Author: Ross Wintle

Posted on

2026-01-25 13:09:08

Apparently the NYT has a new 2-player word game. So just a note that I too have a 2-player word game that’s free, no download, no login, no tracking.

It won’t be as good as NYTs but it has all the benefits listed above.

You play by passing web links back and forth!

words.pico.games/

Posted on

2026-01-24 16:01:58

I have found this little tool invaluable recently. I guess, sadly, I’ve internalised thinking in social media posts a bit. I often want to get a thought out by posting it in short-form.

This little app gives me the relief and buzz of posting something, but without the risk of sharing things I shouldn’t.

(Although, as I have mentioned before, I'm sure that one day I’ll post to the wrong app and regret it!!)

Posted on

2026-01-24 15:57:36

I've coded up a little private journalling app that's like a one-person social network. I've called it "YouSky”. It's free.

yousky.veryuseful.app/

It has replies and hashtags. Works kinda like you expect. Pretty basic. But does a job.

This is 100% private. No servers. No tracking. No cookies. All data stored in your browser.

You can export to a JSON file if you want to backup or move your data.

Posted on

2026-01-20 20:04:52

My kids are so much more excited about watching a movie on BluRay disc than streaming a movie.

CAN I PUT IT IN?

CAN WE WATCH THE EXTRAS?

WHAT DOES IT SAY ON THE BOX?

Wonderful.

Posted on

2026-01-19 21:53:11

I’m gonna shut up about LLMs and vibe coding now.

For all my skepticism of new AIs and my many objections, I like to think I’m curious and open minded.

The experiment is done. My thoughts are out of my head. Back to normal.

Posted on

2026-01-19 21:43:35

And yes, yesterday I was telling you not to do this. You still shouldn't! Unless, like me, you know what you're doing.

I can because I've been here before and have a system that lets me do it without risk.

This whole process has only reinforced my opinions from yesterday.

Posted on

2026-01-19 21:36:03

Yes, despite being an AI doom-speaker, I tried using a app-builder to make a simple, social-media-like, private, journalling web app.

This post explains what I did and why, and outlines the development process I took, including the point at which I decided the AI wasn't up to it and started making it manually. 🤷

rosswintle.uk/2026/01/building

The app has no instructions, but you can try it out. It’s all private local data. No login. You can see it at yousky.veryuseful.app/

Posted on

2026-01-18 22:31:11

RE: crikey.social/@ross/1159183603

Regarding this, I have literally seen a public web app app today that lets me type any message I like into a box and have it saved as content on a URL on the internet that I can send.

Totally anonymous.

All fun and well-intentioned stuff. But no thought about the implications.

Does the LLM not ask if you are really sure this is a good idea?

Apparently not.

Posted on

2026-01-17 10:15:29

Lol. I asked Base44 (AI app builder) to re-write my simple app that I got it to generate as a single-file HTML + AlpineJS app rather than a React app with a build process.

The output start like this…

export default function Home() {
return (
<div dangerouslySetInnerHTML={{ __html: `
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>

Posted on

2026-01-16 23:23:55

After hearing about Base44 – Wix’s AI app builder – on the WP Cafe podcast today, I gave it a quick try.

Sure it built me a pretty good app. I guess that was impressive. But … I dunno. It has a ton of dependencies and it’s all over-complicated ReactJS and…

It’s another of those good-prototype things. But it takes real skill to make something of true quality.

More thoughts coming soon.

Posted on

2026-01-15 22:37:47

I’m reading a book about how to do my job well. This quote stands out about doing the simple thing:

“If you can’t resist the urge to include your most brilliant ideas in the process, then you can include them in your pre-work. Write all of your best ideas in a giant document, delete it, and never mention any of them again. Now… your head is cleared for the work ahead.”

😂

Posted on

2026-01-14 23:35:58

Oh, also… I'm really scared that one day I'll open Ivory/Mastodon or Bluesky instead of Zeitgeist and post a public rant that's not meant to be public. They look and work so similar. I can see it happening.

Here's hoping that it never happens!!

Posted on

2026-01-14 23:29:20

I do genuinely wish sometimes that I had an alt account where I could vent anonymously. But would anyone follow? Would it matter?

For now I've found this little iOS app called “Zeitgeist" that's a private, me-only social network-like journal!

It takes my post-size thoughts and lets me post them… but in private.

It's kinda cool. Though I think the subscription is a bit expensive.

Might have to build me own web-app version of this! 😃