Gene's Blog

Colophon

As time goes on, this site continues to grow, shrink, and evolve (and hopefully not devolve). This page will stay updated as the de facto window into the technical and philosophical components that make up the blog.

Component	Link
Source Code	https://github.com/GeneMarks/blog.genemarks.net
SSG	Eleventy [1]
CSS Framework	Tailwind CSS
Hosting
Server OS	Debian 13 "trixie"
Syntax Highlighting	Shiki
Diagramming	Mermaid
Search	Pagefind
Comments	Isso [2]
Web Analytics	GoatCounter [2:1]
Licensing	Written content licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0; Source code licensed under MIT

Privacy and transparency are at the forefront of my mind while developing this site. When you use this site, you may come into contact with:

• 1 localStorage entry for saving your theme preference (if you click the button)
• 3 localStorage entries for saving your commenting information (if you comment)
• 1 cookie that lasts a few minutes after commenting to determine if you can still edit/delete

Here is a more detailed look at each:

If you choose not to use these features, these entries won't affect you.

I do not use any first-party or third-party tracking on this site. For basic, anonymized web analytics, I use a self-hosted service that you can read more about below.

Self-hosting is very important to me. Every service that my site uses (e.g. commenting, analytics) is run on my own headless Debian server. I am firm in keeping this site's technologies local.

This site uses Isso with fully custom css. I've also implemented minimizing/maximizing comment chain functionality like on Reddit.

I know the site would be lighter without them... but as someone who's been on forums since the early 00's I just like them too much.

This server hosts an instance of GoatCounter that you can check out at stats.genemarks.net. I chose GoatCounter because it is lean and respectful to site users' privacy.

GoatCounter doesn’t store IP addresses, the full User-Agent header, or any tracker ID. It also doesn’t store any information in the browser with cookies, localStorage, cache, or any other method. GoatCounter Privacy Policy

I burn through different design phases more often than I'd like to admit. While you might see the site change every once in a while, I hold a few persistent values that aren't going anywhere.

The site should be as simple and intuitive as possible. The site is merely a way to present the data to the user in an easily-digestible fashion. I won't use web fonts, icon sets, or animation libraries.

Don't get me wrong, I love wacky or "themed" websites. I grew up on sites like Nitrome and spent countless hours surfing the web via badge clicks. But after being indecisive on this site's layouts and theming, I now target the user experience first.

The site should be made of simple, left-to-right top-to-bottom pages with elements rooted in the original design of the web that users are familiar with.

Approaching web development from an accessibility standpoint is admittedly not something I had even considered for the majority of my time on the internet. Now, making my work accessible is an ongoing learning experience that I remain committed to. I will strive to keep up with best practices and gladly update the site with improvements for users with disabilities.

This site does not use any generative AI. The source code and articles are always written and reviewed by Gene Marks.

If you have any questions at all, feel free to drop me a line at mail@genemarks.net.