the disappearance of self checkout
what happened to the self checkout machine, anyways? it feels like every time i go into a store these days, there's either less of them or none at all.
moth.monster blog
chesapeake's blog
Latest posts
single-page app tricks without a framework
Browsers Hate This: One Quick Trick To Make My Theme Stop Flickering!
quick and easy coffee cake
coffee cake is like if a cinnamon roll got turned into a cake. it doesn't have any coffee in it, but you probably already knew that.
artificial iconoclasm
content warning: child sexual abuse, and how it relates to AI.
someone tried to hack into my SendGrid account
a few days ago, i got this email claiming to be from SendGrid. but why would SendGrid suddenly start emailing me again when i haven't used their service in years?
What does it mean to think?
To start with, let us imagine a man.
how I make bread
a fresh loaf of bread is a pleasure to have, especially when shared with others. this recipe makes two somewhat small sized boules, each one being the perfect size to share over a meal.
so, how did porn ID laws go?
it's been over a year since i last wrote about porn ID laws on this blog. have things changed since then?
getting an HTC Vive working on Linux in 2025
the HTC Vive VR headset is almost a decade old at this point, but i still have one and bothered to try using it again recently.
large language models do not think
how do we prove that anyone else is thinking? i can't magically jump inside your head and experience your thoughts, so you might as well be an unthinking zombie!
AI is boring
doesn't it feel like everything "AI" is boring now?
trust no cloud
i don't like how everything these days has to be some kind of service.
how to set a custom boot logo in postmarketOS
unfortunately, there is no obvious straightforward way to change the icon shown on the boot splash screen. but we can still change it, if we're fine with doing a little hackery.
is HTML a programming language?
for as long as HTML has existed, nerds have fought over the question of if it is a "programming language" or not.
there is no truth machine
a common complaint people make about current large language models is that they lie. can't we just make them tell the truth instead?
you (probably) don't need a VPS
everyone these days talks about having a VPS as if it is the first step required to host anything.
normal people don't care about the backend
that's the part that matters, right? the frontend is just eye candy, the backend is where the work gets done.
the ultimate 8BitDo Ultimate Controller rundown
to help you hopefully make a better decision on which one to buy, here's a rundown of all the important features, which ones are compatible with what devices, and which one to buy for which reasons.
on embed cards
i'm not a huge fan of embed cards, all things considered.
physical media is good, actually
i've started to appreciate not having everything on a computer lately.
buying a printer that doesn't suck
printers suck, and most of them just seem to be getting worse.
the death of search
go to Google today, and you'll be given a giant box of AI-generated lies, a page full of ads, and finally one or two "articles" of meaningless SEO sludge. if you try to look up anything remotely related to a product, you'll get nothing but results trying to sell things to you. so where did it all go so terribly wrong?
dealing with copyright
copyright is a bloated and terrible mess of legal bullshit.
on anti-features
you might not have heard of the term "anti-feature" before, but with how technology has been developing lately, i think everyone ought to know about them.
installing postmarketOS on a Duet 3
for a long while, i've always wanted a small tablet with keyboard and stylus that runs Linux proper.
why every television sucks too
every time you start it up, the thing is seemingly slower, caused by the ever-increasing quantity of ads that the manufacturer has shoved in. what gives?
the problem with porn ID laws
a lot of politicians sure have been weirdly obsessed with pornography lately, haven't they?
social media is a terrible business
have you seen the state of for-profit social media lately? because it isn't doing very well.
why i don't like noncommercial licenses
when picking a Creative Commons license, did you ever stop to think about what NonCommercial even means? what defines the boundary of commercial usage? because it turns out that nobody's really figured out a good answer to that question.
how to change your name (as a transgender person in Maryland)
if you're transgender, one of the inevitable parts of transitioning is changing your name. unfortunately, this process is way more confusing than it ought to be.
an opinionated guide to alt text
what is alt text anyways, and why is it so important?
implementing geoIP filtering with Caddy
it is becoming increasingly common nowadays for governments to implement poorly-conceived policies requiring websites to obtain a copy of the user's government-provided ID card in order to access them, if the content contained is of a pornographic or otherwise explicit nature.
accessibility is the secret to SEO
i'm not someone to care much about search engine optimization. despite my lack of caring, however, some of my blog posts happen to do quite well when it comes to search engine rankings. so why does this happy accident happen?
how Reddit did what Tumblr couldn't
the true make-or-break moment for a social network is not getting users, it's knowing how to get rid of them.
the imitation game has been won
…and it turns out it never even mattered.
why every microwave sucks these days, and the death of instant pot
have you bought a microwave recently?
on the conservation of energy
it is commonly held by those with spiritual beliefs, that somehow, in some way, the universe was created.
how Paw Patrol snacks ended up linking to porn
on August 22, 2022, Lidl UK announced a recall on four varieties of children's snack foods branded with Paw Patrol characters, because they contained a link to a pornographic website on their packaging.
there are two Webs
there seems to be confusion and disagreement when it comes to the future of the Web. i think that the core of this issue is that there are two Webs in our modern world, and their needs are opposed to one another.
capitalism is a paperclip optimizer
the global system of capitalism is, in many ways, much like a theoretical AGI. it exists with one terminal goal; to produce as much money as possible.
setting up a simple age gate with Caddy
age gates are a very useful way to prevent problems from links to unexpected parts of your website without stopping users from seeing the content if they want to see it.
making an illegal prime number
have you ever heard about illegal numbers?
how to make your own website from scratch
i believe that everyone should have a website. not only that, but i believe anyone can make one.
a reasonable way to create backups on Linux
a simple - if somewhat opinionated - way to back up data automatically on Linux
why computer glitches sometimes spit out nonsensical Chinese
when computers are storing text, they store that text as sequences of numbers.
the fediverse isn't private, and that's okay
i've seen lots of people confused about how private the fediverse is, especially when it comes to things like direct messages.
the definition of "computer"
in your mind, you probably have an idea of what a computer is. you can imagine what they look like, how they act, and all that. but if you had to put it in the simplest of words, how would you do that?
an introduction to the Fediverse
if you've been on the internet lately, especially around techy folks, you've probably heard a good bit about the Fediverse by now. or perhaps you haven't heard of the Fediverse at all, but you've heard a lot about Mastodon.
it happened again
on december 25th, 2022, a hacker uploaded a package to PyPI called "torchtriton". this package was basically just a copy of a package of the same name hosted on PyTorch's own package index, except it had a couple of basic credential stealers added as well.
most programming languages are fine, actually
it is a commonly held belief that some programming languages are better than others. that some programming languages are Good, and some are Bad. this really isn't very true.