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

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821–830 of 1001 posts

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

#821
I’ve been working on a free language learning app that uses a local AI model to translate words and sentences. You can read sentences, short stories, or watch YouTube videos with translatable captions. It mostly follows the principles of the comprehensible input theory. Think of it like LingQ, but free and with any language combination.

The main goal is for the app to run entirely on the client side and stay completely free.

Personally, I can’t stand Anki or Duolingo—I’d rather read actual sentences that are fine-tuned to my level.

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

#822
post #309

I invented a programming language where you use Unicode box-drawing characters to draw a structure of boxes and lines: ╓───╖ ║ ! ║ ╙─┬─╜ ┌───╖ ╔═══╗ ┌─────┴─────┤ > ╟──╢ 2 ║ │ ╘═╤═╝ ╚═══╝ ╔════╗ ┌───╖ │ │ ║ −1 ╟──┤ + ╟─┴─┐ │ ╚════╝ ╘═╤═╝ │ │ ┌─┴─╖ │ ╔═══╗ │ │ ! ║ │ ║ 1 ║ │ ╘═╤═╝ │ ╚═╤═╝ │ │ ┌─┴─╖ ┌─┴─╖ │ │ │ × ╟──┤ ? ╟──┘ │ ╘═╤═╝ ╘═╤═╝ └─────┘ │ The language is called Funciton (pronounced: /ˈfʌŋkɪtɒn/) and the above…

Videos are actually quite good. Great job!

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

#823
post #206

I'm still plugging away on Arbite Robotics (arbite.io). Working on lowish level hardware and software for high performance robots.

Very cool. Can you speak a little about how your products are differentiated from other similar ones?

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

#824
post #516

In my 50k population town in Minnesota, I notice a lot of headlights, taillights, and turn signals are out. Our roads (outside of the Twin Cities) are often bumpy which causes vibration in the vehicles, leading to many bulbs failing. I drive a 21 year old Saab, and in my 2 years of owning it, I have replaced every single bulb in the exterior of the vehicle except a turn signal or two. I decided to create a mobile ser…

I find it interesting because this seems to be information asymmetry - and there is nothing wrong with that. AutoZone, O'Reilly, Advance advertise that they do things like replace batteries, change light bulbs, add washer fluid, wiper blades. It's arguably imperative for their brand that they offer (and advertise) these store services when compared to Amazon or Walmart (without a car center). It's even clearer when t…

Contextually; yes, I have relatives that ask me to get their battery changed at Autozone, even though Autozone will do it for free -- and relatives who don't know that Autozone sells (and will often perform) a refrigerant top off if your AC isn't cold.

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

#825
I'm working on robots. In the long run I'm interested in dexterous manipulation for industrial or commercial tasks (e.g., assembly of products) but given the big $$$ already deployed in this space, am wondering if I can find a simpler (and faster to build!) application.

Playing with 6-axis arms but also built RoBart for fun, controlled by Claude. Would love to connect with folks to ideate on the concept of a very cheap autonomous robot (maybe with some very limited manipulation ability for e.g. opening doors). I can think of an application in the health care space already.

Footage at my web site (which badly needs a redesign lol): http://trzy.org

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

#826

A nodal real-time video processing tool : put together pre-made "processing boxes" to generate interactive video. It runs on pretty much anything, uses a plugin architecture. Say, plug a camera, and it will blend two videos streams using a silhouette detected on the camera, with various effects. It's very, very early, pre-alpha stuff, but it already was used for a demo by a customer. GitHub pestacle, be warned, it's…

Will it be something like TouchDesigner[1] ? I never used TD myself, but I follow a lot of creative types who do for making music visualizations, art installations, etc.

I can't find it on Github though, maybe repo is private ?

[1] https://derivative.ca/

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

#827
I'm building an online forms-as-a-service for static websites. I decided recently to revive my personal static site on netlify, where I share out with friends and family my recipes and movie recommendations. I wanted a simple "contact me" form, and decided to scratch my own itch with this service, and build out the server underpinnings so I can iteratively solve more problems static sites may have.

In building out my cheap CI/CD process I wrote a simple web hook utility, using pure python and base libraries, and called it Duct-Tape-Hook: https://github.com/nullfocus/duct-tape-hook/

If this is at all useful or interesting, drop me a line!

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

#829
post #516

In my 50k population town in Minnesota, I notice a lot of headlights, taillights, and turn signals are out. Our roads (outside of the Twin Cities) are often bumpy which causes vibration in the vehicles, leading to many bulbs failing. I drive a 21 year old Saab, and in my 2 years of owning it, I have replaced every single bulb in the exterior of the vehicle except a turn signal or two. I decided to create a mobile ser…

Lots of cars make it easy to change out bulbs. But some cars are a massive pain to change certain bulbs, and/or require special tools. Do you exclude them? Or upcharge them? (E.g. the left headlight bulb on a Subaru Outback is an absolute nightmare.) Unless you are doing this purely as a public service, $10 seems VERY low. Many independent mechanics in my area charge a minimum of 1 hour of work for anything they do,…

I have all the tools to replace headlight and taillight housing and bulbs for probably most vehicles including semis.

For my Saab's headlight bulb replacements, I have to remove my front bumper and then the headlight housing unit itself, just to replace turn signal and headlight bulb. I am fairly mechanically advanced.

It's not quite just $10, it's $10 more than a single bulb would cost you at your local parts store. If you lookup how much a headlight bulb is these days, it's about $20. My service will be $30 flat for bulb replacements in my area with a small mileage fee for out-of-towners.

The great part about Minnesota, is most of us hate the cold. I however do not. Many people get lazy and will Doordash or find other convenient ways to have things delivered. Not many people want to change bulbs in the cold or bring to a mechanic to be over-charged. What my population is looking for is a service exactly like I am providing.

Again, the pricing of $30 per service is perfectly sustainable for me and I have no issues replacing most parts in vehicles, lights are a walk in the park for me.

*Will correct typos later, at work ATM.

What I really care about, is moving the world forward. This is a service that the area I am in, is lacking. I don't need to make excessive profit, I just need sustainable profit and I am happy to provide this service as it's well within my skills.

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

#830
post #715

I've been tinkering with my own keyboard layout: https://ladsko.github.io/hexed/ It's hexagonal, compact and optimized for German and English thanks to noted ( https://dariogoetz.github.io/noted-layout/ ) Right now I'm testing key shapes and sizes and the manufacturing of key caps. I thought I needed a resin printer for best results but FDM printed caps with a blob of epoxy resin on top works surprisingly well. There…

It looks awesome. Like a prop from a sci-fi movie!
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