chopin's recent activity
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Comment on Georgia rocked by protests as government pushes Vladimir Putin-style ‘foreign agent’ bill in ~news
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Comment on Best "dad" jokes and puns! in ~talk
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Comment on Learning new programming languages with limited time: Rust, golang, or otherwise? in ~comp
chopin Link ParentDo you think Mojo would have applications outside of AI, which seems to be what it's mostly advertised for, and preferably in web dev? Python is my first and main language but I really want...Do you think Mojo would have applications outside of AI, which seems to be what it's mostly advertised for, and preferably in web dev?
Python is my first and main language but I really want something strongly typed and performant now. I was set on giving Go a serious go but if Mojo has the potential to be used in meaningful capacity outside of AI as well, I'd love to embrace a strongly typed and crazy performant Python!
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Comment on Three Cheers for Tildes: App updates and feedback (March 2024) in ~tildes
chopin Link ParentIn case your missed it, you can double tap anywhere on the comment to like it! My right thumb won't reach the vote button either, so I double tap comments to vote.In case your missed it, you can double tap anywhere on the comment to like it! My right thumb won't reach the vote button either, so I double tap comments to vote.
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Comment on Show Tildes: Laid Out - a non-profit, open source self-help web app in ~comp
chopin Link ParentLet me know if the local development instructions on GitHub don't work for you. I'll look into youfeellikeshit, thanks!Let me know if the local development instructions on GitHub don't work for you. I'll look into youfeellikeshit, thanks!
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Comment on Show Tildes: Laid Out - a non-profit, open source self-help web app in ~comp
chopin Link ParentYour comment makes me very happy. Thank you so much!Your comment makes me very happy. Thank you so much!
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Comment on Show Tildes: Laid Out - a non-profit, open source self-help web app in ~comp
chopin LinkLaid Out is a passion project that I've been working on after work and on the weekends for about the past 5 months. I'm thrilled to finally be able to share it! Website GitHub What is it? It...Laid Out is a passion project that I've been working on after work and on the weekends for about the past 5 months. I'm thrilled to finally be able to share it!
What is it?
It consists of minimalistic tools that focus on mental health, and is available on desktop and mobile browsers. Account creation is optional and serves the purpose of data synchronization across your devices.
I don't do any tracking or monetization of any sort.
How it started
I had just learned the basics of coding and wanted to build something when I came up with the idea of creating a tool to help manage anxiety a bit better and sharing it with people in hopes of helping those who suffer from anxiety. Even if nobody used it, I would, which allowed me to work on it with minimal expectations and pressure.
I had many variations of the tool in mind but ended up with one where you write down your worries, cross out the uncontrollable and accept them, and action the rest. The idea is to help lift off some of the mental fog you might have under an anxious state.
When I was close finishing the implementation of the anxiety tool, I thought it would be too bland to put out there on its own, so I added a gratitude journal and a regular journal.
I also wanted to add lots of pixel pets with various animations, which I posted a dilemma about here on Tildes. If you're wondering, what ended up happening is I bought Aseprite and a subscription to an AI service that focused on pixel art, came to the realization that it was no good and that I couldn't draw for the life of me, and so paid an artist on Fiverr for a cat and one animation for it. It turned out alright, but for now, I gave up on the idea of having lots of pixel pets.
Technical stuff
Feel free to skip this section if the technical side of things don't interest you! I really like reading about the technical details of web apps and I thought some people (especially beginners, like me) might find it interesting, so here goes.
To reiterate, I started this project with some basic Python knowledge and I gotta say, it has been an absolute journey to get here :D. A journey that frequently involved working on a single, seemingly simple bug for days with no progress; I think part of me became a monk to maintain motivation through said slumps :D.
I changed technologies many times and generally had little idea what I was doing but ended up with:
- Django and django-rest-framework backend; the backend and frontend aren't fully decoupled, only three pages (Anxiety, Gratitude, and Journal use Vue.js SFCs)
- Postgres as the DB
- Celery worker for tasks and Celery Beat for task scheduling
- Flower for Celery monitoring/management
- Redis as a message broker for Celery
- Tailwind for styling
- Alpine.js for some light interactivity on the frontend
- Vite to bundle up Typescript, Tailwind, and Vue SFCs
- Mailjet for transactional emails
- S3 for DB backups and later on maybe log backups
- Gunicorn as the web server
- Traefik as a reverse proxy
- Whitenoise to serve static files via Nginx behind Cloudfront
Everything is dockerized both during development and deployment (cookiecutter-django was really helpful here.) The web app is deployed on a VPS with 2 shared vCPUs and 2 GBs of RAM.
Final thoughts
It'd be awesome to see Laid Out slowly grow into a self-help hub maintained by many people.
I'd also love to receive feedback of any kind, as well as answer any questions you might have!
Thank you
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Show Tildes: Laid Out - a non-profit, open source self-help web app
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Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp
chopin LinkI've been working on an open source self-help web app for the past 5 months. I need to do a few more things before I publish it: Figure out whether to use a logging service or just save everything...I've been working on an open source self-help web app for the past 5 months. I need to do a few more things before I publish it:
- Figure out whether to use a logging service or just save everything to log files and back them up to S3
- Figure out whether to use something like captcha to protect the signup and forgot password pages, which would hurt privacy and accessibility or leave them unprotected and risk my transactional email service blocking my account because some malicious actors may spam those
- Tidy up the GitHub repo to make contributing a smooth experience
- Add a quick demo on the website for the main tool
- Get feedback from some friends
I'm new to coding and it's been a hell of a journey so far. I can't WAIT to publish it here on Tildes within the next few weeks!
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Comment on God and the unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics in ~humanities
chopin Link ParentDitto. The concept is appropriately named the God of the gaps. Especially from a scientific standpoint, it's very unproductive to bring in deities in an attempt to fill the gaps in our knowledge.Ditto. The concept is appropriately named the God of the gaps. Especially from a scientific standpoint, it's very unproductive to bring in deities in an attempt to fill the gaps in our knowledge.
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Comment on The morality of using AI-generated art in my web app in ~comp
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Comment on The morality of using AI-generated art in my web app in ~comp
chopin LinkThank you all very much for your input! I've gone through all the comments and decided to buy Aseprite and at least semi-rely on AI-generated content.Thank you all very much for your input! I've gone through all the comments and decided to buy Aseprite and at least semi-rely on AI-generated content.
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Comment on The morality of using AI-generated art in my web app in ~comp
chopin Link ParentI am never going to make any amount of money off of this web app at any point, though. How does it count as commercializing in that case? Regarding your point about hiring someone to do it,...I am never going to make any amount of money off of this web app at any point, though. How does it count as commercializing in that case?
Regarding your point about hiring someone to do it, perhaps I overestimated how much it would cost based on what I think it should cost. I ought to check the going prices.
Thanks a lot for your input!
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The morality of using AI-generated art in my web app
Hey, good people of Tildes! I'm building a self-help web app, a small part of which I'd like to involve some pixel pets. I like pixel art and it'd be great if I could create some. Though, the...
Hey, good people of Tildes!
I'm building a self-help web app, a small part of which I'd like to involve some pixel pets. I like pixel art and it'd be great if I could create some. Though, the truth is, I can't draw for shit, I have little to no imagination, and I'm afraid even if I put the time and effort into it, I still may not produce something I'd call good enough to put on the website. I also lack the motivation to spend a lot of time learning how to create good pixel art, as I only need it for this project.
I thought about paying some professional(s) to do it but that would probably break the bank for me, as I want to offer the users a lot of pixel pet options, which brings us to what I guess is the only remaining option.
I found some services that offer AI-generated pixel art. This one in particular looks like what I'm looking for and also offers animations. While watching a demo of it on YouTube, I noticed a few comments voicing concern about the ethics of selling art that's generated using models trained off of unpaid artists' work. While this is not a new topic, I admittedly hadn't given it much thought before, as I've never used, or planned to use AI-generated art in a meaningful capacity.
While I'm not sure whether it changes much, for what it's worth, I should note that my web app is going to be free, open-source, and ad-free forever.
What are your thoughts? Also, I'd love to know if there are options that I missed!
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Comment on What did you change your mind about this year? in ~talk
chopin Link ParentI'm building a hobby web app where I use Typescript on the frontend. I was initially using JS but when the slightest bit of complexity arose on the frontend, I made the switch to TS mostly for the...I'm building a hobby web app where I use Typescript on the frontend. I was initially using JS but when the slightest bit of complexity arose on the frontend, I made the switch to TS mostly for the editor support because I kept shooting myself in the foot :D
I annotate only what I need to and it makes the work easier and more enjoyable!
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Comment on NASA just sent a software update to a spacecraft twelve billion miles away in ~space
chopin LinkFascinating, thanks for posting it. When I think about the Voyagers, I feel a profound sense of wonder and loneliness. Imagine being so unfathomably far away from the nearest human being and...Fascinating, thanks for posting it.
When I think about the Voyagers, I feel a profound sense of wonder and loneliness. Imagine being so unfathomably far away from the nearest human being and probably any life at all. Makes my stomach drop.
On the other hand, imagine all that's out there. Within the vast, mostly empty space they've been through, they must have seen incredible things that none of us will ever see or experience.
I think the reason why I feel so strongly about the Voyagers is because they're essential a part of us. An extension of humankind all the way out there that we can still communicate with. Absolutely beautiful.
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Comment on State of EVs in Fall 2023? in ~transport
chopin Link ParentThe electric motorcycle scene is much of the same, unfortunately. No budget options, all luxury and/or performance stuff that's way too expensive for most people. Fortnine has a video on it: Why...The electric motorcycle scene is much of the same, unfortunately. No budget options, all luxury and/or performance stuff that's way too expensive for most people.
Fortnine has a video on it: Why Electric Motorcycles are Failing
E: fixed the link
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Comment on (Life) Advice from the creator of C++ in ~comp
chopin LinkHoly shit. This video is what I needed now, especially the part about socializing. At 23, I quit my job as a QA PM following severe burnout. That was 5 months ago. I have since lived off of...Holy shit. This video is what I needed now, especially the part about socializing.
At 23, I quit my job as a QA PM following severe burnout. That was 5 months ago. I have since lived off of savings, isolated myself from all social groups, and got into coding big time. I thought I would code 24/7 for however long it took until I make it big one way or the other to eventually 'live life' -- a vague plan for a vague goal.
I'm now realizing that's probably not the best way to about things and the past 5 months have just been a short blur. Hasn't been any good for my mental health either. It's so easy to lose track.
I think I'll take a step back now and reevaluate my priorities.
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Comment on Linus Tech Tips pauses production as controversy swirls in ~tech
chopin Link ParentBillet was not going to get this support if not for the GN video.Billet was not going to get this support if not for the GN video.
I live in Tbilisi. I joined the protests a couple of times but some of my friends have been protesting every night for the past couple of weeks, sometimes well into morning hours.
One of the attempts by the ruling party to dissuade the public from partaking in the protests was to pay a bunch of goons to corner and beat the shit out of protesters going back home.
It really is a fight for survival for people whose values align with the west, which is the majority of the overall population and the overwhelming majority of the youth population.
It's moving to see (especially young) Georgian folk fight tooth and nail day in and day out for a shot at the EU dream. All power to them!