Chances are I'm tinkering with the code right now. Nothing important lives here, so if something breaks nothing is really lost — it's just a webpage. Refresh, come back in a few minutes.

This site is also built specifically for 1024x768 resolution — to match the CRT monitors that were standard back in the day. If you're on a 4K display it'll shrink to a narrow strip in the middle of your screen.

The frontend is mostly raw HTML. The backend is Python. I use zero modern CSS frameworks and no JavaScript frameworks. When it comes to web design, I prefer the 90s aesthetic — pixelated graphics, table layouts, pink and cyan neon color schemes, and GIF backgrounds everywhere.

Technically speaking, this is a purely static site. I wrote a PowerShell script (build.ps1) that assembles the entire site by stitching together HTML components. Details in the build.ps1 walkthrough. Python handles the guestbook and search (guestbook.py + search.py). Guestbook data lives in a plain TXT file — I won't consider a database until this site actually needs one.

IE 5.5 is the highest version of IE you can install on Windows 95. As for why I picked it as the compatibility target — my old laptop (a Toshiba Satellite 4010CDT) runs IE 5.5. I might write a post about that machine someday.

Honestly, after working with it I've found that IE 5.5's support for HTML 3.2 and early CSS is surprisingly solid.

Apart from the guestbook, this site has no backend, no database, no user accounts, no cookies, and no data collection of any kind. The only thing I can see is your IP address. If you don't want your IP shown when leaving a message, just uncheck "Show IP".

Why is my browser showing a warning? If you see a security warning, you're probably visiting via http:// instead of https://. This site runs both HTTP (for old devices) and HTTPS. Modern browsers flag HTTP pages as "not secure". Just make sure the address bar starts with https://.

If you're really concerned about privacy: you could even spoof a fake IP to visit this site. Who cares? Access logs stay on the server and are never shared.

It started on an ESP32-S3. After I kept piling on features, the ESP32's memory couldn't keep up, so I moved it to a cheap cloud server (a few bucks a month). Current setup:

I've thought about moving back to an ESP32 or trying a different microcontroller (like the CH32V307), but a cloud server costs pocket change per month and is way less hassle — plus my ISP doesn't provide ports 80 or 443 anyway.

No real reason — I just like doing it this way. My first blog ran on WordPress. I've also used Wiki.js and other modern frameworks.

If you're curious, I wrote a full framework audit — I had an AI review the codebase and list every technical issue and optimization opportunity.

88x31 pixel micro-banners were the "social cards" of the web from the late 90s to early 2000s. Webmasters would swap these tiny icons, displaying them in sidebars or link pages, forming a decentralized recommendation network.

I've collected over 7,500 88x31 buttons covering browser vendors (Netscape, IE), operating systems (Windows, Mac OS, Linux), programming languages (PHP, Perl, Python, C++), web hosting (GeoCities, Angelfire, Tripod), music, games — pretty much every category you can think of. It might be the largest 88x31 archive on the Chinese internet. Check the article archive for 88x31-related posts.

Absolutely. It's licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.

You can right-click and "View Page Source" to see the full HTML structure.

Not necessarily. This isn't my first blog, and it probably won't be my last.

Email me or leave a message on the guestbook.

I don't check the guestbook or GitHub notifications every day. If something is urgent, email is best.

The guestbook build flow:

If you include your email, and someone you @mention has left an email before, the system will automatically send them a notification.

Why no database?
(1) I'm too lazy to set up MySQL
(2) Any text editor can open guestbook.txt and show every message.

Don't judge me. I'm just lazy.

RSS updates automatically on every full site rebuild. Might add an email newsletter later.

October 2025, on a whim. I wanted to build a personal blog with a proper Web 1.0 aesthetic. The last time I ran a personal blog was before COVID — hard to believe. Content will be whatever comes to mind, whenever. Probably nobody reads it anyway.

Thanks for making it this far. Welcome to my corner of the web.