The things I am working on
Now
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...
My Overarching goal this year is to
ship 30 things I am embarrassed by.
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. Systems that output content and allow me to schedule regular releases of the content on different media platforms. Media plays are a slow burn to get started. Consistent posting is the foundation... If I can automate consistent releases of interesting niche content, I can run many simultaneous experiments and hopefully lay the ground work for several winners.
8 - Ship (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/ |
7c - 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.
7b - 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 |
7Ship (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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6b - 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. :) |
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6Ship (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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5Ship (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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4Ship (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.
3b - 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...
3Ship (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!
2c - 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
2b - 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.
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
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.
Ongoing Side Projects
Scramble Up!
One of my goals in 2024 was to launch a game on Steam... the end of the year came fast and I missed the deadline, but I launched a "Coming Soon" page in the Steam Store.
Check it out and feel free to share it with anyone who likes word/puzzle games.
I am not going to get the complete game finished in time, but I am going to release a demo on June 6th for Steam NextFest and the game on JUNE 21st, 2025.
Adding it to your wishlist would be greatly appreciated. Wishlist me please!
Check it out and feel free to share it with anyone who likes word/puzzle games.
I am not going to get the complete game finished in time, but I am going to release a demo on June 6th for Steam NextFest and the game on JUNE 21st, 2025.
Adding it to your wishlist would be greatly appreciated. Wishlist me please!
Movzee - Where New Beginnings Begin
Creating an app to help people moving within the US discover hidden gem communities that align with their unique preferences. From political leanings to marijuana laws, abortion access, and even snowy days per year, this app dives into 20+ questions to match you with the perfect community—one that likely won’t be on any generic “Best Places to Live” list.
Millustrations
Developing software to render photographs with a CNC mill. Entering the beta phase of the product. The software and production process has passed the 'Proof of Concept' phase, but there is a lot of optimization and experimentation to be done. I have a new CNC mill and I am back at work.
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Then
My Creative History
2016-2020
Household HintsIn 2016, I left a developer job at Dell to start another business. This time developing small consumer products where I could manage all aspects of production. With the goal being to prototype and produce a small run of a product, take it to market, validate the idea and build a plan to scale.
I released three products, Household Hints, a kitchen labeling system for shared spaces, Inc'd Tees, a line of children clothing, and Cookie Connections, a line of tessellating cookie cutters. I also had two more products within 60 days of release and 5 others in the prototype stage. I had to put the project on hold when I lost access to my manufacturing facility. |
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Cookie ConnectionsIn 2015, I ran a successfully funded kickstarter campaign to create a series of tessellating cookie cutters.
The project had to be put on the back burner because I lost access to the injection mold machine. I currently have 3 of my 22 designs completed, but I am looking to change my production process to make molds out of a combination of aluminum shell and 3D resin printed insert. I have acquired an injection mold machine and picked up a 3D resin printer. I would like to get back in the tessellating cookie cutter making business. The traditional method of cutting the mold completely out of aluminum can take weeks or months and you are limited to tooling tolerances. The new process will take a lot of refining, but when I have the bugs worked out, the expectation is that I will be able to produce a new mold in a day. |
2019
Napkinz
In March of 2019, I was a finalist in the [Re]Verse Pitch Competition.
The competition is to encourage businesses to develop products from manufacturing waste by-products that are destined for landfills.
The product I chose was polyester restaurant napkins and table cloths.
Restaurants use polyester products because they are cheap, durable and stain resistant. Unfortunately, they are not easily recyclable and get sent to the landfill.
My idea is to re-purpose the product into sleeping pillows for kids. The polyester will be cut out by lasers for the patterns, shredded for stuffing, and assembled using a non-sewing, heat bonding process. The end result will be a product made from 90%+ recycled materials.
I am currently limited by time, space, and equipment on this project, but the goal would be to run a crowd source funding project to get it on track. Still very excited by the project.
In March of 2019, I was a finalist in the [Re]Verse Pitch Competition.
The competition is to encourage businesses to develop products from manufacturing waste by-products that are destined for landfills.
The product I chose was polyester restaurant napkins and table cloths.
Restaurants use polyester products because they are cheap, durable and stain resistant. Unfortunately, they are not easily recyclable and get sent to the landfill.
My idea is to re-purpose the product into sleeping pillows for kids. The polyester will be cut out by lasers for the patterns, shredded for stuffing, and assembled using a non-sewing, heat bonding process. The end result will be a product made from 90%+ recycled materials.
I am currently limited by time, space, and equipment on this project, but the goal would be to run a crowd source funding project to get it on track. Still very excited by the project.
NOW page inspired by Derek Sivers