Posted by david927 3/30/2025
Ask HN: What are you working on? (March 2025)
HN is probably not the target audience for this, but I've become really obsessed about solving my own problem of building apps, but struggling to market them. There are very few places online that welcome you to post links, enable you to post a link quickly, and drive targeted traffic at reasonable cost.
So I'm trying to bootstrap a new ad network on Link In Bio platforms that offers this trifecta (welcoming, quick, cost effective).
JavaScript works, scrolling - but layout is still being figured out! Also missing are form controls, etc etc.
It's meant to just be text (no images, etc) and to work in your terminal. It's NOT meant to alter/condense the layout to something like "reader mode" - just to be a faithful "GUI -> TUI" rendering in the terminal.
Like Lynx, but upgraded for the modern web. So maybe I'll call it Jaguar, but probably not! The idea is that other options like Brow.sh may be overcomplicated, hard to maintain, focused on a kind of graphical fidelity. Whereas this is more BBS style text only, but still usable. Minimum viable text, so to speak.
Leave your email if you want to know when it's ready to try out: https://tally.so/r/wbzYzo
I made a v1 about 5 years ago just for my daughter because I didn’t like any of the apps available. They were just games with a sprinkling of learning on top. She’d spend hours on there and learn F all except how to be addicted to dopamine.
So I made something very clean and very simple that we’d do together for 3 minutes a day. She learned to read really fast!
But… then I forgot all about it for 4 years, only remembering it when my second daughter needed to learn to read. She’s 3 and I taught her the first 26 sounds already.
At this point I wondered if it’d be good for other people so I contacted a phonics expert and they liked it too, so we spent the last 6 months making it into a proper app.
https://apps.apple.com/app/the-phonics-app/id6742649576
It’s going well so far. Lots of lovely messages from parents! If you have a 3-6 y old please let me know what you think of it!
I think a better smart amplifier could be a good product -- and then people can bring their own speakers. Or you can make great wireless speakers and then people can bring their own amplifier. But the moment the speakers and amp become an 'integrated solution' I hear the e-waste bells toll in the distance.
People have been burned by sonos and don't expect their framework laptop to last more than a couple of years. Meanwhile my 25 year old dumb speakers are still going strong.
There are plenty of streaming audio amp solutions currently on the market - Wiim builds a nice one. But some of us don't want to run speaker wires through the walls for a home theater.
I've given a lot of thought to building a system that will work without a dedicated internet connection and this system won't require a central server to check-in to. I too have 25+ year old speakers that work just fine (Paradigm Titan's from 1998) and that's partly my inspiration. I wanted more sound from them but there's no way to upgrade traditional passive speakers. I don't want these speakers to be bricked if my company fails. They also don't need an app to work. The TV can control it through the eARC connection.
I appreciate your thoughts!
It's turn-based two-player game sorta like chess, but the pieces take up multiple spaces.
App Store: https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/kingbit/id1565583669
The idea is the app should be very easy to submit entries (entries can be small) as a way to get thoughts and emotions out of your head.
I want to focus on an interesting search functionality that aggregates entires into a single document about similar subjects.
At the same time I am exploring the boundary of my ability to think deeper
Thus writing a monthly newsletter that will span for 10 years. Right now it has a open rate over 70%
https://connectingdotsessay.substack.com/
Here are the essays
## Eight Grade syndrome - why grand narrative vision is killing your startup
If you think crafting a grand narratives of your idea is the crucial first step of building a startup, this essay is for you.
## Explorer Mindset - In a world where algorithms decide what we see, how can we rediscover the joy of unexpected discoveries?
If you feel trapped in a narrow view point, surrounded by the veil, and lack of creation muse, this article is for you.
## Why I show up everyday. The peddle, podium, creators and us.
If you are interested in why I started this newsletter and what I learned from it so far, this essay is for you.
Any feedback is appreciated!
I'd love to make this a free/break-even service at some point!
I think it's interesting to think about how much something like that might affect the career of an athlete, especially early in their career or someone who is on the margin of getting into professional sports. Would choosing to play at a university that has a lot of natural handicaps be the difference between making it into pro sports? I wonder.
Anyway, I ended up making a page showing how much baseball teams in MLB have to travel this season: https://calcubest.com/sports/mlb2025 which I think does an OK job of highlighting how much less time athletes playing on central division teams have to travel.