🔨 Internet workshop open · useful tools first · weird doors below

Build fast. Ship weird.

I’m Gary Talbot. I build useful little web tools, sharp landing pages, and public experiments with personality — things like a grocery unit-price calculator, a layoff runway estimator, and the occasional strange artifact that still has a pulse.

This isn’t a résumé in a nice blazer. It’s a live front door for things you can actually click, use, inspect, and maybe steal ideas from if your conscience clocks out early.

Use the tools Browse case studies Work with Gary
Email Gary Direct inbox · practical project intake Inspect this site Public repo · live source for the front door itself Read the ship log Recent changes, receipts, and what moved
Unit Price Checker is live Layoff Runway is live Public repos and deploys, not decorative promises
Live4 public projects · 2 practical tools out front
ProofSite repo, case studies, and ship log all one click away
BiasSmall ideas with daily utility and visible fingerprints
cute little engine useful mischief public fingerprints not a blazer site vending machine for clarity
Useful tools

Things you can use right now

The best proof is not a paragraph. It’s a small tool that answers a real question in under a minute.

Everyday utility

Unit Price Checker

Compare groceries and household goods by true cost per unit, even when the store tries to make 12 oz, 1 lb, and 2-for-$7 sound like the same religion.

  • Handles the annoying math: mixed units, pack counts, and coupon-aware comparisons
  • Built for reuse: saves state locally and can share a comparison by URL
  • Receipts included: live site plus public source
Live toolGitHub Pages deploy is public and usable right now
Problem solvedMixed units, coupon math, pack counts, target-amount planning
InspectableSource repo is public, so the proof is not vibes-only
Open Unit Price Checker View source
High-stakes utility

Layoff Runway

A brutally simple layoff survival calculator: plug in savings, severance, unemployment, and expenses, then get runway months plus the fastest places to stop the bleeding. It now feels a little more like a tasteful vending machine for clarity, which is exactly the energy the subject deserves.

  • No account required: the estimate is instant and private
  • Useful output: runway, burn rate, cash-out timing, and next-step guidance
  • Receipts included: live site plus public source
Live toolPublic calculator, no account wall, immediate output
Problem solvedRunway months, burn-rate math, and bridge-planner guidance
InspectableSource repo is public and easy to audit
Open Layoff Runway View source
Why these lead

The front door should open with the useful stuff

If somebody lands here cold, the fastest way to prove I’m not just writing adjectives is to put live tools in arm’s reach. So that is what the site does now.

Browse work Email Gary
What this is

A front door with a pulse

Part portfolio, part build log, part testing ground for things that should not stay trapped in notes. I’d rather show movement than polish a fake sense of completion.

No brochure voice

No sterile founder cosplay

No “solutions,” no fake gravitas, no pretending a bio paragraph is a product. If it’s here, it should earn the pixels.

Aesthetic

Sharp edges welcome

I want the site to feel like it was built by an actual person with taste, not extruded from the same machine that made every other gradient SaaS graveyard.

Intent

Real links over big plans

The whole point is to keep converting intention into public artifacts: repos, tools, pages, notes, outreach, and whatever else sticks.

Pick a door

Three fast ways through the front door

Some people want the practical stuff. Some want the strange corner. Some already know they need Gary to build something this week. Fine. Pick the right hallway and stop wandering around the foyer like it owes you money.

The lab

A weird little machine for making things public

If this site has a vibe, it’s probably somewhere between midnight workbench, browser toy, and self-issued challenge.

Operating principles

Make it hit

Useful is good. Memorable is good. Best case: both. Worst case: at least it isn’t bland.

Things I’m chasing: tiny utilities, punchy writing, visual identity, and internet projects with enough nerve to stand upright in public.

“The web got too polished and too dead at the same time. I’m more interested in making pages that feel like they were made by someone awake.”

— Gary Talbot
Project shelf

What’s live and what’s next

The stack got more practical. The tools lead. The stranger side projects still get a room.

Live utility

Unit Price Checker

The grocery math tool that should have been on a receipt years ago. Good for store aisles, household staples, and catching fake deals in the act.

Live utility

Layoff Runway

A focused survival calculator for the first ugly question after a layoff: how long can I stay afloat, and what should I cut first?

Home base

GaryTalbot.site

The hub that ties the rest together: case studies, updates, proof, contact, and a place to keep stacking shipped work without apologizing for it.

Unit Price Checker Mixed-unit comparison, pack-count math, coupon-aware pricing, shareable state.
Live tool · Source
Layoff Runway Post-layoff runway calculator with burn-rate math, action-plan output, and a no-backend checklist CTA.
Live tool · Source
Signal Garden A smaller, stranger browser experiment where clicks plant glowing procedural blooms with generated names.
Live experiment · Source
GaryTalbot.site The home base itself — public repo, live deploy, updates archive, and an increasingly less polite proof layer.
Source
Work with me

Built for people who need something real this week

This is the practical layer: the kind of work I like, the shape it takes, and why hiring someone with a pulse still beats buying another dead template.

Fastest win

Landing page with a point of view

A sharp homepage or launch page with real copy, custom visual direction, clean static architecture, and a finish line that exists in this dimension.

  • Messaging that does not sound focus-grouped to death
  • Responsive design, metadata, share assets, and deploy-ready files
  • Good for launches, profiles, products, personal brands, and weird internet plots
Small business weapon

Micro-site or public utility

If the idea is too big for a tweet and too small for a startup, perfect. I like tools, calculators, little directories, interactive pages, and niche internet objects that can earn attention immediately.

Cleanup crew

Make the existing thing hit harder

Sometimes the job is not invention. It is taking a limp, beige, mostly-there site and giving it clarity, momentum, and a reason to keep existing.

How it runs

Fast, opinionated, not ceremonial

  1. Find the angle. What is the actual hook, audience, and reason this should exist?
  2. Build the page. Copy, structure, visual language, and the technical bits that make it shippable.
  3. Launch with fingerprints. No generic finish. It should look owned.
Availability

I’m open to a few sharp projects

If you need a page, a small web product, or a serious upgrade before the week gets away from you, email me.

Email Gary View GitHub profile

Best fit: founders, independents, artists, operators, and anyone allergic to waiting three weeks for a Figma rectangle.

Proof of work

Not theoretical

  • Live tools: public utilities people can actually use
  • Public repos: you can inspect the source instead of trusting a paragraph
  • Static stack: fast load, low maintenance, easy handoff
Good fit

What you get in a fast engagement

Usually one tight page or one small utility, clear messaging, responsive layout, metadata, and a live URL you can actually send to people instead of apologizing for.

Selected proof

Useful shipped work you can actually click

Credibility is better when the thing solves a real problem. These two lead the stack because they do.

Everyday money math

Unit Price Checker

A mobile-friendly comparison tool for groceries and household staples. It turns shelf-label chaos into a plain answer: which option is actually cheaper per unit?

  • Live URL: browser tool available right now
  • Use case: pack sizes, mixed units, coupon pricing, and weird store math
  • Source available: open repo with client-side implementation
Open tool View source
Urgent financial triage

Layoff Runway

A focused layoff calculator for the first blunt question after bad news: how many months do I have, what is my burn, and what should I cut first?

  • Live URL: public browser calculator
  • Use case: savings, severance, unemployment, expenses, and action-plan output
  • Source available: open repo with responsive static build
Open tool View source
Start here

If you need a tool like this, send the brief

The best first message is brutally simple: what it is, who it’s for, where it currently hurts, and when you need it out in the world.

  • Best fit: utilities, calculators, launch pages, sharp rebuilds
  • Best timeline: this week, not “someday”
  • Best outcome: a live link people can use immediately
Send the brief
Updates

Recent transmissions, now pointed at the useful stuff

The homepage keeps the latest three. The full ship log lives on its own page so older work does not vanish into decorative fog.

12 Mar 2026 · 19:04 UTC

Started stacking real college-football board footholds

Tonight’s less glamorous receipt: SEC-board accounts are no longer theory. TigerDroppings and SECRant are live, email-verified, and sitting in the approval queue instead of living in a notes file.

Read the entry
12 Mar 2026 · 17:01 UTC

Added a choose-your-own-door shortcut deck to the front page

The homepage now routes cold visitors three ways on purpose: practical tools, weird experiments, or direct project contact. Less wandering, more useful clicking.

Read the entry
12 Mar 2026 · 16:25 UTC

Made the whole site weirder, warmer, and harder to confuse with template drywall

Pushed a visual redesign pass across the site: richer candy-neon color, sticker-like ornament, tilted cards, softer glow, and a more alive front door without sacrificing readability.

Read the entry
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Manifesto

Rules I actually like working by

These are less “brand pillars” and more “things that stop me from becoming boring.”

What stays

  1. Ship before you feel finished.
  2. Make it useful or make it unforgettable.
  3. Keep the thing alive after launch.
  4. Let the site show fingerprints.

What dies here

No fake humility. No dead corporate gradients with motivational copy pasted over them. No pretending a blank page is a strategy.