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Letteract: a Card Game with Words

April 22, 2024

It’s been a while since I made a game. In fact, if I’m not mistaken, the previous effort was about a year ago, with The Clock Village. This time I thought to make something far simpler, so here’s Letteract, a card game with words.

The setup and rules are very simple, as you will see. The program didn’t take more than two or three days to put together, and another few to polish some details.

Letteract, a free card game with words. Screenshot of the game.
Here’s the main screen of the game. The card deck is customizable (i.e. you can choose the design)
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An Iambic Pentameter Checker in JavaScript

January 15, 2024

My iambic pentameter generator has been one of the most popular posts of the blog. To be honest, I’m not sure if that’s still the case or not. Since I completely revamped the blog (actually even earlier), I removed Google and Jetpack analytics. In any case, today we’ll be looking at, essentially, the reverse scenario: We’re making a very simple iambic pentameter checker.

Just in case you need a reminder, an iambic pentameter line consists of ten syllables, of which every other is stressed. For instance, “And you, my sinews, grow not instant old” (from Hamlet).

So, how can we create a JavaScript iambic pentameter checker that tells us if a line is an iambic pentameter or not?

iambic pentameter checker, AI render of Shakespeare using a computer
I couldn’t resist using AI to generate this image of Shakespeare using a laptop. Like all tools, AI tools can be fun and useful, if one understands their limitations…
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Anger as Motivation: Revamping the Home for Fiction Blog

January 8, 2024

You might recall that some time ago I completely revamped the main site of Home for Fiction. In the same post I mentioned how one day, if I’d only find the motivation and energy, I’d completely redo the blog, too. Turns out, anger is great motivation. You’re reading a brand new Home for Fiction blog.

Where the anger (and motivation) came from? Before I tell you, know this: The whole process took about a week. It would’ve likely taken even less if it hadn’t happened during the holidays. That’s right; it took me about a week to go from “fuck this shit!” to coding my blog from scratch. Here’s how – and why anger, with certain constraints, can be useful.

anger as motivation; painting of people sitting at  a table outside
This is the image that greets you on the front page of the Home for Fiction blog. Albert Camus’s quotation below it is also relevant to a discussion on anger and motivation: “The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.”
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