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I didn't get into YC – here's my project

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61–70 of 88 posts

Re: I didn't get into YC – here's my project

#62

http://buyable.me - A wishlist that lets you know when products go on sale

hey i like your idea but i think there's some things you can do to make it better. i've thought about similar ideas but had issues with how tech would stall in the case with retail/fashion products (the only market I would recommend you start off at).

let me know if you want to talk more.

Re: I didn't get into YC – here's my project

#63

ah yeah http://quill.org HN, we're an open source nonprofit, and we'd like to collaborate with other developers. Check out our code here: https://github.com/empirical-org/quill And if you'd like to contribute, we've got a few interesting projects in the works, including building a free writing section with NLP! You can reach me at peter (at) quill (dot) org

This is interesting! Why didn't you put simple words correction (as in the homepage) instead of the user having to retype the whole sentence in the exercises?

The core idea here is that by writing out a complete sentence you learn the context in which a word is being used. For example, if you're learning "There are elephants at the zoo", you need to learn not only the word "There", but also the context "There" + "are elephants at the zoo". Writing out a complete sentence helps bind the concept to the context.

Re: I didn't get into YC – here's my project

#64

ah yeah http://quill.org HN, we're an open source nonprofit, and we'd like to collaborate with other developers. Check out our code here: https://github.com/empirical-org/quill And if you'd like to contribute, we've got a few interesting projects in the works, including building a free writing section with NLP! You can reach me at peter (at) quill (dot) org

nice homepage. i love the text on the mission page actually. why nonprofit? can you try selling this to schools? my team also embrace the "learn by writing" concept and recently launched www.dailythem.es -- we are reaching out to English as a Second Language students and schools in Asia to develop something more classroom specific because teachers just don't have time to grade enough students' essays

We are a commercial nonprofit, and we do intend to sell to schools. We're a nonprofit because we're looking to build a sustainable revenue, but we are not looking for an exit. Our main focus is on collaboratively building educational resources, and being a nonprofit encourages people to volunteer their time to contribute.

We're open source, and if you're interested, you can pull out code here - https://github.com/empirical-org/quill

Re: I didn't get into YC – here's my project

#65
post #44
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow that is truly retarded. I'm sorry but if anyone gave you money for that it should be money they never expect to get back. I hate to be so hostile towards your idea but there is actually such a thing as a dumb idea and it's useful to point them out as such.

There are dumb ideas, and it can be useful to point out their weaknesses in a constructive manner. However, using the word retarded to describe something in a negative way is both childish and derogatory. Here's an eloquent description of why what you said is inappropriate. When saying retarded, “What we mean is that he is as stupid as someone who is mentally handicapped, and we mean that in the most derogatory sense…

Don't take his use of the word "retarded" so literally. People might take offense to the word but understand that he doesn't mean it as an actual slight toward people with real mental disabilities.

Re: I didn't get into YC – here's my project

#67
post #42

ah yeah http://quill.org HN, we're an open source nonprofit, and we'd like to collaborate with other developers. Check out our code here: https://github.com/empirical-org/quill And if you'd like to contribute, we've got a few interesting projects in the works, including building a free writing section with NLP! You can reach me at peter (at) quill (dot) org

Wow - I could use this. Great demo on the home page.

Thanks - we're open source, and we'd love to work with other developers interested in contributing.

Re: I didn't get into YC – here's my project

#68

http://buyable.me - A wishlist that lets you know when products go on sale

Hey, that's an awesome idea! Really really awesome.

A bit of unsolicited feedback: It would be great if you could start offering whole "cataloges" of websites (e.g. [1] ) in some way. I hope you guys are thinking about my need for discount quality whisky!

[1] http://www.http://danmurphys.com.au/

Re: I didn't get into YC – here's my project

#69
post #61

Rejected as well; http://pivotal.ws

Hi, I co-founded a company that works on a similar idea, just from a slightly different perspective (focus on storytelling, not so much the aggregation): http://memoarc.com/ We should hang out :-)

Yeah, very cool. We should at least swap stories at some point.

Re: I didn't get into YC – here's my project

#70
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

why the email is "optional"? you should try to get emails instead, and build a mailing list of people interested in your product!

It is optional for students, required for teachers. Our focus is on 6th-8th grade, and students at that age often don't have school emails.

English is not my first language, and I also find it useful. Maybe it could be worth having a look at other 'segments'( students learning english?)
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