What I Learned at SMU's Legal Database Launch (And My Decision About zeeker.sg)
After 150+ hours building data.zeeker.sg, I attended SMU's SOLID database launch to see institutional legal data infrastructure in action. I applied my decision framework and made my choice: I'm continuing. Here's what I learned about when solo builders should persist alongside institutions.
Building data.zeeker.sg: Technical Architecture
The complete technical stack behind Singapore's first public legal news API: zeeker CLI standardizes data collection, Datasette serves SQLite straight from S3, and canned queries make legal research accessible without SQL. Built solo, runs on $6-12/month, designed to scale from 1 to many sources.
When Institutions Enter Your Passion Project Space
Domain renewal: $110. But the real cost is over 150 hours and zero users. Now SMU is building what I tried solo. Here's my framework for deciding: continue, collaborate, or gracefully close.
What Top 10% Actually Means (For a Lawyer Who Codes)
177K monthly downloads. Top 10% of 700K packages. Zero revenue, one maintainer, weekend work. Here's what "success" actually means for open source maintainers—and what I'd tell anyone considering building their own tools.
Why Prompt Engineering Felt Wrong (And What Skills Changed)
I sat in a standing-room-only prompt engineering workshop feeling anxious—not because I was behind, but because I don't use any of these frameworks. Turns out my instinct was right. That same month, the technology shifted from prompts to persistent agent skills