Momentum is back?

Managed to do quite a lot in February. I had been struggling with finding my footing for a while, which is nicely visible on the dashboard. But last month was finally different. Published 2 videos, launched Paper First Life, explored 2 app ideas ("My Digital Toolkit" + fwt. echo) which have been coming back on a recurring basis for some time now... Did I miss anything? OF COURSE. Partnered with Juraj from Volume Mockups and did a collab together which turned out really well and you should go check it out!

But what's the plan

Yeah, many updates. So you may be asking this question yourself. My plan is to continue putting in the work. But I cannot compare this to 2025 as this is more grounded approach I am taking now. The reality of kickstarting a solo business in the AI age is harsh: markets are saturated with variety of vibe coded apps. It is no longer a luxury to have an app / SaaS as price of code is going down dramatically. So the idea is to bridge with hardware. I believe in "fwt." and it's positioning as the ambition is to help others discover the power of an analog journal + Journal Companions. I will take the time and explore the depth while everybody is chasing OpenClaw.

Life

3rd summit to Ďumbier not successful

The weather was bad during that weekend so ski-toured to Chata M.R. Štefánika, back to parking and went a bit above Kosodrevina in Chopok South. The weather during February was crazy this year in general. March is starting out nicely and my bike is ready. Also, I keep running usually 2 times a week but sometimes I manage to do 3 runs. I gotta compensate my sedentary time somehow so this is my way of going about it.

The first & also the last time I used eBay

I would expect to be treated fairly when using such a big and trusted platforms like eBay. It turned out the opposite can be true. I am personally not going to make another purchase over there again. I am a big fan of St. Lucia band and since last Christmas, I also became an official vinyl collector. That said, I found a "Still sealed!" version of their album called Matter originally released in 2016. As you can imagine, it wasn't cheap (97,49 EUR to be precise). I won the auction as the only bidder, only to find out on the 7th of January that the copy was used before! The story is too long, but you can read all updates on my X profile here. 3 weeks later and the case is still pending.

Swimming, running & ski-touring

Liptovský Ján has an amazing water. It's been a while since I visited the last time. The 3 sports accompany me during this winter and help me keep a balanced lifestyle as a programmer context engineer / vibe coder. It is tougher when comparing to other seasons of the year. I was successful only at 66% rate when it comes to movement in January. I will try to improve this metric.

Business

Guy Raz

I revisited "How I Built This", making the book behind podcast the 13th in my collection of favorites. I managed to read it in 9 days. I listened to podcasts about Figma, Snap and also one more that I cannot recall at the moment. To me, it's a good sign that I came back to this. It's a sign of fresh energy for 2026 that I am ready to start utilizing.

free with tech

Some people in my life have started to ask me where are the videos. I took a pause to get a fresh perspective, which I also talked about in my previous Now update. Today, I got some ideas on topics to cover and I am planning to publish the 1st video of 2026 tomorrow so let's see how far I get with my intention. I am going to do this one step at a time so no big goals for now. I made some great progress last year. However, I also have a new project in the making.

fwt. echo

Since my meetup about free with tech last year, I kept revisiting this idea that someone from the audience asked me about. It was about the ability to search inside a collection of paper journals. I keep track of project ideas, but some of them naturally stick and they keep coming back. The same was true for fwt. joex & fwt. axis, both of which are now on the App Store. The same is true now for fwt. echo, and it is now officially in the making. The priority is for it to be privacy-first. Journals contain sensitive personal information that needs to be protected at all costs. The main objective for this app is to help user find relevant pages for the topic they describe, using just natural language.

Local-first paradigm

I was happy to watch this Cult.Repo mini-doc video on YT yesterday. I was aware local-first exists, but this video got me excited about it. Also, it got me thinking.. Tech Independence at free with tech is actually about the same thing! I also realized there are these layers that I keep oscillating around: human-first, analog-first, local-first. That's how tech was supposed to be from the beginning. We have work to do.

General

llms.txt

My website is LLM-friendly now. How? It now fully aligns with llms.txt standard proposal. If you go look into the footer, you will see the reference to this file. Also, whenever you are on a subpage, footer now also references Markdown version of the current page, which LLMs should prioritize over HTML version that is human-first. Here is to the future of agentic web browsing.

Clawdbot, Moltbot... OpenClaw?

It's been all over the internet this past week. For tinkerers, this is heaven. I am not jumping on the hype train just yet. I tend to be cautious around the idea of giving LLMs access to personal data. Sure, this tool is great for running experiments and being at the forefront of AI innovation. When you don't possess HW worth ~20k EUR that would let you run powerful LLM model locally, I think you shouldn't use this for personal stuff. Otherwise, you are letting more companies harvest your sensitive information. However, I will stay curious about this topic.

Still Early

You read it right. This is how I am calling the Year in Review article for 2025 that I wrote in December. Feel free to read it here and this way zoom out together with me.

Attended Green IO conference in Paris

I did not see this coming sooner than Friday before the conference week. Adora Foundation was kind enough to sponsor the ticket, and this way allowing me to revisit the Climate Tech space after a bigger pause due to my past burnout. This was a significant trip as I finally got a chance to meet Ismael and talk about life. I cannot express how much this meant. This concludes the trifecta for 2025 which includes both Peter Hamor and Yan Zoritchak too.

Ski-touring season began

Despite low snow levels in Tatra Mountains in the beginning of the winter season, I took 4 ski-touring trips in December together with my friends. This is a good excuse for deferring purchase of my next pair of running shoes.

Letting the nice things grow in me

Purchased physical copies of top books I've ever read so far. It contains 12 books for now and you can see the photo of them in my tweet. Also, I received vinyls of latest albums of my favorite band as gifts during Christmas. This was a nudge for me to become a vinyl collector and I ended up purchasing all albums except the first one which is harder to get. This is another way for seeing the beauty in the world around me, every day.

Projects

"Samuel AI" becomes PersoGPT

Last month, I introduced my new side project that allows people to chat to your personal brand 24/7. Now it has an official name and a marketing website. This is the project that I shipped the fastest. This is also one of my goals for 2026: to close even more loops, even faster.

free with tech

My content is still paused as of today. I am planning a refreshed approach for 2026 but still don't know how it looks like. I think I just have to pull the trigger and keep avoiding perfection that does not really exist. Project is definitely alive in my head and one of my top priorities for the next year, but I am taking some more strategic decisions as I write these lines. Sneak peek in the section below.

Job hunt

Failed an interview at Google

Not everybody gets a chance to attend such an interview so I think I should be proud I can say this. I am not big fan of Big Tech, as you may already know based on my fwt. videos, but I thought I would give this a try since a recruiter reached out directly via LinkedIn.

Sustainable living

After investing a full year into building my own online ecosystem from my personal savings, I've decided to shift my attention to earning an income again. I am proud of this burst and what I had been able to accomplish last year, but it is time to introduce means of stability with flexibility back into my life again. This does not mean I am abandoning my project, rather strategically optimizing for the long game. Stay tuned.

Wrist-first experiment

I changed my cellular provider to begin a new era on my journey towards living free with tech. I've covered this in my 3 latest videos on YouTube which I bundled as Phone Stays Home, Deferred Complexity & Did I Really Need This. TLDR is that my Apple Watch is now my primary digital device in contrast to using the phone default.

Apps maintenance mode

I've updated fwt. axis & fwt. joex so my humble user base can enjoy a more stable app experience. Not only that, but there are some small new features as well. If you happen to be one of my lovely users, feel free to check out the changelos on respective App Store pages to learn more.

Mindset shift

After 10 months of work on my lifestyle business called free with tech, I've decided to lower the gear and this way the pressure I put on myself. How? I've invested 21 hours into the job hunt process in November alone. I came to certain conclusions that I cover in my most recent reflection in this article.

Chat Control passed in EU

This is a sad story for privacy in Europe. I intentionally skipped video for fwt.wtf last week (that I mention in my latest blog post too), but I should've covered this news given it's implications for digital freedom. Living free with tech is also about embracing digital sovereignty as a primary value and this policy is going to make it much less accessible for the default path.

Hobby projects

"Samuel AI" app

I've created ChatGPT that tries to emulate me. This fun little hobby project of mine uses my website contents as memory so anyone can talk to me 24/7. If this sounds interesting to you, feel free to check it out at chat.samuelpitonak.com. I built it using Supermemory & OpenAI Platform on the backend.

Website refresh

Huge photos grid refresh

My website homepage now randomizes 5 photos on each visit. It uses an album of 21 top photos that I personally shot since the beginning of 2022 (roughly 1 photo per 2 months). Not only that, but it also slides on smaller screens and slowly reveals the photos that are currently visible. I call it the theater effect. It also respects users that prefer reduced motion.

Handcrafted playlists freebies

I've added this new "freebies" section to the homepage so that anyone can have a listen to my 2 handcrafted playlists that I listen to every day. I use them to put myself into the flow state whenever creating on the PC. I constantly refine them so if you don't like the selection today, it may change in the future!

Yearly Review articles have distinct names

2025 is nearing it's end and with that, I also updated names for my Yearly Review articles. I've realized that every year of my journey, that I also document here on this website, presented such a unique challenges that it was easy to create unique names for them: Naive Courage -> Parallel Paths -> Hard Lessons. Stay tuned for 2025 in review that is coming in December.

Shareable URLs with filters

After reading this amazing article on URL as state from Ahmad Alfy, I've decided to update my filtering architecture on articles, projects & speaking pages. Now, I can easily point people to specific groups of articles, projects & speaking appearances just by selecting filters and copying the URL.

Identity appreciation

I bought my favorite books as softcovers / hardcovers (instead of owning just the digital EPUB files). This way, I can glance at them to get reminded about my own path at any time during the day.

Pathless Path

I supported Paul Millerd and bought his limited edition hardcover of Pathless Path. This is the very book that gave me the needed permission to build things my own way more than 2 years ago.

Facing resistance

I needed to look face to face into the eyes of Resistance. Revisiting The War of Art book highlights was helpful. A force that kept me from doing the work for another 1 and a half weeks after I came back from my vacation. Then, I launched my new exciting project that I talk about below.

free with tech

1st payout

For the first time in my life, I got paid by Apple instead of me buying more products from them. To a certain degree, this has validated my indie hacker identity and makes me want to keep building my way forward.

Journal Companions

I launched a new initiative journalcompanions.com It is a concept I've been exploring through my apps fwt.wtf/axis & fwt.wtf/joex Interesting fact: all of these apps kept coming back and knocking in my brain and I am proud that I finally pushed through and made it all real as a part of broader philosophy for living free with tech.

Work with me

Have an interesting idea in mind?

I am proficient with React.js & TypeScript. Reach out to me via email: contact (at) samuelpitonak (dot) com

Visited France after 12 years

It was an honor to meet Yan Zoritchak again after a while. 3 highlights from my conversations with the master of glass art are covered in my latest blog post here

Batteries recharged

To be honest, I did not really need a vacation. But I am glad I did make a ride all the way from Slovakia to France to gather new energy and inspiration for next cycle of work I am planning to do at fwt.wtf

Work with me

Have an interesting idea in mind?

I am proficient with TypeScript & React. I also have capacities for new projects. Reach out to me via email: development (at) samuelpitonak (dot) com

fwt. axis and fwt. joex are out

Done after 3 months of building. Another phase of software product development lifecycle can begin.

Project hunt

Open to new opportunities

I've came to realize that having a vision is cool but you have to make ends meet one way or the other. Striving to find a way for sustainable living. I am accepting offers.

Heavily focused

I am deep inside the trenches right now which is also the reason why I am not providing further details in this update. Watch the YouTube!

Digital sovereign

Ditched some big apps finally to own more of my data

I had this objective for a while to remove Windows and Google Photos from my life completely. I am now a proud user of immich.app open-source app for self-hosted photo and video management. Also, macOS / Linux only! Turned my former gaming rig into Counter-Strike 2 / NAS machine. Happy man.

Other smaller app migrations

Apple Notes sucks. I cannot even export my drawing with iPencil as SVG to use it on the web. This invited me to rethink my approach and so here I am - Obsidian user. Hi again, Markdown! But I keep Apple Notes for the drawings for now.. Also, Proton has their own Authenticator now which is nice.

Job market sucks

Applying to interesting companies and getting rejected only

Gave the job hunt 6,5 hours last month. I value my time so much I couldn't do more. Current job market does not favor digital workers. Pouring my time into my own app ecosystem building instead. This is the best investment I can make right now that I am aware of. What a faith. Yesterday I heard a nice reframe: not 0 USD / hour but 15 000 USD not paying off just yet. Wish me luck bro or sell me your vision so I can work for you (would do it even for free if good enough). ty

axis iteration

Finished React Native prototype in React Native. Rewrote to Swift. Rewrote it for the 2nd time to use SwiftData for data persistence. The plan is to publish the app on App Store by the end of July.

Content creation continues

I've managed to record 18 videos for my YouTube channel since the end of February 2025. They are public documentation of my indie hacker journey with purpose.

Hostio

We have a name

I've been working on a secret project since the end of 2024, which is now public and you can see it hostio.app Even a small host can offer a hotel-like experience.

Project hunt

Interviewed for a job in 2 companies

I found interesting opportunities on LinkedIn so I applied and got into the recruitment process. Managed to go to 2nd round but failed to move past that in both cases.

Freelance mindset

Since I am building my own products as part of freewith.tech, I am leaning more into a freelance mindset and prefering projects over full-time employee role.

Content creation continues

I've published 14 videos over the period of 14 weeks since the first video on the 31st of January. This is my process where I am trying to refine concept of the free with tech philosophy.

axis app in beta version for iOS and Android

I've recently created an app that implements my self-awareness habit framework. It tracks 6 habits (RISE, MOVE, FROG, PLAY, BOND, NEXT) and automates their completion via OS Health platforms and a time tracking software.

Link shortener is open-source

I've coded a minimalist link shortener that I am using on my fwt.wtf domain that acts as a database for my content assets related to the brand.

Codename HKS

Team building

I attended a team building event and for the 2nd time in a row at the same place, we experienced bad weather conditions that forced us to change our plans to hike the ridge of Mala Fatra.

Codename JBH

Job hunt continues

I've restarted my job search effort and activated my professional network. Also, if you happen to be someone who needs to get web dev work done, don't hesitate to reach out!

10 weeks, 10 videos published

I'm committed to creating content for free with tech (FWT), a movement toward tech independence. Right now, I'm focused on growing its presence through YouTube and Substack. There are 10 videos published on the 1st of May which makes it a great milestone for reflection and planning. Feel free to read my latest blog if you are interested.

Branding project started and finished

I've been wanting to do this and it is finally here! FWT now has a professional visual identity which makes it very easily identifiable in the whole world. I've updated all main communication channels to use it. I am really happy with the final result and I am waiting on demo stickers with t-shirt to be delivered soon.

Video Podcast Poprad

This is a follow-up to my Tatry IT meetup titled as My path to digital freedom which you can watch on the Speaking page. It is going to be published in the coming days on the official YouTube channel called Video Podcast Poprad.

Codename HKS

First retrospective and consistent output

A secret project I've been working on since the end of 2025. Me and the team have come a long way, and we had managed to hold a first retrospective meeting to reflect and plan. This project is, hopefully, going to see the daylight and come out of it's incubation phase very soon. I've been in a leading frontend role but will probably pivot to a more product-focused role soon so let's see how this turns out.

Living intentionally with tech

I'm on a journey to redefine my relationship with technology—embracing self-awareness, digital minimalism, and ultimately, tech independence. My days are filled with meaningful work on Free With Tech, sports, gaming, and quality time with friends and family.

Work

Building Free With Tech

I'm fully committed to Free With Tech (FWT), a movement toward tech independence. Right now, I'm focused on growing its presence through Substack, X, and YouTube while developing tools that align with its philosophy.

Exploring new opportunities

I'm still open to exciting collaborations, particularly in the React.js/Next.js space. If you have an interesting project that aligns with my skills and values, feel free to reach out.

Content & Updates

Weekly Substack & YouTube videos

I publish a new blog post every Friday and am now launching my YouTube channel to share my journey with tech independence.

Writing consistently on my blog

I've published four articles in the past month, diving into my personal journey with tech, entrepreneurship, and decision-making.

Redefining life via boredom

A recent layoff has given me the opportunity to reinvent myself. I'm embracing this time by letting the state of feeling good guide me. Lately, I've been enjoying sports, gaming, and spending quality time with friends and family.

Work

Work on entrepreneurial projects is continuing

I am committed to 2 projects right now. They are not financially sustainable from the long-term perspective but they are good opportunities to take on, especially because of people that I get to work with. Additionally, tech is also good and I want to grow in it.

Open for new opportunities

I'm actively looking for my next work endeavor. I am open to working on interesting ReactJS-based projects so if you have something exciting in mind, feel free to reach out!

2024 in review is out

I've reflected on the past year, including my recent layoff. Read more in Articles.

Redefining life via boredom

A recent layoff has given me the opportunity to reinvent myself. I'm embracing this time by letting the state of feeling good guide me. Lately, I've been enjoying sports, gaming, and spending quality time with friends and family.

Work

Open for new opportunities

I'm casually exploring my next endeavor and open to working on interesting React-based projects. If you have something exciting in mind, feel free to reach out!

2024 in review is out

I've reflected on the past year, including my recent layoff. Read more in Articles.

First vacation

I've finally taken my first proper vacation in 2024. I went to the mountains of Slovakia and enjoyed the nature.

Experienced layoff for the first time

I was laid off unexpectedly at the end of October. This happened during my vacation. I am focusing on personal development and looking for a new job.

Self-awareness brings clarity

Haven't seen as much clarity in my life as I see nowadays. My personal development journey that started in January 2023 is continuing and I am starting to see fruits of work on myself. I wrote a new blog post in July which touches on the topic.

Frogs in the morning

Frogs are a key ingredient to successful day. I couldn't imagine saying the following myself until I fully understood it in July: you have to be eating frogs first thing in the morning. I am adding 'eat the frog' component into my journal-based habit tracker to keep the streak going.

Projects

Juggling multiple balls

I've been working on a startup for the past year. I've been working on a side-hustle since the beginning of 2023 without any revenue. I've been working on Journal extension app that helps with capturing thoughts when away from paper journal. I can say I am currently in a lucky spot where I enjoy it all.

June was a busy month

Every weekend packed with social activities. Bachelors party, priestly ordination, trip to Bohemian Paradise, trip to nature with friends from college and a wedding of my best friend. Now is time to put more of my focus back to the projects and catch up.

Projects

edi Closed Alpha Test succeeded (sort of)

We did put our tool for building low-carbon websites into hands of 30 potential customers in order to gather feedback. Francois Burra (francoisburra.com) is a great example of what kind of a value we were able to provide. More updates soon.

Milestone missed with Joex

I failed to deliver on my promise of publishing the app on the App Store in June. I still have some fixes to do as part of the Apple App Review process. Let's see what I can do during the upcoming 2 months time.

New wedding suit

With 3 weddings happening this year, and my only wedding suit being more than 7 years old, I have a feeling it is time for an upgrade. I want something fresh with brighter color.

Projects

edi

No-code sustainable website builder that allows non-technicians to create eco-friendly websites. It leverages Sustainable UI open-source tooling under the hood.

Sustainable UI

Open-source technology behind edi's Low-mode feature. I've been developing this project since Carbon Hack 22, nowadays while working on the edi product.

Secret project

I've been working on a unique product for EarthShift Global and I cannot share more at this point of time unfortunately. It is related to the LCA industry, which is where we innovate.

Hobbies

Journaling

Recording my life on paper and not social media. Reflecting on ideas to gather insight. This way, living with more intention. Also trying to balance introspection with hanging out with friends.

Joex

Journal extension iOS app for frictionless capturing of thoughts when away from paper journal to remain in the present moment.

Running, cycling and hiking

Keeping my body fit is one of my top priorities in life. Being surrounded by mountains makes this goal that much easier to achieve. I am trying to achieve consistency and exercise regularly instead of periods of bursts that I am used to more.

Phone with a telephoto lens

I am into mobile photography. Not only is it low-friction (adds near 0 overhead) but also allows me to express myself without the need to think too much. I need to upgrade my hardware to improve quality of my output because cropping is not the best way to go.