The problem they had with the "oil" was not the oil, but the engine itself.
The engines had a coating applied to the cylinder walls that (theoretically) reduce frinction. Turns out the coating was a bad decision (it wasn't throughly tested (see a pattern?)), and they rolled back to their old way of building engines (which was pretty good).
I do think the 10k is not a problem with Mobil 1 synthetic. I've used that oil for about 15k on my own cars without complications.
If you want to learn more about the engine problems, you might want to ddg the words "mercedes benz nikasil".
I'm not sure if this is a product that will become profitable soon.
I am quite sure that you did learn from building it (and you did a good job!), so that may be worth more in the long-run than what this may end up being worth.
It takes guts to launch, more to show them on HN, and even more to keep launching until you strike gold (but you still keep on launching...)
It is a valuable app for people looking for startup ideas. It even validates a point that PG makes on one of his essays when he talks about how the current CRM is nothing more than a fancy to do list (not his exact words).
I used to be a professional auto mechanic (still work on cars for fun, though). Here is my take on your question(s).
Mini Coopers are cheap "premium" cars, in a sense that they are indirectly marketed as if they were mini BMWs (they are made by BMW), but they are just the equivalent of a volkswagen in terms of quality (which is pretty bad from professional experience). They are built using cheap parts, that are even too flimsy to even use (it is not an exageration, but actual experience).
Porsche is a brand that is driven by engineering, but engineering != reliability. Even though they have improved a lot in the last 5-6 years, they are not sold for their reliability, but for their performance. The Boxster is a specially good example of how not to build a cheap sports car when all you do is build premium sports cars. The best example of those shoddy quality of the Boxster (first generation) is the engine that self-destructed due to an improperly machined engine part (the case). Sadly, some 911 owners also got a bad engine with the 1999 model carrera equipped with the 3.4 engine (ddg it). The engine goes for about 12k when sourced from Porsche, not including installation.
Honda does not make cars that don't break. They have problems too. The Accord suffered from a defect in the engine block cylinders that cause it to warp the deck surface and thus make the car overheat (it required you to buy a new engine, because this was not serviceable).
The S2000 has a transmission made out of glass (not really, but you get my point(it is prone to failure on the first, second and third gear grear set)).
Mercedes does have the ussual electronic gremlic (just like most European cars), because they have extremely short development cycles, and you just can't test so much stuff at once (they ship a lot of buggy hardware, if you will). One of my favorites is the C240 Kompressor, which had a supercharged engine that blew up if you used a fuel that did not meet the octane requirements. Why didn't Mercedes just let the computer retard the ignition timing to compensate for the lack of octane? Wait, they did! They just didn't do enough of it (they did not test it throughly, and they also used parts that could not withstand a simple engine backfire ( a backfire is more lethal on cars that use supercharger or turbochargers, as it sends an explosion through the intake manifold (where the supercharger/turbocharger intake is)))(this comment looks like LISP code).
tl;dr: cheap parts, cheap engineering and cheap testing that derive from extreme cost-cutting measures make most brands out there a russian roullette. Good for mechanics, but bad for owners. Though with European cars, its as if you were playing Russian roullette with two bullets instead of one.
PS.If you do get the S2000, install a transmission oil cooler to extend the life of the tramsission components. The later years with the 2.4 engine had stronger transmissions, but a lower readline (and less peaky powerband (something people loved about the first generation (because it felt like a motorcycle/F1 engine))).
1. Pick one of the startups mentioned daily in HN.
2. Build a clone (even if very basic).
3. Repeat.
Make sure to have some kind of online portfolio (github is fine), a place to write about your experiences (a simple blog), and make sure to talk about the difficulties you had (plus how you solved them).
There is not a lot of stuff out there. You will find a lot of out dated materials.
Most computer/programming classes are taught using the English terms (mixed with Spanish), because it ends up being easier (I've taught in Spanish) for people to understand.
Send me an email (in my profile) if you need any more help.
It's really a simple term used to describe a combination of factors that create the sense of pleasure on certain individuals. Though it is highly subjective, and varies from person to person.
Some people describe a car to be fun to drive when the performance of the vehicle matches their preferences. That is why you have a segment that enjoys Ford Mustangs for their straight-line acceleration (and calls them fun to drive), and you also have another segment that enjoys the Mazda Miata for its sport-tuned suspension, short tranmission gearing (which allows the engine to stay on the powerband with less effort), and low weight (and also calls them fun to drive).
There are a thousand different ways that a car can be fun to drive. Some are not even related in any way to the actual car, but to the sentimental value that the owner puts on the vehicle.
The most fun to drive car I've ever had was a sub-compact that barely had eighty-eight horsepower. Yet it did not consume much fuel. Such attibute pushed me to find how far I could go before needing to refuel. That alone made the car fun to drive.
The Mercedes owner above values the rich set of features that his vehicle has. He seems to enjoy knowing that his vehicle is highly equipped to whithstand and accident, and is even able to reduce the chances of one actually happen. Plus I bet he loves driving past store windows, and see himself driving such a fine automobile. I know I would. =)
Congratulations to the streak.com team. This is a great product.
*
This brings another point: There is a need for a better business email application that is as easy to use as Gmail, but is not owned by any of the big 4 (MS, G, APPL, Y!).
>Someone has to make an alternative to word that is as easy to use but doesn't allow you to do all the stupid stuff. Enforce styles, make references and other data-connections easy, smooth and reliable and provide a good diff.
That is why I'm building (actually finishing the ALPHA release) of a little FOSS app named Paste Box.
It is a paste bin/simple word processor with one click saving ( to a db ), syntax highligthing, user accounts, one button search feature, anonymous pasting, and a simple (but easy on the eyes) UI.
It also features a simplified install process, to keep the IT dept. from going postal.
The first release is a PHP/sqlite version, then a .NET version will follow (desktop and ASPX versions), and then a RoR version.
After those are done, I plan (if people actually use the thing) to add simple text formatting features with JS.
--
I came up with the idea after realizing that office people have a pretty bad workflow when dealing with text files.
They have to open up Word (which depending on their system, can take up to a minute), then they have to save the document, but not without deciding on a name. Worse if they have to create a directory to store the file into. This does not take into account all the different options that Word offers in terms of file types (which most people don't understand.
I just want to save people time (and whats left of their sanity).
The git repo for the project is over at github/codepockets.
All the code in there is just prototype (read: ugly, non-working)(I follow TDD).
Once the thing is ready and tested, I shall announce it to the community. Deadline is the last day of February.
I've developed a simple set of questions to avoid these types of pointless interviews.
It was last tested about two weeks ago when I was casually talking with the founder of a local startup who wanted me to join his team. I politely declined the offer.
Here are the questions:
1. What is your product?
If the answer to this is marketing talk, they fail the test.
2. Who is your customer?
Same with #1, but add "everybody!".
3. What is your development setup/rules/guidelines?
No source control? Bye.
Testing on production servers? Bye (this startup did that, and wondered why their app failed to work).
No workstations? You mean that I will use my personal computer at your office? Bye, Bye!
What language/framework/technology do you use? If the answer is PHP/in house MVC then I'm out. I dont mind PHP/MVC, but most are hacked up pieces of crap that can't compare to symfony or even code igniter/cakephp.
This allows me to consider working with people who know what they are doing, instead of wasting time with people who want to test me on what they think I know.
This simple test was developed after an interview with a local startup. The interviewer was the "software engineer", and he had pulled questions from project euler to test me. After realizing this, I ended the interview quickly.
Their product? A web app for realtors to showcase their listings. Yeah, that required developers that were able to solve advanced project euler exercises.
>I have a frind whose dad told me to start with HTML making >web apps. He told me that app developement was to comlex >for a beginner like me.
I understand why he would reccomend HTML, and I partially agree with that statement.
HTML is fun for a beginner, because it allows the person to see changes done in the code without much hassle. Want to change the background from purple to blue? Just change the css property:
body{background-color: #123456} /* not an actual color number */
and hit F5.
I'm teaching my niece how to build simple web pages with HTML, so I understand the value it provides to a beginner.
You see, one thing us older hackers forget, is that beginners tend to think in terms of higher levels. Higher levels means that thinking about how the web app will look, feel, and work, rather than thinking how the code will be structured inside of it.
This, because beginners do not have understood the engineering side of programming yet.
Although I'm not quite comfortable with someone who tells a 12 year old that something is too complex for them. I don't agree with such thing.
Here is why?
You were born after the internet became mainstream. You view information as something that is readily available. Learning something is just a click away. There are hundreds of tutorials to learn anything from cooking to painiting, and you can easily find them by doing a web search.
On the other hand, I was born in 1979. The internet back then wasn't known in my country. Fact is that we got telephone service during the late 1980s, and cable TV during the late 90s. I first logged into the internet in 1998, but I had learned how to write simple programs from the user manual of my first computer, and from college level textbooks (that we had at home in a small library my mother kept). Learning for me took months.
Why am I telling you this?
Your dads friend is an old dinosaur like me. He does not understand how a modern young mind (like yours) has adapted to the mountains of information readily available.
Of course you can do iOS apps, but the question is: should you?
Should you limit yourslef to one platform (while learning)?
My answer would be no. Learn as much as you can from everything. Sure, building an app would be fun and get you some attention, but building libraries, and or useful programs for your house/yourself/school/chruch/etc. would benefit fit you much more in the long run.
Well, it seems that by answering your questions I feel that I'm trying to answer the questions I had back then. Sorry for that.
One last thing:
Don't let someones opinion of your abilities turn into your reality. You are you, and not even you know how deep those abilities are. Go ahead and explore them with no fear in sight.
I started tinkering with computers at age 8, so I can relate to you very well.
At your age, I would start by installing a Linux distro of your choice (if you haven't done that first). Ubuntu is pretty easy to setup if you are a complete beginner.
Why use Linux?
You should start tinkering with Linux, because it is the most common development environment used.
Using Linux will allow you to learn basic troubleshooting and debugging. Those two skills are necessary if you desire to build any kind of application.
Linux will also allow you to try out different languages with a simple command (such as sudo apt-get install clojure1.2 (which I did two hours before writing this post)).
Then you can pick a language to learn the basics. By basics I mean how to write variables, functions, etc. A nice language to learn this is python, because it has a very simple syntax (syntax is how a language is written (like the difference between written English and written French)).
After learning how to write the basics, you should decide on a simple project to work on. One project that I reccomend beginners is to do a simple Rock/Paper/Scissors game. Focus on making it work, then focus on making it play against itself.
This exercise will allow you to see your code work, and will keep you busy for a couple of days.
After that, you should head out and build a web app. Anything is fine, but a good project to start with a simple blog. You can use Python, but PHP is simpler to run, and is super simple to setup on your computer, thanks to a program called XAMPP (look it up, and install it).
With PHP you can do all sorts of things. From calculators, to message forums, to whatever you desire.
You can also pick an existing app and try to copy it. One fun project would be to copy hacker news, and adapt it to whatever topic you'd like.
Or even build your own basic facebook, or a simple search engine. Try and build existing stuff.
One great thing about web apps, is that you can also learn to code various languages that interact with each other. You can mix PHP (or any other server side language) with javascript ( client side language (client means that it runs on your web browser and not on the server)).
At this moment, you should be pretty good at the basics, and may be ready to explore other more complex stuff. Maybe pick up a LISP-type of language. Or maybe you could try an polish your javascript skills. Who knows?
Here are some other pointers:
You should not limit yourself to one platform, one language.
Learning how to program takes years, not because writing the code is hard, but because designing real applications that work is quite difficult. This is the engineering side of it (and where most people fail, and/or quit).
Don't be afraid to try new (to you) things. You broke Linux/Windows? Who cares! Re-install and try again.
I started to tinker with computers at age 8. Took me years before I could even write coherent code (though I still wonder if my code is coherent). Yet, I'm here, enjoying it.
One final note: Don't quit. Quitting will make the biggest diference in your life. Keep going, even if slowly. You will get it.
I started out from zero, and have slowly been able to get to the point where I can build small robots. Its been challenging, but enjoyable. Electronics is unlike software, where you can code and code libraires without an end product (the library itself). Electronics require you to have some kind of end goal (a trinket!).