I love my secret winter project.
It started on Christmas day in 1981, when, at age 15, I got my first computer: a Commodore VIC-20.
These are the BASIC books + program cassettes! I tore through:
I sat down Christmas morning, plugged in, opened a book…and didn’t get up from my chair until I had worked through the whole thing, days later.
I had never been so compelled by anything that did not sport a pony tail.
Ever since, when the days get short, I feel the urge go larval and hack something fun. Just for me.
Looking back on Github I see these recent winter projects (ok and some fall projects too):
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Dec 2016: FJ: Functional Java—the obligatory tiny functional programming library for Java GitHub - Bill/FJ: Functional Java—the obligatory tiny functional programming library for Java.
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Nov-Dec 2015: iiqm-clj: Incremental Interquartile Mean using Clojure Finger Trees IQM and Finger Trees by Bill Burcham GitHub - Bill/iiqm-clj: Incremental Interquartile Mean using Clojure Finger Trees
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Oct-Nov 2015: hamstar: Hamstar Transforms Hamster (Immutable) Ruby Collections Better GitHub - Bill/hamstar: Hamstar Transforms Hamster (Immutable) Ruby Collections Better
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Dec 2012: orchestrated: a minimal Ruby workflow orchestration framework running on delayed_job and active_record GitHub - Bill/orchestrated: a minimal Ruby workflow orchestration framework running on delayed_job and active_record
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Nov 2009: wavenub: expose public Google Waves to the Internet (perhaps you’ve heard of it) GitHub - Bill/wavenub: Expose public Google Waves to the Internet (perhaps you've heard of it)
Part of the joy is not rushing into it—and not rushing out of it either. And not having any externally-imposed requirements. There is so much freedom in just making something that makes me happy. Making it in a way that makes me happy. Spending as much or as little time on any particular detail as suits me. No need to convince anyone before, during, or after!
I haven’t decided on the project for this winter. But there is no rush.