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pigpen34

34 karma · joined September 30, 2015

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pigpen34··on Ask HN: Improving the world as a software developer
I've had my eye on Nava for a while. I applied last year but didn't get an interview. I just applied again - 2nd time's the charm, right??
pigpen34··on Ask HN: What apps did you build for yourself and why?
I built CronAlarm (https://www.cronalarm.com) to solve a problem I was having at my primary job. I had several dozen cron jobs / scheduled tasks that ran at various times of the day, multiple times of the day, and across a range of servers. It became a little unwieldy to adequately monitor and I too often didn't know anything was wrong until somebody complained. So I built an internal tool to centralize the results of the jobs and to send me alerts when a problem was detected.

There are other cron monitoring tools out there, but at the time I didn't realize that. I didn't even look for one before building my own, actually. After stumbling across another option online one day, I thought to myself that if somebody was willing to pay for such a service, why not put my own out there? I thought mine was/is different enough from the others that it may be a compelling alternative to existing solutions. Thus, CronAlarm was born.

pigpen34··on Ask HN: What’s your list of sideprojects?
A service for monitoring cron jobs and scheduled tasks - https://www.cronalarm.com
pigpen34··on Ask HN: What is everyone currently working on?
I'm rebuilding the API and admin section for CronAlarm - https://www.cronalarm.com - a cron job / scheduled task monitoring platform. The purpose of the rewrite is for paving the way for a native mobile app. Also working on adding Slack integrations as well.
pigpen34··on Ask HN: What impact are you having on the world?
Trying to be the best father and role model that I can.
pigpen34··on Ask HN: What 'product' have you done for your own use?
CronAlarm - https://www.cronalarm.com - a cron job monitoring service.

We had a large number of cron jobs at my regular employer that ran across multiple servers and applications. Things started to get a bit unwieldy and insight into any issues was negligible, so I built a cron job monitoring tool for internal use. Eventually I figured that if we found it useful maybe others would too. So I looked around and realized there were a few others already in existence that seemed to be making money. Mine offered some features the others didn't so I figured I'd go for it. It's been a lot of fun.

pigpen34··on Ask HN: What simple tools or products are you most proud of making?
CronAlarm https://www.cronalarm.com - A cron / scheduled job monitoring service.

My main job requires a ridiculous amount of file and data transfers that are mostly scheduled to run during off-peak hours. I needed a way to centralize the results of these jobs in order to keep tabs on things. I built this as an in-house tool and then discovered a few services already existed for this. I thought my solution offered some things these others didn't, and if somebody was paying these other services I might have some success as well. It's been a lot of fun, and if anyone has any suggestions I'd love to hear them.

pigpen34··on Ask HN: What's your most profitable side project?
Damn. Yeah, you have the correct url. MRR isn't overly impressive, but I do make some money and it's growing. It's been a lot of fun, honestly.
pigpen34··on Ask HN: What's your most profitable side project?
https://www.conalarm.com - A service for monitoring cron jobs and scheduled tasks.
pigpen34··on Ask HN: Does anyone dream of code?
I started out in system administration and network engineering before switching to programming. I once had a dream that my cigarette needed an IP address before I could smoke it.
pigpen34··on Ask HN: What are your profitable side projects?
Thanks! I built this for myself a while back, before I knew any alternatives existed. When I found out about dead mans snitch I figured I might as well build out CronAlarm for others to use as well. Especially since I thought mine was better ;-)
pigpen34··on Ask HN: What are your profitable side projects?
CronAlarm - https://www.cronalarm.com

A platform for monitoring cron jobs and scheduled tasks. Nobody here is getting rich from it, but it is profitable and brings in some extra cash which is nice.

pigpen34··on [dead]
What problems do you have, and can you solve them? If so, there is your idea. Chances are if you are having a problem, others are too. And if there is something similar out there already, that's good news! It means your market is validated. Put your own spin on it, add some new/different features that are not offered by your competition, and give a go.

As for making sure that the time you put in is going to bring in money, well, nobody can be sure of that. However, as I said before, if you are solving a problem there is a good chance others will pay for it. If nothing else, if you solve your own problem then it was probably time well spent regardless.

pigpen34··on Ask HN: What's your plan for 2017?
- Continue to develop and promote https://www.cronalarm.com. Looking to at least double my current client base.

- Continue to improve my JS skills (Node, React). Find my dream job as a JS engineer.

- Lose 15 pounds.

- Be a better parent.

- Stop wasting time.

pigpen34··on Ask HN: What stack would you use to build a CRUD web app on the JVM today?
Not a popular opinion here, I'm sure. But I would no doubt use a newer CFML platform, either ColdFusion 10+ or Lucee.