Find the hot bit
Track down the loop, query, or side effect making the whole server wheeze.
42clownfish
I make small tools for messy work, strange experiments, and the occasional game server that refuses to behave.
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If a process is slow, confusing, or held together by vibes, I like to poke at it until it makes sense.
- Make the invisible parts of work visible.
- Replace repetitive clicking with a small tool when that’s enough.
- Leave behind something people can understand, change, and actually use.
Repo weather
Some recent activity from the repo. Not a scorecard, just a little sign of life.
| month | mar | . | . | . | apr | . | . | . | may | . | . | . | . |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| week | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 |
| sun | . | . | . | . | . | : | @ | : | . | # | . | . | @ |
| mon | . | . | . | . | . | @ | @ | . | . | . | . | . | . |
| tue | . | . | . | . | . | # | # | . | . | = | . | . | . |
| wed | . | . | . | # | = | @ | @ | . | . | @ | . | . | . |
| thu | . | . | . | . | . | # | # | . | . | = | . | # | . |
| fri | . | . | . | . | = | @ | @ | . | . | . | . | @ | . |
| sat | . | . | . | . | = | @ | @ | . | @ | . | . | @ | . |
. quiet : notes = fixes # shipped @ fire
Things I’m making
One live project, plus whatever has my attention this week.
01 / live
Live project ↗
A browser experiment with sound, brains, and pixels
Tonotopy
Paste in a YouTube track and watch a population-level brain response move with it. Part research prototype, part visual toy.
Good problems to bring me
I like the awkward middle ground where people, software, and a half-broken process all meet.
- A workflow everyone knows is bad, but nobody has drawn end to end.
- A report that takes an afternoon to produce and still leaves everyone guessing.
- A small repetitive task that deserves a small, boring automation.
- A game system that is almost stable, except when real people use it.
How I tend to work
Follow the weird bit. Make one useful change. See what breaks.
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Find the weird bit
Where does the process become unclear, slow, or surprisingly manual?
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Make it visible
A sketch, a table, a log, a tiny reproduction—whatever makes the problem less slippery.
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Cut the extra motion
Remove duplicate steps, mystery handoffs, and work that only exists because it always has.
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Build the smallest fix
Sometimes that is a dashboard. Sometimes it is a script. Sometimes it is a better sentence in the right place.
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Put it in real hands
A solution is not finished while it only works in my head or on my laptop.
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Keep the useful bits
Write down what changed, watch the result, and leave the next person a map.
When the game is the problem
Make input boring
Keep packets, commands, and player actions predictable under load.
Leave a trail
Useful logs, reproducible crashes, and fewer mysteries at 2 a.m.
Roll out without drama
Small changes, real tests, and a rollback path you can actually find.
Keep mods from fighting
Put version assumptions somewhere visible before they bite.
Make worlds repeatable
Same seed, same rules, clear enough to debug when the terrain gets weird.