Hello, World Lucas!

LinkedIn with more compact info: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-peter-scott/

I thought I’d create a page with a compilation of projects I’ve worked on, things you might find interesting with a bit of code to look at!

Quick background, I started coding when I was about 14-15 years old, starting with HTML/CSS and JavaScript/jQuery, then learned PHP to build my own backends before WordPress took over everything. Later, I picked up Ruby on Rails while working with Viktor from the Fab Lab on sites like MakeWorks. I also learned Node.js (shoutout to Programming with Mosh and his tutorials) and used it for small projects during the Fab Academy. I like Rails’ philosophy, convention over configuration, that human touch like when Person becomes People if pluralized, but I know JavaScript better, and it’s more widely adopted.

In general, my strength is unquenchable curiosity. I dive into all kinds of topics, sometimes more in-depth, sometimes just skimming, and later, unexpected connections start forming. I love tech and the world around it… I’m fascinated looking back, how humans still behave in simple, animalistic ways, and yet technology seems to bring further and further away from being animals (until maybe we do the loop back to being primitive animals, with technology). It’s interesting to try merging both: man-made technology with nature-made man.

That’s also why AI feels so exciting, it makes interacting with tech more natural. No more mental gymnastics to understand software or websites; you just talk to it: “I want…” and it does the thing. (Like that WICKED idea further below).

Anyway, here are some projects and snippets of codes that might be interesting.

Wolfie’s Whisky: developing a Shopify store

As I mentioned before, I developed the Shopify website for Wolfie’s Whisky, Rod Stewart’s brand. The client initially had a WordPress/WooCommerce site built by a Scottish agency, but it was a complete mess, so they decided to start from scratch.

I built every section of the site from the ground up—there’s pretty much nothing left from Shopify’s default sections or blocks.

I actually wrote an article about my work on my website, with a bit more info. From writing custom section, setting up Google Analytics, automated workflows in Klaviyo, (re)designing their HTML email, etc.

Custom sections

The most useful section I developed (though not the prettiest code) is the Grid section (code to GitHub) . It uses CSS Grid to position elements much more precisely than Shopify’s default sections allow.

I also built several other sections, like the Logo/Awards Carousel on the product page, the Find Us section which detects the users locations and shows stores around them, the Flip Card section for displaying cocktails, and more.

Fun fact: I asked the Rabbit R1 – yes I have one – to find transparent PNG logos for a list of 20 brands just to see if it could—and it actually did!

Localization & International Markets: Selling Worldwide

The store setup is quite complex since it sells in the U.K., Netherlands, and Germany, as well as the U.S. This complexity comes with challenges—designing different versions of the store for each country, selectively displaying product information, integrating BUY buttons from other stores, and translating the entire website.

LADstore: LADbible’s Shopify store

I developed LADbible’s Shopify store, although a very simple one pager product. They managed to make it look ugly by changing colours, images, etc.

Pretty straightforward website, nothing crazy to share really.

Detour – a travel app concept ↪️

Detour is an app idea where I’ve built only the barebones MVP (UI and structure), but I have a full business plan behind it.

The idea came from visiting new cities without wanting to plan every step. You just walk around, and as you get near points of interest, the app suggests: “200m this way, there’s a cool Gaudí building,” or “50m down there is where they shot a scene from Harry Potter.”

The GitLab repo is private, but let me know if you want to check it out. Most of the development is local—this repo is for production. Pushing to Git triggers a CI that deploys the public folder to an FTP server: https://detourapp.me/

WICKED: What Is CooKing Every Day?

On Saturdays and Sundays I have usually one question: “What’s up around me right now, which could be nice to do?”. I know there are websites with events listings (Resident Advisor, MeetUp, Barcelona Metropolitan, TimeOut, etc.), but:

  1. I can’t be bothered to check all those websites
  2. There are so many events, how to pick which one, at the right time, aligned with what I want, etc.

Here’s the GitHub repo I’ve just created, as most of my coding is usually local.

Collecting event data

First thing is to gather data from different sources and normalising it.

I used a library called autoscraper which allows to scrape any websites automatically by giving a few examples of what you want, but it doesn’t work 100% of the time.

I “hacked” Resident Advisor’s API (which is closed to the public) by checking the Network tab in Inspect Elements, and seeing where the GraphQL call goes to with what headers, and then created my own request to them, and they answered back. Oh yeah.

Most of my code is local, not on repos online
Network requests with headers
Further up the file the GraphQL query, here we see the variables for the query, and the headers to trick RA to think we’re part of their team

Eventually it’d be great to give a bunch of websites to a NN, and it makes sense of it and gets the data you want, but for now the best is to:

  • Pick a list of websites to get event data from;
  • Set up a daily cron job to extract event data from said websites;
  • Process each events for categorisation by AI (i.e. if it’s beach volley event, then you can assume it’s outside, group activity, sports, active – by reading the event details you get other data such as location, date, price if any, etc.);
  • Insert into database.

Categories/filters could be outdoor/indoor, free/paying, solo/group,relax/active, type of event (concert, workshop, sports), date (today, tomorrow, specific day).

User Interface

The UI would be super simple and straightforward: an input where the user can type or speak how they feel and/or what they’d like to do. The AI then breaks it down into categories, which can then be used to filter the events in the database.

This idea aligns with what I was talking about earlier, how to use AI to soften the harshness of technology, making it more humane.

Look mom, hands! I’m practicing my chords!

I made this chord practice page one afternoon in Summer 2019 as I was training my piano chords. I wanted to be given a chord to which I had to figure out the finger placement, and then see if I was correct. It’s super simple: press SPACE, a chord shows, you try and do it on your piano, press SPACE again to see the solution.

  • I created an JSON file with root notes, accents and chords.
  • When you press SPACE, it generates a chord based on a random combination of all 3 (i.e. A + sharp + minor 7 = A#m7) and displays that chords
  • Try and guess the chord
  • Press SPACE again and it pulls a graphic of the chord from pianochord.org
  • Press SPACE to start again.
  • Tick, or untick, the top left input to add sharps and flat for extra difficulty.

Thinking of other projects I’ve done that’s worth mentioning…

Coming soon.

Other stuff I can do or have done…

Renovated my ático en Poble-sec

I’ve renovated my entire flat on my own (again, thank you YouTube). Probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but the proudest of my achievements. Two years of living in dust, half the flat being renovated, the other half being lived in (and used as storage for materials). I’m still recovering.

Old wardrobe, that became a bedroom and finally a bathroom – hole in the ceiling became giant.
Wall to the kitchen disappeared.
Ceiling is nice now.

Fab Academy 2020

I also did the Fab Academy in 2020, so I’ve played a fair amount with electronics, designing them, soldering them, using CNC/laser cutter, 3D printers, all that good rapid prototyping stuff. Not exactly directly linked to what you need (for now, who knows later), but I think illustrates the kind of “quick learner, wide interests” mindset that I think you’re looking for.

I’ve actually met a few people lately that knew my name from using my documentation 5 years ago, which I find quite funny. I used to document everything I did, the failures like the successes.

Furniture for Fab Lab

Design and build physical objects, like furniture, embracing form and function, using its context / environment as constraints for dimensions and features (i.e. same width and height as the vacuum table so it fits well in the room).

I’m quite happy with the table for the Fab Academy room in the Fab Lab. Santi and the team had asked to build tables for students as there wasn’t much space to work on. I decided to go a bit further than what they asked, and built tables that adapt to the radiators (flowing around them to maximise space), as well as making them foldable, so that if an exhibition takes place in that room, or simply they need more space, the tables can fold. (They’ve told me it’s actually quite often folded to save space, so I’m glad the extra effort was useful.)

I like attention to detail, which means I had to design the table keeping in mind that cuts needs to go along each other to keep the wood’s grain & flow intact.
Table can be folded to save space, while still having some space available to keep the computer screens on, no need to clear the table completely.
I added some plastic lip so that pens don’t fall behind the table under the radiator

Working for Apple to build Maps 3D

My favourite job (so far ????) was when I was working directly with Apple to acquire data for them to build the first 3D maps of cities all around the world (way before Google). We’d have to fly 1500 ft above cities, giving us amazing views of Paris, Marseilles, Nice, Lyon, etc. Back then I was 21/22 years old, and the pilot was 27 (today he’s an Air France pilot) and we hit it on so easily. We’d spend breakfast, lunch and dinner, every day, for months, and didn’t get annoyed with each other even once. Just laughs… good days.

Young me in the plane
Young rude me and the camera(s)
Our cool plane

Filmmaking

Of course, as you know, I’ve worked a lot in filmmaking, directing, editing, motion graphics, all that stuff. The rest of my website is pretty much about that. The homepage is a compilation of projects.

Conclusion

I’ve spent years coming up with ideas, developing them to certain step and learning all the steps on the way: structuring the project, marketing ideas, setting emails, responders, designing logos, creating graphic assets, developing MVPs. I have a good grasp of many things, but I’d say the common thread is: problem solving.

I’m excited at the thought of working with you, as it feels like the natural path forward from what I’ve done over the past 15 years. It’s bringing all the tools I’ve learned together and making something with it. I’m also excited because I’ve worked freelance (solo) for a long time, and I think a lot of good would come from working with somebody else, and if that other person is you, that’d be great. An “everything is possible, let’s figure out how” kind of mind, like me.