

A Christmas Failure - DanielBMarkham
http://www.whattofix.com/blog/archives/2010/12/a-christmas-fai.php

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Tichy
For a while now I have pondered starting "hacking for good" (unfortunately,
the domain seems to be taken by someone else now - .org still seems to be
free, though), meaning I and hopefully others would donate some of their time
to solve problems with software for free. Not sure about the setup - maybe
people could submit suggestions, and the hacker group would decide which one
to tackle every month.

Maybe donating one day per month would be a good idea (or even one day per
week)? I haven't really started yet, because I still struggle to make money
for myself. But maybe with more giving there also comes more flowing, too.

Anyway, would anybody be interested, and what do you think would be the best
mode for it?

There recently was "random hacks of kindness", and probably there are lot's of
other similar things (I also participated in a <http://socialactions.com>
competition once), but it seems to be on a rather large scale, with a limited
set of problems posed by large humanitarian organizations. I was thinking more
small scale/local, ie how to help people without huge organizations behind
them. Ultimately, I have no experience with charity work, though.

Update: just registered hackingforgood.org, I figure I'll start with just a
wordpress blog stating my intents, and people can bring up sugggestions in the
comments.

Actually I am currently donating time to a project, <http://blog.energy-
streetfight.com/> , so it is not completely true that I haven't acted on my
idea before.

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wallflower
Read the story to the end. It's all about the intent behind how you give
something. That is what matters. Merry Christmas!

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Luyt
It appears he registered the domain <http://receiving.it> for his app. Italian
domains don't come easy: I had to supply substantial evidence of my existence
(a scan of my passport) before I could register my own .it domain.

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edw519
_...I stumbled upon a highly rated comment of yours and stood speechless; at
no point in my life had I read a comment so insightful and informative._

I remember that comment well. Just one instance of many in your collection,
which is just one collection of many from other commenters, too.

I like your baseball analogy, but sometimes I prefer the spaghetti analogy,
especially when it comes to blog posts and comments: just throw a bunch
against the wall and see what sticks. You never know whose life you may
influence.

Sorry to hear about your parents. This time of year may amplify the feeling of
loss, but also reminds us of the wonderful memories we still have just one
seek away.

Best wishes for the new year, Daniel, and please keep on giving. I, for one,
will gladly keep on receiving your gifts here at hn!

~~~
norswap
And what was this mysterious comment ?

~~~
edw519
Follow the link from the original:

 _I was lucky if I could put a sentence or two together, but I wanted to help,
so _I just started giving the guy bullets_. I went on and never really thought
much about my reply._

    
    
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                         V
    

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1474454>

------
oz
I too remember that comment, particularly the bit about creating. It came
across with a force that just's not normal, and got me writing poetry. Thanks
DBM.

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jdp23
Great perspective. Describing something as a "failure" makes it easy to
overlook the value it's created. I prefer "less successful than I had hoped"
:-)

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martythemaniak
Let's hope no impressionable youth stumble on your retarded posts calling for
the murder of people you don't like.

