Perhaps better described as memory lane leading to a graveyard.
A handful of the projects below are still active in some form or another, but are no longer monitored or supported. Vaguely in reverse order from recent to distant memory.
Photo Detective
A quick demo I put together when Google released the Nano Banana image model. You upload a photo and it creates a “Spot the Difference” puzzle. Sometimes quite clever/subtle changes, and sometimes ridiculous.
11 Plus Game (Word Wizard)
Way before AI coding got decent, a cobbled together game to help my son with a school exam.
I even wrote about this one.
Flex PB
A basic webapp for entering your best times for various running distances and downloading a graphic for social sharing.
Still seems to be working, but ended up extending into a Concept2 project called PB Dash.
Type Attack Game
In the very early days of ChatGPT I got it to help me cobble together an infuriating typing challenge.
It was hosted on Glitch that wound down in 2025 so don’t think I have a working version anywhere now.
No Dead Cats
Newsletters had a moment. A very half hearted effort at curating various internet “curiosities”. Geddit?
Ballot List
Collection of running / cycling events that are hard to get into, with info on ballot dates and reminders. Got bored very quickly, but would be a handy resource.
AFASI
One of the most ridiculous ideas I ever had but still kinda love it. Site still half built and hidden.
Will leave this one unexplained. Could still resurface!
In Perpetuity
A collection of ways to put your name to something physical. But think sponsoring a park bench rather than building a library.
Can still see the site, but a bunch of the images were on Imgur that now blocks Euro visitors
Veryun.fit
Just bought the domain one day because i thought it was funny. It featured a big photo of a burger for ~1 year before i let the domain lapse.
Alexa Skills
I got quite into these for a while, and an abandoned project during this period ended up becoming the web game Blackjack Smack.
Many of the apps/skills were aimed at kids, and some time ago I wrote some notes about that experience.
In the end I delisted them all for a few reasons. At some point will write a bit of a retro about it all.
Krafty Caps
Some real physical products! They were great, but both myself and my collaborator were terribly lazy at marketing and sales so didn’t shift many of them.
App OG
The idea was to show original crappy versions of apps that ended up incredibly successful.
Probably to placate myself that any crappy apps i made might be successful one day. Really should have just got on with making the damn apps.
My Cartoon
Idea: Sell “cartoonify your photo” concept for decent money. Commission it cheaply via Fiverr. Pocket difference.
Did a few fun samples but then went off the idea.
Kids Playgrounds
Got fed up with not being aware of cool places to take the kids when out of area. Had a grand ambition to build a national DB and have Facebook Groups etc. Obv never happened.
Smart Skills
Tech advice / help for technophobes. Primarily aimed at older people.
Weirdly the most successful thing I ever did financially. Local ads worked well and had a bunch of happy paying customers, but ended up feeling guilty charging for what felt like a public service.
Nowadays I volunteer regularly in a local community library doing the same thing as a drop-in clinic.
Pressthe8 (original incarnation)
Following leaving full time work in the gambling industry, a brief foray into consulting work.
Ended up keeping the domain name as a catch-all for random side projects.
Horse Racing Game
I always loved the 10p horse racing games you used to get at seaside arcades. I’ve always wanted to try and recreate that vibe as a mobile app, but never really got it going despite a couple of aborted attempts.
1st Base
Yep, this was actually related to the American slang around sexual feats. Somewhere I even have a document explaining the concept…
iPad Betting
A couple of basic affiliate sites trying to capture some SEO juice related to the new fancy devices.
Managed to bink a couple of decent sign ups and clear a couple of £k before it dwindled off.
Girlpower Gaming
Somewhere poker poker boom I attempted to create a gambling community site for women. In hindsight could have been immense had it worked, given the huge growth in bingo / slots since then.