By building a Twitter for the homeless
We'll call it hommer (pronounced homer) and get rejected by TC 50 since they're not in the business of serving poor people.
Ask Hackers/Entrepreneurs: How are/will you change(ing) the world?
31–40 of 45 posts
Re: Ask Hackers/Entrepreneurs: How are/will you change(ing) the world?
#32Politics, we have to change politics if we really want to change the world for good.
We need a new party from the ground up with a million headcounts online.
We need to replace this jurassic congress of crooks and liars for a more accountable direct democracy.
We have the tools and the will, the time is right.
Re: Ask Hackers/Entrepreneurs: How are/will you change(ing) the world?
#33By building a Twitter for the homeless
That sounds interesting, what benefit are you trying to achieve and are you willing to share details about how?
Well, one benefit could be: homeless people waiting in line at a local shelter can update each other on how the line is coming along and how many more are going to get a place to sleep that night at that particular shelter.
Another usage could be status updates on comfortable benches, bridges and rooftops.
Of course usage will be free and include a free iPhone (since most homeless are not very well connected to the cloud).
I can not provide any more details at this point since we are about to close a major round of funding, up in the 1* million range. Expect to see us featured on TechCrunch during the next few days.
Re: Ask Hackers/Entrepreneurs: How are/will you change(ing) the world?
#34Changing the world seems to be a bit of a loaded phrase that begs for delusions of grandeur. I prefer the phrase Guy Kawasaki uses sometimes, "make meaning". I think ideas are more a product of the times than they are of individuals, generally. Most important new ideas are invented in multiple places simultaneously. I love music. And film. And I read a lot. And I'm fairly social online. I started Directed Edge becaus…
I run a content/community site and can't figure out how to use Directed Edge. The demo page is not very helpful. I'm lazy enough to expect to know how things work before signing up....
Hi -- there's a little info in the second half of the page here:
http://www.directededge.com/getstarted.html
With a link to the API at the bottom:
http://webservices.directededge.com/
Where would you have expected to find that information? If it was unclear for you it probably was for others too. Feel free to email me if you have questions.
Re: Ask Hackers/Entrepreneurs: How are/will you change(ing) the world?
#35Trying to make *faircompanies (www.faircompanies.com) worth it over the long term. Working on a new version of my site to make it more interesting to people that want to find out about how to change the world.
Re: Ask Hackers/Entrepreneurs: How are/will you change(ing) the world?
#36Another question I'd like to ask is: Why does everyone want to change the world? What makes you think you can? I'm not changing the world. I'm building a useful tool that helps people save money when they want to attend a sporting event, concert, etc. That's about it. Not quite as glamorous as saving the world, but at least it's realistic and useful now .
Even if changing the whole world is not someone's goal, this is a good sort of question to help people form goals for their life.
I disagree. Better questions for setting goals in ones life are, "What do you enjoy doing?" "What makes you happy?" "If you had all the money in the world, what would you do with your time and with the cash?" These kinds of questions are more valuable because they are applicable to the individual. The question, "How will you change the world?" isn't very relevant for a couple reasons:
1. What if someone has no interest in changing the world in the grandiose fashion that this question implies? Maybe the thought of saving all the babies in Africa doesn't make everyone feel equally great about their life. Not everyone can be a bleeding-heart humanitarian; society wouldn't function.
2. It's really vague. My personal answer to this question is, "We all change the world every single day simply by living and interacting with others." Therefor, I'm changing the world 24/7 and there's really nothing more I feel I need to do in terms of something that would have a far-reaching global impact.
Life goals should revolve around the core prospect of thoroughly enjoying life. Maybe an immediate goal is "go to the gym 5 days a week" and a long-term goal is "save enough to retire by 45." If changing the world will help you enjoy life more, then by all means, answer the question to help set goals. However, we should not assume that changing the world is universally something that people want to do.
My Dad never wanted to change the world, he just wanted to provide as good a life as possible for his family, make enough money to give his children what they need and (most of) what they want, and that's pretty much it. He didn't "revolutionize" anything. He didn't save any babies in Africa. He's just an awesome father and that's enough for him to be a hero to me. Corny? Perhaps, but a good example nonetheless.
Re: Ask Hackers/Entrepreneurs: How are/will you change(ing) the world?
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
Even if changing the whole world is not someone's goal, this is a good sort of question to help people form goals for their life.
I disagree. Better questions for setting goals in ones life are, "What do you enjoy doing?" "What makes you happy?" "If you had all the money in the world, what would you do with your time and with the cash?" These kinds of questions are more valuable because they are applicable to the individual. The question, "How will you change the world?" isn't very relevant for a couple reasons: 1. What if someone has no intere…
I think what you say is true, but I disagree that it is not a useful question to ask. Just like the world needs people who focus on the happiness of themselves and those close to them, it also needs those who look at problems that affect all of us and say '.. and this is what I am going to do about it'
Pick your favorite world changer, do you really think they would have been motivated for change if they did not constantly ask themselves 'what am I going to do about this huge problem?'
Re: Ask Hackers/Entrepreneurs: How are/will you change(ing) the world?
#38How will I change the world? Longterm: I'm building my startup with a friend (we've applied to YC) which with we can help manage a common problem. I can't really say what it is just yet, but we've got high expectations of ourselves. Short term: I know this is going to sound like an immature prank, but I'll be helping to get Rick Astley voted as the Best Act Ever at this years MTV EMA in any way I can. Why you ask? We…
Don't get me wrong, I'm rooting for you, but... I'm not sure if "get Rick Astley voted as the best act ever" and "change the world" belong in the same sentence.
(please forgive if this post seems incoherant, it's been a long night and I didnt get much sleep)
Well the way I look at it is like this, not everyone can single handedly save the world like Al Gore, there are many different ways you can change the world (for the better) and there are many small skirmishes I think need to be won in many areas.
For example, in this case, the thing that I believe is fundamentally wrong was a large organisation like MTV is dictating to the world what it's tastes should be (rather than asking them) by what they believe constitutes the best musical act ever, with a clear disregard for acts that are widely regarded as the greats (The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix).
Tokio Hotel is the obvious example here, I hadn't even heard of them until I saw the campaign to get Rick Astley nominated on reddit.
It's been happening with companies for years, not just related to media organisations (hey guys, buy Windows ME - it's the best thing ever!) and so in this case, a large organisation left themselves open to get egg on their face... in a very public way that goes completely against their standard operating procedure.
It's not just a fight against one company, it's an example to all organisations that people should decide what is good for them, not the other way around.
That being said, you can also look at it in a sarcastic/dark humorous manner.
"If Rick wins over Tokio Hotel, imagine all the emo kids that will suicide in disgust, thus making the world a better place"
Either would be an acceptable outcome.
Re: Ask Hackers/Entrepreneurs: How are/will you change(ing) the world?
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
Don't get me wrong, I'm rooting for you, but... I'm not sure if "get Rick Astley voted as the best act ever" and "change the world" belong in the same sentence.
How is rick rolling the world not world changing?
For me, it's not an attempt to rickroll the world, it's an attempt at making a bit of a statement.
The nomination was a bit of a practical joke, but when you consider who else was nominated it transcended the prank for me into what it is now.
Re: Ask Hackers/Entrepreneurs: How are/will you change(ing) the world?
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
I run a content/community site and can't figure out how to use Directed Edge. The demo page is not very helpful. I'm lazy enough to expect to know how things work before signing up....
Hi -- there's a little info in the second half of the page here: http://www.directededge.com/getstarted.html With a link to the API at the bottom: http://webservices.directededge.com/ Where would you have expected to find that information? If it was unclear for you it probably was for others too. Feel free to email me if you have questions.
I just updated some of the content on the site to try to make the flow a little more natural. Again, we'd be super interested in feedback and if you feel like this clarifies things.