I am a programmer who has spent the last three years prototyping, studying, and thinking about what software we need.
There is a lot of software that is just now becoming possible to build and I have been extremely excited to be exploring just some of those possibilities. One thing that has challenged me has been trying to determine which projects are the most important, so that I could focus my effort on them. Additionally, running at the scale required (~350 million people in the US and ~8 billion people worldwide [though only about half currently have Internet access]) presents many challenges that do not have many well-known solutions. Much of my last year-and-a-half has been spent searching, finding, researching, and creating tools that might allow the software I have been envisioning to be created and distributed.
At the top of my list of must have software is a publicly-owned, -built, -supported, and -maintained database of everything our leaders have ever said or done that has been recorded. The database will be web-accessible, so that anyone can quickly and easily access and search the entire known-history of a politician. Using technologies that have just become available to the web, anyone will be able to contribute live audio and/or video streams to the database as well.
There is a lot to think about with this project and I look forward to having many discussions about it. Ask me anything!
~~Edit: my comment votes and replies have been rate limited since starting this AMA. My apologies if I don't get a timely response to you, it is only because I can't :/~~
Edit2: I've been able to make some more responses ~~(though I cannot vote on comments for ~23 more hours apparently)~~. If I'm not responding to you, there is a good chance it is because I am rate limited and waiting to be able to submit my response.
~~Edit3: I'm going to try to get some sleep. I'll be back when I'm up!~~
Edit4: I'm back and responding~~, but rate-limited again~~. I will get to your question soon!
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[–] jsprogrammer [S] 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago (edited ago)
I can only work on one thing at any given moment. Almost all of my repos are prototypes or experiments. Some are complete and actively used, others may be dead ends.
Edit: Most of the repos are not abandoned. Almost all projects I either want to return to, or mine code from for other projects. The problem is that I can really only work on one project in any particular slice of time. The database isn't really an issue, I have considered all of those and I think you are right, it doesn't really matter. What matters is picking the project that will have the best impact, as I must necessarily trade off working on other projects (many of which I believe are critically important).
[–] WhiteRonin ago
Abandoned = 2 years old with no activity.
You have to make some decisions as to what is important. I get the fact that you have a lot of ideas. I am the same way. However, because of being spread too thin nothing gets accomplished and your ideas end up being ideas.
I had to finally buckle up with one project and just work on that. What I do at work I try to implement in what I'm doing after work and vice versa try to bring back into my day job thus both goals move forward.
[–] jsprogrammer [S] 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
I don't necessarily agree with that definition. Some projects just work and don't need further code at the moment. Others are just experiments.
Maintenance and premature project selection are huge problems. Taking a path necessitates not taking others. I want to get a large view of the landscape, develop ideas, and then execute on the best. If you buckle in to the first project you start, you run a huge risk of myopia. I have been able to move many projects forward this way and now have a large stockpile to draw from. Many of the most important projects are on the verge of public usability, but I have held off so as not to be swamped by having to support something I am not ready to.