Hey Hackers!\Welcome to HackerNoon Projects of the Week, where we spotlight standout projects from the Proof of Usefulness Hackathon, HackerNoon’s competition designed to measure what actually matters: real utility over hype.\This week, we’re pumped to showcase projects that have proven their worth and usefulness: MealRoaster, WayaVPN, and DeepSearch.:::tipWant to see your own project spotlighted here?Join the Proof of Usefulness Hackathon to get on our radar.:::\Meet the Projects of the Week:MealRoasterhttps://hackernoon.com/mealroaster-earns-a-41-proof-of-usefulness-score-by-building-an-ai-powered-nutrition-assistant-on-whatsapp?embedable=true\Eating healthy is both easy and complicated at the same time. Burn more calories than you consume. But not every single meal that you eat has a full nutritional breakdown, making it hard to know how many calories you’re actually eating. So, the only thing left to do is craft your own breakdown, and by you, I mean MealRoster.\This AI-powered service allows users to take a picture of their meal and get a detailed analysis of everything that’s in it. According to its website, you will get details such as how many calories, carbs, and protein are in the meal you’re about to eat. The service also allows users to get a personalized meal plan that is specifically designed to help them meet their weight goals.\ MealRoaster is for busy individuals who want to track calories and improve their nutrition without downloading another app. It is ideal for gym members, weight loss clients, muscle gain enthusiasts, and anyone who wants simple, instant food tracking inside WhatsApp. - Ademola Balogun, MealRoasterProof of Usefulness: +41/100:::tipSee MealRoster’s full Proof of Usefulness ReportRead their story on HackerNoon:::WayaVPNhttps://hackernoon.com/wayavpn-earns-a-3536-proof-of-usefulness-score-by-building-residential-vpn-and-proxy-infrastructure?embedable=trueThere are so many different VPNs to choose from that it can become difficult to pick the one that’s best for you and your needs. But if you’re looking for a versatile one, look no further than WayaVPN. Whether you want to see what streaming services are like in different regions or you want to do research on different markets, WayaVPN has your back.\What separates WayaVPN from other VPNs is that it uses “real residential IPs from major ISPs”, according to its website. This means that you will look like a real user instead of some bot, giving you the ideal experience, regardless of what you’re using it for.\ More users now need access that looks and behaves more like normal ISP-based traffic, whether for privacy, remote work, testing, verification, research, or digital operations. That gap is exactly what WayaVPN is built to address. - Emmanuel CorelsProof of Usefulness: +35/100:::tipSee WayaVPN’s full Proof of Usefulness ReportRead their story on HackerNoon:::DeepSearchhttps://hackernoon.com/deepsearch-a-high-performance-cross-platform-file-indexing-and-search-tool-in-rust?embedable=trueMany people are messy and disorganized in their everyday lives; it gets even worse when you take a peek at their computers. It’s a miracle that they can even find anything, but there is something that can help with that, regardless of how tangled up their file systems and directories are.\DeepSearch is a cross-platform file-indexing tool meant to help those who are tired of having to spend a long time navigating through their directories. What could’ve taken 10 or 15 minutes of searching is now cut down to just a matter of seconds. Whether you use Windows, macOS, or Linux, DeepSearch is the tool you need to clean your messy life up.\ Scrolling and indexing software => extremely fast file searching by name It was created to solve a problem: extremely slow file searching on shared SMB drives. - Hoang Huy Do, DeepSearchProof of Usefulness: +85/100:::tipSee DeepSearch’s full Proof of Usefulness ReportRead their story on HackerNoon:::Want to submit your project to the Proof of Usefulness hackathon?What is Proof of Usefulness?It's our answer to a web drowning in vaporware and empty promises. We evaluate projects based on: \n ▪️ Real user adoption \n ▪️ Sustainable revenue \n ▪️ Technical stability \n ▪️ Genuine utility \n \n Projects score from -100 to +1000. Top scorers compete for $20K in cash and $130K+ in software credits.\You’ll be in good company. The hackathon is backed by teams who ship production software for a living - Bright Data, Neo4j, Storyblok, Algolia, and HackerNoon.What happens when you submit:1. Get your free Proof of Usefulness score instantly \n 2. Your submission becomes a HackerNoon article (published within days) \n 3. Compete for monthly prizes \n 4. All participants get rewards\Complete guide on how to submit here.\:::tip👉 Submit Your Project Now!:::\That’s all for now.\Until next time, Hackers!