8 ms·

JustHackIt: It’s Like a Dating Site For Hackers

34 points by makimaki 18y ago

tstegart 18y ago
Hey, congratulations on the write-up. That was quick :)
- breck 18y ago
  Thanks! Woke up to see that. Pretty awesome! I totally got lucky. Already got over 100 members and 4,000 uniques. Anyone have any ideas how to keep it going/improve it?
  - tstegart 18y ago
    I would allow the original poster to put up a notice that they've found someone/are looking through applicants, etc. Some people will be deluges with messages, and just need some time to hit pause to get through all the responses. This way, you don't have people posting and not getting a response from the original poster who's moved on. Maybe implement a button the OP could click that shows up red next to the title on the main page, to let people know. Those posts slowly lose importance over time, and if the original poster doesn't end up meeting anyone that fits, they can hit the button again and the post becomes active again. *Edit: it would also have the advantage of removing irrelevant data. Once a site becomes popular, information overload is a problem. So if you knew someone was already chatting with someone, you wouldn't get frustrated looking through all the posts.
  - j2d2 18y ago
    From what I can tell with recent times, if you make your site collapse repeatedly in a few months, TC will cover it again and you'll get more press coverage. Be sure to have the code working so you can fix the issue by releasing the existing fixes and blammo. You're back on top with lots of press! Perhaps that's overly cynical. You're already doing well. Follow your gut and blog the experience as much as you can. This worked well for balsamic.
    - abstractwater 18y ago
      Wait... you're suggesting a planned collapse of your own site just to get more press?? It's not cynical, it's non-sensical. This kind of thinking is poison IMO. Just focus on your product and make it perfect and scalable.
  - netcan 18y ago
    "I don't think JustHackIt will take off, but I..." http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=281199 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=281199 Still?
brm 18y ago
Erik from TechCrunch doesn't have to do work anymore, he just reads hacker news :)
- ichverstehe 18y ago
  It's about time to ban everything from TC. I think I remember a Greasemonkey script for it, no? What about us Safari users? Please.
  - tstegart 18y ago
    Oh don't turn this into a TC hating thread. Someone's site just got a lot of press. Be happy for them. :)
    - brm 18y ago
      Wasn't hating TC just making a comment on the quick turnaround
  - ichverstehe 18y ago
    Reality Check: I asked for a Safari thing to block this out. It was very, very subjective. Read it again: I didn't ask for banning it on YC, but just for personal use. Geez.
  - astrec 18y ago
    Install GreaseKit for Safari and run the Greasemonkey script.
- sh1mmer 18y ago
  I'd still prefer to have a link to the site than to the TC story. I don't see the value in 2 posts on the Hacker news homepage of the same thing. While I don't mind posts from TC being on the Hacker news homepage I'd rather they be posts with substance rather than announcement posts like this one.
  - ichverstehe 18y ago
stcredzero 18y ago
Now, if we follow the covert purpose pattern of Redux, we need a hacking site for dating.
vegashacker 18y ago
"...a site aimed at developers that launched last night." I first read this as, "It's for people who launched their software the night before." Interesting choice of demographic.
jrockway 18y ago
Like a dating site for hackers? Just when I had gotten my hopes up...
Tichy 18y ago
Just curious: it seems JustHackIt was posted first here on HN and later on on TC? So how come they write about it, as I thought they were rather strict about only writing about "first hand news"?
- maryrosecook 18y ago
  My understanding is that both this site's community and the TechCrunch writers view HN as a geek ghetto. Thus, putting your site up here for feedback isn't really announcing or launching it. It's more akin to demoing to friends and family to get feedback.
13ren 18y ago
You've struck a chord: there is a problem to be solved. But your solution is imperfect. This is the ideal situation! If your solution was perfect, someone could just copy it as is. But if you need to keep improving it, building it, it becomes harder to copy, and you gain a deeper understanding of the problem (and solution). This is valuable. Any copier-guy is playing catch up - and people usually aren't all that keen on that guy. The danger is if you perfect it! Because then you are standing still, with no where to go, and it's inevitable that others will catch up. The copier guy is now just as good as you (perhaps better on other factors that you don't care about, but some users do...). The ideal problem is one that can't be solved, like some human need that technology can't actually perfectly address. You then have an endless runway to perfect it. With your headstart, deeper understanding of problem & solutions (and most importantly) all the market benefits of being The Guy (feedback on what works, complaints on what doesn't, statistics on same, more users finding more bugs, and let's not forget encouragement and admiration! Very motivating), you have the best chance of keeping that headstart forever. Well, that's my analysis of competitive advantage, anyway. :-) But I wonder if you're better off just making something cool that "people want", and not sparing an moment's thought for the competition...
sabat 18y ago
Why are people so down on TC? I don't really get it; maybe I'm missing something.
13ren 18y ago
This made me look at http://slinkset.com http://slinkset.com (which its "powered by"), for creating "social news sites" in the HN/reddit style. I think it's well-known here (but not to me). It's amazing, and enables you to try out a cool idea (like JustHackIt) really quickly. I created a site in about 10-15mins (most of the time was because I had trouble uploading a photo as the "logo").
tlrobinson 18y ago
This is good news for Slinkset. When the users of your app can get on TechCrunch, you must be doing something right.
alaskamiller 18y ago
I miss hackermatcher.
callmeed 18y ago
Great use of slinkset ... funny how TC gave SS a weak review but then spotlighted one of their users.
- netcan 18y ago
  True. They did come down on Slinkset with a sort of : "You don't need a push button news site. Installing your own is easy enough." >"So is Slinkset really necessary?'

34 points by makimaki 18y ago

tstegart 18y ago

Hey, congratulations on the write-up. That was quick :)

breck 18y ago
Thanks! Woke up to see that. Pretty awesome! I totally got lucky. Already got over 100 members and 4,000 uniques. Anyone have any ideas how to keep it going/improve it?
- tstegart 18y ago
  I would allow the original poster to put up a notice that they've found someone/are looking through applicants, etc. Some people will be deluges with messages, and just need some time to hit pause to get through all the responses. This way, you don't have people posting and not getting a response from the original poster who's moved on. Maybe implement a button the OP could click that shows up red next to the title on the main page, to let people know. Those posts slowly lose importance over time, and if the original poster doesn't end up meeting anyone that fits, they can hit the button again and the post becomes active again. *Edit: it would also have the advantage of removing irrelevant data. Once a site becomes popular, information overload is a problem. So if you knew someone was already chatting with someone, you wouldn't get frustrated looking through all the posts.
- j2d2 18y ago
  From what I can tell with recent times, if you make your site collapse repeatedly in a few months, TC will cover it again and you'll get more press coverage. Be sure to have the code working so you can fix the issue by releasing the existing fixes and blammo. You're back on top with lots of press! Perhaps that's overly cynical. You're already doing well. Follow your gut and blog the experience as much as you can. This worked well for balsamic.
  - abstractwater 18y ago
    Wait... you're suggesting a planned collapse of your own site just to get more press?? It's not cynical, it's non-sensical. This kind of thinking is poison IMO. Just focus on your product and make it perfect and scalable.
- netcan 18y ago
  "I don't think JustHackIt will take off, but I..." http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=281199 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=281199 Still?

brm 18y ago

Erik from TechCrunch doesn't have to do work anymore, he just reads hacker news :)

ichverstehe 18y ago
It's about time to ban everything from TC. I think I remember a Greasemonkey script for it, no? What about us Safari users? Please.
- tstegart 18y ago
  Oh don't turn this into a TC hating thread. Someone's site just got a lot of press. Be happy for them. :)
  - brm 18y ago
    Wasn't hating TC just making a comment on the quick turnaround
- ichverstehe 18y ago
  Reality Check: I asked for a Safari thing to block this out. It was very, very subjective. Read it again: I didn't ask for banning it on YC, but just for personal use. Geez.
- astrec 18y ago
  Install GreaseKit for Safari and run the Greasemonkey script.
sh1mmer 18y ago
I'd still prefer to have a link to the site than to the TC story. I don't see the value in 2 posts on the Hacker news homepage of the same thing. While I don't mind posts from TC being on the Hacker news homepage I'd rather they be posts with substance rather than announcement posts like this one.
- ichverstehe 18y ago

stcredzero 18y ago

Now, if we follow the covert purpose pattern of Redux, we need a hacking site for dating.

vegashacker 18y ago

"...a site aimed at developers that launched last night." I first read this as, "It's for people who launched their software the night before." Interesting choice of demographic.

jrockway 18y ago

Like a dating site for hackers? Just when I had gotten my hopes up...

Tichy 18y ago

Just curious: it seems JustHackIt was posted first here on HN and later on on TC? So how come they write about it, as I thought they were rather strict about only writing about "first hand news"?

maryrosecook 18y ago
My understanding is that both this site's community and the TechCrunch writers view HN as a geek ghetto. Thus, putting your site up here for feedback isn't really announcing or launching it. It's more akin to demoing to friends and family to get feedback.

13ren 18y ago

You've struck a chord: there is a problem to be solved. But your solution is imperfect. This is the ideal situation! If your solution was perfect, someone could just copy it as is. But if you need to keep improving it, building it, it becomes harder to copy, and you gain a deeper understanding of the problem (and solution). This is valuable. Any copier-guy is playing catch up - and people usually aren't all that keen on that guy. The danger is if you perfect it! Because then you are standing still, with no where to go, and it's inevitable that others will catch up. The copier guy is now just as good as you (perhaps better on other factors that you don't care about, but some users do...). The ideal problem is one that can't be solved, like some human need that technology can't actually perfectly address. You then have an endless runway to perfect it. With your headstart, deeper understanding of problem & solutions (and most importantly) all the market benefits of being The Guy (feedback on what works, complaints on what doesn't, statistics on same, more users finding more bugs, and let's not forget encouragement and admiration! Very motivating), you have the best chance of keeping that headstart forever. Well, that's my analysis of competitive advantage, anyway. :-) But I wonder if you're better off just making something cool that "people want", and not sparing an moment's thought for the competition...

sabat 18y ago

Why are people so down on TC? I don't really get it; maybe I'm missing something.

13ren 18y ago

This made me look at http://slinkset.com http://slinkset.com (which its "powered by"), for creating "social news sites" in the HN/reddit style. I think it's well-known here (but not to me). It's amazing, and enables you to try out a cool idea (like JustHackIt) really quickly. I created a site in about 10-15mins (most of the time was because I had trouble uploading a photo as the "logo").

tlrobinson 18y ago

This is good news for Slinkset. When the users of your app can get on TechCrunch, you must be doing something right.

alaskamiller 18y ago

I miss hackermatcher.

callmeed 18y ago

Great use of slinkset ... funny how TC gave SS a weak review but then spotlighted one of their users.

netcan 18y ago
True. They did come down on Slinkset with a sort of : "You don't need a push button news site. Installing your own is easy enough." >"So is Slinkset really necessary?'