About: Naty the Tech Dabbler and Tinkerer

About This Site

If you want to learn more about the actual site, I created a dedicated /⁠colophon page detailing the technicalities on how this site is run, tools used, etc.

Content Expectations

BurgeonLab is like a logbook where I document my tech explorations and any topic I find interesting. Content is categorized by either (1) post type, (2) filed under specific themed series, or (3) by topic tags.

You can access a shortcut to these post types if you click Explore on the top navigation bar. As of Q3 2026, these are the post types supported:

1. Pages (aka slash pages)
2. Posts (aka articles or blogs)
3. Weeknotes
4. Photos
5. Likes
6. Notes (aka microblogs)
7. RSVPs
8. Replies (aka responses or comments)
9. Books
10. Experiments

As of the beginning of 2026, I’m taking on the #100DaysToOffload challenge to incentivize me to become a sustainable blogger. I began blogging in 2022, and 2025 was my most productive year yet; 30+ posts and counting! I’m aiming for steady growth in the years ahead.To see my progress, visit the dedicated 100DaysToOffload page.

Since this site is a constant work-in-progress and expansion, topics may get more diverse; so consider subscribing to my RSS/Atom¹ feeds to stay updated—I appreciate your readership! For now, BurgeonLab will remain primarily a tech‑focused personal blog while I work on IndieWeb integration.

DISCLAIMER: All content you read on burgeonlab.com is created by a human and will never be generated by AI. Read the AI Tools section to learn where genAI is used on my blog. I’m also part of the No AI Webring (scroll to the very bottom to view the webrings I’m part of!)

Interaction

Connect with me via any of the platforms on the /⁠contact page. I’m always up for a chat about shared hobbies or topics of interest; and would be more than happy if you want to collaborate on something together.

Most pages include a Responses section after the main content, with instructions on how to reply. The quickest way is to email me, or if the page you’re on is syndicated to Mastodon, you can comment on the corresponding Mastodon post using the " Comment via Mastodon " button.²

Feedback

I have written a questionnaire to learn about the visitors of this site to make my blog better in 2026. As a reader, your opinion matters to me. Could you take my 1–2 minute anonymous questionnaire? Thank you!

Navigation

The top navigation menu contains links to most areas of the site. At the footer, there are some quick shortcuts to popular pages like /⁠about, /⁠stats or /⁠guestbook. Some links to my other profiles are below that and further down are two expandable elements that show my collection of 88x31 buttons (aka web badges) and the webring navigation links.

The homepage contains sections showing the latest content (notes, weeknotes, and blog posts), and the top 10 most visited pages over the last month. The expandable Noticeboard is where you’ll find any announcements or notices.

My Other Blogs

I manage two other blogs, but they’re nowhere near as loved as BurgeonLab!

1. General Blog: eclecticpassions.net — CMS migration in progress (WordPress to Quartz SSG)
2. Photography Blog: aperture2iris.com — site under construction

If you want to read more about my blogging journey, check out these posts:

• Hello Hugo: Starting My Static Site Generator Journey
• My Blogging Pursuit with Hugo and WordPress
• Response to The Worst Community Report Podcast: Blogging

Elsewhere

Visit the dedicated /⁠elsewhere page for sites or other social silos I use.

About Me

Okay, a little about me. I’m Naty, a trained healthcare professional currently looking for opportunities outside primary care. I am a third-culture kid who grew up and studied abroad in Canada and Ireland, currently based in Hong Kong, SAR.

I go by these three online handles/usernames (they’re also the domain names for my blogs):

• burgeonlab
• eclecticpassions
• APERTURE2IRIS

Some words I’d use to describe myself, in no particular order:

Origin of My Passion for Technology

Ever since I was a kid, I loved computers and all things technology. I still remember my Mom getting me my first computer—an HP Pavilion tower PC with Windows 95. I was lucky to get early exposure to a second OS at school too, with the iMac G3. Oh, days were much simpler back then…

Technology Stack

The only “official” IT studies I’ve completed is IGCSE ICT; but within my social groups, I am pleased to be the go-to techie and IT support person! I enjoy a good challenge and learning new skills meets that criteria. As a non-IT professional, I’m proud of my self-taught technical skills through experimentation and online resources (if I may say so myself).

The table below is the tech stack I’ve been practising. By no means am I an expert in any of these—but I am able to do the things I want and are familiar with the basics at least. I’m most comfortable using Zsh, Markdown, TOML, Hugo, WordPress, Obsidian, and three major operating systems: macOS, Linux (Debian-based), Android.

Show table » Hide table «

Geek Code

I came across this quaint Geek Code project from 1993, developed by Robert A. Hayden. It looks geeky and fun—so here is mine (version 3.12 is from 1996):

1-----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK-----
2Version: 3.12
3GMD d+ s+:- a C++ L+ W+++ M+
4PGP+ X++ tv- b+ G e++ r x?
5------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------

There’s actually a modern version 4.x from 2019 (which I might upgrade to on a rainy afternoon), and will skip version 6.0 that is a “completely fresh rendition revised by ChatGPT”…

Other Hobbies

I’m a sucker for hobbies, lots of them. (Last updated: 2025-06-18)

• Photography (both 35mm film and digital)
• Speciality coffee / Chinese & Japanese tea
• Stationery
  • Japanese paper goods (diaries, washi tape, etc)
  • Fountain pens
• Car detailing
• Wrist watches
• House plants/germinating seeds
• Synths (Volcas, Circuit, Pocket Operators)
• Head-fi (IEMs, DACs, open-back headphones)
• Art & crafts:
  • Leathercraft/shoeshining
  • Hand embroidery (Kogin-zashi, French)
  • Watercolours
• Cleaning (yes, the chore!)
• EDC (everyday carry)
• Hiking / Nordic walking
• Poetry
• Sim racing
• Formula 1 / F1 Fantasy
• Video games
  • Favourite genres
    • Racing
    • Music/rhythm
    • First-person shooters
• Some of my favourite games
  • CS:GO (ex-Gold Nova 3)
  • Euro Truck Simulator
  • Gran Turismo
  • Taiko no Tatsujin 太鼓の達人 (handheld & arcade vers.)
  • Katamari Damacy
  • Hermie Hopperhead: Scrap Panic (I wrote about it)
  • The Sims 1 & 2

I hope to write posts about some of these in the future… I will update this page when it’s available!