Michael Carrano

Update on 30 Day Challenge

Published by Michael Carrano on August 22, 2013

I previously wrote about how I will just build an idea I have called “Middle” within 30 days.

I want to give a quick update on how it is progressing.

Update: There is no progress.

This challenge has been much more difficult than I anticipated. I thought I would be able to breeze through it as I have already planned out much of what needs to be done, I just need to actually do it.

Some of the reasons I have not accomplished much on my idea:

• Life - Unexpected events happen that take priority.
• Work - I love and enjoy the work I do at my job. Often, I come home and continue to do my day job related work.
• Ideas - I get ideas all the time, that I lose interest in the current project I am working on.

It is the last point that really holds me back from completing my project called “Middle”. Instead of working on Middle, I started working on a different idea which is an Android application.

Android development is something I really started to take seriously back in February. It is really fun to do Android development because most of my experience to date has been web programming. I enjoy learning how to become a better Android developer by watching the DevBytes/DesignBytes series on Youtube.

Let me tell you a little bit about the Android application I am working on…

I am working on an Android application that involves Youtube and creating the application around a niche topic. In particular, the application will display videos from a set of Youtube channel(s) that I specify.

I use the Youtube API to fetch the JSON feed and parse it for the information I am interested in. I then display the information in a ListView. In particular I implemented an “infinite” ListView so as you scroll, the application will continue to fetch more videos from the channel if there are any and keep adding it to the list.

When you click on an video in the ListView, it will take you to the details view of the application where you can then favorite the video within the application. You can also watch the video from this view.

My plan is to release the application when I finish and hopefully the community I am developing for will use it. I will also then clean up the code a bit and package it to sell online so that other developers can purchase for their own use.

Obviously, I won’t be completing the application within the 30 day challenge but I have made good progress by sticking to one goal each night.

Once I finish up the Android application, I will get back to my original idea, “Middle”, that started the 30 day challenge in the first place.