Serendipity

Design / Prototype / Code

This portfolio is a glimpse at the way I design and prototype in code. Design something familiar, program it to do something unexpected, make sure people feel something.

I want to show you that that Internet you used to go exploring is still very much there. There are still tons of small personal websites, and a wealth of long form text from both the past and the present.

So it's a search engine. It's perhaps not the greatest at finding what you already knew was there, instead it is designed to help you find some things you didn't even know you were looking for.

The feeling of fortuitous gratitude at coming across unexpected information is something most of us who’ve done any research, have experienced — that kismet of finding the perfect book, one spine away from the one that was sought. In the field of art and image research, this sparking of transmission, of sequence and connection, happens on a subconscious level.

…Why is the vernacular image still being dismissed as ephemera? Why is its study not being prioritized? All languages are alive, but visual language is galactic. Keywords are not eyeballs, and creating rutted pathways to follow is the antithesis of study. A century of visual language, knowledge, and connectivity is marching toward a narrow, parsimonious basement of nomenclature. The NYPL takes a step backward if it models its shelves and research on a search engine. Spontaneity is learning. Browsing is research.

The entry for “Contrary” is several paragraphs long. My eyes glaze, not over, but above — to the entry for “contrarian.”

That’s a word that usually has a negative connotation, right? “Oh, he’s just being contrarian.”

But let’s read the definition, anyways.

“con-trar-i-an n. an investor who makes decisions that contradict prevailing wisdom, as in buying securities that are unpopular at the time.”

Contrarian as investor?

Oh, I like this idea.

I don’t want to oppose the status quo just to oppose it — I was to invest in what I think is undervalued at the moment. (Like paper dictionaries.)

Now, I’m thinking about word that “prevailing.” That’s an interesting word. Let’s look that up.

Cool, cool, what I thought, but OOOH look a picture of a PRETZEL.

Magic things happen when you trust your users and just show them everything you’ve got.

For example, I found some rare films playing that I had no idea about. Matrix in German (!), but once a week and only in one cinema. Or Mars Express, they play it in three cities only, excluding mine. How do you find out about stuff like this?

Here, I discovered it. I looked at the data and you started seeing stuff that otherwise is completely invisible.

Find new sites without having to fight through SEO.

This extension finds similar links to a website you're already on. Once installed, all you need to do it browse the web like you already do, and Browser Buddy will recommend links.

I've written over 3,000 blog posts throughout the years. This blog has become a repository of my thoughts, feelings, experiments, hopes, and creations.

It has also become outdated, buggy, and suffers from link-rot.

So, every day, I tend to my digital garden.

...Sometimes the work is delightful - finding a prescient post from a decade ago. Sometimes it is frustrating - being unable to find a vital-but-long-dead link. And sometimes it is sad - seeing how much or how little the world has changed.

But, mostly, it is meditative. We do our best to fight against decay, but entropy always wins in the end. Every link eventually withers and every truth is eroded by time. Nevertheless, we continue.

As of June 2023, I've asked 9,000+ authors to share five of their favorite books around a topic, theme, or mood and why they love each book. This infuses each book with a bit of magic and meaning.

Then, we give readers fun and unique ways to follow their curiosity down rabbit holes. Try our bookshelf on science fiction or life satisfaction. At every step, you can meet the person who recommended that book, the book list it came from, and what they are passionate about.