Nice to see this here today. A number of hosts the article mentions are on the startpage of lookit, a finger client I've been building: happynetbox, plan.cat, thebackupbox's finger webring, etc.
The start page exists because finger has no discovery layer. finger @host lists users. lookit makes that list selectable, so you can wander a server instead of querying one address at a time.
Perhaps a global database or a parallel project like a search engine focused on fingering is needed. The sources are scattered, and clients like yours would greatly benefit from that.
Assuming your designs are printable, why not test out some of your designs on a community like Threadless? Allows you to "launch early and iterate" and get early "user" feedback with minimal financial risk. It'll allow you to gauge the popularity of different designs without having to actually have the clothes made.
As there's already an established community around Threadless, it might also be a good way to build an initial following for your brand/style.
Great thread! I have worked (and continue to work) for a handful of startup-type companies in Liverpool (NW England). I don't have a wide enough experience of European cities to say it's the best place to start a business, but it's a great place to live and relatively cheap to rent office space and similar. Historically there's been a good amount of public sector funding available (although whether that will continue under the coalition government remains to be seen!), but of course there isn't an "VC ecosystem" equivalent to that of London.
All that said, there are amazing, interesting and fun people here doing cool things with tech, and there's the beginnings of a great scene. I love it :-)
But my main reason for posting was to ask: is there a directory of some sort compiling answers to questions like this for cities globally, detailing the sort of recruitment and funding opportunities available, as well as what sort of startups are already based there? Almost like a "Crunchbase for cities"...might have to think about knocking such a thing together if it doesn't already exist!
I'm a big fan of this, mainly because of the top 5 filter, but also because I tend to use Twitter as a centralised hub for much of my media consumption, rather than visiting different websites, so it suits this use.
I have a "reading material" Twitter list set up, including @newsycombinator, and I regularly scan this for this to add to Instapaper, which I then generally read when travelling.
Admittedly, the problem with this is that it means I'm a less active participant in the community here than I'd like to be.
That logo is so 80's it makes me wonder if they're going to turn back on all the analog cell sites in the city and hand out Zack Morris DynaTAC phones.
So... that logo made me go "what?", and a few seconds later think of Lisa Simpson performing a sexual act, before finally realizing that it says "2012".
The start page exists because finger has no discovery layer. finger @host lists users. lookit makes that list selectable, so you can wander a server instead of querying one address at a time.
I just released a v0.2 beta, feedback welcome: https://github.com/jonathandeamer/lookit/releases/tag/v0.2.0...