Ask HN: What is everyone currently working on? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: What is everyone currently working on?

36 pointskylegalbraith56 comments

I am fairly new to HN and honestly it is a bit overwhelming initially. In a good way of course! What brought me here was to follow more software developers turned entrepreneurs. I find reading about others successes and failures to be incredibly valuable. Therefore, I am curious what others on HN are currently working on. It could be a side project, side hustle, new business idea, or just a new open source project you are starting.

For me, I have been working on a short book about learning AWS by using it to solve real problems. There is a sea of information out there about Amazon Web Services which makes it hard to know where to get started. My approach with the book is to learn services as you are solving a problem. Instead of reading doc after doc and article after article, you jump into a problem and learn as you go.

What is everyone else working on?

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I left my day job at the end of July to finally start working my way through a laundry list of ideas I've accumulated over the years. I had often toyed with the idea of side projects, but finding and sustaining the motivation to complete one just wasn't happening after a full day at the office. My current "self-employed" life may turn out to be unsustainable due to lack of income, but the jury's still out.

My current project is Move by Numbers [0], a sort of "Twitch plays chess" type of game with a comfortable pace, points, and levels. The idea of cooperative gaming has intrigued me recently, and this is my first foray into the space. Building it has been entertaining, but finding users and gathering feedback has been a struggle. I'm learning first-hand how difficult marketing is.

I also just published an article on tracing 2D metaball outlines [1], so if you enjoy visual explanations of algorithms, check it out.

Up next on my list is either a declarative charting language and cross-language interpreters for said language (data visualization is something I worked with a lot in my previous job), or a Japanese grammar textbook I've been dreaming about writing for several years now.

[0] https://movebynumbers.com

[1] https://eightsquaredsoftware.com/articles/metaball.html

I'm working on https://discoverdev.io

A daily list of curated blog posts for developers. Focus is on minimal design and top content. Just ten interesting links for the day!

Thanks for this resource, looks promising. Are all stories picked by hand? It would be useful if you could paginate instead of only being able to see the archive for one day.

I am working on building my own on-demand video delivery (hosting/transcoding/streaming) platform. I looked for an existing open source alternative but couldn't find any. Either there are proprietary options (wowza etc.) or you go with providers such as Wistia, Vimeo etc. that are great but limited when it comes to fully customizing what you want.

If I am happy enough, I will open source it :)

Just finishing up my first VR game, Left-Hand Path, ready for its exit from Steam Early Access.

It's a Dark Souls-inspired full-length game (15 hours of VR gameplay) where you cast spells by drawing glyphs in the air. People seem to like it, at 85% positive reviews.

Currently I'm on the non-coding part of work mostly: I still have some bugs to clear, but after that it's beta feedback (and then more bug fixing), press relations, trailer, and similar launch prep.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/488760/LeftHand_Path/

I'm also working on a side project using Google Cardboard, and I'm starting testing game mechanics for my next full VR game which will probably involve melee combat.

I am currently working on an opensource analytics and reporting dashboard for Mailgun:

https://suet.co https://github.com/kehers/suet

Good idea and good luck. The reporting from Mailgun leaves much to be desired.

Thanks.

I'm currently working on a new open source project: https://github.com/clintonwoo/hackernews-react-graphql

I moved to the US recently so using it to show my skills to employers seeing as I've been working on entrepreneurial things while traveling. I actually found your post while browsing through my clone of Hacker News! I also have a business Shave Like A Boss which sells traditional shaving equipment: https://www.shavelikeaboss.com.au/

I definitely recommend working on a real idea for a project as you will be able to use it for something in the future.

I am working on learnmapp[1].

What? Inspired by Kamran Ahmed's roadmap to becoming a web developer[2], learnmapp lets anyone create and share roadmaps for learning any topic/subject.

Why? Everytime I want to learn something new, the biggest hurdle I face is to find where & how to start and what to learn next. So with this tool, I want to make it easier for beginners to find and follow a roadmap to learn better.

When? Will launch, optimistically, by this weekend.

Also, it'll be free and the code will be available on github.

[1] https://learnmapp.com (not live yet) [2] https://goo.gl/6fHbVH

I have just completed my website https://www.camerasforpros.com which collects mentions & reviews of Photo Gear from Reddit and StackExchange in one place. More than cameras and lenses, I am surprised by the number of unexpected accessories I discovered through this experiment.

Before this I did a word exploration site https://www.niftyword.com . It has been steadily growing helping quite an handful of people, but is not a revenue pulling niche. Currently makes enough for server costs and a monthly dinner.

I'm studying CRDTs so that I can finally add sync and real-time collaboration to my apps without having to run my own servers. If all goes well, I'll be able to simply push my files to any old database (e.g. CloudKit) and have the merge conflicts always resolve deterministically for any arbitrary number of users. Proof-of-concept using Victor Grishchenko's Causal Trees algorithm is already working — just need to add a few refinements and write up a nice blog post!

https://github.com/archagon/crdt-playground

What materials are you using to study?

Mostly the original papers on Logoot[1]/LSEQ[2], RGA[3], and Causal Trees[4], as well as some source code analysis (Swarm, Y.js), some tangential papers concerning comparative algorithm performance, and as many blog posts, articles, and lectures as I could get my hands on. For reasons of efficiency, most CRDT research is focused on operation-based CRDTs (i.e. CmRDTs) which tend to rely on a central server, whereas I'm more interested in state-based CRDTs (CvRDTs) that can be freely used in a P2P environment, so I'm a little on my own when it comes to the implementation.

[1]: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/inria-00432368/document

[2]: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00921633/document

[3]: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/8470/ae40470235604f40382aea...

[4]: https://ai2-s2-pdfs.s3.amazonaws.com/6534/c371ef78979d7ed84b...

I've been learning as much as I can about blockchain, crypto, etc... I've recently written sha256 and keccak in Javascript ( so as to learn how they work at a detailed level ). https://github.com/jeffallen6767/sha-256-js and https://github.com/jeffallen6767/keccak-p-js

a curated, weekly newsletter for people following (or wanting to follow) a keto/low carb lifestyle.

https://keto.fm

I'm working on https://pupkeep.com/, it is cloud based kennel software. For places that do pet boarding and grooming.

The market has a lot of competition, but it seems most solutions are just too bulky and slow. We recently went on a trip to various boarding places around us and received good feedback about our product. I'm very excited to see what happens next.

Wow. Had no idea that there would be that much competition in this space. I'd love to learn more about your overall solution - is it essentially an "e-commerce" site for pet boarders so pet owners can book their appointments and pay online?

Yeah I was surprised, though most other solutions are very old and slow so I really only consider us having one or two other real competitors.

The booking and paying online is actually just a small portion of the needs most of these businesses have. In addition to appointment management we also handle keeping track of customers, customer's pets(vaccination requirements, dietary needs, etc), inventory management, employee scheduling and role management, and analytics for it all.

Our competitors seem to handle parts of these but we are looking to be an all encompassing solution while simplifying the UX. We are also targeting multiple location support for enterprise customers, with our competitors multiple locations seem to be an afterthought. On top of that our app is faster and cheaper per month, offering discounts for multiple locations and no setup costs (other than buying optional hardware).

Very nice. How do you handle so much development work while balancing scope creep given that you're an all encompassing solution as opposed to handling different parts of it? I've been looking at extending my app to include many other components without overstretching myself.

Really just prioritization. We prioritize everything based on its usefulness/need. We are also in "MVP mode" right now so anything that isn't a part of those core features mentioned or isn't essential is put on the back burner.

I would still imagine that an inventory system or analytics would take several months unless you are also stripping those away to the bare essentials?

You would be correct. Our current implementation of those are fairly bare bones, but still encompass the main needs of the businesses we are targeting.

That's a great approach. I'll be "stealing" some of this great insight if you don't mind.

Haha not a problem at all.

Just for show and tell purposes:

https://devel.tech, tech tutorial website - webpack, bulma, django, docutils + sphinx (heavily customized)

Here are some examples:

- Powered by pure docutils: https://devel.tech/tips/n/sNZwQvNh/django-compressor-vs-djan...

- Powered by sphinx: https://devel.tech/features/django-vs-flask/

https://www.hskflashcards.com - recently converted to bulma, webpack + django-webpack-loader (from BS4 + django-compressor). Powered by Django + Postgres with the unaccent extension (https://www.postgresql.org/docs/9.1/static/unaccent.html). Example usage: https://www.hskflashcards.com/search?omni=hao

Some comments on the stack: webpack has really grown on me, particularly https://github.com/ezhome/django-webpack-loader. I've been avoiding trying to integrate node for a long time, and found webpack to have a bit of a learning curve, but after getting through the quirks it's great.

Another thing, looking into seeing more stuff with yarn workspaces (https://yarnpkg.com/blog/2017/08/02/introducing-workspaces/), lerna, etc. Trying to make the UX customizations more modular, and I think it's becoming more practical to separate out stuff into node packages more often.

As for other stuff I've been liking, SASS has been good as always, as has the bulma framework (https://bulma.io).

I'm working on a tool you can add to any website that makes the content editable for non-developers. https://component.io

So now you don't have to do the back and forth "hey can you make a few quick edits" routine, and you can use whatever technology you want to build the site.

We've been working on it a little under a year and have a couple thousand users.

Working on my own website.

I've come to realize that I do want to share pictures, funny videos and all the internet has to offer, but I want to do it on my own terms and actually own what I put up until I decide to take it down.

It'll be the single place to go to find out what's going on with me. If I'm connected with you on social media that I have, you can see more details compared to random visitor.

Not super complex, just me a WordPress install and an idea.

I've been making some adjustments to my personal HN and Reddit aggregator - http://stories.rpeden.com

It mostly works the way I want it to - I've just been tweaking the number of stories it shows, and which subreddits it displays. It's not really meant to be useful to anyone other than myself, but it's been fun to work on.

I'm rebuilding the API and admin section for CronAlarm - https://www.cronalarm.com - a cron job / scheduled task monitoring platform. The purpose of the rewrite is for paving the way for a native mobile app. Also working on adding Slack integrations as well.

Right now I'm trying to get webRTC to run without ever having to use a server - or any way of communicating between browsers without the use of a server - for a game I'm making.

Nothing special, but good to get familiar with the tech. And definitely not yet ready to be shown (also, currently just a ripoff of an older nintendo game)

I'm working on https://www.sanitycheck.io - a tool to help make sense of all the data available in Google Search Console. It archives the data too - so you aren't just limited to the 90 days that GSC has.

Forgot to mention that you can check out the landing of my book and stay updated here: https://www.kylegalbraith.com/learn-aws/

"Smart", programmable, connected LED grow lights, sensors, and control systems for horticulture: https://www.natecontrols.com.

I do all of the software work for the on-device controllers, cloud backend, and UI.

Working every minute right now on my second online course for learning ReactJs. Hopefully I can release it next week without any quirks :)

- https://roadtoreact.com/

I'm building a flexible CRM system for startups: http://orchestrahq.com.

Been using other CRM systems but found them to be too restrictive. Salesforce provides endless customization but costs a bomb.

I'm currently working on a weekly curated newsletter of Florida Man content, http://floridamannewsletter.com as well as a personal blog about my projects and devops.

A book for Windows 10 development with C# (and UWP). As well as refocusing on re-writing my Windows installer (MSI) creation software. The first version makes executables (based on NSIS) but am moving to a WiX backend with a much better UI.

Work on a websocket mud engine continues in my off hours: https://rockmud.herokuapp.com/

I'm also working on a SaaS for anonymous reviews and correspondence.

Still working on https://iheartreading.co. Trying to onboard schools to use it but so far cold emailing is not working. Thinking about other way to market it.

Building a multitasking webvr environment at niftykick.com

Demo video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3xZ1G291Ks

Starting to see some developer and beta user interest :)

Working on Micro https://micro.mu. Basically microservices toolkit and framework. It's pure OSS and sponsored by a big enterprise company.

Buying index funds - will allow me to retire by 2022.

Angel investing - invested in over 100 companies since 2013.

Digital Currencies - Investments in companies: Filecoin, Shapeshift, and Balance

Oh yeah I have a full time day job as a cloud computing architect

Would love to know how you got started in angel investing?

Started with some FundersClub funds that try to hit 10 to 20 YC companies at once (Wefunder used to do same but has discontinued). Hand picked a few companies. Followed some great syndicates on angel.co

Jason Calacanis' new book ANGEL advice to early angels actually very closely matches what I started doing in 2013.

On paper gains I'm up, but need a few big exits to actually declare success. Can start judging in 2020, since avg exits are in the 7 to 10 yr timeframe.

"Buying index funds - will allow me to retire by 2022."

I understand that the returns of index funds are very low and generally recommended as long-term investments (alternative to saving in the bank).

How much are you investing into index funds to allow you to confidently retire in 5 years time?

Thanks!

http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/01/13/the-shockingly-sim...

I am working on https://bestfoodnearme.com a better way to decide what eat. Its an idea that is scratching my own itch

https://talky.cards, a web interface for https://api.ai.

I'm working on https://oppslist.com, It's an archive of people describing software they want.

Making about $60 MRR.

Looks like an interesting website. How do you source these people and do you connect them to developers for a fee?

I am working on [readup.tips][1]: a service for sharing reading list, and learning Vue.

[1]:http://readup.tips

I am working on a Lead generation product

https://www.leadmine.net

Learning and certifying in SugarCRM

Would love to get your thoughts on SugarCRM as I'm building a CRM system on my own.

Sales

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