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Ask HN: Idea Sunday

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Re: Ask HN: Idea Sunday

#471

Post by morganherlocker »

hsx wrote: post #76
karangoeluw wrote: post #5

Ok I'll go first. It's an "Imgur for audio files". Now there's times when you record an audio and want to share it. What do you do? Uhh,, umm.... Yup. exactly. There's no reliable, easy-to-use app to share audio files (not music). So, this is a web/mobile app for easily uploading and sharing audio files, and playing them. I don't have a full plan laid out, but I'll work on it for sure. (If you'd like to be notified w…

Audio-ur is already out there. http://audiour.com/

I first read that as ardour[1], which seemed like a terrible way to pass audio around (big project files in email?). I wonder if that confusion is what motivated them to change their name.

[1]

Re: Ask HN: Idea Sunday

#472

Post by ezl »

Better calorie counting.

My fitness pal is great, but it too long for me to use, I suck at looking up or even knowing exactly what I ate is.

What I'd like is an app that lets me just take a picture of my meal, then add any comments that might be helpful "ham sandwich" or "poached salmon, about the size of my palm" -- then it magically figures out what I ate and the nutrition contents (within a day is fine)

I've seen this attempted before, but nobody still seems to be in business. I suspect this has to happen with a human powered "pictures+comments to nutrition data" engine.

I'd be willing to pay $30/mo (too low? $50?) for this and commit to paying for 4 months. If 99 other people (or 59) people committed as well, that'd be $3000/mo revenue for the day this thing launches.

1. Would anyone else back that as a pre-signed up user? 2. Is anyone willing to do it for us?

Re: Ask HN: Idea Sunday

#473

Post by jeffreyrogers »

neilsharma wrote: post #289

Problem: Completion rates for online courses are dismal and engagement with other students and faculty is low. Idea: Weekly online, live discussion sections to accompany self-paced video lectures. Discussion sections have 5-10 students and are facilitated by Teaching Assistants How it works: Students taking a MOOC course sign up each week for a discussion section. There can be multiple discussion sections to accommod…

Is it really a problem that completion rates are low though? I'd argue that most people's time is better spent on things other than taking online courses.

I'm a proponent of making education accessible, but it seems that it is fairly easy to find good resources to learn just about anything online, particularly if it is related to computing. The real problem I think is motivation. Most college students don't try that hard in school, so I wouldn't expect most people taking online courses (particularly free ones) to try that hard either.

If you're motivated enough to learn the resources are already available to you. If not, I think the efforts of others to make you learn will have marginal effects at best.

Edit: I was replying to the first point about completion rates being low. I actually think the discussion idea is a good one and would be helpful for those who actually want to learn the material.

Re: Ask HN: Idea Sunday

#474

Post by vishaldpatel »

Jemaclus wrote: post #440

Google Glass app that streams subtitles from Netflix, Hulu, or even cable TV. I rely heavily on subtitles to watch TV (I'm very hard-of-hearing), but I've found that my [hearing] friends don't like subtitles very much. It would make my life 10 million times easier if I could watch TV with subtitles or closed captioning without having to subject my friends to that as well. I don't know jack shit about Google Glass, bu…

Would you be willing to constantly stare at the top right corner of your eye, away from the screen in order to read the sub-titles?

I know in some video players, such as Amazon's, you can control the size of the subtitles. Perhaps this is more ideal than having to constantly switch focus away from the screen.

Re: Ask HN: Idea Sunday

#475

Post by oevi »

ezl wrote: post #472

Better calorie counting. My fitness pal is great, but it too long for me to use, I suck at looking up or even knowing exactly what I ate is. What I'd like is an app that lets me just take a picture of my meal, then add any comments that might be helpful "ham sandwich" or "poached salmon, about the size of my palm" -- then it magically figures out what I ate and the nutrition contents (within a day is fine) I've seen…

this already exists: http://mealsnap.com/

Re: Ask HN: Idea Sunday

#476

Post by vishaldpatel »

cweiss wrote: post #441

A photo app designed specifically for concerts - The main feature is that the display goes dark while filming/snapping shots. As someone who goes to a lot of shows, I hate the myriad of tiny squares I see between myself and the stage and I've noticed a fairly small percentage of folks actually check focus/etc., they just stick their phones in the air and shoot away. Bonus points for good social media integration - Re…

Seems like a thankless sacrifice to use a photo app that will take pictures at a concert in a way that doesn't annoy others. How would you market this?

Re: Ask HN: Idea Sunday

#477

Post by cweiss »

vishaldpatel wrote: post #476
cweiss wrote: post #441

A photo app designed specifically for concerts - The main feature is that the display goes dark while filming/snapping shots. As someone who goes to a lot of shows, I hate the myriad of tiny squares I see between myself and the stage and I've noticed a fairly small percentage of folks actually check focus/etc., they just stick their phones in the air and shoot away. Bonus points for good social media integration - Re…

Seems like a thankless sacrifice to use a photo app that will take pictures at a concert in a way that doesn't annoy others. How would you market this?

A mix of "Dont be this guy" ad messaging and emphasis on the social sharing side similar to Vine. Auto-sharing (or at least auto-queue for sharing) so you're also not 'texting' in the middle of the show right after you get the shot.

To be honest, I'd love to see it added as a feature in an existing successful photo app.

Re: Ask HN: Idea Sunday

#478

Post by elemos »

A safe storage locker. I travel frequently for work between a few different cities and it's a pain to constantly have to pack and re-pack, and buy and re-buy those things which I cannot pack.

I just want a locker where I can feel safe leaving my stuff in the cities that I travel to most frequently. This means I'm reasonably assured they wont get stolen as well as being afforded many of the same rights when you own or rent property.

Re: Ask HN: Idea Sunday

#480

Post by ddorian43 »

vishaldpatel wrote: post #479
ddorian43 wrote: post #18

html5+flash video player all in one with reasonable pricing and no revenue-share for vast/google ads

I used Projekktor. The paid version has VAST support and works quite well: http://www.projekktor.com/

does vast also work in flash-mode ?
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