Shows
All Play w/ Ryan Hefner038 — Extensions of MeThe OpenGraphs browser extensions are live! Well, at least some/most of them!! I share the latest updates on what I am working on for https://www.opengraphs.com, along with some browser extension inconsistencies.You can find the OpenGraph Browser Extensions here:Chrome - https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/opengraphs/kiifpjdcadbbbhoocoobahkogpnmngioFirefox - https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/opengraphs/Microsoft Edge - https://microsoftedge.microsoft.com/addons/detail/opengraphs/cfhfplinkfammfoljdakadohdgggkmchAnd, here’s the link to the post on IndieHackers:https://www.indiehackers.com/post/dirt-for-sale-breaking-ground-on-opengraphs-com-gkZlrGXD4nH...2025-07-1811 minAll Play w/ Ryan Hefner037 — No WavesOr, you can watch the video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/iU2PMrYUNIQAfter attempting and failing to get an episode out the last couple of weeks, I am happy to say that I finally recorded one, and I am getting it out early this week.A lot of stuff has happened over the last 2.5 weeks, so here’s a quick run down, along with links:Optimizations were made to the https://www.opengraphs.com renderer, that is currently powering the open graph image generation for both https://www.allplay.fm and https://ww...2025-07-0213 minAll Play w/ Ryan Hefner036 — Pedal to the MetalWatch the video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/rLRNnlzIOQMI connected with Vercel this past week to discuss how I could both optimize and try to control the costs that https://www.starterpacks.net was accumulating. I did walk away with some techniques that I will try on the next site I launch on Vercel where I need to try to maintain a consistent bill. Most notably:Fluid Compute is good and does reduce function use/chaosControlling the cache key to maintain the cache between deploys (when possible)Play with Cache-Control headers to see if it's...2025-06-1513 minAll Play w/ Ryan Hefner035 — $800 Gorilla in the RoomUnfortunately I missed my milestone of getting an early release of https://www.skylounge.social deployed during Release Day. But, it wasn’t for a lack of trying. It’s kind of hard to run when it feels like you have a knife in your stomach and you don’t know how to stop the bleeding.I dig into what attempts I made to optimize the NextJS App for https://www.starterpacks.net to utilize fewer resources on Vercel (spoiler alert, unsuccessfully), what the usage and costs were, and what I ultimately did to try to stabilize the co...2025-06-0710 min
JUS RIFFIN'JUS RIFFIN' S2 EP24 - BETTY CO FOUNDER of DEADFELLAZ & COLDLINKDeadfellaz Founder Betty on Music, Tech, & DIY Creativity | Jus Riffin’ InterviewThis week on Jus Riffin’, Cookie Rabinowitz and Hefner sit down with none other than Betty from Deadfellaz and Coldfall to talk about the collision of music, tech, NFTs, and creative independence.Betty opens up about producing her own music from scratch, the tension between collaboration and going solo, and how tools like ChatGPT are helping bridge the technical gaps for artists today.From mixing soul vocals over dirty guitar riffs to navigating the realities of creative output without a big team — this e...2025-05-221h 28All Play w/ Ryan Hefner034 — Who’s ready to Jam!?A quick update on this glorious hump day, just in time before I head out to the Atlanta PHP meetup (https://phpxatl.com).Tomorrow, May 21st at 11:30am EDT I’ll be chatting with Brian Casel (https://briancasel.com) about his recent launch of Instrumental Components (https://instrumental.dev). Join us in the stream and if you have any questions for Brian or myself you can get them answered live!Subscribe and join the stream: https://youtube.com/live/LyMjPhkHk3kI am also going to be streaming to https://stream.place, a ne...2025-05-2108 minAll Play w/ Ryan Hefner033 — Just Oil the ChairI listened to a podcast episode back on January 30, 2025, and there are 3 little words that have been bouncing around in the back of my head ever since whenever I turn on the mic to stream or record, "oil your chair".The podcast episode was from Justin Jackson (https://justinjackson.ca) and Jeremy Enns (https://jeremyenns.com) on their Podcasting Marketing Trends Explained (https://podcastmarketingacademy.com/podcast-marketing-trends-explained) podcast. Here’s a link to the specific episode:Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-10k-timeline-how-long-it-takes-to-reach-10k-dl-ep/id1725822754?i=1000651165287Spotify - https://open.spotify.co...2025-05-1605 minAll Play w/ Ryan Hefner032 — Streaming Developments: Breaking ground on skylounge.socialSome quick updates on the status of https://www.starterpacks.net and announcing the new project that I am working on!Since the last update, the crawlers have been crawling—HEAVILY—accessing the site over 24M 👀 times. Needless to say, my Vercel bill is going to be a little higher this month, but 🤞 it will be worth it. Since the last update where the number of indexed pages jumped from 3k to 17k, since the last episode that number rose as high as 45k indexed pages, but recently dropped a bit to 34k.I think the indexe...2025-05-1012 minAll Play w/ Ryan Hefner031 — Appeasing the SEO GodsYou can also watch the video on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/ENFM-pQK5iMA quick update about some recent updates I pushed out on https://www.starterpacks.net. In the last episode, I announced the addition of the Quick Starter Pack Editor to the site. Since then, I have rolled out a few tweaks to make it nicer, like preventing duplicate entries to be added to new Starter Packs—even though those were never duplicated when saved to Bluesky—along with the ability to remove people from the list before saving. I have a few more upda...2025-04-3010 minAll Play w/ Ryan Hefner030 — New Starter Packs FeaturesAfter a few weeks away I am back with some fresh updates that have been deployed to Starter Packs (https://www.starterpacks.net). The first—and best feature, imho—is the Quick Starter Pack Editor. This feature makes it easy to add people to your existing Bluesky Starter Packs in as little as 3 clicks (maybe more if you want to add them to multiple packs at the same time). This was a feature that I had wanted to add to the site since I started working on it, and I finally had the time—made the time—to sit down and...2025-04-1812 minAll Play w/ Ryan Hefner029 — Wrestling with SaaS Pricing: Building Value to Justify PricesWatch the video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/WNmupzrWcAAWhat goes into setting and justifying your SaaS (Software as a Service) pricing? I had the goal of getting subscription plans setup for https://www.starterpacks.net before a queued job I had running to backfill data that I needed to support those plans was done processing. I ultimately did get the Stripe integration setup, along with defining the plans and everything that goes into supporting subscriptions on the site, but when it came to actually surfacing these plans publicly is where I got tripped up....2025-03-1312 minJUS RIFFIN'JUS RIFFIN S2 E16 - BRYAN BRINKMANTitle: Jus Riffin: Bryan Brinkman on Creativity, Innovation & ArtDescription:Tune into this week’s episode of "Jus Riffin," where hosts Hefner and Cookie Rabinowitz sit down with the incredibly talented Bryan Brinkman. Dive deep into a conversation that spans the realms of creativity, innovation, and art. Bryan shares his unique insights and experiences in the art world, discussing his journey and the innovative techniques that set his work apart. Whether you're a seasoned artist or just a fan of creative expression, this episode offers a fresh perspective on how art can transform and inspire. Don’t miss...2025-03-051h 48JUS RIFFIN'JUS RIFFIN S2 E13 - NEWM |BLOCKCHAIN MUSIC APP | JUS RIFFIN'’Here's a short description for the video archive:"In this episode ofJus Riffin', Cookie Rabinowitz and Hefner dive into the future of music with Michael Carter and Ryan Jones from NEWM. They discuss how NEWM is leveraging blockchain technology to create a more artist-friendly platform, enabling direct monetization, fractional ownership of songs, and seamless Web2-to-Web3 integration. The conversation also touches on the challenges of traditional streaming, the importance of user experience, and Cookie's blockchain-based music experiment."2025-02-131h 53All Play w/ Ryan Hefner028 — Racing the QueuesThe queues are up and running on Starter Packs and I have roughly 2 days before they are done, so my goal is to get all the pricing and subscriptions integrated into the site before they are done. I also dig into some background on getting the queues working in the NestJS app, and how I had to tune them to get them running efficiently—and fast!Watch the video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/DzHzOaR_lDATo follow along, you can find me at ryanhefner.com, follow me on Bluesky @ryanhefner.com and keep up wi...2025-02-0815 minAll Play w/ Ryan Hefner027 — Overcoming ObstaclesWhile I was working on some updates for Starter Packs, I ran into an authentication bug that I wanted to fix. As I was working through the bug, and deploying the updates, all of a sudden my feature branch on Vercel stopped loading pages properly, but not all pages. In this episode, I dig into facing and overcoming obstacles that get in the way of making real progress on the project you’re working on.Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/GEJV6989RwQTo follow along, you can find me at ryanhefner.com, follow me on...2025-01-3012 minAll Play w/ Ryan Hefner026 — Starter Packs UpdatesAfter last week’s Jam Session with Brian Casel, I was on the fence on which project I wanted to commit to in 2025. After that conversation, and a little reflection, I realized that I wanted to see Starter Packs through to the original vision for the project. Also, the amount of effort to get it there—I think—will be less than I had originally thought, now that some of my client work has chilled out a bit.With that said, I am excited to share some initial updates that I pushed to the site yesterday that lay th...2025-01-2416 minAll Play w/ Ryan Hefner025 — Welcome to 2025Welcome to 2025! I have been kind of having mixed emotions going into the new year, doing a lot of reflecting and projecting what I want to achieve this year. Definitely feeling mostly excited, but also a bit nervous.I get into creating my new LLC, Commune Software (https://commune.software), looking forward to the live stream today with Mubs (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckaGzVTvx98) talking all things side projects and Bluesky with his project https://blueskydirectory.com/ and my https://www.starterpacks.net/, and this podcast going video (right here now!). You can find the...2025-01-0911 minAll Play w/ Ryan Hefner024 — Perfecting My ReflectingTis’ the season for introspection, self reflection, and projections for what the New Year will hold. Today I share some background into my process of reflecting and projecting on the things I need to get done, along with some ideas on how I plan on expanding and refining that process.If you have a process you use to help yourself get better I would love to hear it. Please, connect with me on Bluesky, or hit me up on Twitter, and let me know what works best for you!To follow along, you can find me...2024-12-1213 minAll Play w/ Ryan Hefner023 — Hacking the Starter PacksSo, what do you do when you start to run into walls, or slow downs, on the project you’re working on? I feel like I am at, or approaching one of those slow downs, and am trying to get ahead of it.Since my last update when I announced Starter Packs, I have been busy continuing to build the logged out experience of the site. Focusing on gathering as many references as possible to the Starter Packs on Bluesky, and coming up with ways to make the firehose consumption more resilient, while baking in some features in...2024-12-0514 minAll Play w/ Ryan Hefner022 — Just Getting Starter’dWow, it’s been over a month since my last episode. That’s not due to me being too lazy, if anything just the opposite. I have been thrashing around on projects, but I would like to introduce you to my latest project that is piggy backing on the mass migration to Bluesky.Just after the election, it seemed like the draw for a new platform that was a little less Elon and a little more move on was needed, and a lot of people felt the same way. I know I was pulled over there after I he...2024-11-2017 minJUS RIFFIN'JUS RIFFIN' S2 E5 - RARE SCRILLA
For the LIVE episodes and more, tune in to Jus Riffin' every Tuesday at 8:30 PM EST | 5:30 PM PST
Last night’s Jus Riffin' episode was electric, featuring the legendary Rare Scrilla (@ScrillaVentura) live with hosts Hefner and Cookie Rabinowitz. Rare Scrilla gave an unforgettable breakdown of his creative process, seamlessly blending music, art, and blockchain innovation. Fans got an exclusive insider’s look at how he crafts beats and infuses his artistic vision with the power of Web3 technology, revealing fresh insights into the future of creative expression on the blockchain.
With sneak peeks of his latest book and in-d...2024-11-141h 42JUS RIFFIN'JUS RIFFIN' S2 E4 - COLDIE
"Just Riffin’" dives into the cutting edge of 3D digital art and blockchain innovation with special guest Coldie, a pioneering artist whose work bridges the physical and digital realms. Join hosts Cookie Rabinowitz and Hefner as they explore Coldie’s creative journey, from his early experiments with stereoscopic photography to his game-changing involvement in the NFT space. Coldie reveals his techniques, talks about inspirations, and shares insights on pushing artistic boundaries with new tech—complete with behind-the-scenes stories of creating revolutionary interactive art. Tune in for an episode packed with humor, inspiration, and a deeper look at art in the We...2024-10-232h 33All Play w/ Ryan Hefner021 — Reserving FuelHow do you apply and reserve your fuel for the things you are working? That’s what I am wrestling with today. Typically, I reserve these early morning sessions for my personal stuff, so I can take advantage of the fresh tank of brain juice to pull from. I feel like with personal projects there’s always more critical thinking and personal hesitations that get in the way of getting things done that it takes that extra boost from the good morning fuel to break through them and keep going.Although, today is unlike most of those days...2024-10-1411 minAll Play w/ Ryan Hefner020 — Keeping MomentumA quick, long one about trying to maintain momentum as challenges and inconsistencies present themselves.To follow along, you can find me at ryanhefner.com, follow me on Twitter @ryanhefner, and keep up with the show on allplay.fm and @allplayfm.Help yourself, while supporting the show, by trying some of the services that I use, and highly recommend:Transistor FMFathom Analytics2024-10-0914 minAll Play w/ Ryan Hefner019 — Announcing, Jam Sessions: Public EditionSince today is International Podcast Day, I figured it was only fitting to try to get an episode out today. Thankfully I have something very topical to announce today as well, a new podcast! Last week I streamed and posted the first episode of, Jam Sessions: Public Edition, or just, Jam Sessions.A few episodes back I had announced Jam Sessions: Private Edition, the podcast that I plan on hosting on Ripple.fm. The point of that show was to have more intimate conversations that may include details or information that myself or the guest may only...2024-10-0105 minAll Play w/ Ryan Hefner018 — Building Spiral StaircasesDuring my run this morning I was thinking about all the different projects I have up in the air, and how some of those can help to provide a foundation, or utility, to the other projects that I am working on, but at the same time can feel like a waste of time to work on in the moment. Then, out of no where, I started to think about the construction of a spiral staircase.At the start of the project, you have the choice to either build up, or build down. Building up seems like a...2024-09-2006 minAll Play w/ Ryan Hefner017 — Flow like waterGiving into the flow. I feel like I have been getting frustrated with myself for not fully focusing on a single project. After all, that's the only way to build a successful product. Right? RIGHT???So, I have succumb to my fleeting thoughts and ideas to go where the water is taking me and not wasting time, nor energy, trying to fight the temptation or push out the motivation because I think I should be working on something, when my brain is clearly telling me different.With that said, I have been working on the...2024-09-1211 minAll Play w/ Ryan Hefner016 — No, FOMO. Just, LOSE.With all the conferences happening over the past couple of months, it has really got me thinking about the lack of socializing I have had since moving down to Atlanta. I wouldn't necessarily say it’s a fear of missing out (FOMO), but more a lack of social interaction, or engagement to make the acronym better, LOSE.For 2025, I am trying to create some more margins in my life to allow for more room to both socialize more and create more time to share the personal stuff I am working on. The goal is to do that by...2024-08-2706 minAll Play w/ Ryan Hefner015 — Fixed It!I did it! I was able to fix LinkCards and stabilize the service. And, to my surprise, it actually looked like some of the traffic was actually legitimate open graph images being generated. Once I was able to stabilize the servers, and finally access the dashboard I noticed that my site pkgstats.com has almost 2 million images generated for it, so I guess that’s what was causing all the issues. One of my sites was taking down the other, kind of, go figure!As I was thinking about how nice the service is—when it is work...2024-08-1716 min