pyrox.dev
+4
-4
src/_components/about/technology_item.vto
+4
-4
src/_components/about/technology_item.vto
···
+12
-6
src/_components/flag_text.vto
+12
-6
src/_components/flag_text.vto
···-<span class="text-trans-blue">t</span><span class="text-trans-pink">r</span><span class="text-white">a</span><span class="text-trans-pink">n</span><span class="text-trans-blue">s</span>-<span class="text-lesbian-orange1">l</span><span class="text-lesbian-orange2">e</span><span class="text-lesbian-orange3">s</span><span class="text-white">b</span><span class="text-lesbian-pink1">i</span><span class="text-lesbian-pink2">a</span><span class="text-lesbian-pink3">n</span>
+6
-6
src/_components/footnotes.vto
+6
-6
src/_components/footnotes.vto
···
+31
-28
src/_components/head.vto
+31
-28
src/_components/head.vto
···-src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/combine/gh/ryersondmp/sa11y@latest/dist/js/lang/en.umd.js,gh/ryersondmp/sa11y@latest/dist/js/sa11y.umd.min.js"+src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/combine/gh/ryersondmp/sa11y@latest/dist/js/lang/en.umd.js,gh/ryersondmp/sa11y@latest/dist/js/sa11y.umd.min.js"
+4
-4
src/_components/logo.vto
+4
-4
src/_components/logo.vto
···-class="bi bi-exclamation-triangle text-ctp-yellow self-center justify-self-end text-2xl lg:text-4xl"+class="bi bi-exclamation-triangle text-ctp-yellow self-center justify-self-end text-2xl lg:text-4xl"
+26
-26
src/_components/post_card.vto
+26
-26
src/_components/post_card.vto
···
+11
-11
src/_components/project_card.vto
+11
-11
src/_components/project_card.vto
···
+17
-17
src/_components/table_of_contents.vto
+17
-17
src/_components/table_of_contents.vto
···
+17
-17
src/_components/webring.vto
+17
-17
src/_components/webring.vto
···-class="mb-2 lg:mb-4 px-2 py-1 bg-ctp-surface0 text-center text-lg rounded-md w-full sm:w-1/2 xl:w-1/3"+class="mb-2 lg:mb-4 px-2 py-1 bg-ctp-surface0 text-center text-lg rounded-md w-full sm:w-1/2 xl:w-1/3"
+41
src/_data/decap_cms.toml
+41
src/_data/decap_cms.toml
···
+75
src/_data/volunteering.toml
+75
src/_data/volunteering.toml
···
+41
-42
src/_includes/layouts/about.vto
+41
-42
src/_includes/layouts/about.vto
···-alt="dish at Frost Fatales 2025. She has her head tilted 45 degrees to the left and is wearing a face mask with the trans flag on it."+alt="dish at Frost Fatales 2025. She has her head tilted 45 degrees to the left and is wearing a face mask with the trans flag on it."
+8
-8
src/_includes/layouts/base.vto
+8
-8
src/_includes/layouts/base.vto
···
+15
-15
src/_includes/layouts/blog-list.vto
+15
-15
src/_includes/layouts/blog-list.vto
···
+34
-34
src/_includes/layouts/blog-post.vto
+34
-34
src/_includes/layouts/blog-post.vto
···
+22
-23
src/_includes/layouts/home.vto
+22
-23
src/_includes/layouts/home.vto
···-alt="dish at Frost Fatales 2025. She has her head tilted 45 degrees to the left and is wearing a face mask with the trans flag on it."+alt="dish at Frost Fatales 2025. She has her head tilted 45 degrees to the left and is wearing a face mask with the trans flag on it."
+8
-8
src/_includes/layouts/projects.vto
+8
-8
src/_includes/layouts/projects.vto
···
+23
src/_includes/layouts/volunteering.vto
+23
src/_includes/layouts/volunteering.vto
···
+3
-2
src/about.md
+3
-2
src/about.md
···time advocating for trans rights in the spaces I'm in. I feel very strongly that trans rights are-Find more about my projects on the [[projects]] page, or read my [[blog/index|blog]], as I've put a+Find more about my projects on the [[projects]] page, or read my [[blog/index.md|blog]], as I've put+a lot of time into both. Finally, I do a lot of [[volunteering]], especially for charity marathons!
+247
src/blog/consider-the-interface.md
+247
src/blog/consider-the-interface.md
···+advancement always comes at a cost. There's always something sacrificed in the name of progress.+premonition, a prophecy, or anything like that. I've just noticed things changing in ways that don't+I think that this is something we're really going to have to reconcile, especially as we move into+this new age of generative AI, stolen and derivative works, and in general, as corporations seek to+[video by Drew Gooden](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-TANCVoHlc) called _"Technology isn't fun+_[Why Young People Love Old Things](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dEJiQnotR8)_, by the channel+Genuine Curiosity. These two videos helped me work out and describe the feeling I've felt about how+As Drew mentions in his video, many companies seem to be making decisions that are against their+best interests, such as TV manufacturers enabling "Motion Smoothing" features by default, which can+While I'm not going to explore the economic or market reasons behind these seemingly nonsensical+decisions, I do want to share my own experience with this sort of thing and try to examine why I do+the things that I do. Further, this is all from my own perspective, and while I do try to utilize+others' perspectives to elaborate on my own opinions, at the end of the day, this is how I see the+There's something special about using something tactile. Whether that's a temperature dial in a car,+touchscreens and mousepads so many people use today. It feels like it better connects you to the+actual experience and action you're doing, giving you a better feeling of control and appreciation+for what you're doing. Touchscreens and mousepads have absolutely advanced in their capabilities,+However, whenever I use one, it feels distinctly disconnected from the actual thing I'm doing. Yes,+it's better than the competitors, but it's still just sliding your fingers over a flat surface. On+the other hand, when I'm using my mouse, there's a distinct _click_ when I press down on the mouse+buttons, the scroll wheel has a slight whirring noise as it spins, my hand physically moves across+my desk. In essence, it's like I'm actually pointing at something, which is of course the original+purpose of a mouse, to be a "pointing device." Windows' Computer Management utility even calls the+This was a main point brought up in the Genuine Curiosity video, how that sense of tactility helps+us be better connected to what we're doing. This also connects to another article I've read, this+[how to design physical car controls](https://www.theturnsignalblog.com/the-subtle-art-of-designing-physical-control-for-cars/).+This article brought up some very interesting ideas about how to make something digital feel analog,+such as with force feedback mechanisms. However, the article brings up one main point at the start+> When you see any physical control, you automatically get certain expectations from its physical+This highlights something that we all intuitively understand, but in general, don't think about,+unless something goes wildly against this. How many times have you tried to pull on a door with a+handle, only to realize that it's marked "Push" instead? That design goes against this principle. We+However, touchscreens are not human-centered. They do not give any sort of force feedback(aside from+your keyboard _maybe_ having some sort of haptic feedback), and they are by and large flat panes of+whatsoever. This, I would argue, is not ideal. Touchscreens are designed for you to be constantly+looking at and engaged with them, and if you're not looking at them, your ability to use them is+severely hindered. On the other hand, in many cars, you can adjust the temperature or music volume+without ever taking your eyes off the road, because the controls were designed so that you need to+The issue comes when these two technologies combine. The lack of any sort of feedback, combined with+the fact that you're driving a 2000+ pound block of metal and plastic down a highway, creates a+deadly combo. There's no way to know what you're doing without taking your eyes off the road. And+that's incredibly dangerous when you're the driver of a car. It's why when I buy a car, I'm going to+be looking for one that has no touchscreen, preferably. I don't want to be a distracted driver, and+To be clear, I don't think any of these are novel revelations. Many folks have said this exact kind+of thing before, and it's constantly ignored. However, I think that we're at a critical turning+point in how we interface with computers. More and more, for better or for worse, is being done+through voice and chat-like interfaces. Not your typical desktop and web browser experience, but+asking questions and receiving answers(whether or not they're correct, I'm personally very against+generative AI) has become a core user experience in many places, even if it isn't the right UX for+Another point of tactility that isn't so obvious in its utility is the ability to see the mechanisms+of how things work. I built my own blog and know how it works. I know what happens and when to make+the webpage you're reading right now. I like biking, and I can see clearly how it works, it's simple+and elegant. With a car, this is getting harder and harder to do. More and more critical components+of your car are controlled by electronic black boxes that take inputs and give outputs, with no real+If you're a programmer or maker or some sort of creative type, you hopefully understand what I mean.+Being able to make things and understand what went into them, find out how they work, show someone+how two paints blend together, that to me is the magic of making things. This could be its own+article on its own(and it may be in the future!), but this is something I strongly emphasize with.+If I want to, I can take apart the keyboard I'm typing this on. I can open up my desktop, recompile+my kernel, add another line to this document. I know exactly where to go in my blog to make changes+to my HTML validator, and I can show someone why I think I did something in an interesting way.+To me, this is the fundamental misunderstanding of modern technology. Many people(not saying even+close to a majority, but a substantial amount nonetheless) enjoy tinkering. They buy things just to+take them apart and learn how they work. They read through code and fix bugs. They work to create+something they find beautiful, in whatever way that is. This is why I fell in love with technology,+and why I don't like modern technology as much. The joy I feel from taking apart an old laptop to+replace the failing boot drive is the same I get from writing code to render nice tables in a Django+Before you say anything: Yes, I know that user interfaces have gotten way simpler in many ways, and+especially in positive ways too, such as improved focus on accessibility and ensuring that things+"just work". However, I also see a trend of there being fewer and fewer escape hatches to allow+power-users the ability to go beyond what the normal interface allows. To be clear, I think this is+a good idea from a business perspective, as power users are not a large market, and so products that+However, the aspect I want to focus on here is the underlying technical complexity. In some ways,+complexity is needed. The world is a big place, there's a lot of people with a lot of needs. There+complexity all the time. I see so many cases of basic static web apps being built with massive JS+frameworks, shipping megabytes of code for something that displays a list of items from a server.+Sure, you might need _some_ JS, but not millions of bytes on it. They're not free to use(in terms of+maintenance burden), and they're definitely not free for end-users(JS takes way longer to execute,+technologies like CSS-in-JS[^CSS-in-JS] just feel like they overcomplicate things, instead of making+it easier. Now, I'd have to deal with increased JS bundle sizes, harder debugging, and an overall+Something you will hear me emphasize a lot is good user experience. It is one of the areas I most+heavily focus on, as this site hopefully demonstrates. I aim to keep page sizes small, everything+compressed, and reduce the amount of JavaScript needed at runtime. This makes my pages performant+and also accessible. I also try to keep the colors well-balanced, using a variety of accessibility+checkers, both automated and manual, to make my content as available as possible. And so, I would+argue, the ever-increasing complexity of modern front-end development simply goes against that, and+increase the number of users you can have, because your site is then more accessible to those with+low-end devices. Ensuring that users with low-end devices have the ability to access a site, even if+they have to disable JS to do it, is important(barring situations such as payment processing or+Another thing I notice with new products, for better or for worse, is that you don't own them. It's+always a subscription service, or it's a cloud service with proprietary file formats, or a streaming+service that will delete content that barely doesn't hit popularity metrics this month. As someone+who enjoys coming back to things weeks, months, sometimes even years after I last interacted with+them, this is devastating. The fact that so much of the stuff I enjoy today could be gone tomorrow+is frankly a little bit terrifying. It's why I'm a chronic archivist and that person that tells you+[Steam](https://www.ign.com/articles/steam-now-warns-customers-theyre-buying-a-license-not-a-game-before-they-continue-to-payment),+[Amazon](https://blog.the-ebook-reader.com/2025/02/22/amazon-now-openly-discloses-youre-buying-a-license-to-view-kindle-ebooks/),+and more are reminding customers at checkout that when they buy something, **it's not theirs.** And+yet, many will still click the Buy button, because these companies make it hard to realize you're+[has a page](https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2024/04/do-you-really-own-digital-items-you-paid)+on the fact you don't really own digital items. As consumers, we should be advocating for permanent+access to content, whether that's through the DRM-free game downloads offered by GOG, DRM-free books+everyone. If you own a device, you should be able to open it up and repair it if you want to, or+send it to someone to do that for you. There shouldn't be anything in the way of you doing so, and+allowing customers to repair their own devices can build trust in a brand in a way that no other+form of consumer control can do. Allowing customers to peer behind the curtain and see how their+customer trust than anything else. It signals that you trust your users and you want them to use+your devices however they want. It gives the customer a feeling of control, which many companies are+specifically, keyboards. There's a reason so many folks love old IBM Model M keyboards, and that's+because IBM designed springs that were light enough to press down quickly but heavy enough to give+feedback on whether you pressed a key. While I don't have one of those, I do use a keyboard with+tactile keys(Gazzew U4T Boba 62g switches, for the keyboard nerds), which helps replicate that+To me, this is the ideal typing device. It allows me to do proper 10-finger touch typing, is small+enough that I don't have to move my hands much to reach every single key, even the function keys to+change music or whatever, and feels like I'm actually typing. I love my Framework Laptop so much,+but its keyboard will never compare to my mechanical. The mechanical one feels built for typing, and+gives the right amount of feedback that I can just keep typing and typing without looking at the+keyboard, while with the laptop, I look down somewhat frequently. I'm used to touch-typing, so it's+The same goes for my mouse. I use a Logitech MX Master 3, and it's a really nice mouse. Using it+instead of a touchpad lets my arm and wrist do the work of moving the cursor where I want it to go.+constantly readjusting my fingers to make sure I can move my mouse, they can get in the way when I'm+A lot of this is subjective, no doubt, but having these tools allows me to work more productively+than I could without them. They help me stay in the flow of typing, coding, gaming, or anything else+I'm doing, and they do genuinely make my life better. I would not have written so much in this blog+Framework's, just don't compare to a proper mechanical switch that's designed for a good typing+[^CSS-in-JS]: To be honest, I've never quite understood the need for CSS-in-JS. It always felt to me
+1
src/blog/example-blog-post-2.md
+1
src/blog/example-blog-post-2.md
+57
src/blog/frost-fatales-2025-not-really-behind-the-scenes.md
+57
src/blog/frost-fatales-2025-not-really-behind-the-scenes.md
···+personally, so I was thrilled that I was able to volunteer. I've never done something like this+before, so I was both incredibly nervous but also super excited. I've been a member of the Frame+Fatales community for about a year now, and this was a position I hadn't expected getting. Here, I+just want to go over a few of my thoughts on the experience, and why I would highly encourage anyone+who feels femme or like a woman to join, even if they're not a gamer or speedrunner or may even feel+> Fatales is a super inclusive and wonderful community, even for femme nonbinary folks, trans women,+> events, and gaming! It is a space for you if you identify as femme or a woman in any way that is+> meaningful to you. Cis, trans, nonbinary, and gender non-conforming individuals are all welcome to+And to put it more simply: If you see yourself as a woman or femme in any way that is meaningful to+you, you're welcome in the community. It's a space for anyone who feels they may belong. As a trans+woman, this space has been wonderful to help me explore my identity and find folks in the same place+> I can't show pictures of studio stuff, software interfaces, the address of the studio, or anything like that.+With that out of the way, I will say that this has been a very good experience. The folks I worked+with were wonderful, and the atmosphere was very positive all around. GDQ has built a lot of nice+behind-the-scenes tooling that makes it really easy for beginners like me to do well and succeed,+and I genuinely think that its one of their strengths. I can do the same things that folks with 5+
src/static/mocha.css
src/_includes/mocha.css
src/static/mocha.css
src/_includes/mocha.css
+1
-1
src/static/styles.css
+1
-1
src/static/styles.css
+13
src/volunteering.md
+13
src/volunteering.md
···+I'm a very active volunteer in a lot of communities. Find out what I've done below, and feel free to+> [!note]+ Notice of non-endorsement I am not an official spokesperson for these communities, nor+> should my involvement in their events be seen as an endorsement of me. This page is more for my