Ask HN: What are your “scratch own itch” projects? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: What are your “scratch own itch” projects?

#31

Post by webprofusion » Sun, Nov 13, 2022, 1:51 PM UTC

It's worth doing! A few projects I've done:

I once needed a database of EV charging locations, but at the time(2011) there were no open databases, so I built https://openchargemap.org, that now serves millions of API queries per month for other apps and services

For another project, I recently wanted to control my guitar amp (a Positive Grid Spark) from my computer instead of using a mobile app, so I built https://soundshed.com which is both a bluetooth web app and an electron app you can install. It now has a few thousand users :)

And finally, another time I had some SSL certificates I needed to manage for another project (for the above mentioned https://openchargemap.org), so I built a GUI to manage and renew certificates on Windows. It's now a commercial app with hundreds of thousands of users and it's my full time job: https://certifytheweb.com

So yeah, worth doing!

Re: Ask HN: What are your “scratch own itch” projects?

#32

Post by hprotagonist » Sun, Nov 13, 2022, 1:52 PM UTC

mg wrote: post #26

hprotagonist wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

ah, so a bit like visidata?

Yes a bit. With a focus on browsing/editing databases.

that sounds great!

Re: Ask HN: What are your “scratch own itch” projects?

#33

Post by pharke » Sun, Nov 13, 2022, 1:53 PM UTC

Currently re-implementing the Focus Sessions feature of the built in Windows clock app. I had been using the Windows version as a quick way to track time spent on a learning goal but found it buggy and lacking some features I wanted (like a pause button!) so I'm rewriting it as an Electron app. It's giving me a chance to write some plain JS for once and I've set a challenge of importing as few front-end libraries as possible (so far only react and immer). I'm excited that I have it at the point where I can dogfood it for tracking the time I spend on developing it.

Re: Ask HN: What are your “scratch own itch” projects?

#34

Post by fm2606 » Sun, Nov 13, 2022, 1:54 PM UTC

I jumped into the Common Lisp rabbit hole and enjoying it. I've completed Touretzky book on CL. I'm now reading Norvig's Paradigms of Artificial Intelligence Programming.

I know enough to start some project which would help in learning the language but haven't pulled the trigger yet. Nothing like stumbling around trying to figure out how to get something to work in a new language to get a deeper understanding.

It's quite an interesting language; completely different from Python, JS and Java that I use.

A side benefit is I've learned emacs well enough to be productive enough to use as a daily text editor.

Re: Ask HN: What are your “scratch own itch” projects?

#35

Post by Witoso » Sun, Nov 13, 2022, 1:55 PM UTC

My scratch was actually kid related. I couldn’t find a simple, quick and ad-free tool for my daughter to learn reading. Hence, I created https://czytanko.org/ to practice with her a few minutes per day (Polish lang only).

Re: Ask HN: What are your “scratch own itch” projects?

#36

Post by Beltiras » Sun, Nov 13, 2022, 1:56 PM UTC

I'm working on a simplified bookkeeping system for my own use as a contractor. Seen a cool way of making a product with it once it's featureful enough. Started as an invoice system.

Re: Ask HN: What are your “scratch own itch” projects?

#37

Post by knubie » Sun, Nov 13, 2022, 1:56 PM UTC

A few years ago I discovered Anki (a spaced repetition app) for helping me learn Japanese. I immediately recognized the power of spaced repetition, but really did not like using Anki (it's pretty clunky and requires a lot of configuration to work right). I started building my own alternative, Mochi [0], which I wanted to kind of be a cross between Anki and Notion. I'm pretty happy with where it's at now and I've been using it almost daily ever since.

[0] https://mochi.cards/

Re: Ask HN: What are your “scratch own itch” projects?

#38

Post by mikesabat » Sun, Nov 13, 2022, 1:58 PM UTC

Kid related backstory: during the pandemic I started recording videos, telling the stories of Trump, the pandemic and other family stories. The idea is that my kids will watch them when they are 25 and see me while I'm young, telling them about current events. (kids are currently 5 & 8)

I'm building a web app to make this easier and also sharing with my parents to record & save the stories from their life.

Re: Ask HN: What are your “scratch own itch” projects?

#39

Post by GnarfGnarf » Sun, Nov 13, 2022, 1:59 PM UTC

    Puzzle solvers: Cryptoquote, Sudoku, Wordle.
    Display a chart that combines MyNetDiary and Fitbit logs.
    Correlate 1M bride & groom birth signs.
    Create election database from phone book.
    Battleship program (hard rules)
    Chart GQ EMF-390 EMR (electro-magnetic radiation) detection logs.
    Log oil furnace thermostat cycles (uses parallel & joystick ports).
    Convert county grave database to HTML pages for Website

Re: Ask HN: What are your “scratch own itch” projects?

#40

Post by The_Colonel » Sun, Nov 13, 2022, 1:59 PM UTC

It's a classic story. I tried to organize my notes/data/knowledge using existing apps, but none of them fit my needs, so I built an app which does fit my needs: https://github.com/zadam/trilium/