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Ask HN: Share an idea?

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Re: Ask HN: Share an idea?

#61
post #42
post #29

- Startup: create a universal and convenient micropayment system that would allow content creators(writers, comics-artists, video creators) to monetize their content. The problem now is that current systems suck, and each website has it's own, so that it's not convenient for users to pay for content, they have to enter credit card, or go to paypal, etc. There should be a nice embeddable button that allows users to pa…

Other stuff: - All text editors on android suck. My god they suck so much. Create something like Editorial, and you have my money. - Not sure of it exists - betting website. Allow people to deposit money and make small bets. Make it convenient for reddit users, so when 2 people are arguing they could bet on a thing and see what will happen. Or target it to fanfiction readers, to bet on what will happen in the followi…

For anyone wondering: ML = Machine Learning, CV = computer vision.

Re: Ask HN: Share an idea?

#62
post #25

Problem: Advertising is a big industry. Billions of dollars are spent to bolster brand awareness and drive sales. Increasingly, advertising is digital as consumers spend more time on phones, computers and tablets. Social platforms like Facebook exploit user data for enormous profit, while all the user gets is a “free” product. There is an opportunity for users to reclaim a significant amount of this value, and in doi…

Do you mean like AdFly? - https://adf.ly/

Re: Ask HN: Share an idea?

#63
post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes it is a hard problem. It might be worth trying on a small scale with a few close typefaces to see how hard it is to separate them and what sort of accuracy could be achieved.

Definately not a hard problem. For logos, impossible because of customisation, but for regular text, it's simple. Capture image, make a box around text, warp to flatten, highten contrast, split characters, process characters for features, check against database of known features of fonts. It's similar to a facial recognition algorithm. Problem is no monetization potential, so it's hobby project level.

I think you are under estimating how similar many typefaces are to each other. When even human experts have a hard time determining which typeface is which you know it is a hard problem.

I do agree 100% with you that any such product would be impossible to monetarise. I would certainly like to use it so I hope someone makes it.

Re: Ask HN: Share an idea?

#64
post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Definately not a hard problem. For logos, impossible because of customisation, but for regular text, it's simple. Capture image, make a box around text, warp to flatten, highten contrast, split characters, process characters for features, check against database of known features of fonts. It's similar to a facial recognition algorithm. Problem is no monetization potential, so it's hobby project level.

I think you are under estimating how similar many typefaces are to each other. When even human experts have a hard time determining which typeface is which you know it is a hard problem. I do agree 100% with you that any such product would be impossible to monetarise. I would certainly like to use it so I hope someone makes it.

> When even human experts have a hard time determining which typeface is which you know it is a hard problem

A font is just a series of images with standardised traits. Computers are great at recognising these traits, and perfect for cross comparing them. It's just pixels.

Re: Ask HN: Share an idea?

#65
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The vertical turbines are quite small. Here's one at a house in Brisbane near where I live: https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-27.50561,153.05533,3a,75y,1... I suspect there's issues attaching it to the house itself, but for houses on the top of a hill such a setup can work well. That thing gets spinning really quickly some days.

That's a great example - is it in a particularly windy area? I will look into installing something like that.

It's on top of a relatively large hill in the suburbs, so it gets a lot of breeze. Scan around behind you and you'll see the extent of it. The traffic lights are just about at the top of that hill, so that house has at least a 180 degree view of the east, which is where the bay/ocean is and thus where breezes often blow from.

Re: Ask HN: Share an idea?

#66
Glasses which become opaque when kissing love making scene pops up in Hunger games sequels, bcos some parents want those scenes to be censored out when they are watching the movie in theater with their young ones.

Re: Ask HN: Share an idea?

#67
post #23

1) An application that connects restaurant chefs and managers to local farmers. Local farmers could upload their goods for the week on a marketplace board, and chefs could find things that they would like to cook with for the week and buy them. Typically chefs meet local purveyors at farmer's markets, but for small enough producers, it would save them time and money to just have their goods bought directly without ha…

1 is not a bad idea. I have an alternative idea where chefs (and anyone else) can post what high quality produce (heritage breeds, etc) they want and how much they will pay for the produce. Farmers could then bid on these requests. This way rather than having to select from what is available, or the farmer having to guess what the market wants, the farmer grows what is wanted by the market and they know how much they…

I thought the same thing when I was trying to flesh this idea out a bit more, but the more I've spoken with farmers, the less I think this is the right way to go. The downside to doing this approach is that for many small farmers contract farming is all but assured. What if it doesn't rain when it needs to? What if you have an odd cold snap that wipes a crop? What if your planned delivery date of particular produce is delayed because things aren't growing as well as they should?

These are all things that happen with a fair amount of regularity on small farms, and things that many good restaurants would be flexible enough to accommodate, but it would sort of negate the benefits of planning out menus at the beginning of a season.

I would ideally love to see this idea extend to foragers as well. It would be kind of amazing to have local foragers post their pounds of morels and fiddlehead ferns and see local chefs snap them up.

Re: Ask HN: Share an idea?

#68
post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1 is not a bad idea. I have an alternative idea where chefs (and anyone else) can post what high quality produce (heritage breeds, etc) they want and how much they will pay for the produce. Farmers could then bid on these requests. This way rather than having to select from what is available, or the farmer having to guess what the market wants, the farmer grows what is wanted by the market and they know how much they…

Great idea. A contract growing scheme on a small scale. Community groups (churches, neighbors etc) might even want to get involved. Prepayment for at least some of the growing cost would be nice for the growers (CSA style). I suppose a rating system on growers would be needed also.

Interesting, I hadn't really considered the market outside of restaurants. Typically the price of organic, locally grown (although it doesn't have to be limited to just organic) produce is higher per pound than similar produce found at supermarkets. Do you think that community groups would be interested in paying more, or would have the budget to pay more?

Re: Ask HN: Share an idea?

#69
post #25

Problem: Advertising is a big industry. Billions of dollars are spent to bolster brand awareness and drive sales. Increasingly, advertising is digital as consumers spend more time on phones, computers and tablets. Social platforms like Facebook exploit user data for enormous profit, while all the user gets is a “free” product. There is an opportunity for users to reclaim a significant amount of this value, and in doi…

Do you mean like AdFly? - https://adf.ly/

AdFly is a competitor, but it is oriented toward publishers and advertisers. Everyday people who share content can still use the service, but they will have a difficult time clearing the $5 minimum payout amount.

Re: Ask HN: Share an idea?

#70

Amazing post-game experience for recreational athletes. I play soccer recreationally. I've easily played more than 1,000 games and all I have post-game are memories ( which are nice ), but I feel we could do much better. I have a vague idea for a solution - but it would involve drone-filming all my recreational soccer games, and then have the content edited/produced - so I could see al my plays, everyone else's best…

Personally, I think this is a really interesting idea. Sadly, I came across an article which initially focused on stats for recreational athletes and it eventually fizzled out. Can't remember where I read it and not saying that this idea will also fizzle out but it seems hard to get something going for recreational athletes if there's a smaller chance of monetizing.
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