This is a submission for the MLH x DEV Writing Challenge.
What I Built
I started programming with BASIC in the 1990s.
Back then, there was no Stack Overflow, no GitHub Copilot, and definitely no AI writing code for you. Just a blinking cursor, a lot of curiosity, and the excitement of making something work.
More than 30 years later, I still get excited about building things.
For Hacktoberfest 2026, I decided to experiment with Cursor and OpenAI Codex and ended up building four completely different open-source projects.
One takes you back to 1988. One helps you find a job. One brings BASIC back to life. And one lets you experiment with AI on your own machine.
Here's what happened.
📺 1. 1988.in — A Time Machine for My Kids
Remember when watching TV meant actually watching whatever was on?
No Netflix. No binge-watching. No recommendations asking, "Because you watched this..."
You switched on the TV, changed channels, and enjoyed whatever was playing.
I wanted my kids to experience a little bit of my childhood.
So I built 1988.in, a retro television experience that brings back the simplicity of watching TV in the late 1980s.
What makes it different?
- 📺 A classic retro television interface.
- 📡 Channel surfing instead of scrolling through endless recommendations.
- ⏪ No skipping, seeking, or choosing what plays next.
- 📱 Your phone can work as a TV remote.
- 🕰️ A little time travel, right from your browser.
My kids loved their trip to 1988!
That alone made the project worth building.
But then something unexpected happened.
When I launched it on Peerlist, I received 9 upvotes.
Not 900. Not 90. Just 9. 😄
I thought that would be the end of the story.
But today, 1988.in has 1,500+ active users!
And here's the funny part: I still have no idea how most of them discovered it.
Maybe nostalgia has its own recommendation algorithm!
It reminded me that sometimes the number of people using what you build matters far more than the number of people applauding its launch.
🔗 Travel to 1988 | GitHub
💼 2. Job Ready — Your Resume Doesn't Need Fiction
We've all seen AI tools promising to make resumes "10x better."
But what does that mean? Adding skills you've never used? Turning a small contribution into "led an enterprise-wide transformation"?
I wanted something different.
Job Ready helps candidates understand how well their actual experience matches a job description.
It helps you:
- Upload your resume and compare it with a job description.
- Identify matching skills and missing requirements.
- Understand where you're a strong fit.
- Improve how your real experience is presented.
- Discover what to learn to become a better candidate.
The philosophy behind the project is simple:
Use AI to explain your experience better, not invent a career you never had.
🔗 Try Job Ready | GitHub
👻 3. Ghost BASIC — Hello, Old Friend!
My programming journey started with BASIC.
If you remember writing something like this, we probably belong to the same generation:
10 PRINT "HELLO, WORLD!"
20 GOTO 10
And yes, we've all written an infinite loop at least once. 😄
For Hacktoberfest, I wanted to bring back that experience.
So I built Ghost BASIC, a Python-based terminal application inspired by the good old GW-BASIC and QBASIC.
It includes:
- Classic line-numbered BASIC programming.
- Loops, conditions, arrays, and subroutines.
- A terminal-based programming environment.
- Built-in examples and documentation.
- Optional AI assistance using Ollama for debugging and explaining code.
The idea is to combine the simplicity of old-school programming with modern developer tools.
Thirty years later, BASIC still makes me smile.
🔗 Explore Ghost BASIC | GitHub
🤖 4. Local LLM Studio — Your AI, Your Machine
Everyone is talking about AI. But why should every experiment require a cloud API?
With Ollama, LM Studio, and llama.cpp, we can run language models locally.
The challenge is making the experience simple enough for anyone to explore.
That's why I built Local LLM Studio.
It lets you:
- Chat with models running on your computer.
- Connect to Ollama, LM Studio, and compatible local model servers.
- Discover available models.
- Compare model response speeds.
- Keep conversations stored locally.
It's designed to make local AI experimentation easier, without requiring developers to build their own interface from scratch.
Sometimes the most interesting AI experiments happen without sending everything to the cloud.
🔗 Explore Local LLM Studio | GitHub
Demo
Four projects, four different experiments, and plenty of lessons learned.
| Project | Demo / Showcase | Source Code |
|---|---|---|
| 📺 1988.in | Time Travel | GitHub |
| 💼 Job Ready | Try It | GitHub |
| 👻 Ghost BASIC | Explore | GitHub |
| 🤖 Local LLM Studio | Explore | GitHub |
All four projects are open source. Feel free to explore, raise issues, or contribute.
Partner Technologies
One of the fun parts of Hacktoberfest was experimenting with different tools and services to turn weekend ideas into working projects.
💰 $50 Hosting Render Credits — From Localhost to Live
I used $50 in hosting Render credits to deploy Job Ready.
Instead of keeping the project running only on my laptop, I could make it publicly accessible at jobready.tech.
For an experimental open-source project, credits like these are especially useful. They let you focus on building and testing ideas rather than immediately worrying about infrastructure expenses.
🌐 Get.Tech — A Free Domain for Job Ready
Thanks to Get.Tech, I got a free .tech domain for Job Ready.
There's something satisfying about seeing your project running on its own domain instead of localhost.
From an idea to jobready.tech!
🦙 Ollama — AI Across Three Projects
Ollama became part of three of my Hacktoberfest experiments.
- Job Ready: Integrating AI capabilities for resume analysis and improvement.
- Ghost BASIC: Adding optional AI-powered debugging and code explanations.
- Local LLM Studio: Connecting to locally hosted language models and experimenting with different inference setups.
What I enjoyed most about Ollama was the ability to experiment with AI without making every feature dependent on a paid cloud API.
It also opened up interesting possibilities around privacy, local development, and developer-controlled AI infrastructure.
💻 Cursor + OpenAI Codex — My AI Coding Companions
I used Cursor and OpenAI Codex throughout these four projects.
The experience was fascinating.
An idea that previously required considerable setup and boilerplate could now become a working prototype much faster.
But there was an equally important lesson.
AI is very good at writing code. That doesn't mean every line it writes is good code.
You still need to make architectural decisions, understand the output, debug unexpected behavior, and review what you're shipping.
For me, these tools didn't replace programming. They gave me more freedom to experiment.
And that was exactly what I wanted from Hacktoberfest.
Hackathon Experience
🎃 Hacktoberfest 2026 — Just Build Something!
Most of my professional work involves engineering leadership, system architecture, delivery planning, and working with teams building large-scale applications.
But sometimes, I miss simply opening an editor and building something for no other reason than curiosity.
Hacktoberfest gave me that opportunity.
There were no client requirements or product roadmaps driving these four experiments.
Just ideas I wanted to explore.
And the variety made it even more enjoyable.
One project took me back to childhood television. Another tackled a real problem in job hunting. A third brought back my first programming language. And the fourth let me explore the world of local AI.
❤️ What I'll Remember Most
Of all four projects, 1988.in is closest to my heart.
I didn't build it to start a company or solve a big industry problem.
I built it for my kids.
I wanted them to experience something from my childhood, when watching TV was about discovering what was playing rather than deciding what to watch.
And watching them enjoy their little time-travel experience was priceless.
The 1,500+ active users were an unexpected bonus.
Especially considering those 9 Peerlist upvotes! 😄
I still don't know how everyone found the project, but I'm happy they did.
Maybe the best projects aren't always the ones with elaborate business plans or complicated technology.
Sometimes, they're the ones built out of curiosity, memories, and a little bit of love.
I started programming more than 30 years ago because seeing something come alive on a screen felt magical.
Today, I have Cursor, Codex, Ollama, and technologies I couldn't have imagined back then.
The tools have changed. The joy of building hasn't.
And that's what I'll remember about Hacktoberfest 2026.
Keep learning. Keep experimenting. Keep building. 🚀
Happy Hacktoberfest! 🎃
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