I'm a writer who struggles to tell stories. A programmer who struggles to write code. Just a ghost of social networks past, haunting the web.
After doing some other things for a while, I'm back to improving the website, namely my personal web directory. I have good news and bad news: on the one hand now there are more categories, making it easier to find certain things. On the other hand, it's getting tiresome to shuffle things around all the time, only to never be happy. I'm seriously tempted to install Shaarli again (it would be my…
I'm a text-oriented person, but sometimes a picture really is worth a thousand words. Problem is, diagramming software is often slow and clumsy. And it's more precise to generate diagrams from a textual description anyway. But ways to do that aren't so widely known, so I made a page about it. Hope this helps!
With my blog on the way out, I'm still going to need a place to post the occasional short thought that's too long for the link log. For the past few months, I used the wiki for that, but that didn't feel quite right. Well, thanks to a new development, they now live on their own journal page; you'll find more explanations there. Enjoy, and keep following this feed as well, because it's still where…
Sometimes an idea needs time to coalesce. So it happened with my first mecha story ever, a flash fic titled Robot 55. It was a surprisingly long time in the making, seeing how I grew up with stories like that, like most kids of the 80s and 90s. Took a whole new sci-fi setting. They're starting to pile up here. But hey, it's fun and gives me a new playground to spend time on. Hang out with me.
You might have noticed a couple new links on the homepage as of a few days ago: to a wiki and "uses this" page, respectively. It's yet another attempt to find a home for various fragments of text that I could never fit together in a coherent whole. Note to self: static files are still the safer option. Enjoy!
Finally gave up and added a linklog to my web directory, back-filled with about 150 old links. I like how stream-of-consciousness it is: an insight into how news find me. And of course I promptly used it to make a couple of unrelated posts as well, that nobody would care about elsewhere. Pro tip: you're always going to need a sideblog. Set one up. (Also: as of 7 August, this domain name is paid…
Might as well announce it here too. As of a few days ago, I finally managed to gather all my interactive fiction writing in one place: twenty articles written over a period of ten years, between 2011 and 2020, on a variety of topics. (You can probably spot a few trends however.) Also a couple of newer reviews, to make a nice round number. I hope you'll enjoy reading them as much as I did writing…
Many thanks to my friend David, whose generous donation will allow me to keep this site online for a while longer. Full disclosure: I shift funds between it and my game development site, but it amounts to the same thing; I pay for one out of pocket, and need help keeping the other one online. One of my goals for the next few years is to distribute my online presence more so it can survive more…
I've done it again. This time it's not an essay, but a work in progress: an overview of all the things people are doing to claw back the 'net from corporations. I hope you'll find it useful.
... is the name of an essay about the state of web design and how we can reclaim it. My answer to a conversation that's been unfolding online over the past few years, and it's still far from done.
Forgot to post about this: shortly after reviving Clinklog, I buckled down and made another static site generator, this time in Tcl and called Statickle; details on the projects own microsite. Took a break since, but it's quite popular already, and I'm going to need it myself soon, so.
This would normally go in the site-wide newsfeed, but for once the blog is a better fit. As of last month, I have three new pages on the site, each holding links on a bunch of different themes. The post explains why they matter to me and why you might like them, so just click through.
Shortly after updating an old section, I'm back with a whole new one, this time on the programming language Forth. It's occasioned by the first public release of a new project, but also features my philosophy about the subject matter. Thanks for checking it out.
How quickly things are going now that I've made a decision. As of yesterday, my tabletop and play-by-post RPG material also has its own section on the main website instead of the old wiki page. Just finished migrating what little content there was this morning. Well, there's also my old sci-fi setting that I thought lost, and now lives again (in a discreet out of the way corner), but thankfully…
Almost forgot to announce it here. A day or two ago, I finished moving my sci-fi writing over to the new section, including reviews and historical information. There was more to it than I realized, and now you can enjoy all of it in a nicely organized and typeset form, with sane URLs. Show it to your friends!
Having recently discovered a new CMS called Bludit, that I promptly put to good use, figured it was a good time to bring back my older theme Newsprint and give it a new life. Take a look if you like; I'm quite happy with the way it turned out.
I finally got around to bringing Tinycat Basic over from GitHub, but couldn't really do it without first changing some things. Bugfixes, proper packaging and a new implementation all round out this release. Check it out!
With this lame pun I'm trying to tell you about some minor updates to my Basic programming page: some extra links fished from the depths of my wiki, and improved metadata. The latter is also true for some of the other pages on the site; let's see if search engines notice. Either way, enjoy, and thanks.
Hello there. Not much happened in the last month and change, but a couple of pages do look better now, and the calculators come with OpenGraph tags, so if you give someone the link, they can see what it's all about before clicking. Hoping to do the same for the website themes soon, and add more content as well, but no promises, all right? Thanks for sticking around.
Another season, another essay, this time a comparative study of distributed social networks like Mastodon or Diaspora, with some philosophical considerations thrown in for good measure. Hopefully you'll find it useful. And hey, I'm still around.
I'm writing these lines to apologize for the prolonged silence. Due to my recent focus on game development, I've had little to post here, apart from my recent essay on the importance of plain old webpages (see the link). Hoping to have more in 2018, unless I lose the domain name, which is sadly possible. But for now, enjoy what's left of the holidays, and see you around!
After gaining a foothold into the world of Diaspora, something I'd been curious about for a while now, it's becoming painfully obvious to me why it never caught on: the software is ugly and unappealing; it's hard to discover interesting accounts; the public stream is dominated by a handful of spammers (which in turns points to, you know, zero policing). Worst, perhaps, is that the few people who…
When I first joined Smashwords years ago, it was to try and sell my first novella. After all, for free it could sit just as well on my own website. The same reasoning prevented me from making any of my books completely free during the annual July sale. Until this year, when frustration with utter lack of interest from the public pushed me to take the big step. And it turns out people *are*…
Thought I was done adding new pages to my link directory, but no. This time a really small one, that collects a few strays from other sections, and mostly balances things out. There are now one hundred links per page on average, which appears to be the ideal amount for easy handling. Up next: cleaning up cruft.
In part two of today's big change, I brought a whole subtree of the interactive directory out into its own page. With this, the linklog and static bookmarks are perfectly balanced in size, and much easier to handle. More improvements to come.
Exactly a month ago I took the first step into a new era for my bookmark collection. Today it goes further with another sub-page, that combines parts of the interactive directory and linklog, respectively. Still not done yet, either!
Looks like I'm not done quite yet. In the spirit of better link organization, I brought a page out of the interactive directory and into the main body of bookmarks, which for the first time is no longer a flat list of pages. Guess that says something.
The site might be winding down, but I'm not. While it's still here, why not add another toy programming language. Last one for a while, promise.
Last month the site gained a new page. Now there's a whole new section: Linux Lane is all about the eponymous operating system (but not only), scripting for it and related topics. A long-needed addition, but sometimes ideas need time to gel. Even years. [Edit: since then I moved it to another site.]
It's been a while since I added a new page to the site. My Basic programming section now has one of notes about various obscure dialects that are still around and worth a look despite their age and limited reach.
Today I have another small update in the scheme of things, but it's a step forward. My sci-fi section now has new microfiction, that better reflects my current mood and style. Maybe it will even inspire some new stories.
This may not sound like much, but as part of my efforts to rebalance the link section I moved a bunch of entries on language history from the linklog to the culture page, among other changes. Makes them easier to take in at a glance, too.
Forgot to mention it here, but thanks to a fan I brought BrutalWiki back from the dead. That was a month ago; by now there's a new version, and I updated the live demo too.
I'm on a roll these days. Shortly after last time, I have a new website theme out that incorporates a whole bunch of recently learned tricks. I'm not using it yet, so help yourselves!
It's finally happening! The wiki half of my link directory now has its own identity and goals. I've started dividing topics between it and the rest of the site, to reduce duplication and simplify updates. This will take a while, but it's already looking much better. Plus, it aids with navigation a lot.
Just gave several pages on this site a nice visual refresh, most noticeable in the web design section. It will take a while to spread, since everything is handcrafted and I update pages as I get to them, but it's a start. Came up with a new color scheme for links while doing this, too, so that's a nice bonus.
Belated happy holidays! I keep forgetting to cross-post updates here. Not much to report this time, except that between Christmas and New Year I wrote Deities, a short piece of fan fiction that people unexpectedly liked. Otherwise, business as usual. Oh, guess the wiki got some updates since last time, too.
How has it been three months again?! In my defense, this summer was hard on everyone. Not much new on this site, except for more work in the programming language department, like a new dialect of Babble, and a more detailed comparison between Nim and D than my bullet point notes can accomodate. It's niche, but it's a way to keep going. Oh, guess the link section is better organized now, too. That…
I spent the spring studying various programming languages, and that resulted in a bunch of notes. So why not publish them in one place for everyone to see? I called them "the art of choosing tools". There's not much yet, but it's only the beginning, and I hope you'll find something to like in there. / In other news, my hosting provider has a weird technical problem that prevents me from updating…
Another day, another updated app: AntiWiki 1.5 is out, with page metadata, improved wiki links and a bunch of UI tweaks. Makes a real difference, so give it a try, maybe? It's even fully compatible with the previous version, additions excluded.
Switching tracks again after a long, tiring detour, this weekend I returned to my static site generators, starting with ClinkLog 2. The new version takes a big step towards reintegrating the Lite edition into the main line, while being a worthy upgrade in itself. Its minisite is better organized now, too.
This is backdated 'cause I was too tired on Thursday. After a lot of changes and fixes, Batch Basic now has two editions with different features and requirements. It's also more complete now, and works better than ever. Last but not least, both editions are mirrored on Codeberg for better visibility and feedback, not to mention safekeeping. Say hi!
When I mirrored Ripen Forth on Codeberg earlier this month, I didn't expect to kick off an entire development cycle. It just sort of happened, so now there's a new major version, a new port, and plans for another major iteration. But not before taking care of another dormant project. More news coming soon.
I finally bit the bullet and got rid of some posts from my blog archive I don't stand by anymore. They were already excluded in robots.txt; now they're gone for good. Yes, I kept the manuscripts; no, you can't have them. And by the way, remember to unsubscribe from my old blog if you haven't already. I'll keep posting updates to this feed and all the usual places.
Every half a year or so, I get the urge to update my personal wiki, and this autumn is no exception. For once however I have high hopes that the habit is going to stick for a change. See inside for news, explanations and of course changes. Enjoy!
A while ago, I started adding to my Basic programming section, with notes and sample code for various dialects that grabbed my attention, but didn't go far. I'm finally catching up these days with entries about FreeBasic and wwwBasic. They're just stubs right now, but I should have much more to add shortly, so stick around, and have fun!
If you're reading this, you probably know what RSS is and how to use it. Others still don't, and explanations they can find online often read like, "don't worry your pretty little head and just use this web app". We can do better. Spurred by a recent conversation (in turned prompted by current events), I wrote an introduction of my own a few days ago. Sure enough, it already proved useful a couple…
I've been silent for a couple of months again, but not absent! And now I'm back with another big update to my webcomic catalog, that should make it more useful and easier to maintain. Turns out there are almost three hundred of them now that are still online and can be read, even if some will never be completed. See on the page for details, and have fun!