* 📖 **Writing:** [_The Textbook Case: Part 2_] (procrastination blows) * 🖥️ **Tinkering:** Linux Mint normie usecase test; making @note support hVmark * 🎮 **Playing:** _Fallout 4_ w/ Sim Settlements * 😴 **Practicing:** Not sleeping (still awesome at it) Same shit, different day(s). I recently wired hVmark functionality into this page to replace the hard-coded HTML that was used before. The implementation isn't as... obtuse as /nexus, so it's a lot more accessible on this side, which is important for a page that's meant to be intermittently edited. **_AMENDMENT:_** It's been a bit since I wrote the above, and I gotta say... hVmark has made things **so** much easier. To whoever created hVmark: Thank you, good sir. You are a gentleman and a scholar. * :: Chrome Is Fxcking Up! * :: Site-Wide Design Refine * :: Pfft, More Like The Snowy City... * :: Subtennial Incoming... * * * ### // Chrome Is Fxcking Up! If you're on mobile and reading this in Chrome (or a Chromium-based browser), odds are you're in reader mode because the site looks tiny and zoomed out. This is a very recent phenomenon. For some reason, Chrome is no longer respecting text scaling based on viewport (or, at least, it's not respecting _mine_). For months, everything rendered fine without needing the usual "viewport" meta tag in the header (which actually breaks the layout here). But now, Chrome has decided to stop cooperating. And no, I'm not going to “fix” it. This site was designed desktop-first; working on mobile was always a bonus, not mission critical. The site still loads, and you can still read and navigate, but I'm not going to bend over backwards just because Google quietly changed behavior. If you're on Firefox Mobile, you're fine. Everything seems to be working normally. **Netscape ftw**. * * * ### // Site-Wide Design Refine I added the above section to this page a few days ago, and I've been ruminating on it. That's mostly because in a way, it does go against a priority of mine that I put a lot of work into: Accessibility. The site was designed desktop-first, however it was not designed to be _desktop-only_. You might be thrown off by that based on the snide comments made on the mobile version of /nexus, but it's true. Viewing on desktop is _recommended_ , but not required, and it's only because of my exhaustion at the notion that the modern web **must** be mobile-first. That's not to say I dislike the mobile web. It's quite the opposite: I love it. I love being able to access the internet anywhere, on any device. I just _prefer_ to use computers. When it comes to driving down the information superhighway, I'll take a hacked-up Chromebook before a cell phone any day. While the site was designed desktop-first, there were considerations and concessions made toward the mobile UX. The site works the way it does because in its current form, it's meant to dynamically adjust based on viewport size (without explicitly setting a meta viewport tag). The reason it's important for the viewport metatag to be absent (or, right now, inert) is because including it broke the layout. It's a delicate (and, admittedly hacky) dance. Is it the proper way to do it? Probably not, but I really don't care. It _was_ working. And if you're on any mobile browser that isn't mainline Chrome, it still is; even Chromium-based browsers like Brave are behaving correctly. Despite my insistence on not fixing it (which I do still stand by)... I wanted to see if I could at least _nudge_ Chrome to do what I want. In the process, I started making small design changes. A little change here, a little change there; by the end, the site started looking a _lot_ different. The biggest change obviously has to do with the ASCII header at the top of every page. It was a stylistic choice added a couple of weeks after the site was created, and getting it to cooperate with viewports across the board has been a pain in the ass since. But, that's not the reason it was retired; that's chalked up to evolving design goals. As much as I love ASCII art and look for any reason to include ASCII art, its specific inclusion in that element doesn't fit what I was going for. And honestly, the current overall design is closer to my vision of it now, and I'm very happy with how it looks. Will I always be happy with it? More than likely not. But until the day that I feel a complete CSS overhaul is necessary, I'm very happy with the results right now. _"Yeah, that's all well and good, but what about 'nudging mobile Chrome'? Did you figure out a way to get it to behave?"_ ...No. I'm still futzing around with it here and there. So for now, if you're using mobile Chrome, I guess it's page zoom and Reading Mode until you can get to a computer. If you have any ideas, feel free to get in contact or leave a comment. * * * ### // Pfft, More Like The Snowy City... Heavy snow officially hit Chicago overnight. From the lake to Cicero, everything got caked in a continuous blast of snow. Then, within 18 hours, it all started melting away. And now, we probably won't see another heavy snow storm until March. _"Wow, that's pretty early for snow..."_ Not really; this has actually been a pattern for the last few years. Mid-to-late October or early November, we'll get hit with a violent storm, but the snow won't stick. Then, it's just isolated flurries and snow showers. It does signal one important thing: It's officially time for everyone in the city to switch up their traffic habits. If you're on the road, you gotta start covering your brakes more to brace for a slide, and if you're on foot, you have to be extra vigilant near roadways since snow magically makes people forget how to drive (especially in Rosemont). Stay extra safe out there, peeps. **_UPDATE:_** This was added on November 10th; it's November 14th, and it feels like a summer day. That's Chicago: If you don't like the weather now, wait a few minutes. * * * ### // Subtennial Incoming... The _HisVirusness YouTube Channel_ is almost at **100 SUBSCRIBERS**. It's pretty surprising, but if you notice the first upload on the channel (and how many times it's been reuploaded by others since then), it starts to make a little more sense as to how we got here. It's nothing to shake a stick at, and honestly, I'm going to feel further compelled to start making more original content on there. Not to say I'd be on a regular schedule, but at least putting in more effort than I currently am... which is none. I do have some ideas (one of those, of course, is ~~outlined~~ displayed above), so _Stay Tuned For More Bullshit_. However, _temper your expectations_. After all, this does wrap back around to me pushing myself to start what I finish. And to be totally frank, I'm willing to have gaps between uploads if it means other projects in the pipeline are done, or at the very least actively being worked on. It is pretty exciting, though. Wonder how long until I get _**✓** verified **✓**_. I had a chance to way back when, but I stupidly turned it down. [ https://hisvirusness.com/now ]

It's Christmas time again. That means it's time for people to discuss their gadgetry, typically in the context of wanting the hot new gadgetry out, instead of the old, busted and played-out gadgetry that they've been using for the last six months. Through all of that ~~useless noise~~ , I came across something I haven't seen or heard in a while. It's an older joke, but it seems to be making the rounds again: **Android devices are so cheap, even thieves don't want them**. And, of course, _Samsung Galaxies_ are name-checked the most, since they're the largest Android brand. Whenever I've heard it said, or if it was specifically aimed at me, it was always supposed to be taken as ridicule. _"Man, no one wants to steal that cheap cellphone you got."_ Good. Especially since we live in Chicago, and theft is always a possibility. I just don't see it as an insult. Granted, if someone tries to insult me by calling me broke, I'm unfazed because... well, that's just the truth. But someone _not_ wanting your stuff because of its lack of monetary value? That’s security; that's a feature, not a bug. If someone stole one of my laptops today, they’d get nothing. They wouldn't be able to log in, and if they took it to a pawn shop, the shop wouldn't even bother because it’s running Linux instead of Windows. Now, if this theft were to happen, say... 12 years ago? It would be a different story. Back in 2009, I stopped using Windows on my laptops. Windows 7 proved it wasn't fit for portable hardware (and even XP had its own shitty hiccups), which started my adoption of Linux. A used $50 netbook running Crunchbang ran a lot better than a brand-new netbook running Windows. Instead of wiping Windows entirely, I'd keep a small partition on disk with a solo user that wasn't password protected. And that partition would be laced with keyloggers and other goodies that could potentially feed me back information. After all, it was my laptop. __I can do what I want.__ While there's no record of me having a laptop stolen and then mysteriously getting back, I can tell you that _if_ you did something similar (**NOT SAYING THAT YOU SHOULD** , but _if_...), you'd probably end up with enough intel that'd buy you a new machine. In short, what I'm actually getting at is, **cheap hardware is a flex**. An even bigger flex is **if the hardware was going to be e-waste**. Especially if it outperforms over-marketed, over-priced, locked-down, planned-obsolesence _trash_. Taking something cheap and making it into something _usable_ is way more impressive than paying too much for weak hardware. [ https://hisvirusness.com/cheap-does-not-mean-bad ]

hVmark is a tiny, opinionated markup language created by HisVirusness, and for HisVirusness.com. It favors strict, minimal syntax to produce clean HTML quickly. It's not a general-purpose Markdown replacement.

* 📖 **Writing:** [_The Textbook Case: Part 2_] (procrastination blows) * 🖥️ **Tinkering:** Linux Mint normie usecase test; making @note support hVmark * 🎮 **Playing:** _Fallout 4_ w/ Sim Settlements * 😴 **Practicing:** Not sleeping (still awesome at it) Same shit, different day(s). I recently wired hVmark functionality into this page to replace the hard-coded HTML that was used before. The implementation isn't as... obtuse as /nexus, so it's a lot more accessible on this side, which is important for a page that's meant to be intermittently edited. **_AMENDMENT:_** It's been a bit since I wrote the above, and I gotta say... hVmark has made things **so** much easier. To whoever created hVmark: Thank you, good sir. You are a gentleman and a scholar. * :: Chrome Is Fxcking Up! * :: Site-Wide Design Refine * :: Pfft, More Like The Snowy City... * :: Subtennial Incoming... * * * ### // Chrome Is Fxcking Up! If you're on mobile and reading this in Chrome (or a Chromium-based browser), odds are you're in reader mode because the site looks tiny and zoomed out. This is a very recent phenomenon. For some reason, Chrome is no longer respecting text scaling based on viewport (or, at least, it's not respecting _mine_). For months, everything rendered fine without needing the usual "viewport" meta tag in the header (which actually breaks the layout here). But now, Chrome has decided to stop cooperating. And no, I'm not going to “fix” it. This site was designed desktop-first; working on mobile was always a bonus, not mission critical. The site still loads, and you can still read and navigate, but I'm not going to bend over backwards just because Google quietly changed behavior. If you're on Firefox Mobile, you're fine. Everything seems to be working normally. **Netscape ftw**. * * * ### // Site-Wide Design Refine I added the above section to this page a few days ago, and I've been ruminating on it. That's mostly because in a way, it does go against a priority of mine that I put a lot of work into: Accessibility. The site was designed desktop-first, however it was not designed to be _desktop-only_. You might be thrown off by that based on the snide comments made on the mobile version of /nexus, but it's true. Viewing on desktop is _recommended_ , but not required, and it's only because of my exhaustion at the notion that the modern web **must** be mobile-first. That's not to say I dislike the mobile web. It's quite the opposite: I love it. I love being able to access the internet anywhere, on any device. I just _prefer_ to use computers. When it comes to driving down the information superhighway, I'll take a hacked-up Chromebook before a cell phone any day. While the site was designed desktop-first, there were considerations and concessions made toward the mobile UX. The site works the way it does because in its current form, it's meant to dynamically adjust based on viewport size (without explicitly setting a meta viewport tag). The reason it's important for the viewport metatag to be absent (or, right now, inert) is because including it broke the layout. It's a delicate (and, admittedly hacky) dance. Is it the proper way to do it? Probably not, but I really don't care. It _was_ working. And if you're on any mobile browser that isn't mainline Chrome, it still is; even Chromium-based browsers like Brave are behaving correctly. Despite my insistence on not fixing it (which I do still stand by)... I wanted to see if I could at least _nudge_ Chrome to do what I want. In the process, I started making small design changes. A little change here, a little change there; by the end, the site started looking a _lot_ different. The biggest change obviously has to do with the ASCII header at the top of every page. It was a stylistic choice added a couple of weeks after the site was created, and getting it to cooperate with viewports across the board has been a pain in the ass since. But, that's not the reason it was retired; that's chalked up to evolving design goals. As much as I love ASCII art and look for any reason to include ASCII art, its specific inclusion in that element doesn't fit what I was going for. And honestly, the current overall design is closer to my vision of it now, and I'm very happy with how it looks. Will I always be happy with it? More than likely not. But until the day that I feel a complete CSS overhaul is necessary, I'm very happy with the results right now. _"Yeah, that's all well and good, but what about 'nudging mobile Chrome'? Did you figure out a way to get it to behave?"_ ...No. I'm still futzing around with it here and there. So for now, if you're using mobile Chrome, I guess it's page zoom and Reading Mode until you can get to a computer. If you have any ideas, feel free to get in contact or leave a comment. * * * ### // Pfft, More Like The Snowy City... Heavy snow officially hit Chicago overnight. From the lake to Cicero, everything got caked in a continuous blast of snow. Then, within 18 hours, it all started melting away. And now, we probably won't see another heavy snow storm until March. _"Wow, that's pretty early for snow..."_ Not really; this has actually been a pattern for the last few years. Mid-to-late October or early November, we'll get hit with a violent storm, but the snow won't stick. Then, it's just isolated flurries and snow showers. It does signal one important thing: It's officially time for everyone in the city to switch up their traffic habits. If you're on the road, you gotta start covering your brakes more to brace for a slide, and if you're on foot, you have to be extra vigilant near roadways since snow magically makes people forget how to drive (especially in Rosemont). Stay extra safe out there, peeps. **_UPDATE:_** This was added on November 10th; it's November 14th, and it feels like a summer day. That's Chicago: If you don't like the weather now, wait a few minutes. * * * ### // Subtennial Incoming... The _HisVirusness YouTube Channel_ is almost at **100 SUBSCRIBERS**. It's pretty surprising, but if you notice the first upload on the channel (and how many times it's been reuploaded by others since then), it starts to make a little more sense as to how we got here. It's nothing to shake a stick at, and honestly, I'm going to feel further compelled to start making more original content on there. Not to say I'd be on a regular schedule, but at least putting in more effort than I currently am... which is none. I do have some ideas (one of those, of course, is ~~outlined~~ displayed above), so _Stay Tuned For More Bullshit_. However, _temper your expectations_. After all, this does wrap back around to me pushing myself to start what I finish. And to be totally frank, I'm willing to have gaps between uploads if it means other projects in the pipeline are done, or at the very least actively being worked on. It is pretty exciting, though. Wonder how long until I get _**✓** verified **✓**_. I had a chance to way back when, but I stupidly turned it down. [ https://hisvirusness.com/now ]

Scratch your name into the margins.

* 📖 **Writing:** [_The Textbook Case: Part 2_] (procrastination blows) * 🖥️ **Tinkering:** hVmark; website stuff (subheadings/TOC generation) * 🎮 **Playing:** _Red Asphalt (PSX)_ * 😴 **Practicing:** Not sleeping (still awesome at it) Same shit, different day(s). I recently wired hVmark functionality into this page to replace the hard-coded HTML that was used before. The implementation isn't as... obtuse as /nexus, so it's a lot more accessible on this side, which is important for a page that's meant to be intermittently edited. * :: IN THE GLOOMY SKY... * :: Subtennial Incoming... * :: Working The Resume (So I Can Resume The Working) * :: True Late-Stage Capitalism * * * ### // IN THE GLOOMY SKY... I recently discovered that the middle of _Where Dead Angels Lie_ by Dissection fits very well with the ending Scorpion vs Quan Chi fight in _Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge_. ~~After almost ten years, I might have to do another one of my _Mortal Kombat Audio Redub_ videos.~~ I ended up going in a bit of a different direction. But, I'm happy with how it turned out. * * * ### // Subtennial Incoming... Speaking of, the _HisVirusness YouTube Channel_ is almost at **100 SUBSCRIBERS**. It's pretty surprising, but if you notice the first upload on the channel (and how many times it's been reuploaded since then), it starts to make a little more sense as to how we got here. It's nothing to shake a stick at, and honestly, I'm going to feel further compelled to start making more original content on there. Not to say I'd be on a regular schedule, but at least putting in more effort than I currently am... which is none. I do have some ideas (one of those, of course, is ~~outlined~~ displayed above), so _Stay Tuned For More Bullshit_. However, _temper your expectations_. After all, this does wrap back around to me pushing myself to start what I finish. And to be totally frank, I'm willing to have gaps between uploads if it means other projects in the pipeline are done, or at the very least actively being worked on. It is pretty exciting, though. Wonder how long until I get _**✓** verified **✓**_. I had a chance to way back when, but I stupidly turned it down. * * * ### // Working The Resume (So I Can Resume The Working) I've been working on my resume and I have to say... I'm really loving Markdown. I can see why it's been so widely-adopted in multiple spaces: It's portable, easy to pick up for non-tech people, and easy to parse. ...I'm still going to use hVmark for the site, though. I do stick by its design when it comes to what I'm doing, and I think my implementation of soft line breaks is a lot better, in my humble opinion. But yeah, the gig economy only does so much. I need steady scratch coming in. So, if you happen to see me on LinkedIn or whatever, don't be afraid to say hi. And then promptly offer me a job. Seriously. I need work. * * * ### // True Late-Stage Capitalism Speaking of income... A few years ago, I would design one-off shirts for myself as fun little weekend projects. I lived near _One Hour Tees_ at the time, so I would design a shirt, order it, and a couple of days later, take a nice walk to go pick it up. I got **Employee Of The Month** at the job I was working during that time, and I asked my manager if I could make a shirt for myself to celebrate. After some deliberation, I was given the go-ahead. Only problem was, they weren't prepared for the effort and the competence that was going into designing and fabricating that shirt. The resulting product looked like **_legit company merch_**. I wore it once, and was promptly asked to never wear it there again. I guess it stirred up some confusion and sour feelings. ...I wore it one more time a couple of weeks before we'd go our separate ways. Anyway, I haven't done anything like that in years, and I want to get back into product design. Also, let's be real: Merch was inevitable. So, what better time than the present to set things in motion? First design: the base _HisVirusness_ logo. Obvious first steps. Partnered with Spreadshirt, a platform I used back in the mid-to late 2000s for dropshipping custom merch. And their modern system has stuff I was not expecting, like pictures of stock photo models wearing an approximation of the merch, generated in real time. And looking at all the models, there was only one that I _had_ to use... Husky dude with a beard, wearing a shirt that looks like the fabric is made out of static. This is _exactly_ how my merch is meant to be worn. Check out the merch here. I'm not gonna make a habit out of hounding visitors to spend money, that's not what this is about. ...However, there _will_ be nudges here and there. Subtle ones. Probably. After all, what's an art gallery without the merch table? [ https://hisvirusness.com/now ]