octavore

Shameless plug: I've been working on strudel [0], a CLI that uses a lot of the same ideas in this post and allows you to build/sign/notarize Mac (and iOS) apps without touching Xcode. It has a dry run mode so you can see the actual commands being run, which was important to me to have so there's no mystery about what's happening.

I should blog about more this, but I also went to some effort to add support free iOS provisioning with just an Apple ID (using internal APIs); and creating a nice DMGs for macOS app distribution (reverse engineered .DS_store files for this). And there's also a built-in command to install skills for coding agents, which was fun.

This [1] is an example app I built with it, a simple utility to manage macOS file extension handling.

[0] https://github.com/octavore/strudel

[1] https://github.com/octavore/tots.app

Cool! This looks like go/ links, the internal URL shortener that Google uses and which a lot of other tech companies subsequently adopted (I wrote about it here: http://blog.goatcodes.com/2018/04/18/go-origin)

Full disclaimer: I built goatcodes.com to be a hosted version of go/ links, short links for teams. It serves a similar purpose to Gurn, albeit in a slightly different way. Think bit.ly, but you have to log in before the redirect.

Thanks for the links! I'll check out your side project :)

Using Google's URL shortener, or any other public one, generally means you don't get to choose the link keyword because they share a global namespace.

You wouldn't be able to get goo.gl/team, for instance, but you can with Goat - the namespace is private. This means you can easily create memorable short links like ga.tc/team instead of goo.gl/ql1k23.

Hi HN!

Inspired by the internal URL shorteners that many large tech companies seem to have (commonly known as go links), I wanted to try my hand at building a hosted version of the same so the rest of us can have this organizational superpower too.

goatcodes.com is a private URL shortener for teams. Links you shorten will only work for others on your team. The short domain is https://ga.tc. It's a pretty basic service right now, I'd love feedback on what features you would find useful.

Thanks for looking!

Hi HN! I've spent the last few months building Ketchup on nights and weekends, and I'm finally happy enough with it to share (okay it's never really enough). It's a CMS written in Go and Typescript, mostly written for fun to try to combine the best of those two languages, but also with the following feature set in mind:

  - Easy to install and run
  - APIs for almost everything
  - Built-in admin UI, write in Markdown or with a rich text editor
  - Automatic HTTPS via Let's Encrypt

I'd love to get some feedback on this project and suggestions or ideas (or pull requests!) on what might be useful features to add. Thanks!

I feel your pain, part of the motivation for writing this was that yesterday I wanted to set up a new project, and realized I'd forgotten half the steps. Been thinking that something like https://github.com/aktau/github-release could be helpful for automating the release process, or maybe adding it as a step in a CI workflow.

That's awesome, I didn't know about that. I'll update the post with your tip. Thank you!

Whoops, thanks for the heads up! Should be fixed now.

Do you have examples of a color scheme which would work better, or other suggestions on how we could improve it? I'm thinking the ability to customize color schemes would be a useful feature to add.

Good idea! There's already a way to print out html to the command line, but it should really be the same as what gets rendered in the browser. I've added a Github issue to track. this.

One cool little thing you could add is a javascript widget on the front page, where people could paste in their link to a markdown file, and have it automatically formatted as a Markdress link (or even redirect them to the markdress page).

ps. Thanks for the Pancake.io shoutout!

For what it's worth, Dropbox does have an alternative permissions model where the app is sandboxed into its own folder. I used it recently for a project of mine, and it was really easy to set up, so I highly recommend checking it out.

https://www.dropbox.com/developers/start/core

I hear you about indicating logged-in status. I'll try to put it in by the end of today.

I'm sure you've seen it by now, but generally it takes a moment for the folder to be created, in ~/Dropbox/Apps/Pancake.io

Once you add a file to that folder, it will appear in the Files page (instead of the welcome message). Click on it to view it, and there'll be a link for you to copy too.

SourceKit looks pretty awesome, especially the javascript-based text editor they're using. I had a basic text field set up for small amendments, but this looks like it could be a nice replacement for that.

I wanted to share some information with a friend. Google Docs felt too heavyweight for what I had in mind, since the document was basically a text file, and he only needed read access. I also wanted to be able to update the file, so emailing it was out of the question.

As a result, I built Pancake, which lets me turn text files in my Dropbox account into static webpages, processed using Markdown. It works wherever Dropbox does: I can edit the text file right on my desktop or on my phone (using Nebulous Notes), and the changes are instantly synced to the page.

I've only been at it for about a week and a half, and would love to hear your feedback!

Sample page: http://pancake.io/tp/sus2011 (my (very incomplete) startup school notes from last Saturday)

ps. This is a bit of a repost, since I posted it earlier without having my Dropbox developer account approved for production (but deleted the post as soon as I realized it)

Argh, you're right, I didn't realize that I had to flip the switch. I've just done that, but given it's a Sunday night it might take a while for it to activate. I'll repost when that happens.

I wanted to share a document with a friend, in a view-only sort of way. Google Docs was overkill for what I had in mind, since the document was basically a text file. But I also wanted to be able to update the file so emailing it was out of the question.

So I built Hawk, which lets me turn text files in my Dropbox account into static webpages, processed using Markdown. Even better, I can edit the text file right on my desktop or on my phone (using Nebulous Notes), and the changes are instantly synced to the page.

Would love to hear your feedback!

Sample page: http://www.hawk.io/tp/sus2011 (my (very incomplete) startup school notes from yesterday)

(ps. I'm somewhat ambivalent on the name, alternatives there are welcome too)

Clickable: http://hncomments.com/

Example: http://hncomments.com/2530663

Its simplicity sets it apart from the usual suspects, which is great, although I'm not sure that it's a startup.

Some quick observations:

1. Try input#q:focus { outline: none } to get rid of the browser's focus glow on the search box, it's somewhat distracting.

2. It would be cool to have urls like http://howistheweather.in/10001 or http://howistheweather.in/San-Francisco. Or at least make the existing http://howistheweather.in/#10001 type urls work (by which I mean bookmarkable).

3. Hourly view would be a great addition.

4. Sliding share bar is distracting. Personally I can't think of a reason to share the weather (well, other than to gloat, I suppose), but either have it always visible or take it away.

Octavore allows individuals to create print copies of articles they choose for their personal use. To clarify, the books that are generated are not made available to the public.

For what it's worth, I did hesitate when considering the copyright issues while working on Octavore. In general I believe in respecting copyright laws and IP rights, but in this case I feel the onus is on the user, and decided to err on the side of making something interesting, for now.

In any case, I'll make it clear on the website that I do not condone violating copyright, and provide an email address for publishers to opt out, similar to Instapaper. Thanks for your feedback!

clickable: http://octavore.com

Yeah, it's all pretty sparse right now. There's a bit more information here: http://octavore.com/about

I make a little off of each book that gets sold, although I don't really expect the website to make much, it's really just a fun side project for me.

Granary (granary.heroku.com)

Very much half-baked. Granary is sort of an online Access/Bento webapp. It started off with an emphasis on making data publicly available and editable (Wikipedia for data?), but that's faded into the background somewhat with private databases available.

Probably ideal for small websites/non-technical people who want to make their data available via web interface and API (like a hosted database?). Feel free to signup with a fake email to mess around with it, this is the dev site (and also, the only site).

Some simple examples of what it can do:

* http://granary.heroku.com/public/pj8lF5uM - pictures (of fruit)

* http://granary.heroku.com/public/GKhdmAFt - links (bookmarking)

* http://granary.heroku.com/public/8aHsg1cZ - information (the planets)

* http://granary.heroku.com/public/iiIPmf2H - maps (quasi restaurant reviews)

* http://granary.heroku.com/public/07meNTGa - information (caltrain schedule, partial)

While tacky, this makes me wonder what the market is for custom built cars. You always see these nifty concept cars that never see the light of day. Yachts are already custom built, this would be a sort of... land-yacht, I suppose, occupying the same niche in terms of status signaling toys, while at the same time being more practical.

I think this is a great idea, and it solves a real problem that I've encountered myself. That being said, it feels somewhat incomplete at the moment. There isn't an easy to find out more about the site. For instance, I'd be interested in knowing more about how the service works before signing up for yet another account, e.g. step-by-step would be great to illustrate how easy it is to use.

Also useful would be what the different plans are, if any - the Techcrunch article seemed to indicate a free and paid plan. Some public galleries on the front page would be great too, to help get a sense of the site. One more quick commment is that as I look through an album, from a UX perspective, the controls being icons make it harder for me to quickly scan my possible actions.

I saw pg give a talk a couple of weeks ago at a YC event for Cornell alumni (I'm May '10 and still on campus doing research + my own projects), and asked what he thought the reasons were that Cornell didn't have a larger startup community. The response he gave was that few VCs, if any, are ever going to go up to Cornell, which I think validates your first point. Here there's no prestige associated with starting something, and being a typical status-obsessed Ivy League, it figures that creating a startup doesn't even occur to most people. Contrast this with Stanford, which has produced many successful startups, and where not working at a startup is a conscious decision that people make (or so I've heard).

That being said, another reason for the lack is partly that the hacker culture isn't as visible at Cornell, given its many schools and diverse set of students. I've met people with interesting projects that few, if any, ever catch wind of.

I think moving forward, there is reason for hope. Firstly, Cornell has a large student population, which provides rich soil for fomenting and validating ideas. Next, the CS department is fairly highly ranked, so one hopes that there is a good amount of talent out there. Finally, there have been some startups founded by Cornellians in recent years, both while in school (e.g. Wiggio) and after (Opzi, YC funded, I think). You have to look a bit harder, but the signs are there. A friend of mine developed jitouch, a multitouch extension for the mac in his free time, and is now working on an ios game.

People are interested. Especially with the Gates building coming up in a few years and serving as a nexus for all things computer, the time is near when all the disparate threads will be woven together. The seeds are already being planted. I met a sophomore at the talk I alluded to above who's excited about bringing a startup weekend type event to campus this year. Clubs also help, and I think to be useful to hackers, you want to provide at least:

1. Opportunities to network to find co-founders - i.e. startup weekend, demo day, meetings/weekly brunch (or other meal)

2. Opportunities to share and develop ideas - i.e. startup weekend, demo day, hosting resources (maybe)

3. Guidance on what comes after - speakers (though it is admittedly hard to convince people to come up to Ithaca), maybe networking with some angel investors once in a while, perhaps curate a biweekly/monthly newsletter of startup related news (for visibility).

The best is yet to be. Expect great things.