My Own ‘Summer of Code’
Google has their own Summer of Code, so why can’t I have one too?
I like to try and make the most of my summers, and as much as I like doing nothing in the warm weather, I always like to work on some projects on the side. Inevitably, some of them will be programming-related. I have a pretty big list of projects I want to work on, but I’ll probably only end up getting around to one or two. But that’s okay!
In no particular order:
(Completely) Open Source Home Consumables Inventory System
The idea is pretty simple. I want to create a program for the average person to be able to track their consumables (i.e. their groceries) and have a system that just generally helps with this process. It could learn trends, offer suggestions, find prices, tally deals and average spending, keep track of expiry dates, and so forth. Although, I must admit, the idea isn’t original. I’ve seen it done before, specifically on an episode of Daily Planet on The Discovery Channel.
The catch is, however, that I want to do it more as a proof of concept project than for anything else. The concept is that I would like it to run as a complete in-browser application using PHP and various AJAX methods, and I would like it to run on entirely free software, such as MySQL, >Lighttpd, and optimize it for Debian, and then release everything I’ve got open to anyone to download. Or, as I had considered earlier, release it as a public system for people to create their own accounts and use it online, rather than over a home network for instance.
It probably sounds pretty pointless, as will most of these project ideas, but I think it would be fun to try. I have a lot of great ideas for this one, and I’ve really wanted to do a worthy open source project that people might be interested in using themselves. All I need is a USB-based UPC scanner and I’m good to go.
Also, there was good discussion on Slashdot about web-based CGI vs. traditional applications that kind of fits into this.
Python-based Motion Tracking and Motion Capture
A couple of weeks ago I came across a few good sources of articles on using Python to do basic motion capture and tracking with the VideoCapture (for Win32) Python extension. I had a couple of interesting ideas, such as distance, speed, and motion tracking using a webcam mounted in a car, or a virtual drum kit game using motion detection over a few small areas each of which produces a different drum sound. Simple ideas, but would be fun to do.
Wikipedia Mapper
The idea for this came out of boredom and my constant use of Wikipedia. I wanted to write a quick visual representation map of Wikipedia (probably not all, as that would take forever, but maybe to a certain number of degrees) from any given article. I’m sure this has been done before — I haven’t looked — but I wouldn’t mind trying anyways. It would be good practice in using HTTP requests, analyzing and breaking down HTML, and then visually representing how each page links to others.
dreamtome
I’ve wanted to redo my personal site dreamtome for a long time and add a whole lot of new features, but since no one is using it I don’t think I’ll bother.
Those are the major four… I also had a few other community-based website ideas (for such things as music, photography, etc), and an idea for a two-played NetHack-like game and some other stuff.
Only 52 days left until my summer officially begins, but I’m sure I’ll have chosen at least one by that time to start.