Hacker News: techtivist

New comment by techtivist in "YouTube to automatically label AI-generated videos"

techtivist — Wed, 27 May 2026 20:33:05 +0000

Honestly, this whole AI-labeling approach seems to be the opposite approach to take. Instead why not authenticate genuine "non-AI content". Work together with the hardware and software layer with an open approach, building on top of contend id. I appreciate the privacy implications here are complex, and Google is dubious on using any tracking/fingerprinting technology for its self-serving and privacy-invading motivations, but an open cross-industry foundation owning and operating it may be a first step?

New comment by techtivist in "Some users have noticed settings that let Meta analyze and retain phone photos"

techtivist — Wed, 03 Sep 2025 22:10:54 +0000

Honestly, along with this recent news - Meta seems to be its most brazen phase since going public in 2012 https://www.adweek.com/media/whistleblower-alleges-meta-arti... (See the section Recovery from Apple’s privacy changes) Cambridge Analytica was perhaps more about incompetence than complicity. But the patterns now seem intentional, and reminiscent of its early days documented well in Steven Levy's book.

New comment by techtivist in "Apple, this time you made a mistake"

techtivist — Thu, 27 Oct 2016 20:14:49 +0000

Surface Studio perhaps? ;)

New comment by techtivist in "Apple, this time you made a mistake"

techtivist — Thu, 27 Oct 2016 20:13:00 +0000

I never thought I could move to a touch only phone because I do a lot of "proper" typing on my phone, which is why I stuck to my Blackberry until my first iPhone which was a 5 (yes that long). Which is to say, I don't think we will miss the tactile escape and function keys. And same goes for dedicated HDMI port and microsd card slot (seriously how often does one use the latter)

Remember when apple got rid of the floppy drive and then the disk drive? Do we still complain about those?

Headphone jack on iPhone is a different concern, since bluetooth headphones are still not as ubiquitous and having something else to charge a headache.

But none of these concerns (except for maybe the absence of Magsafe) is really a dealbreaker.

Triggered, real-time and personalized web push notifications

techtivist — Fri, 15 Jul 2016 12:39:56 +0000

Article URL: https://moengage.com/web-push/?ref=producthunt

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12100521

Points: 5

# Comments: 0

MoEngage launches NATIV, create native in-app experiences without any coding

techtivist — Wed, 16 Mar 2016 17:06:45 +0000

Article URL: http://venturebeat.com/2016/03/16/moengage-launches-nativ-to-help-app-marketers-bypass-engineering-and-boost-engagement/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11298874

Points: 3

# Comments: 0

New comment by techtivist in "GitHub Raises $250M at $2B Valuation"

techtivist — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 06:57:55 +0000

If this valuation is based on the "future potential" of GitHub, I would keep track of GitHub's data ownership policy. I wouldn't be surprised if all of a sudden GitHub decides it owns the commercial rights to all code hosted on GitHub, at least for the free plan ;)

New comment by techtivist in "Airbnb Business Travel"

techtivist — Mon, 20 Jul 2015 21:45:56 +0000

There's a key mental difference between traveling for leisure and for business.

When you are holidaying, you are looking for those little experiences that make every trip unique, and living in someone's home definitely adds to that.

But when you are traveling for work, anything that's not work is distracting. So one seeks 'familiarity', and that's where the experience of just getting back to a hotel with no surprises waiting wins.

It's the same reason I chose Starbucks to work from whenever I am traveling. I know I'll get the same environment, same mediocre coffee and similar wifi. No surprises, so I can GSD.

New comment by techtivist in "The Fastest Growing Areas of Startup Investment in 2015"

techtivist — Sun, 19 Jul 2015 06:23:16 +0000

You should reclassify this as Blockchain, and separate the application on currency (Bitcoin). The bigger fundraising events this year has been around the "Blockchain" technology while investors' appetite to startups focusing on Bitcoin as a currency has dwindled significantly.

New comment by techtivist in "Homejoy says goodbye"

techtivist — Sun, 19 Jul 2015 06:16:42 +0000

I think we all agree with the same statement then :)

New comment by techtivist in "Homejoy says goodbye"

techtivist — Sat, 18 Jul 2015 03:15:32 +0000

>> 2. It feels like nobody here actually read Adora Cheung's quotes about multiple lawsuits coinciding with investment timing. That is obviously the reason they shut the doors.

Everybody did. It seems like a convenient face-saving excuse. The company didn't grow fast enough. If the all the numbers were impressive enough, investors would've taken the risk, especially the ones that already had $40m in.

New comment by techtivist in "Homejoy says goodbye"

techtivist — Sat, 18 Jul 2015 03:13:29 +0000

Winner will take all. Uber will be the Uber for X (for everything) and AirBnB (potentially) AirBnB for everything. Low margin markets are usually zero sum in the long-term.

New comment by techtivist in "Microsoft to stop producing Windows versions"

techtivist — Sun, 10 May 2015 22:46:47 +0000

I doubt they will do that for personal devices. I think they will have two tiers: personal and enterprise. Personal would essentially be bundled up with PCs for "free" to the end-users with money coming from the OEMs. They will then "upsell" the likes of Office for a subscription.

But I find the subscription concept interesting for enterprise customers who are already used to it. Bundle support services and extra add-ons tailored to enterprises in general or particular industry, could have a huge potential for them.

New comment by techtivist in "Ask HN: What newsletters do you read every day or week?"

techtivist — Sat, 02 May 2015 08:57:23 +0000

Just to add what have already been mentioned, Term Sheet by Dan Primack for all startup news, mainly around funding + other deals including PE. An aspiring VCs best friend https://fortune.com/newsletter/termsheet/

In the Tenderloin: Scenes from San Francisco’s Most Infamous Neighborhood

techtivist — Sat, 02 May 2015 08:40:21 +0000

Article URL: https://stories.californiasunday.com/2015-05-03/in-the-tenderloin/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9476356

Points: 3

# Comments: 0

New comment by techtivist in "Amazon Finally Discloses Cloud Services Sales, Showing 49% Jump"

techtivist — Thu, 23 Apr 2015 23:49:32 +0000

With such slim margins AWS and the larger cloud services industry of today will become what the airlines industry has become.

New comment by techtivist in "A Harvard Professor Has Mixed Feelings When Students Take Jobs in Finance"

techtivist — Fri, 10 Apr 2015 22:04:37 +0000

This reminded me of a great piece in the Atlantic a while ago looking at the cause: "Elite students with few marketable skills are perfect forms for financial firms to mold." http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/02/why-do-s...

New comment by techtivist in "ZenPayroll (YC W12) Raises $60M From Group Led by Google Investment Arm"

techtivist — Mon, 06 Apr 2015 16:53:23 +0000

I am curious to understand what it takes to move from SMBs to move upmarket. Any examples of companies that have made the successful transition without alienating its core SMB customers?

New comment by techtivist in "The Trader Who Donates Half His Pay"

techtivist — Mon, 06 Apr 2015 16:48:43 +0000

I am not sure if this is really "effective altruism". When I decided to leave a high paying job to start an education startup in order to pursue my passion to make a change through education, I got similar advice. I was told it would be more "effective" to keep my job and donate the money to education related charities instead. But I realized that as an software engineer, my skills could prove much more impactful, and directly so than the relatively meagre money I could donate. As they say money is cheap. I felt, and I still feel I could amplify my impact by using my skills rather than just throwing money at the problem.

Second, I wanted to be more aware and involved in the issues I wanted to contribute to, which I couldn't do unless I dove in. There are a lot of good organization out there that are making great impact, but there are equal number of "bad" ones that are perhaps having a negative impact or are not aligned to ones values. GiveWell and CharityNavigator can only go so far.

New comment by techtivist in "Parents with annual family incomes below $125,000 will pay no tuition"

techtivist — Sun, 29 Mar 2015 05:34:30 +0000

Ah! Hadn't heard about this. Professional programs usually don't offer need-based aid a lot, so this probably still doesn't go a long way. I was thinking more for undergrad programs, where need-based aid is much more common, and not too many students (none for internationals) qualify for gov grants, which might have similar provisions.