prior art
It seems that every time I have a new idea for a nifty little web app, somebody else has already done it.
On that note, I recently discovered link.toolbot.com which does pretty much the same thing as lnk.nu but existed at least a year earlier. I know I looked for other similar link-shortening services at the time, and I don't know whether I would have even built lnk.nu if I had found link.toolbot.com back in 2004.
The question is, if I think I can do better than another implementation, or I've got a new idea that extends the other implementation in a novel way, should I continue to build it? I'm thinking yes.
On that note, I recently discovered link.toolbot.com which does pretty much the same thing as lnk.nu but existed at least a year earlier. I know I looked for other similar link-shortening services at the time, and I don't know whether I would have even built lnk.nu if I had found link.toolbot.com back in 2004.
The question is, if I think I can do better than another implementation, or I've got a new idea that extends the other implementation in a novel way, should I continue to build it? I'm thinking yes.
That fractal explorer has an obvious problem of maximum zoom level. If you have a new idea that lets you keep zooming as deep as you like, you should build it.
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ghewgill
2007-11-28T06:59:07Z
Yes, that was exactly the limitation I was thinking of. Also, I was thinking about browsing Julia sets, which of course can't be reasonably precomputed...
ivo
2007-11-27T20:57:12Z
...a new idea that extends the other implementation in a novel way, should I continue to build it?
For Regular People: No, are you crazy? It's already been done good enough.
For you: Of course, since when has this held you back!
ghewgill
2007-11-28T06:59:18Z
You know me too well. :)
decibel45
2007-11-27T22:29:33Z
If you know of the other implementation, I think it's best to try and work with them rather than out-do them. Of course, none of it truly matters unless one of you is planning on patenting the thing...
2007-11-27T13:45:07Z