Futureporn Update Jan 2025

Hey guys. January is a great time to reflect and make resolutions. After a lot of thinking, I realize I've spent the past 6 months trying to push an update that is impossible to produce. There were layers of complexity of hastily designed prototypes. There were fragments of bespoke, deprecated integrations. Making a change anywhere meant breaking functionality in five other systems and it led me to an ossified development environment that was pure, bloated madness.

I've been designing for a set of requirements that don't make sense to Futureporn's core service. Autoscaling microservices are cool, but implementing that system has taken focus away from working on things that improve the user experience.

I keep coming back to the same conclusion... my way of doing things has been too slow, bloated, broken. I need a clean start.

Today I'm re-focusing on Elon's 5 step design process which I love more and more every day.

Step 1 is Make the requirements less dumb.

Step 2 is Delete the part or process step.

Step 3 is Simplify or optimize.

Step 4 is Accelerate cycle time.

Step 5 is Automate.

We'll get to automating, but for now I'm focusing on step 1-4.

I've determined that Futureporn 1.0 was re-inventing the wheel in a bunch of different areas. I've deleted a large part of the codebase which was inefficient. I've simplified my code deployment method to where it's fast and painless.

Futureporn 2.0 focuses on data, datatypes, and the relations between them. It cuts down on unnecessary JavaScript. It emphasizes performance, proven best-practices, and simplicity.

The way I think about cycle time is the length of time it takes me to put a VOD in the system and have it displayed on the site for viewers to watch. Cycletime on Futureporn 1.0 is about 1-2 hours per VOD, because there was a big checklist of manual tasks all taking place on a half dozen different systems. Futureporn 2.0 reduces 6 systems to 2, which is a breath of fresh air. I'm really looking forward to iterating on this step and improving cycle time.

The Future is Bright

https://bright.futureporn.net/

This is a preview, a public test. It's Futureporn 2.0 which will run alongside Futureporn 1.0 for a time. When it's ready, Futureporn 2.0 will take Futureporn 1.0's place. Right now, Futureporn 2.0 is just getting started. Lots of features are missing. You can't do much there, but it's a first look at what I want Futureporn to be.

Futureporn 2.0 is all about the data. Displaying the data and helping visitors make sense of it. Browsing the data, searching, sharing, and contributing.

Contributions are a huge part of the next phase of Futureporn. I can't keep up with recording all the VODs. I need help here, and I'm going to be focusing on enabling that Upload button so Futureporn can become a community project.

Right now, I am bringing Futureporn 2.0 into feature parity with Futureporn 1.0. Next comes adding the features I originally set out to create-- Vibrator synchronization and VOD uploads.

For the next several months, I'll be improving Futureporn 2.0 until it is better than 1.0 in every way. Once that happens, bright.futureporn.net will become futureporn.net.

Part of my New Year's resolution is that I want to publish early and publish often. It's something I've realized from watching other developers; I really appreciate when devs make little updates every week. I like to see what they're working on and that they care. It's something that I want to incorporate into my modus operandi.

Futureporn 2.0 isn't ready for prime time, but that's the whole point. A past me wouldn't share it at all, but a present me will. My hope is that I can get feedback early, and you the viewer can help steer the product.

My other resolution is improving my code skills. I work a lot on reading and writing code, and It's something I want to continue working on and build proficiency. I fall short on math and algorithms and I'd like to level up. To that end, I've started doing a daily code lesson on https://exercism.org.

Thank you

As always, thank you for your support. Whether it's financial, feedback, or friendship. I really appreciate all the people in my life who reach out or just hang out and post memes on Futureporn Discord. To the patrons and everyone who looks forward to updates every month, are patient with me, and offer constructive criticism and helpful advice, thank you!