zoltar92

my apology: https://twitter.com/AviZolty/status/526467881295683584

I think I just found my favorite beta tester. Can you add me on Skype? Avizolty (Or avi@beatdeck.com)

Hotwire shows you "total" price. I think this comes from a) insurance/ underage driver fee b) no clarity on 'taxes' c) messy UX... thoughts?

Uber of car rentals is zipcar though or Relay Rides. But close :)

I agree on the taxi thing but I think the use case of a car rental and a taxi are quite different.

Can you elaborate on 'dealing with staff'- as in they're rude? Or having to wait?

You mention you book online. Do you find that process tedious? I agree overall it always had a godaddy vibe where I feel as if they're trying to upsell me on everything- but find that more annoying from a UX point.

How do you accomplish that? Through their loyalty program?

So would being able to circumvent shuttles be a value add to you? Or insignificant because of relatively short time. What about the wait?

Reserving and finding they oversold is one i've heard a bunch. deff working to change that. As for the tranny, was this something that happened at one of the "main brands" (hertz, avis) or a second tier one? and could the fear be solved by automatic free insurance?

Ryan, thanks for your input! I was under the impression Silvercar required you to take a shuttle there, is this not the case anymore? Or maybe not an issue for you?

Like hotwire? As in not telling you which car company you're booking from? Or adding hidden costs after? Can you elaborate?

Reference 1: http://mobile.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSTRE6650...

Reference 2: http://thenextweb.com/apps/2011/09/03/why-the-music-industry...

This is a slippery slope. You have to keep in mind that >2% (some estimates as high as 7%) of Google Queries are related to lyrics/ RG related content. They also (arguably) have much better, much more relevant content. As such a large amount of google searches would end up with someone wanting a RapGenius page - it's only fair that they would get preferential treatment over a niche startup/site/blog.

It's ironic... Doesn't it seem businesses you build with the goal of an exit turn into lifestyle businesses-- while the ones that you build as a lifestyle business tend to be the ones you get the most offers for. I guess it goes back to the YC teachings of "Build something people want". I think therefore you need to strive and be happy for your company to be a lifestyle business, even if your ultimate goal is an exit- or else you'll never have the passion to actually turn it into something worth exiting. I chose option 3 because I think every business is therefore a bit of both. Because conversely, even a business which someone builds as a lifestyle-- will eventually exit if the "price is right".

For anyone that's going to claim snapchat as an example of this not being true-- I'd argue they're waiting for a higher valuation or to monetize and then go public-- both exit strategies

I agree... to an extent. But does blacklisting them help get more relevant search results?

Seems like the best scenario would be ignoring the extra links... My point is that, yes, Rap Genius did something wrong. But a punishment like this is equally as wrong- And it's Google showing the world that they run like a bureaucracy not a "start-up"* which I feel is how they portray themselves.

*I obviously KNOW Google's not a start-up, but i'm saying the pretend/try act like one. Ex: Should be caring more about accurate/relevant Search results for lyrics rather than if some tech start-up gamed their system. If they want to crack down on shady SEO tactics there are plenty of other places to start that result in LESS relevant results.

You're focusing soley on the rules, not the reasons for them. The rules are in place to make the most relevant results appear at the top. If RG was optimizing everyones search results for everyone- how can that be "bad". Again, it's a super beaucratic way of looking at it-- whereas I'd say the "tech" way is looking at the bigger picture. And not punishing for punishments sake.

P.s. They said they would be retweeting only stuff they were interested/supported... Not just blanketly.

P.s.s. Down-voting a comment you don't agree with, but still adds something useful to the discussion-- yada yada, seems like censhorship too ;)

This is absolutely rediculous, google is upholding it's rules but forgetting the POINT of the rules. The whole point is to make the most relevant results come up on google searches. The fact that rapgenius needs to "hack their way" to higher link relevancy seems like a internal google problem and penalizing them makes googles results LESS relevant. Tl;dr google's cutting off their nose in spite of their face.

I'm so confused at this backlash, this is hacker news- mahbod, tom and the rapgenius team have built an amazing product, and found a clever way to help with search engine optimization. Good for them. They're optimizing EVERYONES search experience- I think it's ridiculous in this case for them not to have preferential page rank... If the average user would prefer them over a competitor ( which I beg someone to argue) then who cares if they creatively by-passed some ambiguous google guidelines.

hahaha aawesome! :P

Are you solving your own problem?

What is the quantum of utility over other dating apps?

Why would you foremost like to discuss the app and only then "eventually build it" - why not jump right in and see if your future customers find it "cool and love..(it)"?

lawdingo.com

Svbtle was last batch, I believe. Only bringing this up so that Watsi will be listed in your "top 5" where they deserve to be. :)

Thanks, I feel the same way. My Co-founder found this for our site, but unfortunately we haven't launched publicly yet. You can use hsmaker.com to do your own site!

No one can teach you how to hack! Hacking is a mindset. You want to learn to program- a good hacker will teach themselves. Javascript is a great language, afterwords i'd learn python or php. For me they were easier then jumping into something with an MVC framework (like ruby or Java)-- but ruby (and Rails) are awesome next steps. Just read through documentation's online. It's fun and feels great to teach yourself!

Hell yeah! Same-- haha.

Off topic: You like Asterisks and Oblix? That's so cool. I haven't met another person who even knew who they were!!! Major props!

I moved from Atlanta (used to visit Chattanooga once a week to visit Gf in ringgold. Moved to palo alto. Couldn't disagree more. Bay Area is incomparable.

Interesting. A way to leave tags and search through your own tracks- awesome!

And yeah! That is great- it's actually saved as a flash video- that's why! Thanks for your feedback!

Yeah, I was just discussing that with a friend-- such a clever way. Its true, I wonder if maybe they could make a minute upload cap instead. Hmm... Thanks for the feedback!

Awesome! Noted :) Thank you so much for your feedback.

Thanks man, "voice authentication" isn't what I am looking for-- but Mistral (from what i've seen) has a recognition! I'm going to look into it further to see if it recognizes a pattern vs can distinguish between 2-3 voices. But thanks so much!