Sep 22Full stack TypeScript with Cloud Functions and ReactI build small web applications with an ever-evolving stack and toolkit. In the time after I started writing about it a couple of years ago I’ve settled into: JavaScript on Node.js for front end and back end Google Cloud Functions for serverless APIs Google Sheets for master data Firebase Firestore…Typescript7 min readTypescript7 min read
Jul 23Your bartender is an AI: integrating Chat GPT with a mixology appNot a day goes by without a tech article discussing different ways to use Open AI’s GPT implementation to bring the magic of “the stochastic parrot” into different domains. I thought I’d start my own adventure by adding LLM integration to my amateur bartender cocktail tool: Bar Tool. I like…AI5 min readAI5 min read
May 8Using the Spotify API with Firebase to build an album-centric music managerWhen I’m building tiny apps, I avoid creating a middle “application” tier when I can. As I explained in a story a while back, calling the Firebase API directly from my usual React and Material UI Progressive Web App front end is more than adequate for basic user data storage…Spotify6 min readSpotify6 min read
Mar 14Scanning and rendering barcodes in a React Progressive Web AppI build side projects and my front-end of choice is a mobile-first, Progressive Web App (PWA), built in React and Material UI. I noticed I was carrying a bunch of loyalty and membership cards around in my wallet, but the only way I used them was to scan the barcode…Barcode5 min readBarcode5 min read
Feb 24New version notification for a React PWA made with Create React AppI build side projects and my front-end of choice is a mobile-first, Progressive Web App (PWA), built in React and Material UI. I find PWAs work really well. I’ve even been able to install and run them on old low-spec tablets with unsupported Android versions. Modern (and even not-so-modern) browsers…Progressive Web App4 min readProgressive Web App4 min read
Feb 12Adding a USB two-button keyboard control to my up-cycled Raspberry Pi photo frameBack in November I wrote an article about the transformation of an unused Raspberry Pi 3, a secondhand monitor bought for New Zealand $11.50 and a few low cost bits and pieces into a digital photo frame for my nine year-old son Sam’s bedroom. Sam has inherited my habit of…Raspberry Pi7 min readRaspberry Pi7 min read
Feb 8Using React Router searchParams to manage filter state for a listI’ve written a couple of stories about the apps on my chosen web app stack. One of my examples is a progressive web app called “Bar Tool”. It’s a mobile-first app that helps mixology enthusiasts like me riff on classic drink recipes. Bar Tool uses my standard tool-kit with Google…React Router5 min readReact Router5 min read
Jan 7Using Google Docs and Drive as a PDF template engine with Node.js on Google Cloud FunctionsIn my non-four-day-a-week-job time I’ve been working on a minimum viable product (MVP) that enables employers and employees in New Zealand to take advantage of a system our tax authority offers known as “payroll giving”. …Serverless6 min readServerless6 min read
Dec 4, 2022Minimalist security for Google Cloud Functions using Google accountsI’ve written about my usual tiny app toolkit in the past. I generally use Firebase when I want a secure writeable API. It works particularly well for simple apps where each user essentially has their own partition of the data store (Firestore or Realtime Database). Firebase Functions also provides a…Google Cloud Platform6 min readGoogle Cloud Platform6 min read
Nov 25, 2022Up-cycling an old Raspberry Pi into a digital photo frameI’ve posted a few stories about Raspberry Pi projects. There’s my two “SaaS prepper” projects: one for Flickr and one for Evernote. There’s also my Hue automation and later addition of a rules language for it. I run all of those on a late model Pi with built in wifi. …Raspberry Pi6 min readRaspberry Pi6 min read
