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ComputerGuru

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"Ask YC: Nonprofit funding"
10 points by ComputerGuru over 2 years ago | link | top
cached 5 months ago
It's not easy. As the founder of a 4-year-old non-profit tech company, I can tell you that it's not easy and your best bet is to make it your number 1 short-term goal to become self-sustaining. By borrowing money, asking the right people, getting donations, etc. you can get off the ground and get started. Form there, focus on finding steady income source (ads are a good way) even if it's not a lot of money.

Finally, don't underestimate end-users willingness to donate. Paypal buttons don't work because everyone assumes everyone else has donated money. We started using "donation trackers" by ChipIn (chipin.com) and they've been quite effective. Make sure you set a "goal" because people love to feel they're helping you work towards a particular amount. (For instance, we always get our most donations at the beginning and end of each month, when people send the donations percentage to 5% and to 100%).

Best money-saving tip: find a webhost to donate a dedicated server; it's the most important way to save money and keep afloat.

"Solaris + ZFS = The Perfect Home File/Media Server"
10 points by ComputerGuru about 1 year ago | link | top
cached 5 months ago
Good setup, but way too expensive for what adds up to a highly-advanced NAS.

I don't at all disagree with the OpenSolaris/ZFS assessment, but the hardware is a bit on the heavy side. You really don't need that server motherboard (knock 100 dollars off the price). The CPU is also overkill, and ECC RAM isn't necessary though at that price it's not exactly a bad idea either.

The remaining cost is just HDs - you can knock one off the list if you use RAID-Z instead of RAID-Z2 and remember to replace a drive as soon as it goes bad.

OpenSolaris itself doesn't need a full 320GBs for the OS and its software: an 80GB hard drive will suffice and then some.

"Teensy USB Development Board - 16MHz, $19"
10 points by ComputerGuru about 1 year ago | link | parent | top
cached 5 months ago
To answer my question:

The Teensy's USB port is multi-purpose. If the HalfKay bootloader is activated (via a push-button on the board), the USB port is used for firmware-manipulation purposes. HalfKay lives on the EEPROM.

Once the device is powered off then on, the USB port is used as a normal communication device and can be fully utilized to speak with the PC or other USB peripherals. USB communication code is in your program and lives on the FLASH.

"Twitter responds to Techcrunch about its scaling issues"
10 points by ComputerGuru over 2 years ago | link | top
cached 3 months ago
Good to see the Twitter team reply to that disgusting Blaine-bashing that TechCrunch had engaged in: The folks at TechCrunch singled out a former employee of Twitter by name in their questions but Twitter is a team—we share responsibility for our victories as well as our mistakes.
HN Please Note: Your Votes Might Not Be Getting Counted
10 points by ComputerGuru 2 months ago | link
cached 2 months ago
Hi Guys,

I just wanted to share something with you - there's a good chance that your votes aren't getting counted on the site.

If you tend to navigate away from a page (front page or comments page) within 3-5 seconds of voting, it's possible that your vote won't get counted.

HN at many times can take several seconds to process a page load. Voting is no exception. If the site is taking a few seconds or more to load each page, that's exactly how long it'll take for your vote to go through! Be sure to wait a few seconds before navigating away from or closing a page.

Mystery of Black Holes "Solved" (bbc.co.uk)
9 points by ComputerGuru over 2 years ago | link
cached 7 months ago
"Why are some of the greatest thinkers being expelled from their disciplines?"
9 points by ComputerGuru over 2 years ago | link | top
cached 6 months ago
For the same reasons that universities stopped teaching Fortran and Pascal: They've been replaced by newer, better alternatives.
"Major bug in Snow Leopard deletes all user data"
9 points by ComputerGuru 11 months ago | link | top
cached 4 months ago
I upgraded from Leopard to Snow Leopard, didn't use the Guest account under SL until yesterday... thankfully I did not experience this bug.
"Senator 'series of tubes' Stevens convicted on 7 felony counts"
9 points by ComputerGuru about 1 year ago | link | parent | top
cached 4 months ago
While I whole-heartedly agree, I do feel the need to point out that quality massage chairs aren't even remotely "cheap" by any standard.... if they were, I'd be sitting on one right now! :D
"Why are Europeans so hesitant to have children, and what does it mean for their future and for ours?"
9 points by ComputerGuru over 2 years ago | link | top
cached 4 months ago
I'm a Muslim. How many people here are going to start suddenly hating me because I'm part of the "grand conspiracy to take over the world?"

Oh yeah, I'm also American. I'm a practicing Muslim, raised in a western culture, contributing to western society, and fitting right in...

I'm really disappointed to see some of the hate and prejudice that plagues the ignorant portion of the offliners here on HN - I thought hackers were supposed to be more open minded and stuff!

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