## Meta Reminder: this site is an [[111|iterative experiment]], so ~~let's put on the janitor hat~~ happy (belated) [World Goth Day](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPw7nlluRdc)! ![[not-a-phase.webp]] *Can you smell clove cigarettes?* ## This week's summary #### Fingerlings ([🎶](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhPFYPuW6dk)) I'm trying to take better care of my wrists and meatsticks and bought myself a [split keyboard](https://www.zsa.io/voyager). It's super comfortable. Or should I say *unquestionably* comfortable, as I'm still looking for the `?` key. *(I'm not kidding, I even contacted their support asking if this was some sort of a test to see if I can learn to customise the layout myself.)* #### CDN(-ot now please) Videos on untested stopped working due to the amount of traffic. Thanks for watching! I've upgraded my Cloudinary subscription for now, but will move to a simpler CDN setup (Bunny CDN, or uncle Bezos' simple storage shed). Lessons learned: 1) Cloudinary is expensive 2) they read your tweets and are happy to give you a discount if you ask. #### Ensō ![[enso-screenshot.webp]] I've finally started working on a new version of [Ensō](https://enso.sonnet.io)! Historically, I avoided making any significant changes to it and **I'll keep it this way**. Having said that, I'd like to give people the ability to customise it a bit and allow for easier migration of features between platforms (I don't want to keep the web version as a moat). Ensō is private and I don't nag anyone for testimonials. Still, I've received a lot of feedback over the past 5 years so I'd like to organise it a little bit and share. ### Next week - one small update for Ensō - likely no newsletter, blame [King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard](https://kinggizzardandthelizardwizard.com) - drop everything and play with Playdate once it arrives - find the missing `?` on my keyboard (perhaps it's travelling with my Playdate, perhaps their ship's name is Demeter and they haven't departed from Varna yet). ## Favourite project ![[11ty-users.webp]] [Eleventy (11ty)](https://www.11ty.dev) – 11ty is a super simple, insanely flexible static site generator. It allows me to work with the web platform instead of piling trendy JS libraries on top of it. <span style='opacity: .2'>11ty is the Pedro Pascal of static site generators–it looks modern and spicy, but ages like fine wine (@editor, leave it, I said, LEAVE IT!).</span> It has a wonderful, friendly community, and a ton of ready-made templates to get you started in case you want to focus on writing without getting distracted with bike shedding. I've been using it on [sonnet.io](https://sonnet.io) and a bunch of other projects for years. Even [the first version of untested](https://untested-30xjqk2l8-sonnet.vercel.app/posts/008/) was running on a basic 11ty template. Finally, [Eleventy](https://www.11ty.dev/blog/sustainability-fundraising/) is on the way to becoming sustainable this year. ![[gnormal.webp]] [A Gnormal Journey by jess::codes](https://jess-hammer.itch.io/a-gnormal-journey) – a small [[53#^8723e6|Gnorp Apologue]] inspired game about fitting in. It looks neat, but the main reason I'm sharing it is the showcase video itself.  By Jove! This is one of the best walkthroughs/examples illustrating the process of building a small indie game I've seen. It's super comprehensive, dense and fun. I'm looking forward to seeing more of her work. [Tauri](https://tauri.app) – Tauri is a lightweight hybrid-app development platform. I'm using it with the current version of Ensō and I'm planning to migrate to v2 of Tauri with Enso v2. ![[telestron.webp]] [The Munky King](https://gmunk.com/The-Munky-King) and [Telestron](https://gmunk.com/Telestron)by GMUNK – I spotted these two demos when reading about the Windows 10 wallpaper being done using [traditional photography](https://gmunk.com/Windows-10-Desktop/) rather than CGI. The Munky King reminded of me [Façade](https://medium.com/werework-thinks/hello-this-is-façade-c20f7087b08d) – a small DIY photo studio project I made almost a decade ago (ingredients: a bunch of screens + an old wardrobe salvaged from an antique store on Brick Lane). ![[luna-facade.webp]] *Taken using Façade. Check out the [gallery](https://500px.com/p/rafalpast/galleries/facade) and the [post-launch post](https://medium.com/@rafal/hello-this-is-façade-c20f7087b08d) here.* Telestron just looks like a very difficult shrine level from Zelda BotW. (or, like the future where humanity is ruled by an oligarchy of expensive, but beautiful D20s.)  ## Favourite site ![[pattern-kitchen.webp]] [Pattern Kitchen](https://pattern.kitchen)– a collection of patterns or pattern languages across different disciplines. In the past, a large part of my work involved translating between people working in different domains (think: designers, engineers, publishers, writers). This looks like a project I would've loved to have seen/played with then. ![[hyperlink-academy.webp]] [Hyperlink Academy](https://hyperlink.academy)– a modern internet club and a platform to discuss and share your projects. I'm still messing with it and trying to decide if it's a good replacement for Discord or Slack based communities. The main reason I'm sharing it is the simplicity, subject matter and its design. ![[epic-1996.webp]] [Epic MegaGames in 1996 - Web Design Museum](https://www.webdesignmuseum.org/gallery/epic-megagames-1996)– have you ever played Jazz Jackrabbit? Play Jazz Jackrabbit. Finally, the [Iron Triangle illustrated](https://trizuliak.com/experiments/good-fast-cheap). ## Favourite piece of tech ![[daylight.webp]] [Daylight](https://daylightcomputer.com) – a tablet-like computer with a paper-like display. I try to avoid posting things from the top of HN, and this is an exception. I would love to try using Ensō on that. *Psst, psst,* I also made an app that makes reading in the dark more comfortable. It's called [Midnight](https://midnight.sonnet.io). Check out these notes to learn how to make one yourself, plus a basic intro to colour vision science: [[Midnight Ramen]], [[Obsidian for Vampires]], [[Night Rider]], [[Midnight Shader]]. ![[linaria.webp]] [Linaria – zero-runtime CSS in JS library](https://linaria.dev)– a CSS-in-JS alternative with almost zero runtime cost. Normally, I'd be hesitant to share yet another CSS library™, reasons: 1) My black turtlenecks are not nearly as good as the ones worn by tailwind CSS conference speakers. 2) I've spent 20 years working with or building CSS tooling and in 99% of cases I'm just happy with vanilla, especially given how amazing it is in 2024. **But**, if you have to use styled-components at work, consider giving it a go as a drop-in replacement. It might not work, but if it does, this might be a cheap improvement for your users (and your sanity.) I spotted it reading [Rethinking Text Resizing on Web](https://medium.com/airbnb-engineering/rethinking-text-resizing-on-web-1047b12d2881) which reminded me of [Le Bat!](http://paprikka.github.io/le-bat/#/preview) – a tool for measuring visual contrast I built in 2013, (the year when every button needed a mandatory text-shadow.) ## Interesting articles (and videos) [UI Density](https://matthewstrom.com/writing/ui-density/) – a dense (not a pun) intro to visual density including theory and some historical examples. [Sal Khan is pioneering innovation in education... again](https://www.gatesnotes.com/Brave-New-Words) – on Sal Khan's new book and the potential use of LLMs as tutors. I recommend pairing it with [this](https://www.wheresyoured.at/sam-altman-is-full-of-shit/). Because we need more people like Khan, and fewer ~~demagogues~~ creeps like Altman. ![[japanese-pixelart-mags.webp]] [List of vintage Japanese pixel/dot art software  ⌘](https://blog.gingerbeardman.com/2023/10/21/list-of-vintage-japanese-pixel-dot-art-software/) – the title speaks for itself. I shared Matt Sephton's work more than once here. And I probably mention his article about 1-bit woodblocks at least once a month during my [Say Hi](https://sonnet.io/posts/hi) calls. Finally, [This demo that turns desktop into an Everything Canvas using tldraw](https://x.com/OrionReedOne/status/1793937287039910202) – I love this, I want my computer to be one spicy infinite canvas. *Alternative title: if Mozilla [chromeless](http://www.mozillalabs.com/en-US/chromeless/), hypercard, and tldraw had a baby.* ## Things I wrote last week that people liked - [[Defaults Matter, Don't Assume Consent]] Thanks for reading! See you next week! P.S. Missing question mark update! As I was publishing this note, ZSA support got back to me, with a long, thoughtful, and patient reply to my support query. **TL;DR to type `?` I just need to hit `shift + /` like on every other keyboard I've ever had.** The keyboard looked so cyberpunk and cool that using it like everyone else didn't cross my mind. I am not embarrassed. You're embarrassed. ![[Pasted image 20240524174928.png]] ![[me-goth.webp]] ¿ ⸮ ¿ ⸮ ¿ ⸮ ¿ ⸮ ¿ ⸮ ¿ ⸮ ¿ ⸮ ¿ ⸮ ¿ ⸮ ¿ ⸮ ¿ ⸮ ¿ ⸮ ¿ ⸮ ¿ ⸮ ¿ ⸮ ¿ ⸮ ¿ ⸮ ¿ ⸮ ¿ ⸮ ¿ ⸮ ¿ ⸮ ¿ ⸮ ¿ ⸮ ¿ ⸮ ¿ ⸮ ¿ ⸮ ¿ ⸮ ¿ ⸮ ¿ ⸮ ¿ ⸮ ¿ ⸮ ¿ ⸮ ¿ ⸮ ¿ ⸮ ¿ ⸮ ¿ ⸮