Hacker News Reader

sensecallon Ask HN: What are you working on? (September 2026)

Yeah I looked at Mealie and others but I found the interaction design to be so clunky.

I also didn’t want something to have to maintain a library of ideas, just a way to quickly put a plan together and print it.

sensecallon Ask HN: What are you working on? (September 2026)

This is a great idea.

I'd love some way to have multiple schools (which may not have exactly aligned term dates).

Also - and I'm sure you've considered it - but maybe something which allows for a day or 2 at the start or end of the holiday. I've found this drastically affects prices.

sensecallon Ask HN: What are you working on? (September 2026)

It's wild stuff...

sensecallon Ask HN: What are you working on? (September 2026)

I made a very basic web app to make our family meal planning a bit easier.

We’ve been using it for a few months, so now I’m trying to tidy it up so others can use it too.

https://mealplannertool.com/

sensecallon Show HN: Scroll through all 43252003274489856000 Rubik's Cube states

Wouldn't it be cool to click and then see the quickest solution and it rotates in front of you, or a sequence of moves to solve.

sensecallon Show HN: 18 Words

Someone replied with "survival mode" which is a great way to phrase it.

Maybe a few different modes? How many can you get out of 18, how long can you last (unlimited), and just a chilled relaxed mode.

sensecallon Show HN: 18 Words

I just want to chill... I have plenty of stress in my life already.

sensecallon Show HN: 18 Words

Yep, instead of feeling like a fun puzzle the timer just adds unnecessary pressure and gets me really annoyed.

sensecallon Automating AI Away

I think a big part is the misperception that it’s “easier” and less effort to run stuff through LLM than to design an effective deterministic process.

Would love to know how you’ve managed to counter this as the drive to throw everything at LLMs is driving me insane.

sensecallon Ask HN: What are tools you have made for yourself since the advent of AI?

Amongst lots of little tools, fed up of scribbling down my son’s football (soccer) scores in the Notes app, I cobbled together a little web app instead:

https://football.sensecall.co.uk/

Other parents on the team love it. The live sharing is pretty handy when some aren’t able to watch the game.

sensecallon UK: Two millionth electric car registered as market rebounds strongly

I’m not surprised with fuel at like £1.80/L and electricity as low as 3.5p/kwh

Makes EVs quite appealing.

https://carcosttool.com/ev-vs-ice-breakeven

sensecallon Ask HN: Share your productive usage of OpenClaw

Wondered about doing the same. Don’t suppose you have a repo or anything?

sensecallon Ministry of Justice orders deletion of the UK's largest court reporting database

Yes, predictably…

sensecallon Ministry of Justice orders deletion of the UK's largest court reporting database

Interesting tweet on the topic here: https://xcancel.com/SamjLondon/status/2021084532187775244

> ... the agreement restricts the supply of court data to news agencies and journalists only.

> However, a cursory review of the Courtsdesk website indicates that this same data is also being supplied to other third parties — including members of @InvestigatorsUK — who pay a fee for access.

> Those users could, in turn, deploy the information in live or prospective legal proceedings, something the agreement expressly prohibits.

sensecallon Show HN: Generate Web Interfaces from Data

I was hoping this might be a syntax or very very lightweight markup that could feed LLM generation of UI rather than just roll the dice to see what UI gets generated every time.

sensecallon Ask HN: What are you working on? (February 2026)

A tiny web app for busy weeknight cooking.

You tap in what ingredients you’ve got, add a time limit + a couple of preferences, and it gives you 3 genuinely doable dinner ideas with step-by-step recipes (no “manage your pantry”, no endless scrolling).

https://spud.recipes

It’s early, but people seem to like the “use up what you’ve got” angle. Feedback very welcome.

sensecallon Ask HN: What are you working on? (February 2026)

https://spud.recipes

A tiny web app for busy weeknight cooking.

It’s early, but people seem to like the “use up what you’ve got” angle. Feedback very welcome.

sensecallon Antirender: remove the glossy shine on architectural renderings

* what image gen

sensecallon Antirender: remove the glossy shine on architectural renderings

Would love to know with insane service this uses in the background. Anyone know?

sensecallon Tesla fined for repeatedly failing to help UK police over driving offences

You articulated my frustrations much better than I did.

Given more time, money and determination, I’d love have properly challenged the court system/law around this.

Alas, I didn’t and just got slammed with points and a fine. I’m still bitter about it all these years later.

sensecallon Tesla fined for repeatedly failing to help UK police over driving offences

Perhaps, though I’m fairly confident that given enough thought we could fairly quickly come up with a much better process; and without the risk of convicting individuals because of unsent or undelivered post.

sensecallon Tesla fined for repeatedly failing to help UK police over driving offences

Correct. Obligation is on the individual to prove receipt by the Police (in the event they claim you didn't respond).

sensecallon Tesla fined for repeatedly failing to help UK police over driving offences

It's a ludicrous system – I've experienced it first hand.

If for some reason the letter isn't delivered (or indeed sent), the original offence is scrapped and a new offence issued for Failure to provide information.

Frustratingly, there is no obligation on the Police to provide proof of posting, and per the law, it is deemed received once sent.

Try proving you didn't receive something...

sensecallon Ask HN: What are you working on? (January 2026)

I’m building https://tradeyhq.com/

It’s a super simple job management app for busy tradespeople to keep track of jobs.

The main use case is time pressed tradespeople who do most of their admin in the evenings.

The app makes capturing leads incredibly easy and quick. Lots of scope for extending functionality in the future in various directions.

(Not launched yet, squashing bugs and refining a few bits and pieces)

sensecallon How big a solar battery do I need to store all my home's electricity?

I was trying to work this out the other day and ended up building a thing because I couldn’t find anything similar from the energy companies: https://energybillcalculator.sensecall.co.uk/

sensecallon Show HN: Creao – Vibe coding product for founders

Nice idea!

As a UX designer with some dev chops, I’ve been getting a lot of value from the whole vibe coding thing lately. I can get from idea to solid working product super quickly.

I’ve noticed 2 parts where I get slowed down and I’m sure there’s a market for a product or two, which would fit your idea (I think):

- setting up all the tracking/monitoring/netlify config. So like GA, Search Console, AdWords, netlify hosting etc.

- guiding me through the launch - helping me plan and track how to market and get users onboarded

Would love to chat as I’ve had a bunch of ideas and your product looks like it’s off to a great start. Not sure if you’re hiring?!

sensecallon Ingesting PDFs and why Gemini 2.0 changes everything

Out of interest, did you parse into any sort of defined schema/structure?

sensecallon Ingesting PDFs and why Gemini 2.0 changes everything

This is super interesting.

Would this be suitable for ingesting and parsing wildly variable unstructured data into a structured schema?

sensecallon Fujitsu will not bid for UK.gov business until Post Office inquiry closes

It would make sense to have some sort of review and proportionate “cooling off” period for Government suppliers if they have failed to deliver.

That companies are allowed to continue to bid and deliver projects after failing on previous projects is worrying.