it? Is it because you've never found a superior alternative? Is it because you know it inside out and it's the fastest way to do a task? Is it because it runs fast and with low-memory requirements? Or is it because it has the best interface for what you need to do, and it's never been bettered (in your view)?
Why it failed: What are your reasons for running it? Is it because you've never found a superior alternative? Is it because you know it inside out and it's the fastest way to do a task? Is it because it runs fast and with low-memory requirements? Or is it because it has the best inter
open-source-ux
- startupShut down2017
Ask HN: How to find a wife?
There was a recent post on HN about marriage. An insightful hacker commented: What ends up happening is sooner or later one ends up pulling dating partners from eccentric and probably unhealthy places. And the ones most willing to engage have their own reasons for seeking out a lonely programmer. Generically, bad places to pull a spouse from: online dating sites/apps, bars, concerts, large parties, etc. Just about anywhere that attracts people from a variety of social strata and offers zero curation for common values, education or habits of mind, and/or doesn't sort people in any way based on useful proxies for those things. The trouble is that those sources are tempting if you are socially isolated (from the opposite gender) and perceive yourself to have few options, and/or because you're lazy or fatigued from the ever-frustrating chase. Always bad? No. But the
Why it failed: There was a recent post on HN about marriage. An insightful hacker commented: What ends up happening is sooner or later one ends up pulling dating partners from eccentric and probably unhealthy places. And the ones most willing to engage have their own reasons for seeking out a l
valueprop
- startupShut down2017
Ask HN: Are people lying about their salaries?
We've seen a lot of posts about salaries these last few months on HN and I'm wondering if people are lying about their monthly paycheck. I have 10 years of experience in the field, I'm based in Silicon Valley. Worked in the city, south bay and the peninsula. I'm a full stack engineer, I switched employers 7 times in 10 years constantly getting pulled into another hot opportunity! Sometimes from ex-colleagues, most of the times from recruiters. Looking at glassdoor.com and my personal experience, salaries are much lower than what people are claiming on HN. There are exceptions out there, Google, etc. I've been their myself as well as another one of the big 5. Experienced engineers make a lot of money but it's mostly coming from Stock/RSU's and sometimes bonuses. I'd totally believe it if you tell me "my total offer was about $300-500/
Why it failed: We've seen a lot of posts about salaries these last few months on HN and I'm wondering if people are lying about their monthly paycheck. I have 10 years of experience in the field, I'm based in Silicon Valley. Worked in the city, south bay and the peninsula. I'
bsvalley
- startupShut down2017
Show HN: PlaidML, open source deep learning for any GPU
Our company Vertex.AI has been working on this for a while but this is the first public release. We're starting with using PlaidML to bring OpenCL support to Keras and more frameworks, platforms, etc are coming. Yes, this means you can use use your AMD GPU for deep learning dev. Sorry, no Mac or Windows support yet although the brave can try building from source (it should work). http://vertex.ai/blog/announcing-plaidml https://github.com/plaidml/plaidml
Why it failed: Our company Vertex.AI has been working on this for a while but this is the first public release. We're starting with using PlaidML to bring OpenCL support to Keras and more frameworks, platforms, etc are coming. Yes, this means you can use use your AMD GPU for deep learning
hedgehog
- startupShut down2017
Ask HN: Should I buy a boat and live off the grid?
The situation is as follows: I live in Stockholm but my current lease will run out at the end of August. Now it is entirely possible for me to get a new apartement. But a thought has lodged in my brain that I can not get rid of. I want to buy a boat, find a slip here in Stockholm and live on the boat for the foreseeable future. I'm sure I could handle the practicalities of it. On the pro side is the fact that I want to try to live on a boat (quite small sailboat in this case) and "off the grid". Sure it's a bit romanticised, but isn't your youth the time to make mistakes? On the con side I'm worried my social life will suffer, I might lose friends. Can't invite people home. People don't want to date a hobo living on a boat? So my questions is: How severe is the stigma around living on a boat? Does anyone have experience of living in a way that'
Why it failed: The situation is as follows: I live in Stockholm but my current lease will run out at the end of August. Now it is entirely possible for me to get a new apartement. But a thought has lodged in my brain that I can not get rid of. I want to buy a boat, find a slip here in Stockholm
danieka