why is this special?

• it neatly organizes full-album listings by artist
• the interface is sleek and unobtrusive (à la spotify)
• music can be streamed 100% legally (via youtube)

what did I learn to do?

• run Chron jobs & Task Queues in Google Appengine
• search Youtube and embed video using Google API in javascript
• query and retrieve data from MusicBrainz (and Last.fm)
• responsibly cache server-side API calls for speed and politeness
• use Bootstrap.less mixins & LESS css pre-processing

why is this special?

• it automagically streams your feeds from several social websites
• it’s easy to customize colors and reorder the feed

what did I learn to do?

• setup Yahoo pipes to route data
• generate a color gradient from scratch in Javascript
• use Datastore & User Services in Google AppEngine
• load feeds from a variety of social websites in JSON & XML
• arrange dynamic tile-based layouts

why I abandoned it?

• got bored of the concept
• too lazy to write documentation for new users
• couldn’t get it to look decent in all browsers

why is this special?

• it uses positions from real games played recently on the internet
• the interface is minimal compare to alternatives

what did I learn to do?

• add Drag & Drop functionality via jQuery
• implement Fade-In/Out effect via jQuery
• read/write cookies via jQuery
• mod a C++ Chess engine (Crafty) to mine tactical positions
• read/write/sort XML markup through C++ & JS
• query FICS for large quantitites of games
• calculate ELO and Glicko chess ratings

why is this special?

• all you need is a US zip code, a t-shirt, long-sleeves, and a tanktop
• it’s more straight-forward than Al Roker

what did I learn to do?

• position/size better for different screen resolutions
• write basic Python code and host on Google AppEngine
• query weather stats (XML) from Yahoo Dev API in Python
• apply horizontal-scroll effect using MooTools
• draw primitive-style suns, clouds, and hands in Illustrator