So I find myself out of a job. It's not as bad as it might be; I own my car and house outright, so my expenses are just food, utilities, and taxes. Crossing my fingers and hope the car doesn't need a big repair any time soon, of course. So I'm good for a while.

I'm going to take some time and write some tablet apps. I'll start with a variation on that "image to bb code" utility; not because I expect it to be popular, but because it's a good simple app to learn on. When I finish it I'll put it out as a freebie, of course; I can't imagine anyone paying money for it. I'll let you all know when I have something.

Meanwhile I need a software company name. Some thoughts I've had ...

• Dumb Little Apps Light and breezy, but "Dumb" may be a bit off-putting.
• Simple Things Mmmmaybe.
• They Might Be Giants Oops, wait, I meant
• They Do Stuff It's an oddball name but not bad.

Any comments? Also, please feel free to throw out suggestions of your own. I'm thinking it needs to be something breezy and cute without being offensive or insulting.

Sorry to hear that Ponder, but at least, for a little while, you can do things that you want.

PonderThis wrote:...without being offensive or insulting.

Well, there goes all my ideas.

Aww, yeah that's a huge bummer for sure. As for your proposed names, I like the last one best

PonderApps

Sorry to hear that. Another vote for 'they do stuff'.

Sorry, Ponder. Good luck finding a new job! And I too vote for the last name.

sorry to hear about your job loss.

do you see yourself doing more than just apps, or are you locking yourself into an app-only development for simplicity's sake? i ask because you wouldn't want to have a name which only stands for a specific sector in the event you branch out to other things. in that regard "they do stuff" is not bad. or you could go the other route and give yourself a title like "chief yahoo!" and act all eccentric and enigmatic in public in order to get people to notice your software company and wait to be bought out by facebook or someone similar

Null wrote:PonderApps

x2

Ponder, I'm saddened to hear of your forced vacation.
Stay positive, ok? You're a great, smart guy and I'm sure if you want to pursue the app thing, there are plenty of organisations out there that want apps made.. They just don't know who to approach.

I just ate a bunch of Toblerone and I feel incredibly ill.

Dusk wrote:I just ate a bunch of Toblerone and I feel incredibly ill.

I suppose next time it would be advisable to break it into chunks rather than swallow it whole.

So I've thought more about this and I'm thinking this may be one of those "blessing in disguise" things. As I've noted in "Whine and Complain" my old job kinda sucked, mainly because it was boring. I've spent years there kinda sorta writing support software and maintaining the web site and blah blah blah. Nothing very challenging, really.

So I have an opportunity here to be in business for myself, to be my own boss. After I write these little "introductory" apps, as it were, I have an idea for something that I hope will actually make money.

But hey, cart before the horse and all that. Job 1 is getting these introductory apps written and out there. I'll post progress as I go.

First, I've decided to write for both Windows tablets and the iPad. I'm including the Windows tablet because I've been working in microsoft's .NET for years and that gives me a significant head start. But as I'm working on this first app I find the Metro interface a bit clunky on the desktop. I really kinda hate it, actually. I was wondering if something gets lost in translation from tablet to desktop, so I went out last night and bought the cheapest Microsoft Surface tablet they got.

And I'm actually a bit surprised. All those clunky things that don't quite work on the desktop really do work on the tablet. It actually is a pretty nice interface, good enough to rival the iPad -- and I love my iPad. The only real drawback is, of course, there is practically no software for it. So maybe my decision to write software for it could eventually pay off.

I've had Windows 8 for eight months or so now and I've found the whole Metro business to be really, really bad. I'm not sure what possessed them to make a thing that looked like it would be very handy on mobile devices with touchscreens etc but which really is absolutely useless on a desktop machine. I read somewhere that a former Microsoft employee felt that because of the conditions that Microsoft employees work in - high speed internet, all the latest technology and access to things that most people won't have access to - the company is just completely detached from reality.

Not that I mean to distract from your main thread. This sounds exciting.

It seems to be a fairly common thing in high-tech companies for employees to be only dimly aware that some people do not work for high-tech companies. Especially where the presence or absence of reliable internet connections is concerned, they just don't seem to be able to wrap their heads around it.

Be careful about spending a lot of time or capital on Microsoft tablet apps. Microsoft, alas, has a long history of putting a lot of money into something only to pull back later and say, "Well...THAT sucked! HA ha ha!"

Your remark in the other thread about "Palindrome" generators sound like something that people would notice. Notice, but not pay for...but it IS something unique. Steer them to the platform!

Hey, in case anyone's wondering if I'm dead or something. This app development thing is pretty much taking all my creative energy so I've had, like, zero energy left over for drawing any comics . I still check in the forums every so often so if you need me to do something you can peem me.

Oh hey, and awesome jorb with all the comics, EJ! You're burnin' up the place and that's a good thing.

PonderThis wrote:all the comics, EJ

My strategy has been to try to wait until my day off, then go through someone with pages of spam lines and draw whatever I think I can draw with what comes to mind when I see the lines. I can usually do somewhere between 3-7 on the day off and take the rest of the week off from drawing (although lately I have been doing some on the day of).

When I did comic #50 I was like, "Hey, I could do more probably." I thought about posting all of them the same day, but decided spreading them out would be better for the enjoyment of everyone. I just wanted spamusement to get back to its old people making comics, and other people commenting and being a lively community again. So that kinda just steamrolled into O.O a two and a half month consecutive daily spamusements in probably fruitless efforts to make this site poppin' again. But I enjoy the challenge of the time constraint and creating these little drawings.

And also this is very off topic from the original post so I understand if you want to move this elsewhere.

Before it gets moved, I want to say I have also appreciated them... I actually went the rss route because I was frustrated with myself over never going to the comics section, but I do see them. I also want to make more, and secretly hope I can find a way to get a tablet as I know I would do more if I had one.

I also miss the days of comic-doing. I have a tablet! I do nothing with it! I am awful.

sounds like enty needs to get back to canadia and lend chrisM his tablet. make it so...