🚀 Project Ideas
Generating project ideas…
Summary
- Detects and corrects misaligned ASCII art on web pages by enforcing monospaced rendering and auto‑adjusting line height.
- Provides a fallback PNG conversion for browsers that cannot render ASCII properly.
- Core value: eliminates the frustration of distorted ASCII diagrams across devices and browsers.
Details
| Key |
Value |
| Target Audience |
Web developers, technical writers, HN commenters who embed ASCII art in articles. |
| Core Feature |
Automatic CSS injection to enforce monospaced fonts, line‑height normalization, and optional PNG fallback. |
| Tech Stack |
JavaScript (ES6), WebExtension APIs, CSS, optional WebAssembly for PNG conversion. |
| Difficulty |
Medium |
| Monetization |
Hobby |
Notes
- Users complained: “This is becoming so prevalent - instant AI tell.” and “The ascii diagram was thoroughly distorted on my phone but it looked fine on my laptop.”
- The extension would let commenters like whalesalad quickly fix alignment without editing the source.
- Practical utility: works on any site, no server side, instant feedback.
Summary
- CLI and web service that transforms ASCII diagrams into scalable SVG or PNG images.
- Guarantees consistent rendering across all browsers and devices, regardless of font or CSS.
- Core value: removes the need for manual PNG replacements and preserves diagram fidelity.
Details
| Key |
Value |
| Target Audience |
Technical writers, documentation teams, HN users who embed ASCII art. |
| Core Feature |
ASCII → SVG/PNG conversion with customizable styles, auto‑detection of diagram boundaries. |
| Tech Stack |
Python (Click, Pillow, CairoSVG) or Node.js (jsdom, svg.js), Docker for containerized service. |
| Difficulty |
Medium |
| Monetization |
Hobby |
Notes
- Commenters noted: “I found it more jarring that they chose to use both Excalidraw and ascii art.” The tool would let authors choose a single, consistent format.
- The service can be integrated into static site generators (Hugo, Jekyll) to auto‑convert during build.
- Discussion potential: “Why not just use PNG?” – this tool provides a lightweight, editable alternative.
Summary
- A lightweight, cross‑platform build orchestrator that abstracts Docker, BuildKit, Nix, and Make into a single reproducible workflow.
- Provides a declarative DSL, automatic caching, and deterministic build outputs.
- Core value: addresses frustration over “Dockerfile was a failed iteration of Makefile” and “BuildKit is painful to run at volume.”
Details
| Key |
Value |
| Target Audience |
DevOps engineers, SREs, open‑source maintainers needing reproducible builds. |
| Core Feature |
Unified build definition language, hash‑based caching, remote build execution, and build DAG visualization. |
| Tech Stack |
Go (CLI), Docker/BuildKit API, Nix integration, optional web UI (React). |
| Difficulty |
High |
| Monetization |
Revenue‑ready: subscription for enterprise features (advanced caching, analytics, SLA). |
Notes
- Users expressed: “Make is timestamp based. That is a thoroughly out‑of‑date approach.” and “BuildKit also comes with a lot of pain.”
- ReproBuild would let teams avoid “network‑jail” workarounds and provide a single source of truth for builds.
- Practical utility: reduces build time, ensures reproducibility, and simplifies CI/CD pipelines.
