https://whitebeard.blog/posts/Recent content in Posts on Whitebeard's RealmHugo -- 0.164.0en-gbMon, 10 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://whitebeard.blog/posts/learning-about-myself-through-elm/Mon, 10 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://whitebeard.blog/posts/learning-about-myself-through-elm/In which the author explains why Elm gives him joy, confesses to a memory that once won a national competition but cannot manage a shopping list, and learns a bit about how his mind works.https://whitebeard.blog/posts/what-kind-of-machine-consciousness-denier-are-you/Thu, 30 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://whitebeard.blog/posts/what-kind-of-machine-consciousness-denier-are-you/In which the author sorts the many ways of being certain about machine consciousness into eight tidy boxes, supplies a flowchart, and neglects to mention which box he is standing in.https://whitebeard.blog/posts/unequal-and-hungry-for-it/Sun, 12 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://whitebeard.blog/posts/unequal-and-hungry-for-it/In which the author reviews Eugenia Cheng’s Unequal, enjoys the maths more than the politics, notices he finds progressiveness thrilling now, and gets extremely hungry.https://whitebeard.blog/posts/theres-a-star-man/Wed, 27 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://whitebeard.blog/posts/theres-a-star-man/In which the author, between jobs and stalling magnificently, builds an AI coach to drill the STAR interview method instead of actually applying for any.https://whitebeard.blog/posts/introducing-uruk/Sun, 17 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://whitebeard.blog/posts/introducing-uruk/In which the author admits to a nagging feeling that computing has gone wrong somewhere, points at a tiny algebra that maybe gets a part of it right, and starts building yet another programming language. Sorry.https://whitebeard.blog/posts/the-diving-watch-i-never-knew-i-wanted/Thu, 30 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://whitebeard.blog/posts/the-diving-watch-i-never-knew-i-wanted/In which an unexpected Christmas gift reveals the quiet delight of a rotating bezel, and the author wonders why such useful timekeeping is dressed up in such macho clothing.https://whitebeard.blog/posts/make-your-own-interactive-fiction-client-in-elm/Tue, 21 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://whitebeard.blog/posts/make-your-own-interactive-fiction-client-in-elm/In which the author extracts a library from his interactive fiction app, and walks the curious reader through the making of their own Z-machine player in around 100 lines of Elm.https://whitebeard.blog/posts/introducing-planedrift/Sat, 18 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://whitebeard.blog/posts/introducing-planedrift/In which the author at last unveils a quiet corner of the web for playing classic Infocom adventures, and reflects on the peculiar inhumanity of an AI that cannot quite abide pure play.https://whitebeard.blog/posts/ask-the-vm-where-is-the-player/Fri, 17 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://whitebeard.blog/posts/ask-the-vm-where-is-the-player/In which the author hunts through virtual memory for a player whose whereabouts the machine no longer remembers, and settles on a layered heuristic that is almost certainly good enough.https://whitebeard.blog/posts/building-a-z-machine-in-elm/Sun, 12 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://whitebeard.blog/posts/building-a-z-machine-in-elm/In which a 1980s virtual machine for text adventures is reimplemented in a pure functional language, against all better judgement, and somehow emerges working.https://whitebeard.blog/posts/playing-interactive-fiction-with-an-ai-companion/Sat, 11 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://whitebeard.blog/posts/playing-interactive-fiction-with-an-ai-companion/In which an old text adventure is rediscovered with the help of an enthusiastic, slang-slinging AI companion, and a z-machine yak awaits its shave.https://whitebeard.blog/posts/building-a-better-crossword-page/Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://whitebeard.blog/posts/building-a-better-crossword-page/In which the daily cryptic crossword becomes a source of frustration, and a solution is fashioned from an old Elm project dusted off.https://whitebeard.blog/posts/what-ai-is-doing-for-me/Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://whitebeard.blog/posts/what-ai-is-doing-for-me/In which we discover that a half-an-entity can be something like a prosthetic for the mind.https://whitebeard.blog/posts/its-your-turn-a-prompt-deck-for-new-roleplayers/Mon, 23 Feb 2026 22:57:51 +0000https://whitebeard.blog/posts/its-your-turn-a-prompt-deck-for-new-roleplayers/In which we introduce a comely new tool for new roleplayers who find themselves suddenly called upon to act.https://whitebeard.blog/posts/seven-reasons-that-trump-is-a-bad-gm-very-bad/Mon, 23 Feb 2026 12:36:15 +0000https://whitebeard.blog/posts/seven-reasons-that-trump-is-a-bad-gm-very-bad/In which we observe that the worst GM at any table and the current President of the United States share, with uncanny fidelity, the very same qualities.https://whitebeard.blog/posts/youve-been-pawned-now-with-a-snazzy-new-look/Sun, 22 Feb 2026 21:11:41 +0000https://whitebeard.blog/posts/youve-been-pawned-now-with-a-snazzy-new-look/In which the standee-making tool is rebuilt from scratch, acquiring a coverflow carousel, a proper PDF export, and a somewhat snazzier countenance.https://whitebeard.blog/posts/six-months-on-startplaying-games/Mon, 15 Jul 2024 17:52:13 +0000https://whitebeard.blog/posts/six-months-on-startplaying-games/In which we dig into the numbers after fifty paid games and ask, with a clear eye, whether this enterprise is worth the candle.https://whitebeard.blog/posts/an-online-tool-to-make-playable-paper-pawns/Sat, 06 Apr 2024 17:29:04 +0000https://whitebeard.blog/posts/an-online-tool-to-make-playable-paper-pawns/In which we introduce a simple tool for printing paper standees, born of desperation before one too many D&D sessions.https://whitebeard.blog/posts/campaign-report-dragon-of-icespire-peak-session-7/Mon, 19 Feb 2024 16:07:58 +0000https://whitebeard.blog/posts/campaign-report-dragon-of-icespire-peak-session-7/In which an uneasy truce with the Whiskered Gang is put to the test and the wererats reveal an unexpected side.https://whitebeard.blog/posts/campaign-report-rime-of-the-frostmaiden-session-4/Sun, 18 Feb 2024 15:44:19 +0000https://whitebeard.blog/posts/campaign-report-rime-of-the-frostmaiden-session-4/In which our battered adventurers rest in a town drained of life and begin to uncover a troubling conspiracy within its walls.https://whitebeard.blog/posts/campaign-report-dragon-of-icespire-peak-session-5/Mon, 12 Feb 2024 15:43:41 +0000https://whitebeard.blog/posts/campaign-report-dragon-of-icespire-peak-session-5/In which our heroes descend into a gold mine overrun by wererats and attempt a most delicate negotiation.https://whitebeard.blog/posts/a-few-months-on-startplaying-games/Sun, 11 Feb 2024 19:36:20 +0000https://whitebeard.blog/posts/a-few-months-on-startplaying-games/In which we take stock of listing games on StartPlaying.Games and weigh the cost and the benefit with an honest hand.https://whitebeard.blog/posts/rime-of-the-frostmaiden-campaign-report/Fri, 09 Feb 2024 13:41:45 +0000https://whitebeard.blog/posts/rime-of-the-frostmaiden-campaign-report/In which three weary adventurers brave the frozen tundra by dogsled and encounter a guide who is not entirely what she seems.https://whitebeard.blog/posts/character-quirks-for-easier-roleplay/Sat, 03 Feb 2024 14:27:28 +0000https://whitebeard.blog/posts/character-quirks-for-easier-roleplay/In which we argue that a small habit or two is worth a thousand words of backstory.https://whitebeard.blog/posts/how-i-use-avrae/Mon, 29 Jan 2024 20:05:48 +0000https://whitebeard.blog/posts/how-i-use-avrae/In which we tame a most fearsome Discord bot and put it to work with no more than ten well-chosen commands.https://whitebeard.blog/posts/an-owlbear-discord-dndbeyond-checklist-for-new-campaigns/Tue, 16 Jan 2024 23:52:18 +0000https://whitebeard.blog/posts/an-owlbear-discord-dndbeyond-checklist-for-new-campaigns/In which we lay out the tools and customs that make an online D&D campaign run smoothly from the very first session.