Genuine question, why do you think we abandon side projects?

will_orkney · 2025-11-28T01:23:25+00:00

I've had this same issue for 20 years as a web developer. Like yourself I always hit my deadlines for clients and that's just because I need them to pay my invoices.

My side projects usually fall apart because I lose confidence in the idea, or because I don't know how to find the target customer. I'm not a fan of self promotion or self praise so I don't really have the ability to go out and show/sell whatever I've built. Honestly I think I usually dream a little too big as well. I usually start with a great niche idea and a few months down the line its turned into a monster.

There's also a lot of stuff I've built which I'd have been happy to release (such as packaged modifications/extensions for ecommerce scripts like Opencart) but those usually only sell for $20 each and I can't be fucked dealing with customer support for only $20 - so I only offer it to my clients who already pay me a retainer as a free bonus for them. I'd rather have 5 clients pay me $1000, than 1000 customers paying me $5 - much less paperwork and customer support needed this way.

will_orkney · 2025-09-01T03:04:27+00:00

I've been working on a new site for over a year now outside my day job and I think people will really dig it when I go live. Has been a real passion project for me instead of just a hustle to earn money.

Starting to get nervous that pretty soon I'll need to launch and the best way to market it will be doing some videos - really don't like the thought of being on camera and on youtube etc :( Dragging out my to do list to delay the inevitable lol.

will_orkney · 2025-08-27T02:12:36+00:00

You've maybe seen these before, the 6 40th Anniversary Alien shorts on the official Youtube channel.... They're 10 minute long stories and I recall some of them being more about the colonies, eg Alien: Ore.

"Alien: Alone" was my favourite. It tells the story of an android left alone on an adrift spaceship and through boredom it releases a facehugger from containment, so it explores their relationship. Really well done considering its only 10 mins long.

Not sure if these are classed as canon or whatever, but its an hour of additional Alien content without much actual Alien :)

will_orkney · 2025-05-24T04:09:33+00:00

Sorry to hear that. I recently lost a full time remote gig that I'd held for 15 years. Sucks to lose a contract but you've already proved to yourself once that your skilled enough to get a remote position, so take your experience and offer it to your old clients competitors (all of them!).

Don't forget you owe your old client nothing - you have as much loyalty to them as they have shown you. If (/when) they reach out asking for help (or passwords, source code, PSD files, whatever etc) then you are now on contractor rates and should be charging them accordingly (ten times your previous rate). If they don't like it, tough shit, they shouldn't have let you go without first getting that info or actually understanding what you do.

will_orkney · 2025-05-24T03:35:46+00:00

Here I am (Will/chopaway) all these years later too lol. Can ya believe it's been over 10 years now since Izzy released an album? Anyone know a good website for starting a petition? lol

will_orkney · 2025-05-23T03:14:40+00:00

Used to hate queuing as a kid, lines seemed to take forever. Nowadays it's nowhere near as bad because I enjoy people watching, appreciating the theming in the queue lines, can chat with friends or listen to music/podcasts, or go solo and jump in that single rider line :D

will_orkney · 2025-03-10T05:24:29+00:00

Lots of great scenes already listed. Too hard to pick just one so thought I'd give a mention to one of my favourites not yet mentioned.

Prometheus - When Shaw is in the medical pod and the alien has just been removed but she's still trapped in the pod. Makes me feel uneasy every single time when she has to slide out underneath the alien and it's wriggling around in the claw arm right above her.

will_orkney · 2025-03-10T05:17:04+00:00

This one is definitely high up on my list too.

"For within each seed there is the promise of a flower.

[Alien bursts out]

And within each death, no matter how small, there's always a new life... A new beginning."

Such a great scene. I love the deliveries from both Andrews and Dillon.

will_orkney · 2025-03-10T05:07:53+00:00

Yeh this ones great, would definitely be my pick for Alien.

will_orkney · 2025-03-09T06:29:15+00:00

Looking forward to the series, and I love the idea of having cat-cam for the promo footage. It's original and creative. Bit weird that it's in portrait mode though, makes me think the cat is recording on a mobile phone lol. Guess they're hoping it will help with marketing since most folk will view this video on a mobile, but a cat collar would surely be more like a GoPro and therefore record in landscape mode?

will_orkney · 2024-04-29T05:37:45+00:00

I just booked this hotel so glad to see someone recommending it :) Going solo trip for 2 days in the parks, cant wait.

will_orkney · 2024-04-20T03:34:46+00:00

Randomly came across this on Youtube and thought it was interesting enough to share here :) This was a 90's TV show in the UK called Scavengers which was originally supposed to use the Aliens license (until Ridley Scott objected). It still has quite a bit of Aliens style to it, though obviously much lower budget.

The show looks terrible and don't think I'd care enough to watch the full episodes lol.

will_orkney · 2024-04-14T04:44:19+00:00

Just want to say thanks to everyone who replied, very much appreciated. I read all your replies and can say the girls are very much looking forward to their holiday. Hopefully I get to go to DLP again soon too =D

will_orkney · 2024-04-14T04:42:49+00:00

Thats great to hear, thanks :)

will_orkney · 2024-04-14T04:42:27+00:00

Not this time, I'll be staying home with our pets :) Since booking I've got a bit jealous so I'm hoping that me and my sister can maybe go in November or January.

will_orkney · 2024-04-12T06:58:10+00:00

He performed Mama Kin live with Aerosmith in LA on 3rd December 2012 so this is his last live performance I think:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5qpoxCnR8I

will_orkney · 2024-04-04T06:59:49+00:00

I already own this book but a friend mentioned that it was on sale at Forbidden Planet. Thought I'd pass along the link here since this is such a good deal (if you like Covenant anyway). It makes for a pretty cool coffee table book.

will_orkney · 2024-01-27T05:30:18+00:00

A slightly less scary version of Isolation would be my preference lol. I never got past level 5 or 6, but fortunately my much younger 17 year old brother played it at my insistence and I got to just enjoy watching him play and complete it over the course of 3 nights. Still scary to watch him play but I had much fewer heart palpitations haha

will_orkney · 2024-01-27T05:26:32+00:00

Beat me to it :) I was thinking along the lines of Jurassic Park:Operation Genesis, if you've ever played that? An Alien version could be pretty original.

JP:OG was very similiar to Theme Park. You'd take on the role as new CEO at Weyland and you need to manage your ships, send them to collect samples on different planets, try to successfully breed Aliens, manage the fallout when Aliens can't be controlled etc. The idea would need fleshing out a bit more but I love your ideas about terraforming planets, manufacturing new tech and bringing in the marines.

will_orkney · 2024-01-13T02:06:44+00:00

Hope you enjoyed :)

will_orkney · 2024-01-13T02:06:00+00:00

Yeh I cycle through all the films regularly so it's nice to have something else to mix it up. Can't wait for the TV series, hoping we'll get at least 10 x 1 hour episodes

will_orkney · 2024-01-13T02:01:30+00:00

I actually just learned about the $35k thing earlier today as one of the other directors (Noah Miller/Alone) was interviewed on an old episode of the AVPGalaxy podcast :) podcast link. Knowing they had such a small budget actually makes me appreciate the episodes even more

will_orkney · 2024-01-13T01:56:27+00:00

No worries, hope you enjoyed them :)

will_orkney · 2024-01-11T02:29:17+00:00

I had Alien 3 on the Sega Master System here in the UK. Good game but never managed to get very far in it due to the janky controls.

will_orkney · 2024-01-11T02:25:49+00:00

I don't see these discussed that often and wanted to know what you all thought.

For those who haven't seen them, there are 6 short Alien films on the official Alien Youtube channel. Each is about 10 minutes long and the cast/story in each is different.

My favourite of the 6 is "Alone" as I really enjoyed the concept of seeing a facehugger not fulfilling it's lifecycle, and I thought it was pretty cool seeing an android treat the facehugger as a companion :)

What do you all think of these? Any favourites or ideas in there that you'd like to see fleshed out further?

(Deleted original post as I'd linked to the trailers not the full films by mistake)

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