On persistence - each HyperDev project gets a DynamoDB. It’s definitely trickier to use than we’d like, so we’ll be getting to that, but for now here’s an example project you can remix that uses it - https://hyperdev.com/#!/project/typhoon-pine. Or there are other options like one that uses a free mlab MongoDB - https://hyperdev.com/#!/project/navy-flower that’s pretty easy to get going with.
But I think you should just try building something with it - here’s a good excuse: https://hyperdev.com/blog/developer-contest-get-back-nature/. From what I remember from Aavardk’d [3] you’re a keen photographer so it should be your thing!
1 - https://www.quantcast.com/stackoverflow.com 2 - http://www.computerworld.com/article/2483690/it-careers/indi... 3 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NRL7YsXjSg