eli_oat's HTML journal

2022-07-16, weekend goals

Per goal 1 I hope to go for another bike ride. I've been easing back into biking. I gotta work back up to the cargo bike. Though, the kids have been happier than I anticipated walking most places with me.

Per goal 2 we received a gigantic delivery of free wood chips from a local arborist! I am excited to use these woodchips to murder what remaining grass is in our front yard. Preparing the way for more raised beds and pollinator beds.

Secret goal here at the end – play some games and keep fiddling with Racket. I'm noodling how to use Racket as a prototyping tool for other languages.

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2022-07-13

Thanks for the warm welcome ~dozens!

While I said I wasn't gonna jump right into reading books…

…I jumped right into reading books. No regrets.

I'm working on some big garden plans, too, so don't expect tons of programming for a bit.

I've been having so much fun watch Devine build out functionality to an existing uxn program so that it can be used to make simple visual novels! Been scheming about what to make with it!

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2022-07-09, in which it quickly becomes clear that I need to figure out how to manage state

What am I going to make?

Immediately a digression on computers — “what are they good at” vs “what are they useful for”

A short list (not comprehensive):

Good at:

Useful for:

Where's the overlap on the Venn diagram of “Good at” and “Useful for?”

Modes of representation that rely on data abstraction, storage, and management — statefulness.

…so, games!

Alright, I admit that this is a weak sauce argument — I've offered no definition of “games,” “representation” is a wishy washy word in this context, and there are well and away other things that fall within this bananas broad category I've conjured…thankfully this isn't a thesis or a treatise or screed or even a rant so I'll allow myself a dab of the weak sauce.

If not a rant, what is this?

Planning, by ways of digital scrying.

Continue reading.

2022-07-09

Let's go nuts!

While talking with a friend today I realized that projects don't have to happen fast. For ages and ages I've felt unable to take on any substantial programming hobby projects beyond little scripts and playing with languages because I never felt like I'd have the time to complete a more substantial thing...but what if I don't need to finish it fast...what if it takes a decade?

Totally fine!

So, this journal will be part /now page, part project log.

What project? To be totally honest, I'm not heaps certain. My comfort zone is squarely in web and mobile apps; I'm hoping to stay away from that zone. Maybe something with some sort of GUI because I've never really done that before on a solo project. Maybe a game? Maybe a programming language or library -- a tool to know inside and out.

Sometimes I'll only post things here, sometimes I'll re-post or cross post to my main blog.

Here I go!

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