One-person software lab
Small software, built on purpose.
n3rdlabs is where Zane builds apps that fix one annoying thing well: private video rooms for friends, a scoreboard so nobody does math on game night, a recipe book for coffee, and a few experiments still on the bench.
Index / 001 to 007
Experiments
Everything that made it out of the lab, plus a few things that haven't yet. Each one started because something annoyed me and I figured I could fix it.
- EXP-001 Lodge Private video rooms for your closest friends. No likes, no endless scroll, no audience: just a place to knock, join, and hang out.
- EXP-002 The Button One big red button, one global count, and way more going on than there should be: a leaderboard, achievements (one is for pressing at 3 AM), a daily shop, and random events.
- EXP-003 Scoreboard Math-free scoring for card and lawn games. Type in what's left in front of you at the end of a round and it works out the points. Dutch Blitz is live; mini golf is next.
- EXP-004 Brewbook A shared coffee recipe book for your home café. Save the brews that worked, share them with the people you make coffee for, and stop guessing at ratios every morning.
- EXP-005 NerdNav An iPhone app for tech pilgrimages. Visit iconic spots like the garage where Apple started, read the backstory, take a quick quiz, and earn XP as you go.
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EXP-006 UNSIGNED A capture-the-flag first-person shooter. Two teams, one flag each, no mercy. It isn't public yet, and that's about all there is to say for now.
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EXP-007 403 An Android app that fights procrastination with friction. When work time hits, the phone locks down to calls and texts until you tap an NFC tag, which starts a session where only your work apps open.
Protocol
How the lab runs
Four rules every experiment has to pass before it leaves the bench.
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01
People first, internet second.
Everything here started as something for my friends, my family, or me. If it helps someone else too, even better.
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02
No ads, no trackers, no feeds.
Nothing here is built to farm your attention. The apps load fast, ask for as little as possible, and get out of the way.
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03
Self-hosted where it can be.
Most of these run on one Linux box I look after myself, so I know exactly where the data lives and who can touch it.
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04
Ship small, then fix it.
Experiments go live early and get better from real use. If something breaks, tell me and it gets fixed.
Contact
Found a bug, have an idea, or want something built?
zane@n3rdlabs.devMail goes straight to Zane. No forms, no ticket system.