Dan Cox
@videlais.bsky.social
Pronouns: they/them
Assistant Professor of Game Design
📗Dynamic Story Scripting with the ink Scripting Language
📗Twine Cookbook
🌐: https://dancox.me/
📺: https://www.youtube.com/@DanCox
✍🏼: https://videlais.com
Assistant Professor of Game Design
📗Dynamic Story Scripting with the ink Scripting Language
📗Twine Cookbook
🌐: https://dancox.me/
📺: https://www.youtube.com/@DanCox
✍🏼: https://videlais.com
Reposted by Dan Cox
Reminder: Extended deadline Jan 7 to register for the 2026 Critical Code Studies Working Group. online January 12 to February 6.
bit.ly/ccswg26
#critcode
bit.ly/ccswg26
#critcode
CCSWG26 CFP
Call for Participation: CCSWG ‘26 9th biennial Critical Code Studies Working Group Jan 12 - Feb 6, 2026 To apply: Fill out this form Apply by January 7, 2025 20 years after the publication of the ma...
bit.ly
January 5, 2026 at 11:03 PM
Reminder: Extended deadline Jan 7 to register for the 2026 Critical Code Studies Working Group. online January 12 to February 6.
bit.ly/ccswg26
#critcode
bit.ly/ccswg26
#critcode
I'm still recovering from being sick for going on a week, so things are slow right now.
I'm working through updating dependencies for most of my software projects today and will be publishing minor project (monthly) updates soon.
I'm working through updating dependencies for most of my software projects today and will be publishing minor project (monthly) updates soon.
January 1, 2026 at 10:18 PM
I'm still recovering from being sick for going on a week, so things are slow right now.
I'm working through updating dependencies for most of my software projects today and will be publishing minor project (monthly) updates soon.
I'm working through updating dependencies for most of my software projects today and will be publishing minor project (monthly) updates soon.
My helpful niece remembered how I explained that I often don't run the heat in my apartment even when it is really cold outside last year. (I do run it if the temperature is below zero degrees F.)
This year, she sewed a "heating pad" for me that I can use at the computer under my wrists.
This year, she sewed a "heating pad" for me that I can use at the computer under my wrists.
December 26, 2025 at 4:12 PM
My helpful niece remembered how I explained that I often don't run the heat in my apartment even when it is really cold outside last year. (I do run it if the temperature is below zero degrees F.)
This year, she sewed a "heating pad" for me that I can use at the computer under my wrists.
This year, she sewed a "heating pad" for me that I can use at the computer under my wrists.
I'm mostly saving this for me, but I did write about the infamous "You are not expected to understand this" UNIX comment in my dissertation using critical code studies and static analysis.
www.theregister.com/2025/12/23/u...
www.theregister.com/2025/12/23/u...
UNIX V4 tape successfully recovered
: Crucial early evolutionary step found, imaged, and ... amazingly ... works
www.theregister.com
December 24, 2025 at 5:06 PM
I'm mostly saving this for me, but I did write about the infamous "You are not expected to understand this" UNIX comment in my dissertation using critical code studies and static analysis.
www.theregister.com/2025/12/23/u...
www.theregister.com/2025/12/23/u...
I love this stuff. I have no use for it, will probably never use it, but will continue to be delighted by really tiny compilers for languages (that probably shouldn't be on embedded devices).
www.phoronix.com/news/Micro-Q...
www.phoronix.com/news/Micro-Q...
Micro QuickJS Engine Compiles & Runs JavaScript With As Little As 10kB Of RAM
Very talented open-source developer Fabrice Bellard who already is well known for his work on QEMU, the Tiny C Compiler, and FFmpeg, has another accomplishment: Micro QuickJS
www.phoronix.com
December 24, 2025 at 4:55 PM
I love this stuff. I have no use for it, will probably never use it, but will continue to be delighted by really tiny compilers for languages (that probably shouldn't be on embedded devices).
www.phoronix.com/news/Micro-Q...
www.phoronix.com/news/Micro-Q...
Oh, hey. New Lua version!
Many years ago, I got into Lua and was even thinking of potentially teaching it, but the ecosystem wasn't quite there for low-end student users. I'm interested to see what's improved.
www.phoronix.com/news/Lua-5.5...
Many years ago, I got into Lua and was even thinking of potentially teaching it, but the ecosystem wasn't quite there for low-end student users. I'm interested to see what's improved.
www.phoronix.com/news/Lua-5.5...
Lua 5.5 Released With Declarations For Global Variables, Garbage Collection Improvements
Five years after releasing Lua 5.4, Lua 5.5 debuted today as the newest version of this lightweight and embeddable scripting language.
www.phoronix.com
December 23, 2025 at 2:25 PM
Oh, hey. New Lua version!
Many years ago, I got into Lua and was even thinking of potentially teaching it, but the ecosystem wasn't quite there for low-end student users. I'm interested to see what's improved.
www.phoronix.com/news/Lua-5.5...
Many years ago, I got into Lua and was even thinking of potentially teaching it, but the ecosystem wasn't quite there for low-end student users. I'm interested to see what's improved.
www.phoronix.com/news/Lua-5.5...
Reposted by Dan Cox
☃️☃️ Good news everyone! ☃️☃️
The Electronic Literature Collection call for submissions has been extended to **January 31st.**
That means you can enjoy the holidays *and* still have time to submit your work.
Questions? Email us at elcvol5 [at] gmail [dot] com
The Electronic Literature Collection call for submissions has been extended to **January 31st.**
That means you can enjoy the holidays *and* still have time to submit your work.
Questions? Email us at elcvol5 [at] gmail [dot] com
Call for Submissions
The Electronic Literature Organization (ELO) seeks submissions for Volume 5 of the Electronic Literature Collection.
eliterature.github.io
December 21, 2025 at 4:00 PM
☃️☃️ Good news everyone! ☃️☃️
The Electronic Literature Collection call for submissions has been extended to **January 31st.**
That means you can enjoy the holidays *and* still have time to submit your work.
Questions? Email us at elcvol5 [at] gmail [dot] com
The Electronic Literature Collection call for submissions has been extended to **January 31st.**
That means you can enjoy the holidays *and* still have time to submit your work.
Questions? Email us at elcvol5 [at] gmail [dot] com
The deadline for Electronic Literature Collection 5 has been extended from 6 January 2026 to 31 January 2026!
eliterature.github.io/elc5-info/
eliterature.github.io/elc5-info/
Call for Submissions
The Electronic Literature Organization (ELO) seeks submissions for Volume 5 of the Electronic Literature Collection.
eliterature.github.io
December 20, 2025 at 4:46 AM
The deadline for Electronic Literature Collection 5 has been extended from 6 January 2026 to 31 January 2026!
eliterature.github.io/elc5-info/
eliterature.github.io/elc5-info/
Reposted by Dan Cox
The submissions portal for our next @eliterature.bsky.social conference, which will be fully online including performances and a hypertext electronic literature exhibition, is now open at stars.library.ucf.edu/elo2026/ - please submit an abstract by January 15th to join us!
December 19, 2025 at 5:30 PM
The submissions portal for our next @eliterature.bsky.social conference, which will be fully online including performances and a hypertext electronic literature exhibition, is now open at stars.library.ucf.edu/elo2026/ - please submit an abstract by January 15th to join us!
Reposted by Dan Cox
The 2026 Narrascope website is live!
narrascope.org
narrascope.org
NarraScope 2026 | A Hybrid Conference on Interactive Narrative
NarraScope is a conference that brings together the writers, developers, scholars, and players of interactive narrative.
narrascope.org
December 9, 2025 at 8:09 PM
The 2026 Narrascope website is live!
narrascope.org
narrascope.org
December 9, 2025 at 6:22 PM
December 9, 2025 at 5:45 PM
December 9, 2025 at 5:04 PM
The call for proposals is posted for the Electronic Literature Organization 2026 conference. It will be hosted fully online July 15-18, 2026 by a team based at the University of Central Florida with collaborators around the world.
(Submissions will open soon!)
projects.cah.ucf.edu/elo2026/cfp....
(Submissions will open soon!)
projects.cah.ucf.edu/elo2026/cfp....
Call for Proposals - ELO 2026
projects.cah.ucf.edu
December 7, 2025 at 3:44 PM
The call for proposals is posted for the Electronic Literature Organization 2026 conference. It will be hosted fully online July 15-18, 2026 by a team based at the University of Central Florida with collaborators around the world.
(Submissions will open soon!)
projects.cah.ucf.edu/elo2026/cfp....
(Submissions will open soon!)
projects.cah.ucf.edu/elo2026/cfp....
Reposted by Dan Cox
Great opportunity to get all the titles in the (if I may say so) fabulous Text Technologies series at 40% off
December 5, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Great opportunity to get all the titles in the (if I may say so) fabulous Text Technologies series at 40% off
After a few days of slow work, I have resolve all 41 new monthly dependabot notifications. Extwee has had its December 2025 maintenance release, and now I'm slowly working through my other projects for their own.
December 3, 2025 at 6:39 PM
After a few days of slow work, I have resolve all 41 new monthly dependabot notifications. Extwee has had its December 2025 maintenance release, and now I'm slowly working through my other projects for their own.
New month + updated dependencies= new minor Extwee version.
v2.3.12: github.com/videlais/ext...
I'm trying to use a CHANGELOG.md approach to tracking things. Extwee was the first, but I'll be updating other projects with the same file.
v2.3.12: github.com/videlais/ext...
I'm trying to use a CHANGELOG.md approach to tracking things. Extwee was the first, but I'll be updating other projects with the same file.
December 2, 2025 at 1:11 AM
New month + updated dependencies= new minor Extwee version.
v2.3.12: github.com/videlais/ext...
I'm trying to use a CHANGELOG.md approach to tracking things. Extwee was the first, but I'll be updating other projects with the same file.
v2.3.12: github.com/videlais/ext...
I'm trying to use a CHANGELOG.md approach to tracking things. Extwee was the first, but I'll be updating other projects with the same file.
I'm still behind on this! I think I fixed everything, and added Play Wright automated testing against the Twine Cookbook, but then I got a longer holiday break and worked on some other projects and course prep for spring. I hope to return to this early next week and verify everything.
I'm behind on a PR to Twine because I'm trying to track down a CI action issue on the main branch of Snowman. The automated testing broke a few days ago and I'm still trying to fix it between various meetings and other events this week. I may just have to split off some failing tests for now.
The issue should now be fixed in the minor update to 2.1.2 (github.com/videlais/sno...). I also added extensive regression testing against the Twine Cookbook to try to prevent me accidentally breaking things again.
I'm planning a Twine PR for tomorrow (17 Nov) once I clear some other TODO items.
I'm planning a Twine PR for tomorrow (17 Nov) once I clear some other TODO items.
November 29, 2025 at 11:57 PM
I'm still behind on this! I think I fixed everything, and added Play Wright automated testing against the Twine Cookbook, but then I got a longer holiday break and worked on some other projects and course prep for spring. I hope to return to this early next week and verify everything.
We also added a FAQ recently!
eliterature.github.io/elc5-info/fa...
There's now more clarity on if works can be nominated or submitted by others. Short answer: yes! Longer answer: with permission or ability to contact authors to verify.
eliterature.github.io/elc5-info/fa...
There's now more clarity on if works can be nominated or submitted by others. Short answer: yes! Longer answer: with permission or ability to contact authors to verify.
November 29, 2025 at 11:51 PM
We also added a FAQ recently!
eliterature.github.io/elc5-info/fa...
There's now more clarity on if works can be nominated or submitted by others. Short answer: yes! Longer answer: with permission or ability to contact authors to verify.
eliterature.github.io/elc5-info/fa...
There's now more clarity on if works can be nominated or submitted by others. Short answer: yes! Longer answer: with permission or ability to contact authors to verify.
I'm behind on a PR to Twine because I'm trying to track down a CI action issue on the main branch of Snowman. The automated testing broke a few days ago and I'm still trying to fix it between various meetings and other events this week. I may just have to split off some failing tests for now.
The issue should now be fixed in the minor update to 2.1.2 (github.com/videlais/sno...). I also added extensive regression testing against the Twine Cookbook to try to prevent me accidentally breaking things again.
I'm planning a Twine PR for tomorrow (17 Nov) once I clear some other TODO items.
I'm planning a Twine PR for tomorrow (17 Nov) once I clear some other TODO items.
November 19, 2025 at 8:32 PM
I'm behind on a PR to Twine because I'm trying to track down a CI action issue on the main branch of Snowman. The automated testing broke a few days ago and I'm still trying to fix it between various meetings and other events this week. I may just have to split off some failing tests for now.
We also also open to possible sub-collections from existing communities, labs, artists, and other collectives across works from tools, services, and platforms not previously included in a ELC volume. Please e-mail us to start that conversation, as we to also include robust metadata on all entries!
We've now added a FAQ for the Electronic Literature Collection 5 call for submissions (eliterature.github.io/elc5-info/fa...). We want people to submit all kinds of exciting and intriguing things, but we are also asking if people could limit their submissions to three per single author or group.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Electronic Literature Organization (ELO) seeks submissions for Volume 5 of the Electronic Literature Collection.
eliterature.github.io
November 17, 2025 at 9:36 PM
We also also open to possible sub-collections from existing communities, labs, artists, and other collectives across works from tools, services, and platforms not previously included in a ELC volume. Please e-mail us to start that conversation, as we to also include robust metadata on all entries!
We've now added a FAQ for the Electronic Literature Collection 5 call for submissions (eliterature.github.io/elc5-info/fa...). We want people to submit all kinds of exciting and intriguing things, but we are also asking if people could limit their submissions to three per single author or group.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Electronic Literature Organization (ELO) seeks submissions for Volume 5 of the Electronic Literature Collection.
eliterature.github.io
November 17, 2025 at 9:33 PM
We've now added a FAQ for the Electronic Literature Collection 5 call for submissions (eliterature.github.io/elc5-info/fa...). We want people to submit all kinds of exciting and intriguing things, but we are also asking if people could limit their submissions to three per single author or group.
The issue should now be fixed in the minor update to 2.1.2 (github.com/videlais/sno...). I also added extensive regression testing against the Twine Cookbook to try to prevent me accidentally breaking things again.
I'm planning a Twine PR for tomorrow (17 Nov) once I clear some other TODO items.
I'm planning a Twine PR for tomorrow (17 Nov) once I clear some other TODO items.
November 16, 2025 at 8:02 PM
The issue should now be fixed in the minor update to 2.1.2 (github.com/videlais/sno...). I also added extensive regression testing against the Twine Cookbook to try to prevent me accidentally breaking things again.
I'm planning a Twine PR for tomorrow (17 Nov) once I clear some other TODO items.
I'm planning a Twine PR for tomorrow (17 Nov) once I clear some other TODO items.
I'm actively working on the issue, and trying to fix the testing that didn't catch it, tonight. The hope is to have a new minor update within the next few hours and then preparing a PR for Twine itself tomorrow.
An issue was found with the current version of Snowman 2.1.1 today (12 Nov). I'm working on a fix, and an update to my testing to catch issues like it, but it won't be available for a few days and then in Twine a few days after that.
November 16, 2025 at 1:41 AM
I'm actively working on the issue, and trying to fix the testing that didn't catch it, tonight. The hope is to have a new minor update within the next few hours and then preparing a PR for Twine itself tomorrow.
I came across the built-in crypto functionality in Node tonight decided to test built-in UUID generation versus the NPM package of the same name - much faster using built-in (C++ native versus JavaScript implementation).
Updated Extwee with the drop-in replacement.
github.com/videlais/ext...
Updated Extwee with the drop-in replacement.
github.com/videlais/ext...
Release v2.3.8 · videlais/extwee
This minor update removes the uuid package and replaces usage in Node with crypto.randomUUID() and, in web builds, browser-based crypto of the same name, Crypto API: randomUUID(). While it may impa...
github.com
November 16, 2025 at 1:35 AM
I came across the built-in crypto functionality in Node tonight decided to test built-in UUID generation versus the NPM package of the same name - much faster using built-in (C++ native versus JavaScript implementation).
Updated Extwee with the drop-in replacement.
github.com/videlais/ext...
Updated Extwee with the drop-in replacement.
github.com/videlais/ext...