{"chain":[{"channel":"cities","content":" <<< Monango, North Dakota is a small rural town located in Dickey County, in the southeastern part of the state. With a population of under 50 residents, it's one of the least populous communities in North Dakota. The town is surrounded by wide stretches of farmland and prairie, reflecting its strong agricultural roots. >>>\r\n\r\nI have some more *ambitious* tasks for Trakaido planned. New modes, new languages, new webdomains, new << spaced repetition >> algorithms. ( I don't think of it as \"spaced repetition\". It is just \"studying the material you don't know\". )\r\n\r\nThere is also \"set up a pipeline to check audio file quality\". Which is not << ambitious >> as it is defined above, but it is perhaps equally difficult.\r\n\r\nBut, there is a short-term list for today:\r\n\r\n# Do one final \"cleanse\" of the wordlist\r\n# Re-enable the ability to have 6 or 8 multiple choice options available\r\n# Re-analyze the \"audio\" logic; on mobile devices there are some hover/selection-focus related issues causing audio truncation or double-plays.\r\n# Find the reason part of the screen isn't re-drawing properly after \"New Word\" activity in Journey Mode. ( all projects develop a lexicon. The \"Mode\" is the type of activity / question-selection algorithm, and the \"Activity\" is the individual question.)\r\n\r\nAnd, one additional question too complex for this, but still in-mind: how hard is it to convert this to a native app for iOS/Android? ( it would allow audio caching, and better on-device stats. But, it involves \"interacting with the App Store\". But also, could generate revenue.)","created_at":"2025-07-09T16:30:58.638923","id":617,"is_target":false,"parent_id":null,"processed_content":"

Monango, North Dakota is a small rural town located in Dickey County, in the southeastern part of the state. With a population of under 50 residents, it's one of the least populous communities in North Dakota. The town is surrounded by wide stretches of farmland and prairie, reflecting its strong agricultural roots.

\n

I have some more ambitious tasks for Trakaido planned. New modes, new languages, new webdomains, new spaced repetition algorithms. \ud83d\udd25 I don't think of it as \"spaced repetition\". It is just \"studying the material you don't know\". \r

\n

There is also \"set up a pipeline to check audio file quality\". Which is not ambitious as it is defined above, but it is perhaps equally difficult.\r

\n

But, there is a short-term list for today:\r

\n
    \n
  • Do one final \"cleanse\" of the wordlist\r
    • \n
  • Re-enable the ability to have 6 or 8 multiple choice options available\r
    • \n
  • Re-analyze the \"audio\" logic; on mobile devices there are some hover/selection-focus related issues causing audio truncation or double-plays.\r
    • \n
  • Find the reason part of the screen isn't re-drawing properly after \"New Word\" activity in Journey Mode. \u2699\ufe0f all projects develop a lexicon. The \"Mode\" is the type of activity / question-selection algorithm, and the \"Activity\" is the individual question.\r
    • \n
\n

And, one additional question too complex for this, but still in-mind: how hard is it to convert this to a native app for iOS/Android? \u2699\ufe0f it would allow audio caching, and better on-device stats. But, it involves \"interacting with the App Store\". But also, could generate revenue.

","subject":"monango, part 1"},{"channel":"cities","content":"Three of the Trakaido fixes are done: the << hover >> issues, the << multiple-choice answer count >> issues, and the ( forgotten last dispatch, but also important) << improved word selection algorithm >> issues.\r\n\r\nThe word-lists are somewhat polished, but that hasn't been updated in prod yet.\r\n\r\nThe React re-draw bug is not fixed. I may need a smarter LLM to fix the bug; the ones I am using aren't finding it. ( the solution is probably to define a \"canvas\" area for the question, and redraw it completely for each question. This will require fixing the fact that the \"question type\" takes up an excessive amount of screen real-estate)\r\n\r\n There is also a plan to re-generate the word lists entirely. But, a few key issues remain before I can run the \"ask the LLM to regenerate data\" step. For example: \"are these two definitions of the same word?\"\r\n\r\n----\r\n\r\nAdditional \"short\" features, for tomorrow, include:\r\n\r\n> have a way of showing/counting the available words not yet \"exposed\" in Journey Mode.\r\n> have \"Drill Mode\" expose all words in a corpus if you do well enough\r\n> a more-linear path through the lessons. ( a full \"tech tree\" style path could be done. Duolingo got rid of that, for some reason.)\r\n> make some of the \"You're doing great\" interstitials remind you about app features ( such as \"don't type the text in parentheses\") and grammar ( such as \"Here is the pronoun table, with audio\")\r\n> per-day stats: questions answered, words reviewed, words at each \"level\" of comprehension\r\n> track \"last exposed\" and \"last correct answer\"\r\n> an option to \"always match pronoun\" on two-word compounds like \"He ate\".","created_at":"2025-07-09T23:39:49.931764","id":621,"is_target":true,"parent_id":617,"processed_content":"

Three of the Trakaido fixes are done: the hover issues, the multiple-choice answer count issues, and the \ud83d\udd25 forgotten last dispatch, but also important improved word selection algorithm issues.\r

\n

The word-lists are somewhat polished, but that hasn't been updated in prod yet.\r

\n

The React re-draw bug is not fixed. I may need a smarter LLM to fix the bug; the ones I am using aren't finding it. \ud83d\udca1 the solution is probably to define a \"canvas\" area for the question, and redraw it completely for each question. This will require fixing the fact that the \"question type\" takes up an excessive amount of screen real-estate\r

\n

\ud83d\udca1 There is also a plan to re-generate the word lists entirely. But, a few key issues remain before I can run the \"ask the LLM to regenerate data\" step. For example: \"are these two definitions of the same word?\"\r

\n
\n

Additional \"short\" features, for tomorrow, include:\r

\n
    \n
  • have a way of showing/counting the available words not yet \"exposed\" in Journey Mode.\r
    • \n
  • have \"Drill Mode\" expose all words in a corpus if you do well enough\r
    • \n
  • a more-linear path through the lessons. \ud83d\udca1 a full \"tech tree\" style path could be done. Duolingo got rid of that, for some reason.\r
    • \n
  • make some of the \"You're doing great\" interstitials remind you about app features \u2699\ufe0f such as \"don't type the text in parentheses\" and grammar \u2699\ufe0f such as \"Here is the pronoun table, with audio\"\r
    • \n
  • per-day stats: questions answered, words reviewed, words at each \"level\" of comprehension\r
    • \n
  • track \"last exposed\" and \"last correct answer\"\r
    • \n
  • an option to \"always match pronoun\" on two-word compounds like \"He ate\".
    • \n
","subject":"monango, part 2"},{"channel":"cities","content":"regarding the last feature list:\r\n\r\na few simple fixes are done. ( << have a way of showing/counting the available words not yet \"exposed\" in Journey Mode >>, << a more-linear path through the lessons >>, << improved \"You're doing great\" interstitials >>)\r\n\r\nthe \"per-day stats\" failed miserably on the first attempt. the second attempt will be entirely server-based. but that is dependent on a few other changes.\r\n\r\na new mode was added: listen to 4 words, click them ( in order; although that isn't required yet). ( there is a balance between \"does it work\", \"is it useful\", and \"does it motivate other people to use the app\".)\r\n\r\n----\r\n\r\ni am debating \"additional languages\" as a new feature.\r\n\r\nevery language ( at this point) has a few \"special\" features that need to be managed.\r\n\r\n <<< The app *might* need a new name, or multiple names. Also, the fact that I'm not sure how << Trakaido >> is pronounced could be an issue. I assumed it would rhyme with << Hokkaido >>, but others disagree ... >>>\r\n\r\n----\r\n\r\nAnother possible feature is << educational minigames for 3rd graders, but in a foreign language >>. \"Choose the animals!\" ( or, \"how warm is << dvidesimt >> degrees Celsius)\r\n\r\n----\r\n\r\nAlso, there might be an \"enable experimental features\" setting. ( because \"optimizing the UI for some new features\" isn't happening this week. But I need them, and other people are confused by them.)\r\n\r\n----\r\n\r\nThe other task probably not happening this week is \"audio quality-control\". I still don't have a lead for an LLM that will scan an audio-file and make sure it is the exact word, pronounced correctly, without any breathing noises etc.","created_at":"2025-07-14T16:32:34.694023","id":623,"is_target":false,"parent_id":621,"processed_content":"

regarding the last feature list:\r

\n

a few simple fixes are done. \u2699\ufe0f have a way of showing/counting the available words not yet \"exposed\" in Journey Mode, a more-linear path through the lessons, improved \"You're doing great\" interstitials\r

\n

the \"per-day stats\" failed miserably on the first attempt. the second attempt will be entirely server-based. but that is dependent on a few other changes.\r

\n

a new mode was added: listen to 4 words, click them \ud83d\udd25 in order; although that isn't required yet. \ud83d\udca1 there is a balance between \"does it work\", \"is it useful\", and \"does it motivate other people to use the app\".\r

\n
\n

i am debating \"additional languages\" as a new feature.\r

\n

every language \ud83d\udd25 at this point has a few \"special\" features that need to be managed.\r

\n

The app might need a new name, or multiple names. Also, the fact that I'm not sure how Trakaido is pronounced could be an issue. I assumed it would rhyme with Hokkaido, but others disagree ...

\n
\n

Another possible feature is educational minigames for 3rd graders, but in a foreign language. \"Choose the animals!\" \ud83d\udca1 or, \"how warm is dvidesimt degrees Celsius\r

\n
\n

Also, there might be an \"enable experimental features\" setting. \ud83d\udca1 because \"optimizing the UI for some new features\" isn't happening this week. But I need them, and other people are confused by them.\r

\n
\n

The other task probably not happening this week is \"audio quality-control\". I still don't have a lead for an LLM that will scan an audio-file and make sure it is the exact word, pronounced correctly, without any breathing noises etc.

","subject":"monango, part 3"}]}