<div id="bio" markdown>

# taylor.town

- **Links**
- [Newsletter](https://newsletter.taylor.town)
- [RSS](https://taylor.town/feed.xml)
- [Bluesky](https://bsky.app/profile/taylor.town)
- [Twitter](https://x.com/surprisetalk)
- [Mastodon](https://mastodon.social/@surprisetalk)
- [GitHub](https://github.com/surprisetalk)
- [LinkedIn](http://linkedin.com/in/taysar/)
- [Apple Music](https://music.apple.com/profile/surprisetalk)
- [Calendly](/meet)
- [Email](mailto:hello@taylor.town?subject=Hello)

</div>

<div id="projects" markdown>

## Selected Projects

|                                                          |                                     |
| -------------------------------------------------------: | ----------------------------------- |
|                                [looop](https://looop.ai) | nanolabor marketplace               |
|                                 [ding](https://ding.bar) | minimalist forum                    |
|                    [telecasts](https://telecast.company) | video podcast player                |
|                                        [slap](/slap-000) | linear concat lang                  |
|                                [Khan Academy map](/kakm) | math milestones                     |
|                         [dirt.cloud](https://dirt.cloud) | minimal FoundationDB hosting        |
|       [AdBoost](https://github.com/surprisetalk/AdBoost) | unreclaim your attention            |
|                               [lede.me](https://lede.me) | minimal og:image titles             |
|                             [pic.fish](https://pic.fish) | og:image screenshots                |
|                         [diggit.dev](https://diggit.dev) | for architecture archaeologists     |
|                   [scrapscript](https://scrapscript.org) | the sharable programming language   |
|                            [scrapsheets](/live-2024-cfp) | fun spreadsheets                    |
|                             [blogs.hn](https://blogs.hn) | directory of small blogs            |
|                     [potato.cheap](https://potato.cheap) | home of the "cheap" web             |
|                     [flashcasts](https://flashcasts.com) | private audio flashcard podcasts    |
| [WorstPress](https://github.com/surprisetalk/worstpress) | the world's _worst_ website builder |

</div>

<div id="appearances" markdown>

## Appearances

|                       |                                                                                                                                 |
| --------------------: | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Writing About Writing | [on writing "10,000,000 CROWPOWER..."](https://writingclub.world/writing-about-writing/taylor-troesh)                           |
|              The Loop | [The Loop, Vol. II](/the-loop-april-2026.pdf)                                                                                   |
|          The Register | [Want more ads on your web pages? Try AdBoost](https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/02/ads_web_pages_adboost_extension/)         |
|              The Loop | [The Loop, Vol. I](/the-loop-november-2025.pdf)                                                                                 |
|          Exp. History | [Blog Extravaganza '25](https://www.experimental-history.com/p/blog-extravaganza-2025-the-winners)                              |
|              Kodsnack | [Failure of ergonomics](https://kodsnack.se/international/658/)                                                                 |
|         Good Internet | [My website is ugly because I made it](https://goodinternetmagazine.com/my-website-is-ugly-because-i-made-it/)                  |
|           UNSOUND '24 | [Towards Rigorous Responsibility (in Distributed Systems)](https://youtu.be/EumJpiV7MLo?si=NBY3FL3a_ONsZtEm)                    |
|              LIVE '24 | [Scrapsheets: Async Programs in a Reactive 2D Environments](https://youtu.be/dkK8brBeTl8?si=efWeBj1IXjoYHU2S)                   |
|            Øredev '24 | [How to Flatpack Programs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJcQ45jKuN4&list=PLOUKmSqExtAFpg3krEd6CXr3uIyUgP97b&index=39)        |
|           Book of Joe | [Meet Taylor Troesh](https://www.bookofjoe.com/2024/09/meet-taylor-troesh.html)                                                 |
|           Changelog & | [#define: piggyback](https://changelog.com/friends/59)                                                                          |
|             !!Con '24 | [Bang! Bang! He Murdered Math!](/bang-bang)                                                                                     |
|        DDD Europe '24 | [Timeless Way of Software](https://youtu.be/wTv5kvuP1hI?si=2N7yxu1ksnyNxaAn)                                                    |
|           POSETTE '24 | [How/Why to Sweep Async Tasks...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXXJuz_spcU&list=PLlrxD0HtieHg5ldHlEn3nMMpClX0RUntH&index=29) |
|              Elm Town | [The Great Wall of Code](https://elm.town/episodes/elm-town-75-the-great-wall-of-code-with-taylor-troesh)                       |
|           Changelog & | [#define: game theory, dude](https://changelog.com/friends/25)                                                                  |
|        People & Blogs | [Taylor Troesh](https://manuelmoreale.com/pb-taylor-troesh)                                                                     |
|       Hacker Stations | [Taylor Troesh and his whimsical setup](https://hackerstations.com/setups/taylor_town/)                                         |
|           Changelog & | [#define: a game of fake definitions](https://changelog.com/friends/15)                                                         |
|         The Changelog | [Vibes from Strange Loop](https://changelog.com/podcast/559#t=2378)                                                             |
|         The Changelog | [Don't Make Things Worse!](https://changelog.fm/546)                                                                            |

</div>

<div id="essays" markdown>

## Selected Essays

- **Living**
- [10 Minutes is 1% of Your Day](/10-minutes)
- [Time](/time)
- [How I Eat](/how-i-eat)
- [Two Toucans Canoe](/two-toucans-canoe)
- ["work hard, play hard"](/work-hard-play-hard)
- [Paying Netflix $0.53/h, etc.](/dollar-per-hour)
- [Against the Advice of My Superintelligence](/my-superintelligence)

<wbr/>

- **Creation**
- [Things That Outlive Fancy Rats](/fancy-rats)
- [When to Build Millennia Sewers](/millennium-sewer)
- [Pseudoprose](/pseudoprose)
- [Spoil Your Secret Sauce](/secret-sauce)
- [P\*\*fectionism Isn't Your Problem](/perfectionism-isnt-your-problem)
- [why I didn’t play this harpsichord sooner](/harpsichord)

<wbr/>

- **Culture**
- ["Somebody Tranq That Child!"](/child-tranqs)
- [I'm a Coin Boy, Too](/coin-boys)
- [much worse than kids stomping that pig's bladder](/pigs-bladder)
- [Candid Culture](/candid-culture)
- [Synthetic Intelligence](/synthetic-intelligence)
- [I hereby pardon all parking enforcement officers](/pardon-2024)

<wbr/>

- **Curiosity**
- [Seizing the Means of Re-Production](/oh-infringement)
- [The Toki Pona Baby Sign-Language Guide](/tpbsl-guide)
- [A Cyberpunk Bathroom in the Middle of Nowhere](/cyberpunk-bathroom)
- [Foods for Straight Teeth & Easy Breathing](/face-food)
- [Colt's Revolutions](/colt)
- [A History of Microwave Ovens](/history-of-microwave-ovens)
- [Why Did The Chicken Cross The Road?](/other-side)

<wbr/>

- **Software**
- [How to be a -10x Engineer](/-10x)
- [I hereby pardon all junior engineers](/pardon-2023)
- [How/Why to Sweep Async Tasks Under a Postgres Table](/pg-task)
- [IKEA-Oriented Development](/ikea-oriented-development)
- [So Many Silver Landmines](/silver-landmines)
- [The Silicon Valley Tarpits](/tarpits)
- [VisionOS Dev](/visionos)
- [Kyle Explains "Legacy Software" to the Aliens](/legacy)
- [How to build god and get away with it](/build-god)

</div>