pguerin

2 questions :

1- If 2 people are using your product, and one of them sends a twitter message to the other, is there an infinite loop because they automatically answer each other's messages?

2- The problem I see is how the engine parse the tweets. Is the user expected to hard-code messages, or is there a natural language processing algorithm that parses the messages in a smart way? It's extremly hard to think about each and every line someone might say - that's the main reason why expert systems fails in most cases. Examples like "hi" are extremly easy to program, and are not really usefull. It might help some people that got too many comments / tweets... but then again, some Twitter client that filter the messages received can do that to, and they can have SPAM filters too.

Yep, the book "Presentation Zen" says pretty much all there is to know about this approach. And while it is not a silver bullet, it's great! I also find not using a power point at all easier too. You can connect more easily with the audience, make it more personnal, and do crazy body language movements because they will look at you instead of your slides. Sure, a good presentation can improve the message, but it's harder (chance of de-sync your speech and slides).

As for not using notes, it can be hard but possible. If you practice enough to master your speech, then yes you can go without notes. Anyway, it's no big deal when you speak about something you are passionnate about! You just need to speak at a correct speed (as for me, I need to slow down! a lot!).

It's nothing new, and it's really great to do all sorts of statistical analysis. At my university, people that study statistics learn this programming language, and there are a couple of data mining classes that teach R.

You need to install .NET version 1.1, not 2, 3, or 4. The other major versions of .NET are separate and are for applications that target the other version of .NET. What's nice about version 1.1 is that it can run on old computers that are older than XP service pack 2. But, it's really old (2003).

Check on the microsoft website : http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=262...

I also bougth collective intelligence in action and algorithms of the intelligent web. Both are books from manning.com. I love those 2 books more than programming collective intelligence because I find them more complete and as easy to read.

I don't buy this. Maybe in the future in 20-30 years, but definetly not now. I got no idea where the prototype might be, but I don't see how you can build a robot that writes articles without ambient intelligence... journalism cases are really complex and you need a human intuition.

Maybe it would be great to collect information in a specialized case, but to make an article out of it? It's a whole different story!

No, it's not futile! Finding ways to get good information fast with the data explosion is one of the challenges we face in computer science. Anyway, the good folks at GATE are building a great set of tools for NLP for several years. The tools are similar to what you are doing. You are not crazy and we need more people like you to advance computer science! http://gate.ac.uk/

WWF? World Wrestling Federation? haha

True! I tried salsa and hated the music! After I tried lindy hop and loved it! I also like classical music but what I hate at the radio is the tone of the radio guy (boring and try to say stuff I don't understand)... less talk more music! People do like classical music in movies, right?

I heard the device was in development for 10 years. It's probably a historical choice they didn't tought about afterwards.

Well, one of the things I don't like about the iPad is that you are limited to the iPad OS, and that it's not a replacement for netbooks (no usb or flash). It's the platform of Apple and nothing else. But, I do agree with you that it's really different from a desktop PC and the iPad is really nice for end users. Like they say, it's the best experience for the stuff the iPad is made for.

However, Windows has multitouch with the newer versions of .NET. You can also run Flash / Flex. I think a Windows alternative would fit enterprises that mostly run on Windows software for paticular uses (which is what I intend to build apps for). However, I got no idea if it work on the exo pc tough.

Good point, I didn't tough of that! Thanks. I emailed them 2 days ago regarding their UI library / SDK (they only name it)... I wonder when I'll get an answer.

Yep, that's why I am buying an Exo PC Slate! http://www.exopc.com/en/exopc-slate.php

It works on Windows 7 with 3 USB ports. It's the same price as the ipad, but it's more geared as an netbook killer than a bigger iPod touch. They waited untile the iPad launch to commercialize the device. I think they already are using the device in some coffee shops in Rimouski, Québec.

Take both paths! You can have a great relationship AND build your dreams at once! Did Bill Gates divorced with his wife? No. Did it prevent him from pursuing his dreams wth microsoft and his foundation to help poverty?

hahaha this reminds me of a discussion I just had today with a student at the business school of my university. He was pissed off at the "IT people" because they know nothing about management and never finishes on time their projects. The way he talked to me was as if it was all our fault and that we were simply lazy. He was agressive to me even if he never worked with me and told me to check the "new york" methodology and the "ITIL" best practices for doing IT services. I haven't found them on google, does someone know anything about that?

It's great to live in a world where management loves and respect us! A world where they try to understand what is hard about software development instead of thinking about how much time it takes to "place a button there" :)

?

> "What you should explain is why this techie isn't going to be the one sitting around doing all the work while you tell him what to do."

Building a startup isn't only about coding... you need to create the brand and make the target public aware of your product (marketing). Thus, connections helps and the will to execute the idea is essential. Most business people that comes up to me with a new venture talks like this, I see nothing wrong there. You also need to do all the paperwork to make your startup legal, etc. For all I know, you guys seem pretty serious about your project and that's a good thing :)

> "In other words, you really need to sell yourselves as people who can make something happen. Do you have a track record?"

Yes, it would be interesting to know why the startup is different that the rest so we know it's not one of those bad startups that goes nowhere. You don't need lots of details, just a simple explanation about the vision & scope of your project and why we shouldn't use the online travel sites that already exist on the internet. What is different about your project and what is the competition? (no competition is not an answer! ;)

wow I love the concept! When I saw the last LOTR movie, I wanted to go pee after the 2nd hour... it was a torture to see all the long ending :) But I will no longer have pain with runpee.com! :P