No need to scrape Open Food Facts, they kindly offer a download of the whole database as csv, rdf or mongodb dump: https://world.openfoodfacts.org/data
It is 100% crowd sourced open data under the ODbL licence (same as OpenStreetMap).
Hello SoloX5. Open Food Facts contributor here.
I absolutely love examine.com. Would any of your data be reusable under some open license or is it a strictly proprietary database?
You're right lucb1e: OSM is definitely good enough to replace proprietary sources (aka Google Maps) for this use-case in the Netherlands...
...but the Netherlands and Denmark are the only two countries I know of where addresses data have been opened by the government (are there other?). In most other countries, this is still an ongoing fight, and crowd-sourced data is still not on par with the proprietary offering.
The good news is that we are working on it: see for instance here (in French) for the ongoing grassroots effort in France (started a few months ago, already 18 million addresses compiled):
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/WikiProject_France/WikiPr...
...or this meeting in London which took place yesterday(!) and was the kick-off of a similar effort in the UK with some funding from the cabinet office:
http://lanyrd.com/2014/openaddresses/
Web version unusable on a 7" android tablet (1280x800): the left side of the gaming area is out of the screen, neither scrolling nor resizing seem allowed. Same problem in landscape and portrait mode.
That is not totally true: there is a fundamental difference between a closed source OS purposefully locked by its maker, and an open source OS tentatively locked by a mere distributor.
On almost every Android phone, you can just flash the entire OS and replace it with a plain vanilla one or your own custom build. Try that with an iPhone...
I don't have any hard data, but I would guess a majority of the users of the Latex+Dropbox combo are not on Windows. All those various nix users will not find any useful meat in this post. It would have been nice to submit it under a title like: Using Latex with Dropbox on Windows
Of course it is crazy. So what? I did it 7 months ago. Leaved what had become a 350 people company to start a new project. Back to square one. Not a single regret.
I for one like the timing:
First, most blue chips are now completely focused on their core business. Perfect times to try to quietly take the lead on wide open niche or emerging markets.
Moreover, lots of smart people are leaving their employers (voluntarily or otherwise) or are just tired of seeing their company going down the drain. Perfect times to hire bright people for cheap.
That's why I don't think your timing is wrong at all. That is, if your project does not require massive initial funding, because I do have some doubts about funding in the current environment. I usually don't bother to see VCs before breaking even and being able to show 7 figures in sales or revenue. Just arriving around there on the current project, so this month should be the start of the VC pitching circus. We shall see...
All in all, there is no absolutely good or bad timing: it may be the layoff business or the cost-cutting industry right now, but there is always some growth sector worth exploring. It is always the right time to start something whose time has come.
Go for it. Work hard. Have fun.
...and let us know how it turns out. :)
My main point was that the ruggedness and superior build quality of Thinkpads used to have limited drawbacks: they were at worst 10 to 20% heavier than alternatives (and sometimes even lighter, like the 560 around 1995).
Not so anymore, especially in the smaller and lighter models: the X200 (and X300) are 120% (and 70%) heavier than a R500. That's why I finally reassessed my longstanding commitments to Thinkpads. But you are right to point that it may be less of an issue for the T series than for the X series: I would probably have stuck to Thinkpads had I been looking for a 15+ inches screen.
I used to think so... and I was (like you) thinking that my (6.77 pounds) T61 was "lightweight".
I finaly replaced it by a Portégé R500 (my first non-Thinkpad laptop in years). Less screen real estate (12"1), obviously not as rugged and sturdy, but I could pack no less than four of those R500 in my bag, and it would still be lighter than my old Thinkpad!
Get used to it: Thinkpads (most of them anyway) are really heavy by today standards.
Light as you can get AND linux friendly: that's exactly what I was looking for.
I am now the very happy owner of a sub-2 pounds, Ubuntu certified, 12.1" laptop for 6 month, and that the best notebook choice I ever made.
Right choice for me, but I am only on the road 5 to 6 days a month, so your mileage may vary if you are really a nomad worker.