Thank you all for the insightful comments. I appreciate how this community shares its thoughts with such care and knowledge. I agree that while GPTs handle simpler tasks effectively, complex questions have never been Stack Overflow's strong suit.
A project I’ve been working on started as a web annotation tool and has evolved into a visual task manager called JustBeepIt (https://justbeepit.com). Considering many of our users are developers, we observed that Stack Overflow wasn’t among the sites where users create tasks. This led me to question why it seems to be losing its prominence.
https://www.justbeepit.com/ started as a web annotation tool that I hacked together with a friend. Now, it’s a full-fledged visual task management platform with over 2,000 users.
In 2022, I wondered what it would be like if my manager could leave comments directly on the live website for all the edits, rather than sending a bunch of screenshots and videos. That’s how I came up with the idea for a "simple" browser extension that lets you leave comments on any site, anywhere on the screen.
There were several challenges along the way:
Attaching Comments to the Correct HTML Element: I initially struggled with ensuring comments were attached to the right element, as relying on X/Y coordinates would not be responsive. Now, I use a combination of element IDs, classes, outer HTML, and attributes. This approach works correctly 95% of the time. Do you know of any other methods to find the correct element in the DOM?
No Third-Party Libraries: Extension development only allows pure HTML, CSS, and JS, with no external scripts from CDNs. Building a text editor from scratch was one of the most challenging parts.
Real-Time Functionality: Keeping the extension's background page active was tough because it deactivates when not in use, making it almost impossible to maintain a socket connection. I wrote code to wake up the background page and reconnect the socket whenever it goes to sleep.
I stopped all my freelance projects, and now three other people and I work on this tool full-time. We recently became #1 on Product Hunt: JustBeepIt.com
There are still many issues we're working on, such as using it with iFrames or inside scrollable objects, but we're tackling these challenges one by one.
Hey! I’m not an electronics expert myself, and unfortunately, the course I’m taking isn’t available online. However, designing a custom PCB can definitely help you avoid soldering between separate boards. If you’re new to PCB design, tools like KiCad or Eagle are great for creating your layout. There are plenty of tutorials available that cover integrating modules and designing PCBs that could be really helpful for your project.
One big regret I have is not prioritizing work-life balance sooner. I was so focused on growing the startup that I burned out and didn’t spend enough time with family and friends. It’s crucial to find that balance early on—it’s good for both your health and the company’s long-term success.
In 2022 I asked myself, what if my manager could leave comments for me directly on the live website for all the website edits instead of sending bunch of screenshots and videos...
This is how I started with an idea of a "simple" browser extension that allows you to leave comments on any site, anywhere on the screen.
Spoiler, it was not SIMPLE
There were multiple steps where I though this is almost impossible:
1. I didn't know how to always attach the comment to the correct HTML element on the screen, I couldn't just use X/Y positions since then it wouldn't be responsive. Currently I have 4 ways I try to find the correct element. I use element's IDs, class , outerhtml and attributes. It works correctly in 95% of cases. P.s. Do you know any other ways to find the correct element in the DOM?
2. Not being able to use any 3rd party library for extension development since it is just pure HTML, CSS and JS... You can't even use scripts from CDN. I had to manually build a text editor which was one of the most painful things I had to.
3. Making it real time was another big pain. Extensions background page gets deactivated when not used, which means it is literally impossible to maintain a socket connection. But I was able to write a code that wakes up the background page every time it goes to sleep and connects the socket again.
I stopped all of my freelance projects and now me and 3 other people work on this tool full time, we recently became #1 on Product Hunt: "https://www.justbeepit.com/"
There are still many issues we are trying to solve such as using it on iFrames or inside scrollable objects, etc.. but we are tackling these issues one by one.
Do you think this would be beneficial for a somewhat perplexed CTO of a newly seed-funded startup? Or would it be wiser for me to concentrate on my current responsibilities and return to this book when my mind is clearer? I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed and under pressure, and I'm concerned that reading this book might add to the chaos. I would appreciate your input.
APoSD is a relatively quick high-signal read, and not really a source of additional chaos. You can get through it in a weekend or less.
It mostly gives you vocabulary and labels and explanations for things that you may already intuitively understand, and teaches you to notice small things that matter. It will probably make it easier for you to discuss and dissect some of the chaos you're already dealing with.
