Zidisha Is International Microlending, Immunity Project Is An HIV Vaccine; Two Nonprofits Currently Doing Y Combinator

novel_approachesFunding non-profit organizations was a new initiative announced by Y Combinator in September.  Assistance to these organizations from YC includes a charitable contribution and the same techniques used to help startups.  Two non-profits have recently announced their participation in YC W14: Zidisha and Immunity Project.  Both of these organizations address global problems they’ve been working on for several years. Continue reading

Imagine If Aaron Swartz Had Lived

aaronycAaron Swartz’ death a year ago was absolutely a tragedy.  The grand jury indictment conceded Aaron had legitimate access to JSTOR through Harvard’s Center for Ethics.  Even though the alleged hacking occurred at MIT, how could he “steal” documents that were free?  If Aaron had no prior criminal record, why did a plea bargain require prison time?  Questions like these are now moot.  Aaron Swartz is gone.  Gone, but not forgotten. Continue reading

Khosla Ventures Joins YC VC Program As Investor And Advisor

Y CombinatorKhosla Ventures has joined Y Combinator’s YC VC Program, reports Silicon Valley Business Journal.  This new involvement by Khosla Ventures replaces Yuri Milner in YC VC.  I mentioned Vinod Khosla this past November (Soylent Is A Nutritious Meal-Replacement Shake Mix And Experiment In Food Engineering By Startups).  The addition of Khosla Ventures as an advisor offers some refreshing implications for YC startups. Continue reading

SpaceBase Is Spatial Database Software And In-Memory Data Grid For MMORPG Games And Many Other Real-World Uses

spacebaseSpaceBase, by Parallel Universe, is real-time spatial database server software for applications that require very low latencies or very frequent updates.  Geometric structuring of data has many practical uses.  Massively multiplayer online games (MMORPG), military simulations, c4i systems, certain graphing scenarios, and dynamic moving object location services all rely on solutions like SpaceBase.  Understanding spatial data stores requires a brief explanation of their differences from common relational databases in concept and application.  Parallel Universe is on my Quora post of YC S12′s best startups.  SpaceBase could eventually be a standard used alongside development ecosystems like Unity3d. Continue reading