Independent technical systems builder · Hubbard, Ohio
I turn complicated technical ideas into systems people can actually use.
I define products, design the architecture, write and integrate the code, and keep testing until the result behaves like a real product rather than a demo. My work spans self-hosted software, web and device applications, databases, networking, infrastructure, privacy-first product design, and electroacoustic engineering.
Currently building
- Emaki
- AskFrank
- Small’s Workshop
- Audiobook Studio
- Homelab Control
- Native tvOS, tested on real Apple TV hardware
- Local-first document boundary
- Read-only infrastructure control plane
- Independent testing and engineering validation
- Docker, PostgreSQL, Cloudflare, DNS, deployment
- 15+ years hands-on audio and electronics
Selected work
All six case studies →
Emaki
Private media infrastructure presented as one household product: a secure control plane, a React management interface, a native Apple TV client, device linking, and public web infrastructure.
- FastAPI
- PostgreSQL
- React / TS
- SwiftUI / tvOS
- Docker
- Cloudflare
Audiobook Studio
A production control plane for long-form narration: chapters and scenes, casting, performance direction, batch renders, review queues, and objective audio checks in one place.
- Production model
- Batch rendering
- Review states
- Audio QC
- Mastering
AskFrank
A local-first document product that explains obligations in plain language, flags what deserves attention, and keeps raw files on the user’s device by default.
Small’s Workshop
A loudspeaker design instrument that keeps units, assumptions, and provenance intact from driver data through enclosure, crossover, measurement, and build drawings.
Homelab Control Interface
One read-only view across nodes, services, storage, network, models, and VMs — with every dangerous mutation deliberately disabled in the MVP.
PantrySink
Household coordination around food already on hand. Built and working; stopped once I found the space already well served. Kept here as evidence of the mobile, auth, and sync work.
How I work
I build the system, and I stay responsible for whether it is correct.
I work directly in application code, architecture, APIs, databases, networking, infrastructure, deployment, debugging, testing, hardware integration, and interface implementation. AI tools accelerate research and execution inside that work.
The technical decisions, source review, integration, troubleshooting, validation, and finished result are mine. The value is not keystroke volume — it is knowing what to build, how the pieces connect, what can fail, and what evidence is good enough.
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01
Define the outcome
Start from the problem and the user-facing result, not a feature list.
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02
Decompose the system
Break it into bounded stages with explicit contracts between them.
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03
Write the contract
Implementation briefs, source requirements, and acceptance tests before code.
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04
Build and integrate
Work in the codebase and wire the pieces to real services, networks, and hardware.
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05
Review and reproduce
Read the source, reproduce failures, and challenge assumptions that look convenient.
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06
Test in the real environment
Actual hardware, actual network, actual data — not a rehearsed demo path.
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07
Document the state
Final behavior, known limitations, and the rollback path, written down.
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A claim is not finished until something independent of the implementation says it is true.
Technical breadth
Software and product
Product specifications, architecture, APIs, data models, migrations, real-time updates, mobile apps, web applications, tvOS, media playback, privacy boundaries, release planning, technical documentation.
Infrastructure and networking
Linux, Docker Compose, Caddy, Cloudflare Pages and Workers, DNS, TLS, subdomains, email routing, UniFi networking, VLANs, Tailscale, self-hosted services, backups, deployment validation.
Databases and quality
PostgreSQL, SQLite, household-scoped access models, migrations, Pytest, Vitest, Playwright, Ruff, TypeScript checks, security review, regression fences, acceptance testing.
Electroacoustics and hardware
Thiele/Small modeling, sealed and vented alignments, passive radiators, excursion and port-velocity analysis, crossover design, DSP, loudspeaker measurement, impedance extraction, power electronics, fabrication.
About
I am a self-taught builder in Hubbard, Ohio. My formal work history does not explain my technical path very well.
Most of this work began as personal problem-solving, deep hobbies, and independent projects. Over time those projects grew into complete systems involving software, networks, databases, hardware, deployment, and real use in my own household.
I work best on projects that need someone to make sense of a complicated problem, connect several technical domains, and keep the implementation honest.
Contact
Talk about a technical problem.
If you have a system that has to work across several domains and be verifiable when it ships, I am interested. Available for technical contracting and systems-oriented work.
Professional inquiries
Direct contact details are available upon request.
Based in
Hubbard, Ohio
Youngstown area
GitHub
github.com/Hdale85