Mapping a Galaxy Far, Far Away / / No Comments A well-designed star chart is essential for any galactic adventure. The Interactive Star Wars Galaxy for RPGs is a detailed, dynamic map of a galaxy far, far away, built specifically with tabletop roleplaying in mind. Beyond simply charting hyperspace lanes, registered users can unlock integrated features like a dedicated dice-roller and tools for organizing your next gaming party.Even Maps Mania… more → Posted in: Interactive Maps Tagged with: Away, Galaxy, Mapping
My Last Spotify Demo (this time I mean it – honest) / / No Comments Earlier this month, I blogged about building my own Spotify Unwrapped. I did this by requesting a data export from Spotify and playing around with the data in Python and Astro. I built a simple, and probably bad, Astro site to view my stats. When I built it, I had an idea for a slight tweak to make it a bit better, but one that would require API usage. I stand by what I said about not wanting to use the API anymore (feel free to ask why in the comments), but I couldn’t resist tinkering one more time. Here’s what I did. Using Python to Enhance Artist Info In the output from Spotify’s export, you get a detailed listing of the tracks you’ve listened to. As a reminder, here’s... more → Posted in: JavaScript Tagged with: Demo, honest, last, mean, Spotify, this, time
How to Guarantee a White Christmas / / No Comments If you’re determined to experience a white Christmas, I suggest booking a trip to Zermatt, Switzerland. According to White Christmas Forecast 2025, residents there have a 100% chance of snow on Christmas Day. (Disclaimer: I’m not in charge of the weather and previous snowfalls do not guarantee future flurries).Last week I linked to NOAA’s Probability of a White Christmas map. This Maps Mania… more → Posted in: Interactive Maps Tagged with: Christmas, Guarantee, White
Generating Relevant Random JSON with Chrome AI / / No Comments A few weeks ago I blogged a demo where I used Chrome’s on-device AI feature to parse a "generic template language" and return random strings. If you’re so inclined (and of course you are), you can read that post here: "Creating a Generic Generative Language with Chrome AI". The idea was to give the AI model a template string that described what was random, and how it was random (this is a name, this is a number, this is a color, etc) and have the model fill in the blanks with appropriate values. At work, I’ve been digging into our platform and trying to learn as much as possible. One of the cooler features of Webflow is the CMS. You define a collection (type... more → Posted in: JavaScript Tagged with: Chrome, Generating, JSON, Random, Relevant
Is Your Team an Animal? / / No Comments Lions, tigers, and grey wolves are the most frequently used animals in sport logos. The interactive Wild League Map shows over 700 sports teams around the world that use wild animals in their name, logo or fans’ nicknames. It was developed using research from Wildlife Diversity in Global Team Sport Branding and was developed by the Wild League, who aim to leverage the global Maps Mania… more → Posted in: Interactive Maps Tagged with: Animal, Team
Make Your Own Spotify Unwrapped / / No Comments Tis the season – the Spotify Unwrapped season. If you aren’t aware, Spotify creates a yearly "recap" of your listening habits and packages it up in a nice and fun slide show/animated doodad only available on your device. It’s a cute thing and as someone who both loves music and stats, I look forward to it. If your curious, here’s a part of mine: Earlier this week I knew Spotify Unwrapped was as eminent as Mariah Carey and I pondered building my own report. Of course, a few months ago I swore off building anything Spotify related again. But given that Spotify lets you export your data, in theory, I could build something without using APIs, right? Getting the... more → Posted in: JavaScript Tagged with: Spotify, Unwrapped
How Russia Smuggles Stolen Ukrainian Grain / / No Comments Bellingcat has exposed how some Russian cargo ships are managing to circumvent the European Union’s sanctions on the shipment of stolen Ukrainian grain. In its investigation Russia’s Grain Smuggling Fleet Continues Undeterred, the investigative journalism organization tracked and mapped the movements of a Russian-flagged bulk carrier called Irtysh, revealing how it has been smuggling grain Maps Mania… more → Posted in: Interactive Maps Tagged with: Grain, Russia, smuggles, Stolen, Ukrainian
Links For You (11/30/25) / / No Comments Once again I’m here, sharing links, and apologizing for the lack of content this month, although I did publish seven times, and I think I had some good demos, so maybe I should just stop worrying about it? 😉 As I’ve hinted recently, I am no longer on the job market! I haven’t said where yet as I wanted to get a few weeks under my belt to ensure things were going to be ok. I’m not going to lie, my last role (and quick lay off) really messed me up a bit. That being said, I feel relatively safe now, and really like what both my role and my coworkers, so I figure it’s time to share! My new role is a Senior Developer Evangelist for Webflow. Webflow has a web-based... more → Posted in: JavaScript Tagged with: 11/30/25, links