FredSource

This is a great idea -- can't wait for the next competition (I'm ready to demonstrate myself)

The level of difficulty for Google to do cross department sabotage would be high and I imagine the cost of damage to Google would be WAY higher than the value of taking down your service (unless you are wildly successful - and then it would be a lawyers party!)

Focus on success first -- and think about your "exit paths" -- and the costs/benefits of being on GAE vs. another option as an independent decision.

Having chosen to go into business rather than a PhD (in physics) -- and then having succeeded in selling my startup, I explored going back to do a PhD. It was not an attractive option. The heads of department said I would get bored and frustrated with the politics and slow progress of the department.

Bottomline: starting a business (that succeeds) does change you expectations for "action" which will likely poison you from academia. I hypothesize if you fail in the startup that the PhD will not be an economic option at that stage!? The implication: it's hard to "reverse" this decision.

Simple question - simple answer: quality of results is degraded for me (both technical and educational - I am a work in progress home handyman).

In my experience Google has not kept up with the assault of companies trying to beat its algorithms!

Having sold my startup, the money gives me flexibility to do what I want!

Personally, I am i. managing an open source project ii. picking up/tasking the kids to school (generally spending time with the kids) iii. biking regularly to get/stay fit iv. lunches with friends v. looking for the next "thing" I want to get involved in

Ahh .. but you can see I am a little older than you!

Thanks ... we're queued up at Distrowatch. Have had a few 'minor' articles written (like at www.linux,com) .. would be great to get to /. and digg ... I think one wide reaching announcement will drive the momentum

It takes focus .. and longer than you expect .. to get going under a full head of steam.

The real question is what do you want to startup? -- a full scale business with lots of employees or a one man shop?

I think reading the light gray is a problem. Obviously there are other design considerations - personally I'd go a little darker!

.. or to be really geeky, add a button to darken the color in the menu bar (simply change the .css with a little javascript!)

I hate to say it -- the idea is the easy thing. Execution is what really counts!

Surprising to me to see how many would pay $5 per annum. Personally I believe in open communication!

"Stopping" anonymous users can be done with a little bit of design in the sign-up process.

If money is required adding some ads down the RHS of the screen would easily make that much ...

just my 2 cents...

I would recommend against it. I co-founded a small enterprise SW company and we tried several "commission only" sales people and teams. This become a time sink. No success what-so-ever!

When we focused on doing it ourselves things picked up. One "trick" we used that worked was to 'SPIFF' sales people who had complementary products to give us leads. This lead to our eventual acquisition ...

Google picks up blogs very quickly -- we get the same thing happenning at http://www.amahi.org

A bug to fix -- it does not remder images that are set as "background" through .css

check out www.predictify.com --- might give you some ideas on how to make a buck (and what you are up against!)