Haven't had much time to blog lately -- obvious, isn't it? Been very busy with Rails freelancing work lately. I've had some back troubles as well but only while sitting at my desk. I can do everything else which is really strange. I'm seeing a chiropractor now, so all is good.

I'm still doing by-the-hour Rails freelancing and it's going great. Freelancing is not for the weak of heart, let me tell you -- but the freedom is worth it. The Rails projects I've worked on for my clients so far have either a) been internal or b) not launched publicly or c) are functional demos. So I don't have much to talk about on that front yet.

fanconcert was a great learning experience, as was stepping away from it and thinking about why it didn't work out. The Rails experience was worth it almost in itself. Working with such a well-designed and test-enabled framework is such a pleasure.

I've come up with some other ideas for websites since then like Layered Genealogy, which I will continue to work on because it helps me with my own family history research.

I've also started a new website called Hey Heads Up!. If you'd like to help me alpha test it, email me (blog[AT]ryanlowe[DOT]ca).

All three of these sites scratch itches I know I have, I just need to work on scratching other people's itches as well. I don't mind failing -- every iteration has the almost sure possibility of failure in the eyes of the client/user in some respect. That's especially true for newer ideas that stretch the envelope -- people aren't sure what to think of them.

Responding to the feedback that comes back seems to be the important part. I ain't giving up yet!