Hacker News: phjohnst

I think that's less the issue here than CBS likely holding the commercial rights to Kaley Cuoco and Melissa Rauch being used together in anything that would look like an ad.

Presumably it will be in violation of Instagram's TOS to post the kind of pic that he talks about. (See Rights 4.(ii) )

But as he alludes to, it should make it interesting when someone does.

New comment by phjohnst in "Square introduces monthly pricing"

phjohnst — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 17:24:20 +0000

Don't forget the up-front fee of $275, so max savings are more like $300. Break-even is $10k per month.

It's a nice idea, though I don't know how many companies are in the $10k-$21k/month revenue bucket that would see a benefit. All companies processing over $250k per year can save a max of $300 per month by signing up to the fixed rate plan and then paying the normal fee thereafter.

The new fee band gives savings to those processing more than ~$10k/month, but provides no savings for smaller users.

In Silicon Valley, Finding the Next Big Thing in the Ordinary

phjohnst — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 19:53:23 +0000

Article URL: http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/08/14/in-silicon-valley-finding-the-next-big-thing-in-the-ordinary/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4382776

Points: 6

# Comments: 0

Groupon shares open up 40%

phjohnst — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 14:55:58 +0000

Article URL: http://techcrunch.com/2011/11/04/groupon-ipo-shares-pop-40-on-first-trade-debuts-at-17-8b-market-cap/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3196263

Points: 54

# Comments: 58

Data Insecurity is a Systemic Threat

phjohnst — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 16:37:34 +0000

Article URL: http://www.americanbanker.com/bankthink/breach-hack-data-security-systemic-risk-1041244-1.html

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2903949

Points: 1

# Comments: 0

New comment by phjohnst in "The US health care wait times myth"

phjohnst — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 23:51:51 +0000

Yeah, I can't believe that more people above aren't asking this question.

From my experience in the Canadian system, if you're really sick (ie badly injured, have cancer, whatever) you actually get pretty quick service. Sure, if you walk into the ER with your kid that has a flu, you might have to wait a couple hours while they deal with the people that just got in a car accident, but I can live with that. And really, if you're chronically sick enough to still be sick in 6 days (and could wait that long, ie you didnt need to go to the ER) then the 6 day wait to see a GP is likely not going to make a big difference. (Must be noted, I've never had to wait 6 days to see my doctor when I was sick, more like 1-2, and could always just walk in if I needed to)

It really comes down to this: If you need help now you'll get help, free, right now. No questions.

New comment by phjohnst in "Reasons to Open a Chinese Bank Account"

phjohnst — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 19:26:20 +0000

Risk/reward.

If you got into China 15 years ago, you had no idea how things were going to pan out (and you deserve compensation for holding that risk). If you get in now, there's a more likely chance (I'd argue) that you'll do well, so the risk, and therefore the compensation you deserve, is lower. And holding currency is a lot less risky than equities, anyway.

The people that would be interested in a Yuan bank account up to $20000 aren't really sophisticated investors anyway.

New comment by phjohnst in "Pizza And Ramen Are Hurting Your Startup"

phjohnst — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 04:48:52 +0000

Try stews, chilis, etc.

Also, homemade chicken stock is one of my favourite things (boil a chicken carcass from the butcher with a halved onion, roughly chopped carrot, celery, some herbs, a little salt and pepper, bit of garlic, for a bit over an hour) and is super easy to do, freeze and then use as a base in a ton of recipes, or even just add some pasta and you've got a rough and ready chicken soup.

Cooking need not be difficult. By focusing on good, fresh ingredients you only need a couple to put together a great meal.

Also, great tip: Cook with spice (heat) and lots of flavour. You'll get full faster and feel satisfied longer.

New comment by phjohnst in "Everest is littered with dead, exposed bodies"

phjohnst — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 20:49:07 +0000

Yes, K2 is is much more technically demanding climb (See the Black Pyramid, and basically any of the other less popular routes) and more unpredictable (falling seracs above the Bottleneck killed several climbers in 2008). It's usually only attempted by very skilled mountaineers. You won't find the same sort of climbing tour groups like operate on Everest - which is part of the reason why Everest, though the tallest, doesn't seem to be the pinnacle of mountaineering.

New comment by phjohnst in "My Y Combinator Interview"

phjohnst — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 20:02:17 +0000

You raise an interesting point.

PG: Do you find that you're encountering 'stage' creep in YC applications? Are the groups that you're funding (or even just interviewing) steadily becoming more fully developed businesses, or are lots (most?) still in the early/conceptual stages?

New comment by phjohnst in "Dropbox (YC S07): Simple Tasks for Extra Space (768MB total)"

phjohnst — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 18:15:38 +0000

I totally agree. I'm sure that it would screw with their pricing, but I really just dont need 50GB, and can get by with the 3GB that I have now. Sure I'd like a little more (and frankly, would happily pay $5/mo for what I have now), but I just dont have enough stuff that I'd like to sync to fill up that $10/mo bucket. They did used to have some smaller plans, so they must have got rid of them for a good reason.