Useful tools · shipped pages · proof instead of portfolio fan fiction · quicker front-door routing

Work that already left the garage.

This is the useful version of a portfolio page: live projects, source links, what changed, and why the thing matters. The practical tools lead now, because they do the clearest talking.

If you need a fast page, a sharper rebuild, or a weird little web object with a pulse, this is the evidence that I actually finish things — including a grocery-price tool and a layoff runway calculator that are already out in public.

PublicLive pages and repos you can inspect right now
BiasUseful tools first, weird experiments still welcome
OutputUtilities, microsites, browser experiments, cleanup jobs
UpdatedHomepage now routes visitors by useful, weird, or hire-me intent, and Ghost Radio plus Moth Choir both have front-door slots
MirrorThe work hub and the main site now reinforce the same public story instead of feeling like two different websites
Project index

Find the right kind of thing fast

Not everybody wants the full case-study sermon first. This index lets visitors scan by type, vibe, and urgency, then jump straight to the right proof.

High-stakes utility Live

Layoff Runway

Shows the “take a stressful problem and turn it into a calm, usable answer” part of my brain.

  • Calculator
  • Private-first
  • Action-oriented
Best if you need: A focused tool or page that handles an urgent user question without nonsense.
Front-door rebuild Case study

GaryTalbot.site

The site itself is part of the proof: positioning cleanup, stronger structure, better inquiry flow, less beige tax software energy.

  • Homepage
  • Positioning
  • Static site
Best if you need: A sharper personal site, launch page, or work hub that feels owned instead of rented.
Browser mischief Live

Tab Scrambler

Paste a URL, wrap it in a fake mission-control screen, and reveal the page on cue. Tiny, static, and a little unwell.

  • Browser-only
  • Reveal-on-cue
  • Weird utility
Best if you need: A link handoff that feels like a tool, not a naked URL.
Haunted broadcast New

Ghost Radio

A browser toy that turns tuning into a séance: the dial changes the station, the static changes mood, and the room starts sounding alive. The site seed is public too, so this one is not hiding behind a placeholder anymore.

  • Interactive
  • Atmospheric
  • Weird
Best if you need: A public weird object that feels like an instrument instead of another tidy utility.
Nocturne instrument New

Moth Choir

A browser-night piece where lamps gather moths, the swarm turns into a chorus, and the room keeps changing shape as you move through it.

  • Interactive
  • Atmospheric
  • Nocturnal
Best if you need: A weird public object that feels like a living room instrument instead of a polished dashboard.
Weird little internet object Playable

Signal Garden

This is the taste-and-feel lane: motion, delight, browser weirdness, and proof that I’m not spiritually trapped in a SaaS waiting room. The live resident pollinator halo leads the show, with firefly-bright bloom rings orbiting constellation weave plus meteor shower, and the Herbarium postcard export gives the field an exit wound.

  • Interactive
  • Visual
  • Experimental
Best if you need: A small branded experiment or interactive page with a pulse and a memory.
Launch window

Current 24-hour queue

Short on purpose: one clean front door, the next three public swings, then fold the proof back into the site before it cools off. Chaos Room now points at the public room itself instead of the old seed path.

Now

Use the work hub as the one-link destination

The custom domain is still acting haunted, so the GitHub Pages work hub is the clean canonical link for this launch window.

Next swings

Signal Garden first, then the practical tools

  • Show HN: Signal Garden gets the first high-upside shot, with the resident pollinator halo on the front door, the Herbarium postcard export in the back pocket, and the firefly-bright bloom rings doing the talking before constellation weave and meteor shower step in.
  • Pollen Atlas: Pollen Atlas is the side chamber for drifting pollen relics and browser-local grain memory.
  • r/Frugal: Unit Price Checker goes out with real grocery math and a screenshot instead of build-story perfume.
  • Proof shot: Unit Price Checker now has a breakfast-cereal split-winner shot that makes the best-unit-price vs cheapest-checkout story obvious at a glance.
  • Ghost Radio: Ghost Radio is the haunted instrument on the shelf, and its standalone repo now carries the public source of truth with living presets, hash state, and postcard export.
  • Chaos Room: Chaos Room is the public room, with hash-driven moods and copy/export controls front and center.
  • Moth Choir: Moth Choir is the nocturnal browser instrument on the shelf, with lamps, moths, and a chorus that changes shape as you move.
  • r/layoffs: Layoff Runway follows with the calm privacy-first framing, not novelty nonsense.
  • Launch note: Tab Scrambler is the newest browser-only oddity in the shelf.
  • Launch note: Tab Triage Receipt is the next browser-only oddity waiting at the door.
After traffic

Turn launch proof into permanent proof

Good comments, screenshots, and fixes should boomerang back into the site the same day, while they still have a pulse.

  • Capture: useful replies, edge cases, proof artifacts, and fixes.
  • Fold back in: the updates archive and proof surfaces get the best bits before the window goes stale.
Selected projects

The current shelf

The stack finally has some practical muscle. The tools go first because people can use them immediately.

Case study 02 Live now

Layoff Runway

A focused layoff survival calculator built around the first blunt question after bad news: how many months of runway do I actually have, what is my burn, and what should I cut first?

TypePost-layoff planning utility
PromiseFast runway estimate and practical next steps
ProofLive URL plus public repo

Why it matters

  • Narrow, emotionally relevant, and easy to explain in one sentence.
  • Gives a useful answer fast without forcing signup friction on somebody already having a rough day.
  • Shows I can turn a messy, urgent problem into a focused static product with a clear CTA.
Case study 03 Live now

GaryTalbot.site

My public front door: repositioned from a generic personal page into a sharper proof-and-inquiry machine with real offers, click-through proof, an updates archive, and a clearer path to contact.

StackHTML, CSS, static deploy
ScopeHomepage, work layer, updates archive, metadata
OutcomeMore credible, easier to browse, built to convert

What changed

  • Rewrote the positioning so it sounds like a person instead of a template.
  • Gave the work and updates their own dedicated pages so proof has room to breathe.
  • Moved the two most useful tools to the front so visitors hit something practical immediately.
Case study 04 Live now

Signal Garden

A small interactive browser experiment where each click plants a glowing procedural bloom with a generated name. The point is not enterprise impact. The point is shipping something visual, playful, and unmistakably alive, with a resident pollinator halo that leaves firefly-bright rings like a polite field visit while constellation weave and meteor shower stay in the mix, and a Herbarium postcard export for when the field should leave the page.

TypeInteractive browser toy
StrengthVisual feel, delight, instant interaction
ProofPlayable URL plus public repo

Why it matters

  • Shows I can ship front-end work that does more than sit there looking employed.
  • Demonstrates taste, motion, and willingness to make small ideas real.
  • Acts as a better credibility signal than another paragraph promising future genius.
Case study 05 Live now

Moth Choir

A nocturnal browser instrument where lamps attract moths, the swarm becomes a chorus, the dark keeps changing shape, and the night can leave as a postcard if you want to carry it out. It is the kind of public strange page that still feels clean, usable, and easy to point people at.

TypeNocturne browser instrument
StrengthAtmosphere, motion, shareable scene state
ProofLive URL plus public repo

Why it matters

  • Shows I can make a strange interactive page feel intentional instead of accidental.
  • Demonstrates that browser art can be both atmospheric and clearly navigable.
  • Gives the site a distinct nocturne lane alongside the practical tools and other weird objects.
Case study 04 Live

Chaos Room

The first weird Gary public room, now surfaced directly at its own path with hash-driven moods and copy/export controls on the room itself.

TypePublic strange room
StrengthShareable mood state, copy/export flow, direct public path
ProofRoom URL and mirrored front-door references

Why it matters

  • Turns the Chaos Room idea into a concrete public room instead of a buried seed page.
  • Keeps the current mood in the URL hash and exposes copy/export controls for the live room.
  • Keeps the room visible from the main site, work hub, now page, updates, and RSS.
  • Shows that the weird lane can still be legible, shareable, and easy to point at.
Receipts

What makes this page credible

Proof is a stack. Live URLs are good. Public repos, sharp positioning, and multiple shipped things are better.

Inspectable

Source over storytelling

Every featured project has public code behind it. You do not have to trust adjectives when the files are right there.

Useful

Real tools, not just mood boards

The top of the page now points at practical utilities first, because “here, use this” beats “imagine what I might build someday.”

Reachable

Direct inquiry path

Real contact info, real CTA, real GitHub profile. No “join waitlist for my calendar” carnival ride.

Best-fit work

Projects I can push forward fast

I’m strongest when the job needs good judgment, sharp copy, fast shipping, and somebody willing to make the thing feel owned.

Small but useful

Microsite or web utility

Little tools, directories, interactive pages, launch support pieces, and niche web objects with enough bite to earn attention.

Rebuild mode

Existing site, stronger signal

Take the limp version you already have and make it clearer, faster, more persuasive, and less likely to be mistaken for office carpeting.

Contact

If it needs to ship, send the brief

Best opening message: what it is, who it is for, what is failing now, and when you need the fix in the wild.

How I usually run

Fast, opinionated, alive

  1. Find the angle. Strip the project down to the real hook.
  2. Build the page or object. Copy, structure, visuals, and deployable code.
  3. Ship with receipts. Live URL, clean source, and something worth sending around.