Thumbs up for the hacking part!
Regarding your karma - 1001 and 4 fans seems suspicious, but is a normal consequence by getting the gorilla too quickly, because then you don't interact enough with fellow DJs / listeners and build your "network". I got it in 4 days without cheating.. but I spent way too much time in coding soundtrack (just repeating what everyone else was playing) and felt that way after:
< 1000 : I NEED bouncer gorilla !!
> 1000 : the gorilla is ridiculous.. I take the geeky red ape!
The article is kind of misleading.
After reading the original FAZ article (I am german and a site owner) I learned that because Weichert is the head of the Independent Centre for Privacy Protection of the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, he only has the competence to threat site owners within "Schleswig-Holstein" (Population: 2,8mio).
Additionaly they actually turn your home into a more hotel-like experience - so guests are provided with towels etc. At least for higher priced accomodations a good choice.
I think it's quiet interesting how quickly things change and how you see companies differently and google reinvented their image in such a short period of time.
If you asked me a year ago if I would say which was the cooler, younger, more innovative and most promising company - Google or Facebook - I would have said 4:0 Facebook for sure.
Now, I would say:
Cooler? I have a passion for design - so Google+ is by far winner here. In addition, you can say what you want, but with the invitation restriction they got what they wanted - buzzed.
Younger? When you compare the new design from Google to the Facebook design and consider the implementation of cutting edge web technology (advanced html5 etc.) - for sure it's google!
More innovative? Of course Facebook has a point for focusing the development of a framework in which other companies can build on - but on the other hand, that's by definition not much innovation by themselves - so google+!
Most promising? Only time can tell..
I don't know exactly why I see Google in a whole new light now.
Maybe it's because of their stunning design and UX (sorry for repeating, but it's gorgeous), maybe it's because of their underdog position with Google+ or maybe it's because Facebook with it's dry and subtle and boring design and it's cooperations with "uncool" players like microsoft is not taking risks anymore. They cannot risk their large userbase and got to stay mainstream. That could be the chance for Google+ to conquer, at least, the younger crowd.
A human behaviour I observed, that could be hacked:
You know how you tend to do all the things that you don't want to do (like dishwashing, cleaning your apt, laundry etc.) if you have to learn for an really really boring but difficult exam at university. At the point you have to do something that appears more worse you tend to say things like: "okay, I have to study, but I have to XY first - because it's important", but you would not do them if you didn't have to study..
Hack would be to use this system an always have some really pain-in-the-butt thing on your to-do list, then you're really glad to check off all the others first.
You are right with that, and I do know what you mean. However my real point was that you can't really generalize things and make a checklist-based decision on those two, or in my case three (with founding) alternatives.
I personally think you should not make this decision on a too much numbers/status/fact basis, but on a very personal or you risk to regret it sooner or later.
Call me romantic, but in this decision I would leave reputation, money, status etc. behind
To my mind what really matters is: do you love what you are doing. Ergo the goal is to figure out: What do I love?
How to do that? By doing internships and gain experience! I did 4 internships at companies from small to huuuge till my graduation. When you, like me, after many internships at companies of different sizes and sectors still have not found a job that you love - then you should think about working at a startup or even founding one.
Well, I don't want to generalize things too much, but when you are a creative mind and have ideas and want to make them real, then a huge company is the worst place to start.
They lure with self-fulfilment, but more likely they suck out your potential. The questions you want to ask yourself in the morning should be like: Am I intrinsic motivated to get up now and give my best till midnight+ today?
Since I founded my startup it is the first time in my life that I have this feeling and I wake up in the morning and really can't wait to get to work and get work done.
I really couldn't agree more on this topic. In addition, beside the huge motivational effect of building something useful that you want to have for yourself, in my experience you´re also automatically making sure that the user experience is right and you really love the product. So it´s kind of a switch from "I need to build this for this user-guy to work with" to "I want to craft this in a way, so I can love it."
Sumup: Being your own user enables you to convert user experience from just useable to lovable.
“Google and Facebook would have you believe that you’re a mirror, but in fact, we’re more like diamonds.”
Give them the choice if they want to create a new ID for your service or not.