Side Project

John T. Bonaccorsi drops by to chat about FantasyBB, his seasonal (what) side project that affords him an unheard of 3 months of active users and 9 months of dev time to improve the product. He also chats about how he's expanding the site into TellyDraft, covering more than just Big Brother. (00:00) - Introduction to John Bonaccorsi (02:48) - The Rise of FantasyBB.com (05:44) - Understanding Big Brother: The Show (08:32) - The Concept Behind Fantasy Big Brother (11:12) - Building the FantasyBB Platform (14:04) - Technical Evolution of FantasyBB (16:49) - Scaling Challenges and User Feedback (19:33) - User Engagement and Community Feedback (22:18) - Favorite Features and Future Aspirations (22:45) - Understanding the Draft System (24:52) - The Complexity of Point Systems (26:07) - Navigating Time Zones in App Development (29:34) - Game Mechanics and Scoring in Big Brother (30:58) - Adapting to Changes in the Game Format (35:00) - Rebranding and Expanding the App (38:27) - User Experience and Account Management (39:08) - Monetization and Future Plans https://www.johnbon.dev https://tellydraft.com

Recorded live after PHP × NYC with Ben Holmen, John Drexler, Daniel Coulbourne, Chris Morrell, Ian Landsman, Dave Hicking, and Joe Tannenbaum. We realized, hey, we're all podcasters, let's sit down and discuss the most important issues of the day: Trader Joe's in basements, Poker, Day 2 Soup, Chess.com, something called "The Pizza Belt", and much, much more. https://mostlytechnical.com/ https://podcast.thunk.dev/ https://overengineered.fm/ https://cheeseandweather.com/

John Drexler drops by to chat about his online game Elephant in the Room, fat clients, and what makes a good game (spoiler, it's all just vibes). (00:00) - Introduction to Side Projects and Game Development (02:43) - The Journey of Game Creation (05:18) - Understanding 'Elephant in the Room' (07:57) - Game Design vs. Game Playing (10:46) - Evolution of Tech Stack (13:30) - Client-Side Logic and Game Responsiveness (16:16) - Reflections on Development Process (23:40) - Understanding Livewire and Client State Management (27:22) - Challenges in Game Implementation and Animation (30:57) - Bot Decision-Making and Difficulty Levels (36:30) - Designing Engaging Games: Key Principles (45:05) - Strategic vs. Tactical Gameplay in Game Design All things John: https://johnrudolphdrexler.com https://elephantintheroom.fun https://www.catacombian.com https://thunk.dev Mentioned in the Episode: Will King: https://bsky.app/profile/wking.dev / https://x.com/wking__ Connor Lindsey: https://bsky.app/profile/connorlindsey.dev / https://x.com/connor_lindsey Brian Moriarty: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Moriartyhttps://sideprojectpodcast.com https://bsky.app/profile/sideprojectpodcast.com

Aaron Francis hops on to go full galaxy brain on his interactive TUI Solo. (00:00) - Introduction to Side Projects and Aaron Francis (01:05) - Exploring the Laravel Package: Solo (03:58) - The Development Journey of Solo (07:38) - Understanding ANSI Codes and Terminal Manipulation (11:36) - The Challenges of Process Management (15:14) - Enhancements and Future Directions for Solo (22:26) - Customizing Development Environments (25:14) - Enhanced Logging and Command Hotkeys (28:30) - Flexibility in Command Customization (32:21) - Interactive Command Handling (37:26) - Deep Integration of Commands (41:24) - Project Overview and Future Directions All things Aaron: https://aaronfrancis.com https://github.com/aarondfrancis/solo https://tryhardstudios.com https://x.com/aarondfrancis https://bsky.app/profile/aaronfrancis.com https://sideprojectpodcast.com https://bsky.app/profile/sideprojectpodcast.com

Ben Holmen stops by to chat about his Kilopixel project: a physical display that intentionally updates slowly and allows for collaborative pixel art creation. (00:00) - Introduction to Ben Holmen (02:48) - The Kilopixel Project (06:17) - Technical Challenges and Innovations (10:52) - Understanding G Code and CNC (13:23) - Web Application and Collaboration (17:47) - Pixel Prototyping and Material Challenges (21:51) - Innovative Pixel Mechanisms (26:14) - Exploring Location-Specific Pixels (28:14) - The Laborious Process of Pixel Art (33:41) - Bringing the Project to Life (39:14) - Connecting with the Online Community All things Ben: https://benholmen.com https://bsky.app/profile/benholmen.comhttps://sideprojectpodcast.com https://bsky.app/profile/sideprojectpodcast.com