6 ms·

Aaron Swartz launches Job Book, an encyclopedia of jobs

29 points by divia 19y ago

zandorg 19y ago
I think I'll make a Web 2.0 startup that thinks up names for new Web 2.0 startups. What shall I call it? Startnom? CeaseGuerre?
aheilbut 19y ago
Interesting... some of the goals of this sound similar, and complementary, to Path101 (http://blog.path101.com http://blog.path101.com).
tocomment 19y ago
That's a cool idea.
adnam 19y ago
infogami ... reddit ... openlibrary ... jottit ... jobbook ... This guy's on fire!
- byrneseyeview 19y ago
  True, although he abandoned Infogami to start reddit, which he left to start the rest (and that's after starting a few other now-neglected projects like the Alex Kozinski Site (http://notabug.com/kozinski/ http://notabug.com/kozinski/) and a proto-Wikipedia at http://theinfo.org/ http://theinfo.org/). He appears to be very smart -- but a little too brilliant (http://taoyue.com/stacks/articles/brilliant-men.html http://taoyue.com/stacks/articles/brilliant-men.html).
  - newzie 19y ago
    "start reddit" ?
    - AF 19y ago
      Yeah he definitely didn't start Reddit. He joined up with the Reddit team in December '05.
    - byrneseyeview 19y ago
      Sorry. That was a misstatement.
  - daniel-cussen 19y ago
    I liked the brilliant article.
- ardit33 19y ago
  umm... can we say ADD? I like the web.py framework he started but some of the decissions made in there have made me scratch my head. Still, I'd rather do what he is doing, than being a code monkey/H-1B slave, for my current company.
  - tocomment 19y ago
    What decisions made you scratch your head?
  - kirubakaran 19y ago
    "code monkey/H-1B slave" Why the derogatory tone on non-immigrant workers? How is it slavery?
    - ardit33 19y ago
      Hey, I am one of those. And, while it is not slavery, it is real indentured servitude. If I want to stay in this country, I am forced to work all the time. If I am without a job for over 60 days, I am considered an illegal alien, and get in hot waters. So, I can't just quit and say "want to travel asia and europe for 60 days", and then get a new job. Or Just quit for few months, and work on something on my own. etc.. etc.. I have 6 years of time-frame to get that Green Card. End the process of getting it is LOONG. I can't switch employers, or get a real promotion without having it to reset the process all over again. In the meanwhile, the employer knows this, and uses in it's own advantage. Sure, I can quit, and 1. go home, (forget about comming back to this country). 2. Switch employers (and restart the green card process again). Still, options that are not good for me right now, so I have to put up with the "Indentured servitude" until I get my freedom (which is the green card). This thing actually started in the early 19th century, where mexican labour would be brought from mexico to work on US lands, but they had to pay all the expenses of the travel/documents themselves. So, they had to work until they paid everything, which took years (with their very low wages). Hence they were said to be in "indentured servitude", not quite slaves, but basically between a rock and a hard place. All my friends that got green cards, felt like they got freedom. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indentured_servant http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indentured_servant
cglee 19y ago
The problem with job/salary surveys is that the people who respond tend to skew towards the more satisfied and higher paid range. That's why when I was in undergrad, all the jobs seemed so darn great - the companies sent the happiest, chirpiest employees they could find. On a separate note, does jobbook.org look a bit under developed for a publicized app that "took several months"? Maybe there's magic behind that simple UI.
- webology 19y ago
  It was rather disappointing but I'm sure it will grow in time. It just seemed like yet another wiki for Aaron but I was surprised too at the "several months" comment.
- run4yourlives 19y ago
  ding ding. Personal salary surveys are considered so inaccurate that HR firms won't bother to do them. I saw something similar with salaryscout.com. HR pros usually ignore salary data from employee sources.
fauigerzigerk 19y ago
I like the idea. Not just for choosing careers, it's also a good source for startups that have a general idea but aren't sure what particular group of users to focus on first, and what special requirements that group has.
vidar 19y ago
Aaron seems to be using the wiki/notetaking/lightweight approach to a number of things, throwing things up and seeing what sticks. Not a bad idea per se but I have a feeling that each of these projects will need a bit more handholding and followthrough if they are to succeed. But best of luck to him.
axod 19y ago
Aaron Swartz is to ycnews, as xkcd comics are to reddit. Instantly upvoted to top page all the time. It gets boring on both sites IMHO
- maurycy 19y ago
  What about PG?
  - falsestprophet 19y ago
    Ron Paul
rglullis 19y ago
Has anyone noticed that the site is built using the infogami codebase? (http://infogami.org/dev http://infogami.org/dev)
webwright 19y ago
Like a lot of UGC sites, I'm not quite clear what the incentive is for the contributors...
rob 19y ago
Aaron Swartz.. truly the most brilliant human to come to the tech world. He is a revolutionary.
- jawngee 19y ago
  I'm searching for the /sarcasm tag. Please tell me it's there somewhere.

29 points by divia 19y ago

I think I'll make a Web 2.0 startup that thinks up names for new Web 2.0 startups. What shall I call it? Startnom? CeaseGuerre?

aheilbut 19y ago

Interesting... some of the goals of this sound similar, and complementary, to Path101 (http://blog.path101.com http://blog.path101.com).

tocomment 19y ago

That's a cool idea.

adnam 19y ago

infogami ... reddit ... openlibrary ... jottit ... jobbook ... This guy's on fire!

byrneseyeview 19y ago
True, although he abandoned Infogami to start reddit, which he left to start the rest (and that's after starting a few other now-neglected projects like the Alex Kozinski Site (http://notabug.com/kozinski/ http://notabug.com/kozinski/) and a proto-Wikipedia at http://theinfo.org/ http://theinfo.org/). He appears to be very smart -- but a little too brilliant (http://taoyue.com/stacks/articles/brilliant-men.html http://taoyue.com/stacks/articles/brilliant-men.html).
- newzie 19y ago
  "start reddit" ?
  - AF 19y ago
    Yeah he definitely didn't start Reddit. He joined up with the Reddit team in December '05.
  - byrneseyeview 19y ago
    Sorry. That was a misstatement.
- daniel-cussen 19y ago
  I liked the brilliant article.
ardit33 19y ago
umm... can we say ADD? I like the web.py framework he started but some of the decissions made in there have made me scratch my head. Still, I'd rather do what he is doing, than being a code monkey/H-1B slave, for my current company.
- tocomment 19y ago
  What decisions made you scratch your head?
- kirubakaran 19y ago
  "code monkey/H-1B slave" Why the derogatory tone on non-immigrant workers? How is it slavery?
  - ardit33 19y ago
    Hey, I am one of those. And, while it is not slavery, it is real indentured servitude. If I want to stay in this country, I am forced to work all the time. If I am without a job for over 60 days, I am considered an illegal alien, and get in hot waters. So, I can't just quit and say "want to travel asia and europe for 60 days", and then get a new job. Or Just quit for few months, and work on something on my own. etc.. etc.. I have 6 years of time-frame to get that Green Card. End the process of getting it is LOONG. I can't switch employers, or get a real promotion without having it to reset the process all over again. In the meanwhile, the employer knows this, and uses in it's own advantage. Sure, I can quit, and 1. go home, (forget about comming back to this country). 2. Switch employers (and restart the green card process again). Still, options that are not good for me right now, so I have to put up with the "Indentured servitude" until I get my freedom (which is the green card). This thing actually started in the early 19th century, where mexican labour would be brought from mexico to work on US lands, but they had to pay all the expenses of the travel/documents themselves. So, they had to work until they paid everything, which took years (with their very low wages). Hence they were said to be in "indentured servitude", not quite slaves, but basically between a rock and a hard place. All my friends that got green cards, felt like they got freedom. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indentured_servant http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indentured_servant

cglee 19y ago

The problem with job/salary surveys is that the people who respond tend to skew towards the more satisfied and higher paid range. That's why when I was in undergrad, all the jobs seemed so darn great - the companies sent the happiest, chirpiest employees they could find. On a separate note, does jobbook.org look a bit under developed for a publicized app that "took several months"? Maybe there's magic behind that simple UI.

webology 19y ago
It was rather disappointing but I'm sure it will grow in time. It just seemed like yet another wiki for Aaron but I was surprised too at the "several months" comment.
run4yourlives 19y ago
ding ding. Personal salary surveys are considered so inaccurate that HR firms won't bother to do them. I saw something similar with salaryscout.com. HR pros usually ignore salary data from employee sources.

fauigerzigerk 19y ago

I like the idea. Not just for choosing careers, it's also a good source for startups that have a general idea but aren't sure what particular group of users to focus on first, and what special requirements that group has.

vidar 19y ago

Aaron seems to be using the wiki/notetaking/lightweight approach to a number of things, throwing things up and seeing what sticks. Not a bad idea per se but I have a feeling that each of these projects will need a bit more handholding and followthrough if they are to succeed. But best of luck to him.

axod 19y ago

Aaron Swartz is to ycnews, as xkcd comics are to reddit. Instantly upvoted to top page all the time. It gets boring on both sites IMHO

maurycy 19y ago
What about PG?
- falsestprophet 19y ago
  Ron Paul

rglullis 19y ago

Has anyone noticed that the site is built using the infogami codebase? (http://infogami.org/dev http://infogami.org/dev)

webwright 19y ago

Like a lot of UGC sites, I'm not quite clear what the incentive is for the contributors...

rob 19y ago

Aaron Swartz.. truly the most brilliant human to come to the tech world. He is a revolutionary.

jawngee 19y ago
I'm searching for the /sarcasm tag. Please tell me it's there somewhere.