3 ms·

Ask HN: What projects are you proud of and why?

6 points by remjo 7y ago

Sometimes I look back to small projets I did, and it feels like time well spent, and that in turn motivates me to try new projets. How do you capitalize on your experiences?

jefflombardjr 7y ago
As someone who is liable to fall into gumption traps[1] and try to make stuff perfect, I decided to change my perspective and just start shipping code. Here is one of the resulting projects: https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=1465345642&mt=8 https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftw... It's simple, has a terrible ui, and I'm a little embarrassed by it. But it's launched. More importantly I had fun doing it, and had fun documenting my process and thoughts along the way.[2] I'm definitely using this as my approach for solo projects from now on. Now I am deciding whether to make improvements or go on to the next idea. [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gumption_trap https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gumption_trap [2]https://medium.com/@JeffLombardJr/how-to-launch-an-app-in-a-week-6c2b31762b2d?source=friends_link&sk=955219ac13768fcd03a6a249b3bf4a59 https://medium.com/@JeffLombardJr/how-to-launch-an-app-in-a-...
- remjo 7y ago
  thanks for the input! I didn't knew the gumption traps term, nice to have a word for it. How did you choose when to ship? What it a time limit -one week and it's done no matter what-, or did you lower your expectations and went ahead as soon as you had the basics working?
thehoomanist 7y ago
I worked for 10 years in TV and radio. I wrote, hosted, produced. I never once felt as free and proud as when I started creating my own show and mailing list, The Hoomanist. I was able to break free from the pressure of making something profitable, and just played at the top of my skills to make something meaningful. I record and edit long profile interviews with people I admire, take time to talk about what drives them in life, create the graphics, host my own Ghost website. I backup all the uncompressed interviews on two remote servers and on Millenniata discs. On top of that, every week I select 6 thoughtful links to share with the mailing list. I make sure it’s all stuff that ignites critical thinking and doesn’t expire like the news of the day. I do my best to avoid any cynicism. I talk to everyone and try to learn to listen better. A CEO, a director of photography from Pixar, a porn star. This is the preface to the project and a list of guests is easy to find if you are interested. https://hooman.ist/preface https://hooman.ist/preface
amirouche 7y ago
The project I the most proud of is hoply [0] because it is a long running project. I mean by that that I started it several years ago and it is still going on. There is not much code but every line of it I meant it. There is still no real community around it but I am confident it is in the correct direction. I had projects with much more success... [0] https://github.com/amirouche/hoply/ https://github.com/amirouche/hoply/
p0d 7y ago
I wouldn’t be bold enough to call myself a programmer but I have created a few websites and apps which I could have bought a house from the proceeds. I’m not boasting, just trying to give a sense of scale. In the past Some programmers have laughed at the approaches and the ‘framework’ I use. So to answer your question experience has taught me there are some who do while there are many who talk.

6 points by remjo 7y ago

Sometimes I look back to small projets I did, and it feels like time well spent, and that in turn motivates me to try new projets. How do you capitalize on your experiences?

jefflombardjr 7y ago

As someone who is liable to fall into gumption traps[1] and try to make stuff perfect, I decided to change my perspective and just start shipping code. Here is one of the resulting projects: https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=1465345642&mt=8 https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftw... It's simple, has a terrible ui, and I'm a little embarrassed by it. But it's launched. More importantly I had fun doing it, and had fun documenting my process and thoughts along the way.[2] I'm definitely using this as my approach for solo projects from now on. Now I am deciding whether to make improvements or go on to the next idea. [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gumption_trap https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gumption_trap [2]https://medium.com/@JeffLombardJr/how-to-launch-an-app-in-a-week-6c2b31762b2d?source=friends_link&sk=955219ac13768fcd03a6a249b3bf4a59 https://medium.com/@JeffLombardJr/how-to-launch-an-app-in-a-...

remjo 7y ago
thanks for the input! I didn't knew the gumption traps term, nice to have a word for it. How did you choose when to ship? What it a time limit -one week and it's done no matter what-, or did you lower your expectations and went ahead as soon as you had the basics working?

thehoomanist 7y ago

I worked for 10 years in TV and radio. I wrote, hosted, produced. I never once felt as free and proud as when I started creating my own show and mailing list, The Hoomanist. I was able to break free from the pressure of making something profitable, and just played at the top of my skills to make something meaningful. I record and edit long profile interviews with people I admire, take time to talk about what drives them in life, create the graphics, host my own Ghost website. I backup all the uncompressed interviews on two remote servers and on Millenniata discs. On top of that, every week I select 6 thoughtful links to share with the mailing list. I make sure it’s all stuff that ignites critical thinking and doesn’t expire like the news of the day. I do my best to avoid any cynicism. I talk to everyone and try to learn to listen better. A CEO, a director of photography from Pixar, a porn star. This is the preface to the project and a list of guests is easy to find if you are interested. https://hooman.ist/preface https://hooman.ist/preface

amirouche 7y ago

The project I the most proud of is hoply [0] because it is a long running project. I mean by that that I started it several years ago and it is still going on. There is not much code but every line of it I meant it. There is still no real community around it but I am confident it is in the correct direction. I had projects with much more success... [0] https://github.com/amirouche/hoply/ https://github.com/amirouche/hoply/

p0d 7y ago

I wouldn’t be bold enough to call myself a programmer but I have created a few websites and apps which I could have bought a house from the proceeds. I’m not boasting, just trying to give a sense of scale. In the past Some programmers have laughed at the approaches and the ‘framework’ I use. So to answer your question experience has taught me there are some who do while there are many who talk.