Every so often I get a project idea in my head. These are projects that will take time and energy, but in the end will challenge me and build character. Unfortunately, if I see that someone else has taken over the same project, it gives me an excuse to bail out on the whole idea.
I once started making a program to give clues to someone to help solve a sudoku. I never really got down to the user interface; You had to do a simple rewrite of the program to solve different problems. (Not as hard as it sounds.) I even used it to help me solve monster 16×16 problems that the newspaper was having contests with. Then I found the application Sudoku Susser. Clean user interface, uses tricks I didn’t know about, and would give hints in exactly the way I want. (I don’t want a solution, I want to know how to solve only one more square.) When I saw that someone had already done all the work (probably better than I would have), why should I bother.
It doesn’t solve 16×16 problems though.
Now, I had another project in mind, if I ever got my hands on Lego again. But today I found someone had already done it, and probably better than I would have. Darn professional artists.
I could still build a simple sphere.