I thought about blogging this morning, and it was going to be about things I haven’t done lately. Checking my notes, it’s been five days since I’ve done any developing. It would have been a fine post — “Hey, still thinking about you, but doing nothing.”
No.
Something happened tonight/today where I realized I needed something more than a doom scroll. Initially I was going to play guitar — and that would have worked — but it was going to feel too emotional, I think. Instead, I opted to work on Grampy P.
https://jpsgrooves.github.io/SnowCone-MathFest/
Picking Up the Thread
It took me a while to remember where I had left off, but after everything was said and done — about two hours logged — I had added far more depth to MathTips Village. I might just rename the whole mode now that I’m thinking openly. But not yet.
There are still some CSS — or what we like to call “double card” — issues going on in some of the modes. I know about it. I’m working on it. But as always, what you see is what I see. I do live updates.
I keep thinking about how I want to start telling people about the app, but it’s not really time yet. They will only see it for the first time once. I do, however, realize that I might need a couple of motivated beta testers at some point. I can test Grampy P all day, but field data on what people might actually want to type HAS TO BE a huge part of how he interacts with the user. Essentially I want him to be prepared, and feel alive (however alive an NPC can feel), and on top of that: offer robust booth modes for the user to visit.
Tonight I (Actually) Learned Fractions, lol
I’m not gonna lie, we are really close to magic… I may have actually learned how to solve fractions tonight, lol. The hint mode is what did it. I didn’t know the answer — I haven’t actually, lol, because I’m a math idiot — so I used the hint function, and it taught me! That’s the idea. Further testing is needed, but it’s cool stuff!
The lessons mode just needs some direction and possibly CSS, but overall, in terms of booths and suggested commands, the user can reach a remarkable amount of depth.
Mobile Gremlin: Scrolling on Phones
I’m still trying to get scroll to work on phones; that has been a bit of a challenge.
Timeline Check
So there it all is: the app isn’t ready. The rest of September is just extra time — no big goals, just keep working.
October (just like I had to set a time limit on my first adventure with Pythagorus Cat) is all I can give myself to work on him.
November could then be for polish, and I could maybe get some serious beta testers to take me into a December check-off phase. Who knows…
Am I a Coder Now? (And: AI, Patch, and Trust)
I want to keep working on this app… but I can’t, lol. I want it to just exist as what it is for a little while. It’s like the only way I can love it is to see it as a fun adventure I went on that created an art piece.
I’m not a coder? At least I don’t think I am. But maybe I am now. I can do things on computers now that months ago I couldn’t. But can I do it without AI? And thus can I do it at all?
A long time ago, me and a friend made a ball roll on a tiny “video game,” but I have gone so far beyond that, and quite frankly beyond the abilities of the AI. I told Patch just this evening, “If you could do it all, I would probably let you, but you can’t.” It honestly can’t — don’t get me wrong, it can create stuff — but in no way could it create SnowCone MathFest without me. I slow it down, make it give me what I need. I use it as a tool. I don’t trust it… at all… like ever. We always need to verify our AI with sincerity. When you are pursuing knowledge, you can’t see what I see in a coding sense.
I can’t count the number of times Patch has told me 100% confidence and that it’s totally sure this will work this time; it lies. It lies and lies and doesn’t say it’s sorry unless you tell it to. Stupid people are going to use AI stupidly; maybe smart people can use it smartly.
North Star
Grampy P will be able to help you learn!!! That’s the goal. And tonight, at the very least, I finally learned actual math in this process.
Your Turn
What was/is the hardest math thing that you had trouble learning?
https://jpsgrooves.github.io/SnowCone-MathFest/
JPS Grooves 
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