This blog has always been a place to think through things in public.
About Zen, about parenting, and about what it means to live a considered life in a noisy world. The projects below come from a different but related impulse. They are where technology meets problem solving. Problem solving, at its best, leads to something useful for other people.
Each one began as a personal challenge and became something more.
NetEra Duel neteraduel.com
A friend of my wife’s created a mobile game almost out of thin air and I thought it must be possible to do the same. I felt inspired to create a game and wanted to base something around the history of the internet and its culture. NetEra Duel was born. In essence it is a head-to-head word guessing game played over any platform but probably easiest on mobile. One person picks a word and writes a hint for it and sends it to a friend. The friend can then send a word back and the app tracks who completed the quickest; they win the duel.
Red Lantern Readings redlanternreadings.com
Red Lantern Readings is a Chinese astrology reading site that generates personalised readings using AI. It came out of a desire to expand my technical toolkit, specifically to get hands-on with payment gateways, Supabase, Stripe, and Netlify deployment. Chinese astrology was a natural subject given my long interest in Eastern philosophy. The result is a site where ancient tradition meets modern tech.
VibeQuiz vibequiz.co.uk
VibeQuiz started as a technical experiment and grew into something I am proud of. The frustration that sparked it was simple: finding gifts online felt soulless, dominated by the same generic results across the same giant platforms. Around the same time started it, I was spending time with local indie business owners and thinking about how an online tool might help them get noticed. VibeQuiz is a personality-based gift discovery site that asks a few questions about the person you’re buying for and suggests something that actually fits. Over the past year it has grown to include a monthly indie business spotlight, vibe-based gift guides, and a vibes library.
Stop Hate UK stophateuk.org
I volunteer as a communications consultant for Stop Hate UK, a leading charity dedicated to tackling hate crime and discrimination. I advise on communications strategy, draft content, shape policy, and maintain and improve their WordPress website. Overall, my role serves to amplify their mission and help reach the people who need their support most.
Runner’s Toolkit runnerstoolkit.net
In my free time I play a collectible card game called Netrunner. I made the Runner’s Toolkit site as a suite of tools to help me prepare for entering a local tournament. It has a flashcard tool for training card recognition, a rules section which outlines the steps taken during key elements of gameplay, and a mechanics glossary of the most important terms a newcomer should know.