michaelZejoop

Does this mean it'd be waste of time to write up my "let me tell you about my favorite database" story as part of an application for a job at compose.io ? (serious question)

Good writeup for your experience with Rails and EBS. I've built my project, Zejoop dot com, in Java/Groovy/Grails and deployed on AWS Elastic BeanStalk - and I'm very happy with my setup so far.

As for your comment about the multitude of services available on AWS, I agree. They've recently added ACM certificate manager which simplified my maintenance considerably.

Their ACM easy implementation probably saved me at least 20 hours of cert renewal agony, plus it was free!

Thanks for looking, and I agree with your assessment. I'm no designer, and only a novice developer. I have a friend who is helping me address weaknesses by designing UI/UX for eventual package as iOs app. I checked your guide; that may be helpful as well. Your feedback /help is appreciated. Will fix.

...seems like pretty basic advice, but I find it very helpful - thanks for making this comment; my own project, zejoop dot com would benefit from a landing page makeover along these lines. I have struggled with this (a clear landing page and CTA) so, a straightforward, easy-to-implement formula helps. Thanks!

(edit for clarity)

problem solved

I have since fixed my problem by creating a new key/key-ID pair.

I figured out my own mistakes: [1] the actual name was 'Default-Environment', and [2] I had used the wrong zone when I set up AWS CLI using the 'aws configure' command. Fixed both mistakes and zejoop dot com is back online with a working SSL Cert.

Guide is great, except my environment (which can't be renamed) is "My First Elastic BeanStalk Application" - this results in error on CLI "Value 'My First Elastic BeanStalk Application' at 'environmentName' failed to satisfy constraint: Member must have length less than or equal to 23"... stuck

Thanks for documenting that! Now if I could only remember where I put my I put my 'AWS Access Key ID' and its corresponding 'AWS Secret Access Key' so that I could 'aws configure' from the CLI I'd be golden! The guide looks great though.

Thanks, I will investigate. Not clear though if I'll need to convert the cert though to AWS load balancer accepted format... that was the bulk of my earlier problem, especially handling the chain bundle. The AWS cert service, I assume, would eliminate the conversion problem for me. Thanks... I'll check it out

Buying SSL Cert through Bluehost (my domain registered, and blog hosted) and figuring out how to apply it my web-app, zejoop.com, hosted on AWS was far and away the most annoying and difficult chore in my development/deployment process as a relatively junior SW developer. If I could solve all inhouse within AWS (at reasonable cost) is be very happy. My cert just renewed, so until I roll change to AWS my https:// is down. If update is as difficult for me as original install was, then I guess it will be about 18 hours of aggravation. So I'll look into this, if the OP title is a reality.

I can't ssh into instance using the AWS documentation (I was pretty careful following the instructions and know I have the right instance id and region)--> "Permission denied (publickey)."

(I've since fixed this - I hadn't chmod'd right, and didn't account for working from an ubuntu machine)

I commend the spirit and attitude of your post as well, especially having also gotten a rejection. I am curious though, what exactly did you learn from this experience? I'd love to be able to claim the same, but given absolutely zero feedback from the process, I'm at a loss to do so.

I do commend yours and the above's attitude!

- I don't want to live in a world where someone else is making the world a better place than Zejoop.com is making the world a better place

- rejection postmarked 1:59 pm for zejoop.com - one view of founder video - zero views of demo video - I am a single founder - this was my third YC application, all for Winter sessions

I think this is a great response; it may come in handy for what I am up to.

Good point - I should fix that (I'm learning as I go) Thanks!

Although there are many options available to accomplish casual event planning, that matters little if they lack the ability to solve a particular type of problem you may have. That's the situation I found myself in, struggling to improve coordination for gaming sessions among my friends. This post describes how I came to decide how to solve this problem for myself.

Yes. But imagine this on a scale of the big defense contractors. They won't 'eat themselves to death' as you put it but they are big enough (especially after major consolidations in the 90's) to sustain this behavior indefinitely.

Unfortunately a large part of their business model relies on fulfilling their commitment to seat engineers on programs as promised in the contract they signed with their customer, i.e., the USG. Filling seats is more important than achieving quality engineering outcomes. There are three big-time losers in that equation: [1] the taxpayer, [2] the "lifer" employee, and [3] the warfighter.

thanks for posting - this is helpful to me

Thanks! I discovered erlibird, but I'll check these out too.

The social implications of this scenario are going to be devastating.

I'm doing my best to prepare for my own future (as one of those laid off early) by learning software development to supplement my systems engineering skill from aerospace. I do not forsee myself becoming a barrista.

Once you top out the salary range, and are close to 55 (the earliest age for reduced retirement benefits) they look for ways to shed you. It happened to me, and many other colleagues. I have worked on a lot of great projects such as B2 Bomber, Space Shuttle, UAV Global Hawk and many satellite programs. That does not matter; once you hit the age/wage criteria, you better have great connections or you could easily see yourself filing for unemployment.

What is the nature and quality of the jobs these post 55 people have taken. Do the jobs they land in compare favorably with the jobs they were displaced from? Did they go from professional jobs to service sector jobs? This distinction is important. As a forced-into-early-retirement, former aerospace engineer, I am curious, and I will check your links later.

As for my future, I am trying to create my own asset/company and I don't see myself reentering the workforce as an hourly wage earner again.

There is a portion of the spectrum that seems like it is in the "wants a job, but is not looking" category that is not properly represented. I am in sub-category of "wants a gainful future (after being laid off - essentially forced into early retirement - from a long aerospace career) but is not looking for a job (either in the sector I left, or in the service sector). Aerospace is notorious for ageism, and I have no future there. I will not look for a job as a barrista or a clerk at Home Depot, so, no, I am not looking.

I am however trying to create my own future as an entrepreneur and build my own company. This effort being bootstrapped, on my own dime, using funds that should have been reserved for retirement. There is a lot of solid engineering talent and experience that is laying dormant - I am trying to counter that by building my own asset/company.

Thanks for this guide; I think it is great!

As a one person enterprise (zejoop dot com) I have been very product focused to date and I have struggled to get test users. I had no idea there were beta platforms, per se, so I Googled your phrase "beta testers and early adopter platforms" and learned a lot - especially from particularly helpful post on Quora.

That said, could you recommend top 3 such platforms in your experience?

I am not familiar with Stross's book. If I remember correctly this subject is not part of the YC application (marital status, family...). I have applied three times including the latest for w2016. I have not been invited for an interview yet, so maybe it comes up in that context. For the record, I am single, no family, former aerospace engineer, laid off in my early to mid-fifties, several years ago. The topic of age diversity is of great interest to me. I believe there is a lot of engineering talent and experience laying dormant, waiting to be tapped - people laid off right before retirement. Adding to my defense systems engineering skills I've become a full stack developer for the project I am applying with, and I am ready to go!

(edited for typo)

Honesty is the most important thing. Some clearances require periodic polygraph testing. How would you account for a discrepancy in your application if the subject came up during a polygraph?

I don't know why you think it is necessary to disrespect boomers to promote your opinion of millennials. Regardless, I find it off-putting.