"I'd rather be unable to scan QR codes, download apps, and check my e-mail on the go than deal with smartphones."

I replaced a smartphone with a flip phone last month and wrote about it.

scuti.neocities.org

TCL Flip2: A Modern Flip Phone, Cure for Doomscrolling, and a Fashion Statement

I start using a flip phone as a replacement for a smartphone to distance myself from modern culture.

I also found someone else on NeoCities with the same device.

https://konat.xyz/in_house/econobox_/TCL_flip

https://neocities.org/site/konat?event_id=7396621

We have different variations however. My flip phone is from US Mobile which may come bundled with a plan with the carrier DarkStar. The one described in Konat's page is from Verizon.

The key difference is that my device does not have games pre-installed and does not load any advertisements. By comparison, I paid more for it, but I rather not have any advertisements at all. (That'd change my opinion for the worse.)

I wrote a new backend. You won't have to click crosswalks and fire hydrants to post, but the CAPTCHA method is 'human interaction'.

It is currently only on the test page, but it will later start showing up under blogs.

scuti.neocities.org

Thoughtform Manifestation: New Backend CGI

Test page for thoughtform,the backend CGI I wrote to enable more comments to my blogs.

Putting out a previously "exclusive" blog post: story of a job interview back in January.

https://scuti.neocities.org/pages/my-first-online-job-interview-ever

I get told what happened shouldn't have counted against me or that what I did 'highlighted an ability to come up with a solution on the spot' to my credit.

I even found someone else who had the same problem (in the Mozilla support link), and a resume reviewer from SCaLE 23x said I should e-mail the blog post to Indeed so the issue gets fixed.

But let me know what you think in the comments, in-person, by email, or whatever.

My trip to LayerOne posted for the microblog.

scuti.neocities.org

LayerOne 2026: Nutella Pizza,Graphics Programming, and Last Hours CTF

I attended LayerOne 2026. Got Nutella pizza, an IDE for a demoboard set up, and played in Qualcomm’s CTF

Is being able to travel as my parents did too much to ask for?

Maybe.

It's hard to believe recounts from older people when they say boarding a plane used to be as easy as boarding a bus before 9/11.

Earlier this year I made a very hard decision not to fly to France because of recent changes to international travel.

https://archive.is/https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/news/entryexit-system-will-become-fully-operational-10-april-2026-2026-03-30_en

TL;DR it is mandatory to yield a face scan and fingerprints, like a police arrest, just to enter Europe. According, there is no flexibility to ask the European equivalent of CBP to check the passport traditionally as if I flew within the United States.

Considering I originally wanted to go to visit family, meet online friends, and see the solar eclipse of 2026, yeah, that decision did not come lightly. It also doesn't help that the government can fail to properly steward the data they collect.

https://archive.is/https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/22/france-confirms-data-breach-at-government-agency-that-manages-citizens-ids/

LinkedIn isn't as good as people make it out to be?

I never joined, but I've had two co-workers tell me they had deactivated LinkedIn. (And later, a friend from a different circle did the same.)

Apparently, there's a sea of "fake recruiters" and bot accounts on LinkedIn. A way to stand out is to verify an account.

https://archive.is/https://thelocalstack.eu/posts/linkedin-identity-verification-privacy/

Every time I tried signing up for any kind of account but came across a page requesting selfie verification, I don't remove the sticker that covers the selfie camera on my phone and back out. In hindsight, I regret nothing, like I may have missed out, but I didn't have 17 different companies handling biometric information.

If you met me IRL you may have seen me carry this robot hand around for fun.

scuti.neocities.org

Robot Hands

I got two robot hands, an idea of what to do with them, and some notes so I don't forget how I set things up.

20 year old Iranian dude is okay with getting nuked.

In an article from April 6th, BBC interviewed 20 year old Iranians for their thoughts on the conflict.

https://archive.is/https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgl0ng8z0do

Radin, also in his 20s and living in Tehran, said: "About them hitting energy infrastructure, using an atomic bomb, or levelling Iran. My honest reaction is that I'm OK with all of these. Or anything else they might have in mind. If attacking targets in the country brings down the Islamic Republic, I'm fine with that. Because if the Islamic Republic survives this war, it will stay forever."

The following day, this quote was then shortened to:

Radin, also in his 20s and living in Tehran, said: "If attacking targets in the country brings down the Islamic Republic, I'm fine with that. Because if the Islamic Republic survives this war, it will stay forever."

I did my second talk at DC858. Attached a debugger to a video game live to talk about x86 assembly and cause wacky stuff to happen in-game.

scuti.neocities.org

Speak of the Devil: I did my second talk

The full title is 'Speak of the Devil: Runtime Disassembly and a Live Demo'.

I went to the wackiest and drunkest SCaLE yet.

scuti.neocities.org

SCaLE 23x: Anti-Mugshot Life and the Dark Calling of the Car Fire

I went to SCaLE23x. Acted like a total tourist in the city 2 hours north of me. Also saw a car fire on the road; therefore, I'm being summoned for another pull request by the universe.