Most websites explain things. Some need to calculate something, sort something, recommend something, look something up, make a decision, generate a result, or do something sufficiently strange that there isn’t already a WordPress plugin for it.
That’s where the Machine Shop comes in.
The Machines
These are working examples of interactive tools, calculators, directories, decision systems, generators, and other purpose-built machinery we’ve designed. Some solve legitimate business problems. Some demonstrate an idea. Some exist because we wanted to see if the thing would work.
Website Planning Machine
Decision System
Answer a dozen questions about your business, website, content, brand, search visibility, and assorted complications. The machine sorts through the answers and recommends what kind of website project actually makes sense.
Website Cost Machine
Project Estimator
Feed the machine some basic information about a website project and it produces a realistic planning range based on size, content, branding, functionality, and complexity. No mystery math. No suspiciously precise $3,238.92 estimate.
Website Bullshit Detector
The Job Eliminator
Feed it a claim from your web designer, developer, or SEO guru. The machine separates legitimate advice from suspicious sales pitches and outright bullshit, then gives you pointed questions to send back. No technical knowledge required. Just a willingness to ask what the hell you’re paying for.
Check Engine Light Checker
Diagnostic Lookup Tool
Enter an automotive diagnostic trouble code and get a plain-English explanation of what it means, what may be causing it, how serious it could be, and whether continuing to drive is a particularly terrible idea.
Asheville Business Machine
Local Market Research Tool
Choose a type of business and a location around Asheville. The machine combines local information with the realities of that particular industry to identify opportunities, useful website features, and things worth paying attention to.
Seven Degrees of Butthole Surfers
Relationship Engine
Pick a band. The machine will connect it to Butthole Surfers through a chain of musical relationships, collaborations, influences, scenes, personnel, and other connective tissue. Because eventually, everything leads to Butthole Surfers.
Where Have I Pooped?
Interactive Mapping System
Select the states in which you’ve successfully completed a bowel movement. The machine turns this information into a personalized map of the United States suitable for preservation and sharing. Finally, geographic data with stakes.
Guitar Setup Guy
The Buzz Killer
questions and the machine helps you narrow down the problem, take useful measurements, and figure out what to check next. Includes setup guides, a relief checker, and saved guitar profiles. Less random screw-turning. More playing the damned thing.
Freelance Contract Machine
Scope Creep Repellent
Handshake deals are charming until someone pays you in exposure. Answer a few questions and build a freelance contract covering scope, payment, and deadlines before “one little change” becomes your unpaid second career.