Dave the Web Guy

This holiday weekend I decided to actually try and be on-scene for real fireworks in the city.  Last year I enjoyed them with family in Wilkes-Barre, PA's new Riverwalk, but inasmuch as this year's overall plans were not settled until the last minute, I decided to enjoy my new hometown's rendition. 

After some work on Headline Prophet, I got in to gear about 2 PM.

On my way to beat the crowds and get comfortabe (at exactly the same time as the crowd no doubt).

It seems that almost the entire West Side running along the Hudson is devoted to the event.  I only knew, loosely, that I wanted to get near the piers and that doing so would take pretty much the whole afternoon if not the whole day.  I had an idea that this would be a lot like my attempts to be in Times Square for New Years which, in both cases, I aborted because it’s just so damn cold and crowded, and I never get there early enough.

I got off the subway in Bryant Park and walked the entire length westward on 42nd Street until ultimately reaching a comfortable viewing point just South of the Intrepid.  I was part of a super flow of people that would be rivaled hours later going the other direction.

Crowds taking up position with chairs blankets and their own water from home (smart move).

Parched.

The show begins.

Me looking rather jolly about the whole thing.

Show aftermath.  Crowd streams back up 42nd Street, taking over street for many blocks.

Waiting for the 7 Train home, exhausted!

Thankfully the crowd, even at its peak, allowed for enough room for a single guy to stand comfortably.  The biggest problem I had was the heat and lack of water vendors inside the parametered viewing area (which should not be confused with the problem of my lack of foresight to actually bring my own water).  One of the restaurants was selling food and drinks just a block outside the parameter.  Initially I walked past it to get in but once in place and standing for 10 minutes I realized I really needed to stock up on the aqua. When I tried to get back and buy some, police were warning anyone, including anyone who just wanted to buy from the vendor standing just feet from them, they wouldn't be allowed back in. It became a choice between drying up or re-situating somewhere up or down New York 9A, which would have been tantamount to leaving all together by that point.  Luckily, the restaurant had situated its triage against the parameter.  Standing at the end of the adjoining business's wheelchair ramp, one could reach over the railing and transact.  With hundreds of people in the same predicament as I, a line quickly formed on this ramp as the police fenced up with metal barriers.

The show was pretty good, though, I probably spent more time than I should have trying to take and Tweet the few pictures I took rather than simply enjoying the show! :P

For the past month or so I've been working feverishly to bring to life an idea I've had for some time.  I have a lot of ideas but this one just had me brimming with excitement.  Wouldn't it be cool if there were a website where you could somehow discuss the news before it happened?   Where satire in the form of predictions could play out and where people could use their inside knowledge, imagination, or just plain old common sense to foresee what few others might?

Octavio, myself, and picture-taker Fernando, hail the birth of Headline Prophet, June 13, 2010

I did some checking around and found nothing "quite" like it in Google (rest assured they are there, but none came up as a top hit in searches like "predict the news" or "news prophecy", etc.).  Next I checked the domains and found one that spoke to exactly what I wanted to create still available!  I registered it for a pittance through Go Daddy, dawned my best beginner-PHP cap (along with W3 Schools which is always great when you need a standby tutor to walk you through new syntax and functions inherent to any language -- I've used it faithfully for years), and, for no less than 4 weekends and many weeknights, toiled to get this up and running in viable form.   No kidding, I actually cashed in the gym for 2 weeks for this.

The final result? 

www.headlineprophet.com

Yep.  As my increasingly favorite tagline for this project touts, "Many sites let you discuss current news, only Headline Prophet exists to specifically discuss future news."

Last Sunday a little before midnight, I emerged from my bedroom after another intense 2-day coding marathon and announced to my roommates, my project was complete (enough).  I was ready to make Headline Prophet visible to the world!  With their help and with ingrediants from around the apartment, I whipped up a goofy picture of me hovering over a crystal ball appearing to predict the future to use as a make-do logo.  I'm wearing a carpet as a robe no less.

Headline Prophet, first showing!  June 13, 2010.

The first public showing was to these roommates who high-fived and celebrated.  I'm including 2 pictures from this "celebration". 

Now, of course I can't really say the website is "finished", there are way too many features I need to shore up, including some pretty basic functionalities.  However, it's open enough if you want to pop in and see what's going on, and maybe even log a prophecy or two.  If everything goes well, they will even stick.