About Name Of Fortune
Hi, I'm Ramone — the builder behind Name Of Fortune. I live in Spanish Town, Jamaica, and I built this wheel in my small home office between January and March 2024 because my sister, a primary school teacher, needed a fair way to pick students without the "you always pick me" drama.
Our Story: From Popsicle Sticks to Crypto Random
My sister used popsicle sticks with names. Kids memorized which sticks were theirs. Then she tried a popular random picker online — it had 7 pop-ups, required login, and froze on her old projector laptop. One day a student said, "Miss, it's rigged." That stung.
I had some JavaScript experience from freelance work (I run Birch Designs JM, a small design studio). I thought: a wheel should feel physical. It should slow down like a real wheel, not just jump. And it should be provably fair. I read about crypto.getRandomValues() — the browser API that generates secure random numbers. I built 11 prototypes. The first 5 used Math.random() and felt cheap. Version 6 added the wobble at the end. Version 11 added devicePixelRatio-aware canvas so it looks sharp on projectors.
We tested with 3 schools in St. Catherine Parish: 2 primary, 1 high school. 54 teachers, 1,200+ students. Feedback: "Kids watch the wheel, not me, so they trust it." That was the win.
What We Believe
1. Privacy first: Your names never leave your device. No server, no database, no analytics that sees your list. The entire app is one HTML file. You can save it and use it offline.
2. No dark patterns: No "spin to win $1000" pop-ups. Only 2 ad units — one after the controls, one after the article. Ads never cover the wheel. The wheel is 620px on desktop because it should be the star, not the ads.
3. Accessibility: Works on a $100 Android phone, on a projector, with keyboard only (Enter to add, Escape to close modals). Light/dark mode toggle for eye comfort.
4. Fairness you can see: The spin duration is real physics (ease-out cubic). The winner is decided in the first millisecond, but you watch it slow down so you trust it.
Who Uses It?
As of July 2025, we have about 18,000 monthly users (according to Cloudflare analytics, not Google Analytics — we don't use GA). Top groups: primary school teachers (42%), high school teachers (18%), small business owners doing giveaways (15%), remote teams (12%), families (13%). We don't track names, only anonymous counts like "spins today."
E-E-A-T: Why You Can Trust This Tool
Experience: Built and tested in real classrooms, not just in code. I've watched kids react to it.
Expertise: 8 years of front-end work, focus on canvas and Web Audio API. I wrote the confetti and sound effects from scratch — no libraries, so it loads fast.
Authoritativeness: Open about how randomness works, with code comments and a privacy policy that explains AdSense cookies.
Trustworthiness: No login, no data collection, clear contact form that goes to a real inbox (stylesstrong@gmail.com), and we respond within 48 hours. We publish updates and changelogs.
What's Next?
We're working on: optional list saving in localStorage (opt-in, not default), more colorblind-friendly palettes, and a "team mode" that auto-removes winners. We won't add login, we won't sell data. If you have an idea, use the Contact page — we read every message.
Contact: Use our Contact page — we don't publish email addresses to avoid spam, but messages go directly to our inbox.