Preface

A blog implies a work of regular upkeep. These ramblings may be a little less...

Like Star Wars, this story begins in the middle.

Spring has begun. It is warmer outside. And now the trash receptacle in the garage smells. Woe is me.

I have a number of TP-Link smart outlet switches and air freshener vaporizers. Can automation help us out?

TP-Link's Tapo app allows for basic scheduling actions as well as a limited automation with triggers and actions. It seems this may have been intended to be used in scenarios where one device, like a motion sensor or a switch, can trigger another device like a light or a fan.

My first thought was to use a basic schedule to turn the air freshener on in the morning. This would trigger the automation to keep it on for a duration, then turn off for a duration, then turn on again. Hopefully, that would engage the automation to cycle again. Failure.

I tried using two automation actions. The first would shut it off. The second would turn it back on. This was able to go from 1, to 2, back to 1. But it stopped. Failure.

A basic search revealed a comment on a TP-Link forum thread which stated that loops are not possible with the Tapo system. Searching this first would have saved time. However, another comment stated it was possible to set the automation to be triggered by multiple in-automation times. It's not that helpful, but you don't have to set twice as many elements as you would for basic scheduling. At least the air freshener will now operate intermittently.

I wonder if it is possible to use two devices to create the looping logic, or to use Matter integration with Apple Home and Apple Shortcuts, or Home Assistant... things to remember to test some day.

I originally created this site's DYNIX style to provide a retro use of the simulated CRT scanlines. I also wanted to create a very simple layout and formatting with limited options as a novice's playground. I thought that would allow the design to be constrained so I could focus more on content development. That's still an important focus for me.

The video game Marathon (2026) just released. While a lot of individuals have criticized the UI, I actually found the complex potential of the clean and simple shapes, the restrained color palettes, and limited typography to be very evocative of the retro futurism that has appeared in a lot of cool tv shows and films. Some of the first things it reminded me of right away were the graphical interfaces in Ghost In The Shell, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Cowboy Beebop, Outlaw Star, Star Wars, Tron: Legacy, Silo.

Here are some terms I am trying to keep in mind:

• Retro futurism
• Cassette futurism
• Vector futurism
• Functional futurism

I did not plan to return to this one day shy of a year later. I guess it's a happy surprise. I have several ideas that I want to try for this web-site. I probably got bogged down last year trying to organize a development plan. I think I will keep things a little looser as I change things up.

I was inspired by a cyberverse.neocities blog page on dynamic web-site navigation links from a json file, instead of manually editing every web page when a new link is needed.

As I am still learning html and css, I thought using an html file for multiple sources would be good for now. ChatGPT was able to understand what I wanted very quickly, and was able to adjust the features with minimal hallucination and memory fatigue.

Here is a demonstration:

As of this writing, this is being used to set the dynix navigation header across all dynix theme pages.

Code notes:

• The javascript identifies an element, preferably something like a div, on the destination.html page when it has data-DynamicJSdestination; its attribute value sets the destination identifier.
• The destination needs a data-file attribute value to the address of the source.html file. The destination element also needs the data-source attribute with a value matching an source.html element with a matching data-DynamicJSsource value.
• You can create additional data-* attributes and values for parameters that can fill into elements with matching attributes in the source.html element.
• In the source.html, an element needs the data-DynamicJSsource value to match the data-source value from destination.html.
• You can call for a parameter in the source element, specified in the destination element's data-* attributes, by adding the same data-* attribute to an element, like a span. Text within the element will act as a default, and shall be replaced with the matching value.
• Finally, you can change source.html elements with a hyperlink that has a data-DynamicJSlink attribute value that matches the destination identifier and a data-source attribute value matching a source.html element. These hyperlinks can be within the source element or outside the destination element.

Phew.

Feb 7, 2024

From: woalis
To: rbuchanan
Date: Feb 7, 2024
Subject: RE: logotype design - Feb 6, 2024

Should you read this message, due to Neocities spam prevention feature for new users, I am unable to respond to your message in the Neocities profile system for a period of one week.

I utilized an online tool to generate the logotype. Upon inspection, I see that it is using the figlet software. Thank you for your comment, as I was unaware what this was called besides ascii.

Kind regards,

-Woalis