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Ask HN: What are you working on (September 2024)?

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Re: Ask HN: What are you working on (September 2024)?

#162
post #75

Getting my historical fiction novel published. I finished writing it a couple of months back. Extremely short plot summary: guy deserts from the Roman XI legion, goes back home only to find that his entire province is about to revolt against the Roman Empire at the height of its power. It's one of the most spectacular feats of collective self-immolation in human history and it had a large effect on human history. I t…

That sounds really worth reading! Please post it on HN when it’s published (or do you have any links / info now?) I know it’s fiction but the way you phrase it makes it sound like this might be inspired by a true revolution, is that the case?

Thanks! It's historical fiction so 90% true :-) The novel is set during the First Jewish–Roman War[0] and I tried as much as possible to adhere to what we know of actual events. There's a good case to be made that the effect it had on Judaism greatly impacted the development of Christianity. Plus it helped crown the Flavian Dynasty. I have just a short blurb and the first chapter here[1]. I'll definitely post more about the book and the process if I manage to get it published. There are quite a few aspiring novelists here so it might be encouraging to them.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Jewish%E2%80%93Roman_War

[1] https://jonyomtov.me/the-deserter

Re: Ask HN: What are you working on (September 2024)?

#163
Building algorithmic trading models. So far results continue to be good with every model outperforming the market on both absolute and risk-adjusted basis since going live.

Since launching https://grizzlybulls.com in January 2022:

Model | Return | Max drawdown

-------------------

S&P 500 (benchmark) | 21.51% | -27.56%

VIX TA Macro MP Extreme | 64.21% | -16.48%

VIX TA Macro Advanced| 59.13% | -19.12%

VIX TA Advanced | 35.20% | -22.96%

VIX Advanced | 33.39% | -23.93%

VIX Basic | 24.29% | -24.23%

TA - Mean Reversion | 22.30% | -19.92%

TA - Trend | 27.07% | -24.98%

This is an unleveraged, apples to apples comparison. These are not high frequency trading models. Most of them only change signal once every 2-4 weeks on average. During long signals, the models are simply long the S&P 500 and during short signals, they go to cash.

One of the pros of this macro swing-trading/hedging style is high tax efficiency, by holding a core ETF long position that never gets sold and then selling S&P 500 futures (ES or MES) of equal value to the ETFs against the long position. This way your account will accumulate unrealized capital gains indefinitely and you'll only pay tax on the net result of successful hedging. The cherry on top is that the S&P 500 futures are section 1256 contracts that are taxed at 60% long term / 40% short term capital gains rates regardless of the duration they are held.

The models use a variety of indicators, many of them custom built. Most important are various VIX metrics (absolute level, VIX futures curve shape/slope, divergences against S&P 500 price, etc), trend-following TA metrics (MACD, EMV, etc), mean-reversion TA metrics (Bollinger Bands, CMO, etc), macroeconomic (unemployment, housing starts, leading composite), and monetary policy (yield curve inversion, equity risk premium, dot plot, etc). They've been backtested very cautiously to avoid overfitting to the best of my ability.

Re: Ask HN: What are you working on (September 2024)?

#164
I am working on https://geobase.app/ which is a platform for geospatial full-stack developers.

We have created workflows that a specific to the geospatial, mapping and GIS industry use cases. This is currently in private beta but going live in a few weeks. It is built on top of supabase's self-hosted stack.

We were recently also featured on motherduck's blog https://motherduck.com/blog/pushing-geo-boundaries-with-moth...

Re: Ask HN: What are you working on (September 2024)?

#165
Hey guys! We're engineers/designers from France, and we've built the Ultimate DIY Battery that you can repair and refill!

- Ride Sustainably with the World's First Repairable Battery

- Refillable in 5 minutes (just buy $150 worth of new cells every 3 years or so, when they're depleted)

- Be Worry-Free thanks to the Fireproof Casing! There's been waaaaaay too many lithium fires!

It's launching as an IndieGogo in one week and there is an offer for early-backers here https://get.gouach.com/1 for a 25% discount on the battery!

Re: Ask HN: What are you working on (September 2024)?

#166
I'm working on an application that I'm writing for myself (no release ambitions for the time being) that focuses on spaced repetition applied to chess.

It's similar to chess puzzles but with a twist: positions and moves are explained, there's a wider variety of exercises (such as excluding all the bad moves explaining why, improving the board position, and many others).

Re: Ask HN: What are you working on (September 2024)?

#168
https://www.chesspuzzlebot.com/

I made a website where you can play chess puzzles against Stockfish.

I had the idea for a website where you can play chess puzzles, but if you make the wrong move, the puzzle turns into a game against Stockfish. This opens the door to either find alternative solutions or fail miserably (at some point you realize you are not following the puzzle any more). I think its a more engaging way to play puzzles!

This is my first online project, feedback is highly appreciated!

Re: Ask HN: What are you working on (September 2024)?

#170

Made my own company that provides services and consultations in drones, robotics, and even cybersecurity. Very slow business at this stage, if someone is in the same field or went through the same stage, any tips are welcome.

do gov work and print money
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