A simple dark theme for Obsidian, inspired by the design of this website. I focused on a clean layout with an emphasis on good contrast colors for better readability.
DietPlanner is a tool for proactive meal planning, designed to help users working toward body recomposition or similar nutrition goals. As often happens, I started this project to solve a personal problem: I wanted to plan my meals in advance, but most existing apps are built for real-time tracking. I also wanted something file over app like Obsidian, so I took this occasion to learn Electron.
After reading a lot of posts on HN, I realized it’s common to have a personal website to share projects, ideas, and updates about work and life. So, after years, I went back to HTML, CSS, and JS (feel free to laugh when you check the repo...). I considered using something more modern like React, but I wanted to keep things simple and not get lost in new tech.
My story was selected as one of the eight winners of the global UN competition "Sci-fAI Challenge". The competition involved writing a short story that explored the implications of AI on peace, security and warfare. As a winner, I was invited at the "Responsible AI in the Military domain Summit" (REAIM) to share my ideas on how artificial intelligence can shape peace-building and global security.
During this academic period, I focused on assignments. These included the simulation of cardiovascular pathologies, modeling the impact of treatments, and the analysis of the computational complexity of DNA sequencing algorithms. (You can find a detailed report for each project at the link.)
Final-year high school exam project developed with my friend: a fully functional RFID-based bike sharing system. It features a multilingual web platform (HTML, PHP, JS), a MySQL database, and a physical simulator built with Raspberry Pi, RFID reader, LEDs, LCD, and buttons inside a 3D-printed case. The system handles real-time user authentication, bike selection, rental tracking, and balance deduction. It was the first time I built a project that felt like it could become something real, a proof that building this kind of solution is more within reach than most people think. Indeed, just a year later bike-sharing systems appeared in our city!
In the one-day Fabrizio Rocca competition, I led a team to success in a challenge against 10 groups. We developed a Scratch-based game to teach middle school students Mendel’s genetics principles. Additionally, we created an Italian-language tutorial on Wikiversity to guide users in recreating the game.
During my second year of high school (16yo), my classmates and I spent the whole year playing Cookie Clicker on a shared account. Inspired by that, I built my own sports-themed idle game, packed with inside jokes and small memes. I rediscovered it in 2025 and laughed for ten minutes straight. It’s a perfect reminder that I’ve always built things just for the fun of it, but also because I’ve always loved challenging myself and learning by doing.
Together with a software engineer friend, we wanted to build an online tool for book layout and formatting. We knew the problems of the industry: the traditional process is slow, expensive, and handled by designers using complex tools. Our idea was to simplify it: make a tool even authors could use, and with enough depth to serve as a power-tool for designers too. We imagined template libraries, author profiles, and the ability to share layout presets. During market research we discovered two big and established competitors. Both were polished, had solved the hardest technical challenges, and used a one-time payment model: hard to compete with as a small team. Also one was built by someone teaching how to get rich selling kindles, the other was positioned as its rival. We shelved the idea, but got the point: sometimes good will is not enough.
To promote a friend's writing services, we considered launching a podcast. People listen to podcasts for entertainment, but need the illusion of usefulness. So, each episode tackled a deep, complex topic, made engaging through my friend’s experience. For the structure, we took inspiration from the Building a Second Brain Podcast: short, dense episodes, centered on a single topic. We designed a logo, recorded 3 episodes, and gathered feedback. But in the end, we realized that the time required for editing and publishing wasn’t worth the effort. Still, the process taught us a lot about the podcasting world (competitors, optimal episode length, branding challenges, how hard it is to monetize...), and about the real cost of time in a business.
For a few months, I worked on launching an Etsy shop with a graphic designer friend.
The plan was simple: sell printable products.
We explored several directions but focused on quotes, where we saw clear space for improvement.
But we quickly hit a harsh wall: the Italian business regulations.
Beyond the percentage cut from each sale, just opening a business in Italy means facing a mandatory fixed tax (IRPEF), around €2000 a year regardless of profit.
For a venture built around 2-3€ products, the math didn’t add up.
It was my first taste of how (Italian...) regulation can crush experimentation, and it validated what many freelancers in Italy say: the state isn’t on your side.
NB: now I don't consider it a good business, but a good experiment for a 18 years old!
For four years, I played drums in Knurled Chicken Head (name's inspired by knobs), an original band based in Bolzano. It was my first dive into creative collaboration, where I learned to navigate group dynamics and creative disagreements. While we had energy and ideas, we lacked structure: our songwriting suffered from limited music theory knowledge, vocals were our weakest element, and we underestimated marketing focusing only on live shows. The breaking point came when trying to balance midnight rehearsals with 6am university commutes, but the deeper truth was realizing I didn't want to "become a musician when I grew up" ((as with mathematics) hauling gear at 2am after a gig lost its charm fast).
