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Soutle MVP Underway
We had completed the MVP of Soutle and deployed it over the weekend. However, due to slow performance, we decided to migrate to a better server. But that’s when the challenges began. The first hurdle was configuring the new server to allow inbound TCP traffic, which took hours to figure out. Then, onto the next…
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Works Fine On My Laptop
One of the most annoying bugs to deal with is the ones that happen in production but refuse to show up during local testing. I’ve been wrestling with such a bug all evening. What seemed like a simple fix has turned into a time sink. The issue centers around a POST request designed to add…
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Choosing A Credit System For Soutle
We have been considering how best to implement the credit system for Soutle. One option is a money-based credit system: if a user tops up $2, they would see $2 as their balance. Simple and straightforward. However, since we plan to support multiple currencies, this method could become complicated quickly due to varying exchange rates…
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Customization Is Going
Good progress on Soutle! We’re pretty much done with the video customization feature. Next on our agenda is integrating the credit system: whenever a user re-generates an image or other assets, they’ll be debited a certain number of credits. I also checked our waitlist today and was delighted to see a good number of users…
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Bug-Crushed Feeling
I just love that feeling when you finally fix a stubborn bug. There’s nothing quite like it.
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Disguised Complexity
Working on Soutle these past weeks and tackling one technical challenge after another has taught me that sometimes the best solution is simply the simplest one. It’s surprisingly easy to overcomplicate things, even with the best intentions. Sometimes, in our efforts to simplify, we inadvertently add more complexity. What has helped me is taking a…
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Customization Is Hard
For Soutle, we have what could be considered a minimum viable product (MVP): you can enter a title, and it would generate a video for you. But that’s it. Allowing users to customize the generated videos is essential for a richer experience. That’s what I’ve been focusing on for some time now. I’ve come to…
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The Value of Crisis
If you fall to pieces in a crisis, there wasn’t much to you in the first place. — Proverbs 24:10 (MSG) I learned about this scripture during last Sunday’s service, and it really struck me. It’s a powerful reminder that who we truly are is revealed when we’re tested by crisis. Since then, I’ve been…
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Power Sufficient
You don’t have to spend much time in Nigeria to realize that the power situation here is poor and grossly unreliable. For a while now, we’ve been planning to go off-grid by installing enough solar panels. We’ve finally made good progress towards that goal. Now it’s time to assess the performance and decide on the…
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Privileged Hard Work
Over the past couple of days, I’ve hired a few people to do jobs that make you question whether those of us in tech are really working hard. One of the jobs involved climbing to the top of a two-story building on a hot day. The others were different but equally demanding. The strength, courage,…