1Ship (Jan1)
I'm Now a Twitch Streamer
Dev_Jobs_Daily
I have been tracking job numbers for developers for over 2 years. I am streaming M-F 8am to 9am(CST).
It's a space where job seekers can hang out while getting their job applications out and listening to me go over the latest numbers and news of the day in tech.
Check it out and follow... or share it with someone who could use it.
It's a space where job seekers can hang out while getting their job applications out and listening to me go over the latest numbers and news of the day in tech.
Check it out and follow... or share it with someone who could use it.
2Ship (Jan12)
The unfinished video game becomes a daily puzzle
Scramble Up! Daily
The game is still in progress(see below), but I wrote a script to generate several thousand of these daily "paper" puzzles which I am scheduling to release daily on linkedIn and Instagram as a fun little marketing freebee to get interest going.
linkedin
Instagram
3 - MiniShip (Jan15)
Finished a game on the World's Smallest Game Console
Don't Fall!
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I got a new game console for Xmas... A programmable one, and I just finished my first game on the Thumby...
The game works on the emulator, but it's completely unplayable on the device... the text is too small...
note to self, don't code for 10 hours without testing on the device...
My real goal of course was to work on my python skills... in that case, it's a great success.
The game works on the emulator, but it's completely unplayable on the device... the text is too small...
note to self, don't code for 10 hours without testing on the device...
My real goal of course was to work on my python skills... in that case, it's a great success.
4 - MiniShip (Jan23)
Help me pick my new headshot
Pic Me!
I have been using the same head shot for 20+ years... I am 50 pounds heavier than when it was taken and I'm overdue for an update. I got a free headshot at an event and it was not good. I decided to try one of the AI tools and uploaded some current photos to train it on my face and it generated 100 images. 30 of them were not creepy... I culled it down to 16, but I am too close to it... so, I build a basic bracket style app to choose the best one and I sent it out to friends and family. Do you have a moment to add your 2 cents?
codepen.io/keithakritselis/pen/WbeYbox
codepen.io/keithakritselis/pen/WbeYbox
5Ship (Jan28)
Clearing out the closet
Products For Sale!
Clearing out the closet
Products For Sale!
I have a thousand products in storage that I could be selling. I had shelved the products because I lost access to my manufacturing equipment. Last year, I got access to a laser that can create the Household Hints products and I have a plastic injection mold machine in my garage, but it's not currently set up...
But if I sold out the ones I have in stock, that would be a motivating signal... Anyway, I applied for an Amazon Seller account.. It's going to take a few days to get it set up, so I listed them for sale on eBay where I had an old dormant account... Anyway, I have products for sale.
Find them on eBay! www.ebay.com/str/kakritselis
Amazon coming soon!
But if I sold out the ones I have in stock, that would be a motivating signal... Anyway, I applied for an Amazon Seller account.. It's going to take a few days to get it set up, so I listed them for sale on eBay where I had an old dormant account... Anyway, I have products for sale.
Find them on eBay! www.ebay.com/str/kakritselis
Amazon coming soon!
6 - MiniShip (Jan28)
Build in public
I started a blog... on this site
Build in public
I started a blog... on this site
Check the blog for weekly updates on more details of what I'm working on...
7Ship (Feb8)
Another youTube Project
Race to the World Series
Shipped and abandoned already...
It was a good experiment, but I don't really care about it.
I've been interested in faceless youTube channels for a long time. During the pandemic, I wrote a script that pulled down the latest headlines about covid and made a news ticker. I streamed it 24/7 for a couple weeks as an experiment. It never got any real traction, but in the wake of it, I generated a bunch of ideas that could be variations... This is a first test because it's an easy one. I downloaded the win/loss stats for every major league baseball season going back to the 1800s and created a bar chart race. I am going to start by generating a video of every season and schedule the post to drop a couple times a week with a random season. I want to start getting traction before I setup a 24/7 stream.
Got the first video posted and channel created: www.youtube.com/@WorldSeriesRace
I have the first 30 videos generated, still need to add music and the end card, but the Premiere project is set up and it should take me about an hour to produce 5 finished videos. I am going to schedule them to release one a week a month in advance. I am going to redesign and polish the next batch a little more.
Got the first video posted and channel created: www.youtube.com/@WorldSeriesRace
I have the first 30 videos generated, still need to add music and the end card, but the Premiere project is set up and it should take me about an hour to produce 5 finished videos. I am going to schedule them to release one a week a month in advance. I am going to redesign and polish the next batch a little more.
8Ship (Feb12)
The Quest for the Fest
FestQuest.Club
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Just launched a new project...
I found this webpage I bookmarked a year ago. travopo.com/festivals/ It was a cool collection of festivals around the world... but all they really did was come up with a list, a photo and some hastily searched youTube videos... For the info, they just linked to wikipedia, but most of those links were broken. No dates or geographical context for the festivals... FestQuest is born. www.festquest.club/ Just a quick side project... there is probably a way to monetize it, but I haven't thought that far ahead. |
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9Ship (Feb14)
Free Fest SXSW
sxFREEsw.com
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This might look a little similar to the last one because it's a reskinning and repurposing...
SXSW is a big TECH/FILM/MUSIC conference in Austin every March... The badges start at $1000. Lots of people fly in and take part... along with that many other free/cheap things popup around town. I showed my festival app to one of my students and he said 'this would be a good app to map out things around town during SXSW... 3 days later, the app was up and running... Still have a lot of data to add, but functionality is there and I have 3 weeks to get it polished off. Woohoo! www.sxfreesw.com |
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10 - MiniShip (Feb23)
Mulch Delivery Map
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I built a quick app on Sunday to help with a band fundraiser for my son's HS band. They sell bags of mulch and offer free delivery to certain zip codes. It's a big production every year to organize delivery routes. I created this speed up the process and so far, it's gotten good reviews.
This is my 3rd map based app in a row... need to change that up soon. :) |
11Ship (Mar16)
a vibe coded game
kouTris
a vibe coded game
kouTris
I vibe coded another game prototype... got a little further on this one... it's playable and actually kind of fun. I don't love the name, but it's growing on me. I have not picked up a domain for it yet.
Click to Play A 2 player mash up of Breakout and Tetris, where each player is playing on a board with a shared set of block while the goal of outlasting the other. It's playable as a two player game and works surprisingly well on mobile with each person taking a side of the phone. I want to add a computer player so you can play either game against the computer and add an online multiplayer feature. The concept is a rehash of an old Macromedia Director game I made 30 years ago. Everything old is new again. |
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12 - MiniShip (Apr11)
Product Valuation Calculator
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I was reading a book today and it pointed me to an old blog post by Derek Sivers... Derek is the one who inspired this Now page and I have been a fan since the 90s. I remembered reading the blog post back in the day and liking it... and it inspired me to make a variation.
Check it out Tell me what you think |
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13 - MiniShip (Apr30)
Posted kouTris to itch.io
I decided to drop my prototype games on itch.io
I am still focused on getting out the scramble up game, but as I get closer to shipping it, I want to start prototyping 4 or 5 potential future projects.
Creating visibility and getting feedback is a key part of prototyping. Itch has been overlooked in the past. Time to build more in public.
I am still focused on getting out the scramble up game, but as I get closer to shipping it, I want to start prototyping 4 or 5 potential future projects.
Creating visibility and getting feedback is a key part of prototyping. Itch has been overlooked in the past. Time to build more in public.
14Ship (May 7)
scrambleUpGame.com
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I took the 'paper' version of the game I am posting to instagram and built a 'single level' version of the game with a new word every day.
I coded it up as an HTML5 game in Cursor. It solves the 'demo' problem I have been having and works as a marketing tool. https://www.scrambleupgame.com/ |
15Ship (May 29)
Sculpture Studio Prototype
I have decided to shelve the Scramble Up Steam game and I am starting to prototype other ideas.
Worked on a new game prototype yesterday... It's designed to appeal to fans of clicker games and games like power wash simulator... you are presented with a big slab of stone, click on it and a chunk flies off.
Every click gets you closer to revealing the sculpture inside yearning to be free...
If you like games where grinding and completion are the point, this game's for you... :)
Worked on a new game prototype yesterday... It's designed to appeal to fans of clicker games and games like power wash simulator... you are presented with a big slab of stone, click on it and a chunk flies off.
Every click gets you closer to revealing the sculpture inside yearning to be free...
If you like games where grinding and completion are the point, this game's for you... :)
16Ship (June 17)
"Lucky" Uncle Karl Prototype
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I've been fascinated by games where people do mundane tasks and it's all about the grind. Things like Pressure Wash Simulator, the lawn mowing and tractor driving games, even those realistic 18 wheeler/bus driving simulators. This is my variation on it... You scratch off lottery tickets stopped occasionally by nonsense.
https://www.favasava.com/ |
It's just a basic prototype now and the full game would allow you to choose different lottery cards and have a narrative story that you could alter by making choices...but the core loop is there and it feels good to scratch on mobile... |
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17Ship (Aug 2)
GMTK Game Jame Entry
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I promised myself that I would stop doing small projects in the second half of the year and focus on 2 bigger projects... I have gotten a fair amount done on those projects in the last few weeks, but I heard the siren call of a game jam... This is the result.
It's a small puzzle game where you have to draw shapes by chaining together rotating segments... The theme of the jam was "Loop", and I have been wanting to experiment with Fourier Transform drawing for a long time... I am pretty pleased with the result... Check it out. :) Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay! |
The reviews are coming it... People like it!
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In the final tally, I ranked 399th out of 9,700. I am pretty happy with that. :)
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18Ship (Aug 25)
BandCam.io
I have settled in to the big project... Both my kids were in middle and high school marching bands... as of this week, they are both in college marching bands. :)
We've been a band booster family for a decade. During that time, we've done a lot of fundraisers. We've sold everything from chocolates to mattresses...
I started thinking a few years ago that bands were missing a big opportunity...
Why turn kids into door to door salesmen, when they already had valuable skills...
BandCam.io is the result. A platform where bands can sell personalized musical messages for holidays and special occasions...
It's still in the early stages, I am looking to invite a dozen bands into a closed beta this fall.
bandCam.io
We've been a band booster family for a decade. During that time, we've done a lot of fundraisers. We've sold everything from chocolates to mattresses...
I started thinking a few years ago that bands were missing a big opportunity...
Why turn kids into door to door salesmen, when they already had valuable skills...
BandCam.io is the result. A platform where bands can sell personalized musical messages for holidays and special occasions...
It's still in the early stages, I am looking to invite a dozen bands into a closed beta this fall.
bandCam.io
19Ship (Sept 19)
WhenWeWereLive Video Player
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So... 10 years ago I was interviewed to be in a documentary... The doc was completed this year and was accepted it into the Fantastic Fest film festival... Woohoo!
I had an idea and pitched it to the director... a friend of mine... he has a lot of different clips that couldn't make it into the film... What if we made a player that allowed people to see some of them... better yet... What if we make name tags for the live screenings that each had a unique QR code on it and when they went to the link they got a custom experience of 3 different videos... They would each get more of the film experience and they could scan other people's QR codes and see their videos... so it has a community building component. He liked it, so I built an app to generate the name tags and the player... We had the first screening yesterday and it went great! I also wired the player to play 3 random videos directly... go check it out. player.whenwewerelive.com |
20Ship (Oct 6)
Black Hole Salvage
Ludum Dare 58 was this weekend... It's my 5th participating, and only my second to have a working game. I wouldn't say it's a particularly fun game... but it is a game... it's my first 3D game. I ran out of time and didn't get all the features in that I thought would make it more fun... but it's another release that I am sort of embarrassed by, so that's a win in this year's tally.
The votes are in, I came in 185th out of 1391 games... That's top 13% in Theme, 27% in Innovation and 38% Overall.
Not bad for a functional, but unfinished game... I need to get better at scoping or put together a team so I can get more done. |
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21Ship (Oct 13)
Texas Schools Map
I am starting to reach out to potential band programs. I have not found a database that has contact information for the public school band directors, so I am making my own.
I was able to find a database for all the schools in Texas. I have filtered out all the elementary, charter and private schools, to focus on the schools who most likely have bands, but it's still a manual search process to collet the info I need.
Since I think it's better to start close to home, I decided to map out the database and add more tables to capture the contact info I am collecting.
This is an internal tool.
I was able to find a database for all the schools in Texas. I have filtered out all the elementary, charter and private schools, to focus on the schools who most likely have bands, but it's still a manual search process to collet the info I need.
Since I think it's better to start close to home, I decided to map out the database and add more tables to capture the contact info I am collecting.
This is an internal tool.
22 - Mini-Ship (Dec 2)
Daily Habit Tracker
I built a personal habit tracker... You can use it too... I didn't set up a database, it just stores the info locally, so if you clear your cash or try it on another device, you info won't be available... The feature I wanted that I didn't see in other trackers was that you could set a goal and a date and it would incrementally ramp you towards the goal... so I want to do simple exercises for 30 mins everyday... but to build the habit, I want to ease into it over the course of 90 days... the app gives me a little more to do every day.
devjobsdaily.com/dashboard/
devjobsdaily.com/dashboard/
Side projects that I started and abandoned, ideas that have been collecting in notebooks. 30 experiments that leverage automation and generative code that I can build. I can run many simultaneous experiments and hopefully lay the ground work for several winners.
My Overarching goal this year is to
ship 30 things I am embarrassed by.
2025
A new year and a return to shipping projects...
I am putting together my goals for next year, but I usually start off strong and then abandon or change them halfway through the year...
Today, I had an idea... my birthday is basically in the middle of the year... so, I thought, how about only a 6 month plan and then do another one starting in July...
Then, I thought... instead of saying, "I wanna do this next year", say, "I only have 6 months to complete this until I turn 57!", or, "I only have 6 months to complete this before 2026 gets here!"...
I do love a deadline...
Today, I had an idea... my birthday is basically in the middle of the year... so, I thought, how about only a 6 month plan and then do another one starting in July...
Then, I thought... instead of saying, "I wanna do this next year", say, "I only have 6 months to complete this until I turn 57!", or, "I only have 6 months to complete this before 2026 gets here!"...
I do love a deadline...