New systems under way... »

In my extremely limited free time I've been working quite hard to get a new supermug.com system put together. It's still a ways away from being ready for real users and leagues, but little by little it is starting to come together and I'm anxious to demo it in detail to a good friend, and fellow fantasy football fanatic, that will be visiting me next week.

As part of getting back into offering supermug.com fantasy football leagues I'll need statistics. That along with the fact that I still get questions about Statsfeed services and prices every few weeks from random people has convinced me to go ahead and start offering statsfeed once again as well.

Of course there are a large number of updates that I need/want to do to the statsfeed system, including scrubbing much of the historical statistics and moving from a Microsoft SQL server database to either a PostgreSQL database or a cloud solution like SimpleDB (moving to SimpleDB makes the most sense to fall in line with the book I'm also working on, but because of the high volume of the service and the costs associated with SimpleDB - I will probably just go with PostgreSQL. It's just too hard to beat free.)

Once I've got the core supermug system built, and the new statsfeed system in place, I figure I might as well go ahead and round out the fantasy offerings by finishing up my conversion and cleanup work on draftwizard as well (at least the basic features and content for this season).

Once I've got those projects more or less out of the way, I'm going to dig back into herobrawl and implement an actual plot...and after that I just might finally get around to developing my cointhief idea.

At least all of that is my master plan heading into the summer (oh not to mention that I want to be done writing all the first drafts of chapters for the SimpleDB book by July as well)...but we'll see what other projects or ideas pop up between here and there and how focus and productive I can actually stay!

Some things I've been thinking about lately... »

If you were ever a regular reader of my blog, and lately you've been wondering to yourself (or out loud for that matter) what ever happened to my blog, well today you are in luck...because I'm finally getting around to posting again, and I'll do my best to catch you up quickly on a handful of things that have been keeping me busy as well as a handful of things that I'm planning on doing to continue to keep me busy throughout the summer!

So first let me recap a little bit...the last time I posted with any sort of frequency I was rambling on about getting focus and finishing up a few small projects, namely fubnub, toptenify, and momentum...

1. I did in fact finish out a new version of fubnub that includes a new API, a new design, and is now 100% perl based in both the front end and back end...however, I still haven't released it to the general public (ie. I haven't replaced the public facing www.fubnub.com with the new site yet. Mostly just because I haven't done enough testing on the new stuff myself yet to feel comfortable with releasing it, but also a little just because I'm not sure it's really to the final state I want to release it in (once the API is out and avaiable, I'll have a harder time making drastic changes to it if I want/need)

2. toptenify, that drop-dead simple top ten list site that I estimated would take me a day or two to throw together...well I still haven't done too much with it...I got the basic structure set up, and I pinged Jason (the guy with the idea in the first place) to play with the tiny bit I had put together...he found a number of holes and bugs (even in the limited dev. stage I have things in)...but he also was able to get a better feel for the workflow and so he sent me some updated details on how to fix all that stuff up...and I haven't had a chance to go back and make any more happen with it just yet.

3. Probably most disappointing of all three of my 'focus' projects right now has been momentum...for the most part we still haven't gotten beyond the basic proof of concept stage...and in the last week or two a couple of other companies have hit the press with 'real time content' search...I think our core idea is still a bit different than what either of those companies are doing so far, but a large part of our system's 'wow' factor was based on the same concepts they cashed in on already (so there goes our initial 'wow' factor)...it's not a project killing thing, but it can be a bit draining for a bit because we now know that it will be much harder to get attention when we are finally ready with something to show the world...

So anyway, with all the lack of progress on this stuff and no posts, you might be wondering just what the heck I actually am spending all my time on then? Well the good news is lots-o-stuff as usual!

1. I'm 98% done with version one of an API for reviews.com (the day job)...and while it's nothing ground breaking, it has been a fairly large project for me the past few weeks/months and I'm excited to be getting it out the door soon and letting other people start to kick the tires a bit...but even more exciting about it is that if it works out as I hope/plan, it's the first step in rewriting the front-facing reviews.com site as well...

2. I finally got started on writing a new (and I think much cleaner) version of the primary system I work on for R.R. Bowker...I've been involved in various roles with Bowker for a little over a year now (first as a consultant, then a full time employee, and now back to a consultant for the past 6+ months)...and throughout that time I've really only been working on one main system. Worse, it's only got about 10-20 features so far...none of which are rocket-science...but because it has to play nicely with historical systems, get things approved through a series of political debates, and is all duct-taped together through a highly abstracted, non-open, obscure CMS...it seems to take forever for anything to actually get done and working (especially working correctly)! So, finally getting to clean up at least one big part of the system is a bit freeing to my developer side...

3. I pitched Apress on writing a new book about Amazon's SimpleDB web service...and they approved the pitch...since I'm always over-committed (and know this about myself), I immediately pulled fellow NY developer guru Tyler Frieling into the project with me...we are still behind, but so far we have submitted three chapters and I have another two almost ready for submission as well...my hope/plan is to be done with the initial chapter versions by mid July, but we've got a lot of writing to do to meet that actual deadline. Related to the project I also grabbed the domain simpledb.info, got my friend Pat to do a sleek design for me, and threw up a version of the blog code I use to run perlquiz.com (another blog I haven't posted to in months! *sigh*)...the plan is to blog on a regular basis about simpleDB once we get a little bit more of the book complete (and of course promote the book via the blog when it's finally in print)...we'll see how it goes.

4. I've been bouncing around pulling Draftwizard.com and Supermug.com off the edge of the dead-cliff with the help of a few friends...but so far most of my efforts to get people really involved in either have faded just as quickly as they have come up...but that hasn't stopped me from doing what I can on each project anyway. Most recently I've been really pushing myself to throw in a few hours here and there to rebuilding supermug.com as a clean and simple league management system (built from the ground up this time, using only my experience and knowledge and no code from it's previous iterations)...I plan to run at least one or two leagues through the system this year, and beyond that we'll see how much it feels worth promoting/pushing...

Beyond all of that stuff, I've also been meeting with a lot of new people and hearing about a lot of new ideas (keeping myself open to the possibility of founding a new start-up with a team - if I can find the right team, or the right set of ideas to get behind)...so far not too concrete has come from any of these meetings, but I have been meeting some really great people, learning about some really interesting ideas, and making a lot more business contacts than I have in my previous 8+ years in NY (amazing how easy it is to hide inside your code with your head down as a developer...but also amazing how easy it is to get out there and make some actual contact and start making things actually happen for once)...

Anyway - that's the whirlwind tour of my past few months of work-related ramblings (don't forget on top of all this I try to spend as much time as possible with the wife and kids doing fun family stuff -- the oldest just started soccer a couple weeks ago and the youngest is going to music classes now so weekends are also always jam filled with fun family events and activities)...

If I find the time and energy in the next few days I'll try to throw together some rambling thoughts on where I want to go next with a handful of my pet projects (ie. I'll try to break down my thinking on supermug, draftwizard, statsfeed, herobrawl, simpledb, perlquiz, halfbite, jivegass, and the slew of other little personal projects I hack on in my spare minutes here and there)...

Anyone looking for work? »

I don't know why but in the last couple of days a number of people I know are suddenly looking to hire developer talent in and around New York.

Each of the companies/people are doing very exciting things in their own areas of interest...and so I figured I would do a quick post about each.

First up is of course Gilt.com which I mentioned yesterday...in case you don't already know, Gilt.com is a member's only e-commerce site for fashion...they are constantly running specials, sales, and deep discounts on top designer items.

Since I just mentioned Gilt yesterday I won't say too much more about them, but rumor has it they are looking for a ton of different skill sets right now...so you should def. check them out.

Next up is path101.com which I've also talked about from time to time around here...what path101.com is doing is basically helping people figure out what they want to do with their lives (what career they should focus on based on their past experiences and what similar people are doing)...they've got all kinds of great ideas and plans lined up and they only recently launched so it's still very early stages.

If you're a Python developer and looking to get in on the ground floor of a (nearly) can't miss start-up, you gotta check Path 101 out!

Finally, Kiril tweeted out that he's looking for a front-end developer right now too...I actually only know him via Twitter and his awesome blog (http://nonfound.blogspot.com) but from that I know he's working on a really great sports-related iPhone app. (and it's very much along the lines of my old coachwizard.com idea I never got around to doing - only better of course).

I'm not sure the specifics of the project that he's looking for a developer for yet...but it sounds like he's pretty open to how it's done (he's asking for anyone who is super sharp in Python/Ruby/Php, etc.)...and if I had any free time at all, I would be first in line for this opp.

All three of those are real opportunities that could turn into really amazing things for the right person...if nothing else, they should all be VERY interesting and full of great challenges and even better people.

If you've got the time and the skills...you gotta check them out!

Meeting incredible people! »

I had a chance to meet with a few people involved behind the scenes in gilt.com today...and my first reaction was simply "AWESOME".

I've only know about gilt.com for about a week now, but apparently they have been crushing it for the last year plus...and are growing like crazy (with real revenues and even PROFITS coming in).

Because of the rocket success, they are of course having all the good problems and challenges (like how to scale)...and though we didn't really get into too many tech. details, I did get a little bit of an inside peek at how they are handling the challenge of sending out gobs-o-email pretty much all at once (so that everyone learns about a sale starting at noon...at uh, noon).

It's the type of thing that seems simple on the surface but quickly blows up into problem after problem as you dig into the details of dealing with data of a massive scale...and it's just the kind of tech. stuff I'm always fascinated by.

Anyway, I'm really looking forward to getting another chance to learn more from these new contacts in the future...and maybe figure out a way to get myself at least a little involved in all the fun stuff they are doing!

BTW - if you're interested, they are looking to hire great people...if I were looking for a job, this would be one company high on my list!

So how's that focus been going? »

OK so it appears that I have dropped off the face of the Earth...but it's not really true. I've just been trying my hardest to stick to that 'focus' thing I mentioned awhile back.

And overall I've been doing pretty good with it...but there are a few big things that popped up since my last post:

First, my proposal to Apress to write a book on Amazon's SimpleDB was accepted!

I quickly pulled in fellow developer (and all around great guy) Tyler Frieling to help me co-author the book...and also was able to nab developer extraordinaire Pete Williams as a tech. reviewer for the book (and Tyler was able to pull in one of his top developer connections to be another tech. reviewer).

Another interesting tidbit of this book is that we're doing most of the example code in Python...and since Amazon doesn't actually have a SimpleDB Python library in their downloads section yet, I got to write it from scratch (I'll be posting it on this blog soon so anyone that want's to use it will be able to get it here).

The only real downside to this book project is our deadlines...we want to be done writing in June or July...and that basically means putting in at least a few hours a night on it...so far we've been doing pretty good with that pace (we've already got two rough drafts of chapters submitted to our editors and we are each working on two more -- mine is due next and should be ready by next week)...

But as you can imagine this project along with my full time gig and my consulting work for Bowker is already eating up 99% of my time.

Still, I have managed to move a good chunk of the fubnub API (and rewrite) ahead...Pat's given me yet another kick butt design as well, and I'm going to work on implementing that right after I finish up this post...after that, all I need is one or two more features and some full blown testing before I can release it to the wild (months after I planned of course).

The story for the other things at the top of my focus list is not as good I'm afraid...I still haven't done much of anything with the toptenify project (sorry Jason!)...and I haven't done much with momentum lately either (though Donnie, Pat, and Frank have been picking up the slack for me there quite nicely).

Outside of all that stuff, I have also started talking with Drew Patterson (thanks to an introduction from Charlie) about an exciting new start up he's putting together...and while we aren't sure if I'll officially join his team any time soon, I have started bouncing some ideas around with him and threw together a simple sandbox system for us to start prototyping some of the ideas too...as I get more involved - or once he's got his team more together and feels comfortable with it - I'll share more of the idea and details.

Anyway, that's all I've got time to dump tonight...I gotta get back to fubnub and writing...but I promise to try harder at keeping this blog updated (and don't be surprised if I get heavy with the SimpleDB posts for a bit).