That's awesome (though frustrating w.r.t the last tidbit). I always find working on 'hacky' or 'pointless' things often yields the most new knowledge and insigh

That's awesome (though frustrating w.r.t the last tidbit). I always find working on 'hacky' or 'pointless' things often yields the most new knowledge and insight. I'm reminded of Jim Weirich's 'Y Not: Adventures in Functional Programming' talk.