Dokku
I was totally inspired by the talk last night about the web and it made me think that it’s been a while since I’ve deployed server things. It feels like a lot. So today I setup a server with Dokku. Dokku is Heroku but open source and run on your own server. Combined with a cheap VPS and a domain name and I have a place to deploy things. Yes!
Interactive Fiction
I want to write more interactive fiction. A lot of my short stories and poetry feel like they could become small worlds with branching choices. For creative coding today I used Twine to write a short piece about monotony and what it feels like when life changes called boring/ A couple of notes:
- I used the Twinery software which was… fine? I don’t love that it hides my files from me. I want to see the file.
- I want to be able to use a build script to compile my stories when I push, not by doing an export
- There’s so much to explore with making documents interactive and I didn’t even start looking at that
The open web
I need to write more about this soonish (as soon as the zine is done?) but I’ve been thinking a lot about the web. 10 years ago there was so much excitement about the web. We could build anything and then million of people could see it.
Then there was the app store. And now we had to submit our apps, get approval, then distribute through the app store. It was cool but I’ve built enough apps and had them rejected to know that putting a gatekeeper between you and your software sucks.
I’m kind of in love with the open web right now. Everything I’ve done at RC has had a URL and has been shareable. When I do creative coding I’m always one git push away from someone else being able to see my work. My notes have URLs. My presentations. The zine. Allllllll of it. And I can make things that are just for me, or just for a small number of people and it just works.
I think in a lot of ways we made the web too complicated. Building something with a server means being good at databases, backends, authentication, some kind of protocol (REST which isn’t in vogue or graphql or others), and all of the frontend technology. And oh gosh is that a lot.
I’m interested, but cautiously so, in redwoodjs
The next project
Tomorrow is my last day of working on the zine. I haven’t been writing anywhere else much because all of my energy has been going into writing this news zine, “The Optimist”. I’m really excited for it. I think people will like it.
But after that I need to get on to other things. A couple of ideas:
- Creative Code: I want to throw more of my energy in working through the Nature of code
- Gratitude: I have an idea for a webapp/screensaver thing for Thanksgiving about gratitude. I’m not sure about taking on a project with a deadline but maybe?
- Lion click: I want to build a silly website where you can “give clicks to Lion”. It just seems funny and it’s also like the simplest frontend/backend so it might be good for trying out projects
- Cow clicker inspiration
- Maybe cookie clicker but maybe that’s too much?
- Missing semester is going to continue to take time and I’m excited for it. It’s my hope as the course goes on that there’s more that I don’t know
End of day
Today was a super buys day and I’m getting pre-print jitters (nervous! excited! slightly sick of dreaming about this! ready for others to see!).
- I built a quick website so remote folks will be able to download the zine for reading
- I did page layout and editting. Everything I’ve got is in the zine
- I wrote a super quick section on first-day
I also did:
- A creative coding thing with interactive fiction with the prompt “boring”: https://creative.nicole.computer/2024-11-20-boring/
- Missing semester: I loved reviewing the shell assignments from last time
It was also an important day to connect with people as people. I feel honored to be connected with y’all and have people show up for me and get to show up for people. :heart: