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

I'm working on my self-host TTS cli application for turning articles into spoken audio which I can stream from my PC to mobile device when I'm out and about.

It's called Vocast: https://github.com/cnrmurphy/vocast

Thinking about adding some things like queuing RSS feed items to be converted to audio and a feature for being able to do the conversion from my phone.

Still working on stelae.eu (private WP editor -> static deploy: more secure, faster, cheaper). Its pretty solid already, only working on minor things. The main issue is that I think that I have a real cool product (maybe a bit boring, but in a good way) with good values (anti lock-in, privacy respecting, EU centric, fair pricing, no VC money -> sustainable business approach) but I can't reach the people that would love to use it. So thats what I'm really working on: trying to be more visible.

I'm writing an extension to the mkv file specification to embed simple scripts that would allow someone to do choose-your-own-adventure style videos directly in the file themselves without outside assets. I'm also making modifications to VLC and mpv so they can play these directly. I've had some success already, but I've discovered a few features of existing videos like Bandersnatch that I've had to go back and add into the specification.

On top of that, it's lead me down the rabbit hole of a 1995 (limited) theatrical movie called Mr. Payback, which may have only ever existed on 50 sets of laserdiscs distributed to those theaters. I'm hoping to track down a copy of it... if anyone had any clues on that one, I'd love to hear them. I'd purchase a Domesday Dupe device and dump it. But it may be a genuine lost movie.

My wife and I are working on a math/science/CS-inspired jewelry business.

We try to create pieces that stand on their own aesthetically but have a hidden meaning. We currently have two styles: lambda calculus based pieces (we depict the lambda/Tromp diagram) where we have Y-Combinator earrings (well, strictly speaking they are one beta reduction away from Y-combinator. Aesthetic oblige) and a pendant depicting a lambda expression computing Graham's number. The other style is quantum computing circuits, based on quantum computing research my brother (a physics professor) is doing: a pendant that is actually a non-local controlled-NOT gate.

I wrote a tiny DSL to describe the jewelry pieces, and an interpreter to produce CAD files. We then either 3D print them or have them produced by lost-wax.

We are 200% out of our comfort zone (and love it): I know nothing of front end dev, payments, or anything like that. The diamond district in New York is a neighborhood we normally actively avoid, but if you are forced to go there it is fascinating (people examining diamonds on the corner of the street, others in fur coats in summer straight out of a mafia movie...), and especial marketing. Jewelry is a completely saturated business (luckily we are not doing this to pay the rent); we think we have a unique angle, but we are still figuring out the target audience (if there is one).

Store: https://studio-galois.com/

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