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.
3,400 solutions
- startupShut down2010
Ask HN: Your "Keeper" articles.
This being Hacker News there are many articles here that are "of the moment," items absolutely worth reading, and interesting to see, but not ones that you would refer back to. There are articles, however, that are worth filing away and coming back to read later, and I'd be interested in seeing the ones that others have kept hold of in this manner. Recently we've had "Who Can Name the Bigger Number?" ( http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1539538 ) as an example, an article that repays rereading, and I personally enjoyed Zed Shaw's "Ragel state charts" and PG's "The Top Idea in Your Mind" ( http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1536356 ) I've filed those away with some tags to help me find them again. What articles are your keepers*?
Why it failed: This being Hacker News there are many articles here that are "of the moment," items absolutely worth reading, and interesting to see, but not ones that you would refer back to. There are articles, however, that are worth filing away and coming back to read later, and I'd be inter
RiderOfGiraffes
- startupShut down2010
Ask HN: Why do I always waste time on the weekends?
There's a way for me to make some money, but it requires that I setup a fairly complicated spreadsheet to monitor several variables. All through last week, I've been printing Excel tutorials and ebooks, telling myself that I'll do the spreadsheet over the weekend, so I can start earning immediately. I want to put the money towards a startup. How did I spend my weekend? Friday Night: Listening to rap and channel surfing. I've got all weekend, right? Saturday: Spend half the day browsing, the other half watching about 4 movies. Still got all day Sunday, right? Sunday: Wake up @ 10. Watch a few World Cup matches, while surfing YouTube. I can do it later right? Now I just got to work, and I'm disgusted with myself. I want to leave this job as soon as possible (one's soul can only be sucked so much), but my constant procrastination isn't helping things. The worst part? This isn't the first ti
Why it failed: There's a way for me to make some money, but it requires that I setup a fairly complicated spreadsheet to monitor several variables. All through last week, I've been printing Excel tutorials and ebooks, telling myself that I'll do the spreadsheet over the weekend, so I can start
oz
- startupShut down2010
Ask HN: A New Decade. Any Predictions?
Since everybody is talking about predictions for 2010, I thought I would bump it up a notch. Anybody care to make some predictions about what we'll see in the coming decade (2010-2019)? I'll try a couple. - Major changes will happen in Iran, one way or the other. The current trajectory they are on does not seem sustainable for a decade. - Ubiquitous computing will finally arrive, with smart cards/RFID on our bodies seamlessly interacting with computers in our environment. As you walk up to your refrigerator, for instance, you're logged in and presented with a customized display. Same goes for the car or the entertainment surface at the Dentist's. - Flat panel displays will not drop to rock-bottom. Instead, a new generation of 2160 and 3240p 3-D panels will appear for consumer setting. Rock-bottom 10-20 inch panels will stabilize in the 50-100 range and stay there. Sorry, no panel/OLED wa
Why it failed: Since everybody is talking about predictions for 2010, I thought I would bump it up a notch. Anybody care to make some predictions about what we'll see in the coming decade (2010-2019)? I'll try a couple. - Major changes will happen in Iran, one way or the other. The current traj
DanielBMarkham
- startupShut down2010
Happy New Year in Your Time Zone - What's your resolution?
Since we all live in different time zones, I wanted to post this now. HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! In America, we have a tradition of making New Year's resolutions. What one thing are you going to do better this coming year, that you know you have to improve? And how are you going to do it?
Why it failed: Since we all live in different time zones, I wanted to post this now. HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! In America, we have a tradition of making New Year's resolutions. What one thing are you going to do better this coming year, that you know you have to improve? And how are you going to
EGreg
- startupShut down2010
Hacker News London Meetup 25th Nov
The next Hacker News London meetup is on Thursday, 25th November. We've decided to split the evening into two parts, short demos and presentations first, followed by a few beers down the pub. Demos and presentations and presentations will be from 6:30 at Skills Matter, 116-120 Goswell Road, London, EC1V 7DP Beers will be at The Slaughtered Lamb, 34-35 Great Sutton St, London, EC1V 0DX, where we have an area reserved for us from 8 o'clock onwards. We have the following 5 minute talks lined up for the evening. Hrishi Mittal: PRETTY GRAPH - MAKE YOUR DATA SING! Philipp Moehring: STARTUP FINANCING FOR NORMAL PEOPLE Douglas Squirrel: INTRODUCING NARRATIVE, A FRAMEWORK FOR BEHAVIOUR-DRIVEN TESTS IN FLUENT JAVA Daniel Tenner: HOW TO GET ON TECHCRUNCH, LIFEHACKER, SLASHDOT, ETC. Lorenzo Stoakes: F# - WHY IT ROCKS Josh Liu: MICRO-CONSULTANCY IS THE NEW BLACK Ben Summers: LINKED DATA, USER EXPERIE
Why it failed: The next Hacker News London meetup is on Thursday, 25th November. We've decided to split the evening into two parts, short demos and presentations first, followed by a few beers down the pub. Demos and presentations and presentations will be from 6:30 at Skills Matter, 116-120 Go
dmitri1981
- startupShut down2009
Given Expert Advice, Brains "Shut Down"
Article here: http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0004957
Why it failed: Article here: http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0004957
robg
- startupShut down2009
A Defense of libertarianism (and response to Zed, etc.)
A few notes in defense of libertarianism: In response to the recent slew of articles posted to HN criticizing libertarianism, I have decided to jot down a few points that I think were overlooked. First, George W. Bush and the Republican party are NOT libertarians. Zed's argument was essentially this, and it's about as logical as declaring that you're going to write an essay about the flaws of vegetarianism and then proceeding to mention a bunch of bad things about pepperoni. Republicans occasionally use some libertarian rhetoric, but they do not follow it at all. George W. Bush has increased the size of government tremendously, and he's intervened in international affairs and created all kinds of entangling alliances, etc. Libertarians are also strongly opposed to the "family values" rhetoric used mostly by Republicans and by some democrats. Libertarians have been opposed to nearly every
Why it failed: A few notes in defense of libertarianism: In response to the recent slew of articles posted to HN criticizing libertarianism, I have decided to jot down a few points that I think were overlooked. First, George W. Bush and the Republican party are NOT libertarians. Zed's argument
grandalf
- startupShut down2009
Tell HN: 360 Voltage is out of Beta (10 PRO accounts to giveaway to HN)
360 Voltage is out of Beta, it's a set of online marketing tools that my agency envisioned for in-house use and decided to turn into a freemium web site along the way, which we now use in house (natch). To say that HN has been good to me is an understatement, it's an oasis of rational thought and discussion in a wasteland of online social media sites... (</digression>)<p>So I've got 10 yearly 360 Voltage PRO account subscriptions ($149/ea.) to give away here to some devs who would really dig into the site, use the tools, and then give us ongoing feedback as we iterate like mad and try to populate the blog with useful content. Obviously, that's all unenforceable, but you get the idea...<p>Once again, I'm giving away 10 yearly pro account subscriptions to HN users to help us prime the pump on our freemium web site, which is a search marketing tool set called 360 Vol
Why it failed: 360 Voltage is out of Beta, it's a set of online marketing tools that my agency envisioned for in-house use and decided to turn into a freemium web site along the way, which we now use in house (natch). To say that HN has been good to me is an understatement, it's an oasis of rat
wmeredith
- startupShut down2009
So...what the hell's wrong with you, Shooter?
[NOTE: This post is both personal and medical in nature and only about hacking in the sense that it is about searching for a solution to a complex problem. Some of the “HN is for hacking only”–types may not want to waste their time reading it. It’s also extremely long, but I don’t have or want a blog right now. You’ve been warned.] This is my answer to apu's question to me on another thread about ALS (and, specifically, my misdiagnosis with ALS and other illnesses): Q: "If you don't mind me asking, what was the final diagnosis? How was it discovered? And how are you coping?" A: Basically I had multiple infections (both viral and bacterial) that were slowly eating me alive. I started having migratory shooting pains, chronic joint pain, extreme fatigue, and rapid weight gain years ago. (I gained 100 pounds in about 4 months, with absolutely no change in my diet or exercise program. I went
Why it failed: [NOTE: This post is both personal and medical in nature and only about hacking in the sense that it is about searching for a solution to a complex problem. Some of the “HN is for hacking only”–types may not want to waste their time reading it. It’s also extremely long, but I don’
Shooter
- startupShut down2009
A book suggestion: Founders That Almost Made It
An open suggestion to the authors/producers/publishers of Founders At Work (which I'm reading at the moment): What do you think of writing a book 'Founders That Almost Made It'? Using a similar fashion, but talks to startup founders who almost made it big, but didn't quite make it. Perhaps they had to exit via Plan C rather than Plan A, or they just quietly wound down the startup. Following the adage that people learn more from mistakes, perhaps it'd be just as useful to get information on why they think they failed, than to read about those who have succeeded wildly?
Why it failed: An open suggestion to the authors/producers/publishers of Founders At Work (which I'm reading at the moment): What do you think of writing a book 'Founders That Almost Made It'? Using a similar fashion, but talks to startup founders who almost made it big, but didn't quite make i
bengtan
- startupShut down2009
I think I just failed out of college...
(temp account) I just finished my last final today and it was yet another one where I pretended to study for an hour before the test after not having gone to class in the last 3 weeks, I guess in an attempt to not feel guilty about my lack of caring/trying. I'm a smart kid. I could do well at school if it was a priority of mine. I'm just so not focused on putting effort into it, and because my major is Philosophy, and I don't want the job lifestyle that comes from a Liberal Arts degree, this BA would not be unlocking any doors for me. The path this degree has me on is exactly opposite of what I really want. I have had a really tough year, been very depressed and have just a dark cloud over me for a long time. I fell into a really bad habit of procrastination and indifference that really flipped my world upside down. But I have been seeking counseling and have received medication and over
Why it failed: (temp account) I just finished my last final today and it was yet another one where I pretended to study for an hour before the test after not having gone to class in the last 3 weeks, I guess in an attempt to not feel guilty about my lack of caring/trying. I'm a smart kid. I cou
nodegreeforme
- startupShut down2009
Thoughts on "e-readers"
Amazon's Kindle felt right. When it was announced I thought "finally!". Seth Godin (a popular marketing author) predicted back in '98 that Amazon was building what he called a "permission asset" that would later be leveraged to disrupt the entire book publishing industry when Amazon would supplant the publisher by allowing authors to publish directly via Amazon's platform... ala what is now the Kindle and it's open "Digital Text Platform". Kindle also felt right because if felt like an iPod. Apple had already shown the world a great model for building a system capable of replacing atoms with bits: iPod + iTunes. iPod success was in the design not only of it's digital music player but of the entire music delivery/experience system; from the simplicity of the clickwheel to the immense library that would become the iTunes Music Store. Every music retail store you've stepped into at the mall
Why it failed: Amazon's Kindle felt right. When it was announced I thought "finally!". Seth Godin (a popular marketing author) predicted back in '98 that Amazon was building what he called a "permission asset" that would later be leveraged to disrupt the entire book publishing industry when Ama
jamesmcintyre
- startupShut down2009
MixPanel (YC S09); my mini review
After spotting the mixpanel logo at the bottom of HN I decided to give it a spin on a reasonably serious site to see what it can do. I've got some issues with GA that I can't seem to resolve so I figured maybe MixPanel can replace them. First impression is that it looks really neat and simple, but on my browser (ff 3.01) the form fields all somehow manage to hang outside the containing blocks. The sign up process is very quick, but there is no email verification, which is a bit of a pain because it could mean that people use a fake address leading to emails dumped on unsuspecting bystanders. After signing up you get a secret token and a skeleton piece of javascript that you can flesh out to track variables that are important. This is mostly a manual operation, you insert the relevant bits in strategic spots on your site, 'instrumenting' it so MixPanel can keep track of what is happening.
Why it failed: After spotting the mixpanel logo at the bottom of HN I decided to give it a spin on a reasonably serious site to see what it can do. I've got some issues with GA that I can't seem to resolve so I figured maybe MixPanel can replace them. First impression is that it looks really ne
jacquesm
- startupShut down2009
Ask HN: I think my startup is going to fail, what should I do?
Dear Hacker News: About six months ago, me and two of my friends (we work at the same company) decided to go and start a startup. Since we didn't have funding, we figured we'd keep our day jobs, build the website, get a few users, and then quit and work on the company full time. The initial plan was for me to do the programming/technical stuff, one of my friends to handle getting funding and the other to handle marketing/getting users. I've built a pretty decent site (in my humble opinion), but I think my friends want to abandon the project. They've floated the idea (several times) of just scrapping all my current code and starting over, they don't propose new features anymore, they haven't gotten around to getting the paperwork to form the company since they said they would (in June) and they say now they might never do it, etc., etc. I only put a few months of full-time equivalent work
Why it failed: Dear Hacker News: About six months ago, me and two of my friends (we work at the same company) decided to go and start a startup. Since we didn't have funding, we figured we'd keep our day jobs, build the website, get a few users, and then quit and work on the company full time.
startupguy73
- startupShut down2009
Ask YC: My school wants to shut down my app. How should I respond?
Few hours ago, I received this letter from my public uni's CIO: http://www.scribd.com/doc/15099510/i-letter1 The site can be seen at http://www.classhunt.com Full story: I launched ClassHunt about a month ago. The campus newspaper covered and ~500 people are using it so far. Many are totally in love with it("ClassHunt is AWESOME! I give you serious props for creating this site. I've already told a couple of friends about it and one of them has had the same luck that I have. You're going to prevent a lot of headaches with this system! :)"). The technology behind is in python. It queries the uni's server for every department on campus and parses the course data. At first, I was querying every minute, so ~130 requests/minute. Now I am querying every 15minutes. Few days ago I received an email that my server IP had been blocked. The lady from IT dept was very nice and willing to work with me
Why it failed: Few hours ago, I received this letter from my public uni's CIO: http://www.scribd.com/doc/15099510/i-letter1 The site can be seen at http://www.classhunt.com Full story: I launched ClassHunt about a month ago. The campus newspaper covered and ~500 people are using it so far. Many
zaidf
- startupShut down2009
Ask HN: Afraid I've dug myself into a hole
Hello guys. This is my first time writing to HN so I'm not sure if I'm stepping out of line here in any way, sorry in advance if I am. I'm a Computer Engineer and right out of college I started working as a SAP Consultant (BW/BI in case you are familiar) and I have been doing that for the last 4 years. Now I want to change the course, I’m no longer satisfied by the work I do and by the SAP environment and would like to try something else, because after all, SAP is all I’ve known since college and I cannot say if that’s what I really want to do for the rest of my life. This is the point where I find that I might have digged myself into a hole because once I started looking around I realized that apparently all the technical skills I gained during this four years are only valuable in a SAP environment and that outside of that I have not gained anything that a non-SAP recruiter might be loo
Why it failed: Hello guys. This is my first time writing to HN so I'm not sure if I'm stepping out of line here in any way, sorry in advance if I am. I'm a Computer Engineer and right out of college I started working as a SAP Consultant (BW/BI in case you are familiar) and I have been doing tha
hitokiri82
- startupShut down2009
Ask HN: Graduate early?
Hello, HN. I'm a junior in high school. I have the option of attempting to graduate early. What do you think of that? I don't know whether it should be done. Here's backstory: I'm a junior. By the end of this year, I will have completed Multivariable Calculus, if that matters, and would've taken 7 APs. There are still some interesting classes to take next year in my school, but I'm thinking maybe there would be less crap to deal with in college, and more learning; I'm also not sure of advantages of staying in high school. I'm thinking that life is short, so there's no reason to waste it, and I might as well skip a year. I'd like your take on this. Thanks so much.
Why it failed: Hello, HN. I'm a junior in high school. I have the option of attempting to graduate early. What do you think of that? I don't know whether it should be done. Here's backstory: I'm a junior. By the end of this year, I will have completed Multivariable Calculus, if that matters, an
PieSquared
- startupShut down2009
Ask PG: Do you ever fund startups outside of normal Y Comb. funding cycles?
Hey Paul, In the case that someone were to run a startup in the months leading up to Christmas, has there ever been a situation where Y Combinator has provided funding to a startup outside of the "normal" funding cycles? I ask this for two simple reasons: 1. A friend and I are going to be working on our own startup coming this fall, in this case potential funding MAY be needed before the Winter Y Combinator session starts. 2. Neither of us can really relocate to California at this time. It has potential in the future, but not for this coming winter. If PG doesn't have any insight into something like this, does anyone else have information pertaining to something like this? Thanks a lot. EDIT: Since everyone seems to think that we are looking for funding right now, I will clear things up by saying that no, we are not looking for any funding at this point in time.
Why it failed: Hey Paul, In the case that someone were to run a startup in the months leading up to Christmas, has there ever been a situation where Y Combinator has provided funding to a startup outside of the "normal" funding cycles? I ask this for two simple reasons: 1. A friend and I are go
jlgosse
- startupShut down2009
Ask HN: Please Review My Project (JS Game Engine)
Hi Everyone, This is the first time that I've submitted anything here, but I lurk and read HN daily. My partner Joe and I just launched a suite of tools for building 2D web games with pure JavaScript and we'd really love your feedback. http://www.effectgames.com Briefly: we're a web developer and designer who are both very heavily into video games. While trying to avoid any negativity around Flash, we thought standard and open web tech would be a better basis for creating games (plus we're more familiar with JavaScript). We have been working on this off and on for over four years, and now we're ready to release the "Effect Engine" -- a pure JavaScript / DHTML framework for displaying and animating game graphics, playing sounds & music, handling keyboard & mouse, and performing sprite collision detection. It smoothly renders multiple layers of parallax scrolling tiles and sprites
Why it failed: Hi Everyone, This is the first time that I've submitted anything here, but I lurk and read HN daily. My partner Joe and I just launched a suite of tools for building 2D web games with pure JavaScript and we'd really love your feedback. http://www.effectgames.com Briefly: we're a
itsmin
- startupShut down2009
If someone has a perception, even an incorrect one, there's reason for it.
Hi HackerNews. This is an extended version of a response to a complaint about new Linux users suggesting changes to Linux packaging http://ubuntusyndrome.wordpress.com/2009/06/23/johnny-come-lately-linux-heroes/. The point I'm making is not just about Linux though. I thought HN may get a kick out of it... If someone has a perception, there's a reason for it, even if that perception isn't itself correct. In regards to the article above, yes, apt makes things easy when you learn how to use it. The modern day 'App Store' concept is an extension of this concept. But there's a world of difference in the user experience of 'Synaptic Package Manager' versus App Store. End-user apps aren't separated from libraries and development tools, categories are aimed at software developers, descriptions of a package called 'foo' read 'This is a package of foo' or 'This is a graphical interface for libfoo'
Why it failed: Hi HackerNews. This is an extended version of a response to a complaint about new Linux users suggesting changes to Linux packaging http://ubuntusyndrome.wordpress.com/2009/06/23/johnny-come-lately-linux-heroes/. The point I'm making is not just about Linux though. I thought HN m
nailer
- startupShut down2009
Ask HN: If Google is a monopoly, should we be doing anything about it?
Hi all, I read the article "A Brief History of Google Killers" (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=616482) and saw these numbers: "[...] show Live Search’s share as fluctuating over the past couple of years, but never exceeding 2.6 percent. Google’s share? Eighty-one percent, up from 75 percent two years ago. [...]" These numbers are indicative of a monopoly situation where for-profit organisations could/(do) shaft the end user. Microsoft is in the news every so often about antitrust cases against them. Why not Google? However, I do not keep abreast of litigation stories and don't want to go through reams of information to get insight into the issue So, I am asking HN: What do you think? Where is it going?
Why it failed: Hi all, I read the article "A Brief History of Google Killers" (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=616482) and saw these numbers: "[...] show Live Search’s share as fluctuating over the past couple of years, but never exceeding 2.6 percent. Google’s share? Eighty-one percent, up
stijnm
- startupShut down2009
Ask HN: Are we in trouble?
Honestly... does anyone have any idea. I have been hearing people like Donny Deutch coming out and saying 'ignore the noise, it's all hype' and I turn on Bill Maher who says 'it's all gonna hit the fan.' Has anyone seen any economic case studies, predictions, or articles, that can shed some light on what is REALLY going on here.
Why it failed: Honestly... does anyone have any idea. I have been hearing people like Donny Deutch coming out and saying 'ignore the noise, it's all hype' and I turn on Bill Maher who says 'it's all gonna hit the fan.' Has anyone seen any economic case studies, predictions, or articles, that ca
keltecp11
- startupShut down2009
Ask HN: PhD, Startup, or Career?
I'm nearing the end of my undergraduate Computer Science degree and I've been presented with the opportunity to read/study for a PhD fully funded by my University. The trouble is, I also hold job offers with two of the most prominent software vendors in the world. I'm at a cross roads as to which route to take at this point. To add further confusion to my life, I've also been given a great idea for a startup and have the chance of working with a really cool co-founder. I really don't know which way to go with this one, any ideas? I'll give a short description of the startup just in case you are wondering. My friend did a year long industrial work placement at a finance company while at University. He worked in the anti money laundering division. While he was there he had to use some god awful enterprise software that made use of some pretty bad pattern matching algorithms. Basically, he
Why it failed: I'm nearing the end of my undergraduate Computer Science degree and I've been presented with the opportunity to read/study for a PhD fully funded by my University. The trouble is, I also hold job offers with two of the most prominent software vendors in the world. I'm at a cross
student
- startupShut down2009
Ask HN: What to do after graduation with 100k?
I'm a regular reader and commenter, but for this question wished to remain anonymous. I apologize about the length of this, you can skip to the end for the question if you are short on time, but would really be grateful for any responses as I really value the HN community. Background: I'm 21 and currently approaching the final year of my undergraduate degree at the University of Virginia. I'm a business major at the McIntire school which is fairly respected (http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/rankings/index.html) and concentrating in management with a sort of sub-track in a newly launched entrepreneurship program that I'm excited about (co-taught by some entrepreneur alumni). The business program is a two year program and I came out of high school with enough college credits that I've been able to take more or less any classes I've been interested in (mostly Philosophy, Political theor
Why it failed: I'm a regular reader and commenter, but for this question wished to remain anonymous. I apologize about the length of this, you can skip to the end for the question if you are short on time, but would really be grateful for any responses as I really value the HN community. Backgr
graduating