4 ms·

Show HN: My Experimental "Dev Blog" For A Pet Project

61 points by latitude 14y ago

latitude 14y ago
I have this smaller project that I am pouring some of my free time in, and I am trying different options for motivating myself to finish it. This is the latest take on it - try and post what I've done last in a form of a screenshot and a commentary that explains the context in some depth. It's not quite blogging, because I am not tracking who reads this and so I can't obsess over the readership size, the likes and the follows. It seems to be working and this intentional lack of a feedback appears to be the key. Can anyone relate to this?
- hfsktr 14y ago
  I believe my website will be something similar. Not quite a blog but more like a tech journal of projects or whatever with tutorials/screenshots. Something I can look back and say 'yeah I know how to do this and I understand what is happening to explain it (with screens etc)." Even if nobody ever reads any of it I figure I will get better at writing and communicating, which is always a plus. My biggest issue is being so green in the personal project department. Most of the 'problems' I want solved are done already.
  - latitude 14y ago
    Journal is a good word. Though I noticed that it's less of "how did I do it" for me and more of "look how much has already been done, so just few more pushes..." kind of benefit.
mathewsanders 14y ago
I can't offer any useful tips on motivating yourself for a personal project, but I have to say that your attention to detail on visual design is amazing!
StavrosK 14y ago
I love this idea, just a few screenshots with an explanatory caption. Very easy to post and interesting to read. Did you design the theme yourself? I was going to ask how, but I noticed it's only a patterned background and images. Still, very beautifully minimal.
- latitude 14y ago
  Yeah, it's mine. Take a look at my personal site if you liked this one (link's in the profile). The "how" is just few years of messing with the visual design as a hobby. The good old trial and error :)
csense 14y ago
It's been years since I used Windows, but these days if I wanted fast incremental backup in Windows, I'd just use LVM or BTRFS mounted in a Linux VM and shared over Samba.
- venus 14y ago
  I don't think you could have written a comment that more effectively demonstrated your non-inclusion in the target market if you tried ...
solox3 14y ago
You know what I like best on that page? Your "dp pd bq" animation. The smallest things blow my mind.
- apathetic 14y ago
  What's `dp pd bq`?
  - jameswyse 14y ago
    It's the small animation on the button in the very top image (click the 'animated' link below it) Simple but fun, nice!
- latitude 14y ago
  I wish I could claim it as my invention, but I saw it in a collection of loading indicators on zanstra.com. Unfortunately the site is now gone, so I don't even know guy's name. By the way, here it is in JS - http://codepen.io/anon/pen/pijdg http://codepen.io/anon/pen/pijdg
sac2171 14y ago
Slightly silly question, but can anyone tell me what font he uses on the first couple of code screenshots? Something about them look astoundingly clear, and I can't figure out what it is about them. (I wish my code looked like that)
- Gigablah 14y ago
  It's the Dina font [1]. Great programming font for Windows, I use it myself. [1]: http://www.donationcoder.com/Software/Jibz/Dina/ http://www.donationcoder.com/Software/Jibz/Dina/
  - latitude 14y ago
    Yep, it's Dina. Also note the website it is hosted on - DonationCoder. Arguably, this is one of the nicest communities that revolves around software and development. I can't compliment it enough, got a ton of useful feedback there, always in a friendly and respectful manner. Not too much unlike the HN actually.
songgao 14y ago
I'm not in need of a backup service for windows, but I really, really, love the UI. Great job!
a9entroy 14y ago
In the screenshot of the code editor, the project is named "bwckup"
- latitude 14y ago
  w = vv = v2 and it's one symbol shorter. What's not to like?
rossy 14y ago
I really love seeing innovation and attention to detail in native Windows API code like this. Storing the 64-bit executable inside the 32-bit executable is a great idea for the reasons you stated. Also it's so rare to see different icons for the different DPI settings in Windows.
josephagoss 14y ago
I'm kind of amused by people commenting on the project itself rather than the dev blog idea. Anyway, I really like this and have tried a similar system in evernote. Except yours looks really nice and mine is really cheap looking. Finding a mechanism that's helps you continue working on a project is a important thing for some people. (myself included at the moment.)

61 points by latitude 14y ago

I have this smaller project that I am pouring some of my free time in, and I am trying different options for motivating myself to finish it. This is the latest take on it - try and post what I've done last in a form of a screenshot and a commentary that explains the context in some depth. It's not quite blogging, because I am not tracking who reads this and so I can't obsess over the readership size, the likes and the follows. It seems to be working and this intentional lack of a feedback appears to be the key. Can anyone relate to this?

hfsktr 14y ago
I believe my website will be something similar. Not quite a blog but more like a tech journal of projects or whatever with tutorials/screenshots. Something I can look back and say 'yeah I know how to do this and I understand what is happening to explain it (with screens etc)." Even if nobody ever reads any of it I figure I will get better at writing and communicating, which is always a plus. My biggest issue is being so green in the personal project department. Most of the 'problems' I want solved are done already.
- latitude 14y ago
  Journal is a good word. Though I noticed that it's less of "how did I do it" for me and more of "look how much has already been done, so just few more pushes..." kind of benefit.

mathewsanders 14y ago

I can't offer any useful tips on motivating yourself for a personal project, but I have to say that your attention to detail on visual design is amazing!

StavrosK 14y ago

I love this idea, just a few screenshots with an explanatory caption. Very easy to post and interesting to read. Did you design the theme yourself? I was going to ask how, but I noticed it's only a patterned background and images. Still, very beautifully minimal.

latitude 14y ago
Yeah, it's mine. Take a look at my personal site if you liked this one (link's in the profile). The "how" is just few years of messing with the visual design as a hobby. The good old trial and error :)

csense 14y ago

It's been years since I used Windows, but these days if I wanted fast incremental backup in Windows, I'd just use LVM or BTRFS mounted in a Linux VM and shared over Samba.

venus 14y ago
I don't think you could have written a comment that more effectively demonstrated your non-inclusion in the target market if you tried ...

solox3 14y ago

You know what I like best on that page? Your "dp pd bq" animation. The smallest things blow my mind.

apathetic 14y ago
What's `dp pd bq`?
- jameswyse 14y ago
  It's the small animation on the button in the very top image (click the 'animated' link below it) Simple but fun, nice!
latitude 14y ago
I wish I could claim it as my invention, but I saw it in a collection of loading indicators on zanstra.com. Unfortunately the site is now gone, so I don't even know guy's name. By the way, here it is in JS - http://codepen.io/anon/pen/pijdg http://codepen.io/anon/pen/pijdg

sac2171 14y ago

Slightly silly question, but can anyone tell me what font he uses on the first couple of code screenshots? Something about them look astoundingly clear, and I can't figure out what it is about them. (I wish my code looked like that)

Gigablah 14y ago
It's the Dina font [1]. Great programming font for Windows, I use it myself. [1]: http://www.donationcoder.com/Software/Jibz/Dina/ http://www.donationcoder.com/Software/Jibz/Dina/
- latitude 14y ago
  Yep, it's Dina. Also note the website it is hosted on - DonationCoder. Arguably, this is one of the nicest communities that revolves around software and development. I can't compliment it enough, got a ton of useful feedback there, always in a friendly and respectful manner. Not too much unlike the HN actually.

songgao 14y ago

I'm not in need of a backup service for windows, but I really, really, love the UI. Great job!

a9entroy 14y ago

In the screenshot of the code editor, the project is named "bwckup"

latitude 14y ago
w = vv = v2 and it's one symbol shorter. What's not to like?

rossy 14y ago

I really love seeing innovation and attention to detail in native Windows API code like this. Storing the 64-bit executable inside the 32-bit executable is a great idea for the reasons you stated. Also it's so rare to see different icons for the different DPI settings in Windows.

josephagoss 14y ago

I'm kind of amused by people commenting on the project itself rather than the dev blog idea. Anyway, I really like this and have tried a similar system in evernote. Except yours looks really nice and mine is really cheap looking. Finding a mechanism that's helps you continue working on a project is a important thing for some people. (myself included at the moment.)