A good friend is a very brilliant Welshman (born and raised there until age 18) now living in southern California. His father has been here for 21 years and has his US citizenship. My friend, who runs a very successful business and is also a quality contributor to the local economy, has been stuck in the paperwork system for 7 years now. Every 6-8 months they send him another letter telling him it will be another 6-8 months. He can stay legally because he got here just early enough to miss the "wait for your green-card in your home country" rule - but they won't grant him re-entry if he leaves - so he's stuck. Can't take his son back to Wales to see his grandparents, etc etc.
Meanwhile, his father married a Brazilian trophy wife last year who doesn't work, doesn't volunteer, doesn't contribute economically, who received her green-card about 3 months after they got married.
I've been using Tracker since they released a private beta right after Railsconf last June ... it is a truly excellent tool. Tracker codifies the Agile process (more or less following XP principles) way better than any other PM tool I've ever seen.
The tool itself won't make your team more or less productive, though. You really have to understand and be committed to Agile/XP theories, processes and practices for it to work. Tracker can help guide you in that direction ... but like almost any tool, there is a "best" way to use it to get the full benefit.
I got RailsSpace from Amazon, steps you through making a social network and teaches you heaps along the way. The final product in the book isn't anything special but that's where YOU come in.
As a native of the southeast U.S. getting ready to move to San Francisco, earthquakes terrify me -- I've never felt one before. Hearing about last night's 5.6 quake doesn't make me feel any better. I just discovered this emergency alert service that will at least help to keep us informed.
I'm in Atlanta and I'm pretty smart ;)
The problem is, that anybody bright and motivated enough to do a startup is already doing their own thing, and doesn't want to work for somebody else.
No, we don't know each other. But we have a lot in common.
I even had an idea a couple of years ago similar to your Wamily thing. I called it "Grupevine". Pretty much a "website in a box" for a group. Groups would associate with each other and a user could easily find and be a member of many groups.
There's a weekly meeting of other "smart people in Atlanta" called AtlHack that I go to. It's at Octane every Tuesday at around 8:30. You should come some time.
I'd like to hear more about your Wamily idea. You can hit me up at erik /at/ subwindow[dot]com
This is really interesting and refreshing to see a change in the way that healthcare operates ...
BUT, it seems like this guy is trying to bypass insurance companies completely. From the FAQ:
... I accept absolutely no health insurance at all and my fees may not be reimbursed by your insurance company.
We all know that health insurance is a huge confusing nightmare in the U.S., but I don't think its advisable get rid of it completely. I suppose if you don't have insurance, then this doc would be a really good alternative.
My surgeon Dad told me once that his practice pockets pennies out of every dollar they officially bill the patient. Where does the rest go? Between his own liability insurance, the insurance companies not paying up, and the privacy/medical records red tape.
This guy's model is actually my Dad's dream: be able to go treat a patient for 30mins, get paid for it(versus fight for hours with the insurance). The actual bill would be lower too because for most part he only has to charge pennies on the dollar since there won't be as much red tape.
This guy could accept insurance, but given the way he practices, I'd imagine it would be a bureaucratic nightmare.
His intent doesn't seem to be to subvert the insurance system so much as to serve the large niche of people, especially in NYC, who are relatively young, need a good GP, and don't have insurance (or good insurance).
