This is a personal website built on IndieWeb principles. By using this site, you agree to these simple terms. They're designed to keep this a welcoming space for everyone.

Be Kind

The most important rule here is simple: be kind and respectful. This applies to any interactions you have on this site, including comments, replies, and any content you create through connected services.

• Treat others the way you'd like to be treated
• Engage thoughtfully and constructively
• Respect differing opinions and perspectives
• Keep discussions civil, even when you disagree

Your Account and Authentication

This site supports IndieAuth and RelMeAuth for authentication. When you sign in using your own website or identity provider:

• You are responsible for keeping your credentials secure
• You are responsible for any actions taken under your identity
• You should only authenticate from devices you trust

Micropub Integration

If your website supports Micropub, this site may request permission to create posts on your behalf. This includes interactions like:

• Likes – when you like a post here, we can publish that like to your site
• Replies – when you reply to content here, we can publish that reply to your site
• Bookmarks, reposts, and other interactions

You will always be asked for explicit consent before we request any Micropub scopes. You can review and revoke these permissions at any time through your Micropub server or IndieAuth provider.

Acceptable Use

When using this site, please don't:

• Post spam, advertisements, or unsolicited promotions
• Share content that is illegal, harmful, or violates others' rights
• Harass, bully, or discriminate against anyone
• Attempt to exploit, hack, or disrupt the site's functionality
• Impersonate others or misrepresent your identity

Content and Intellectual Property

Content you create and publish through Micropub integration remains yours. By interacting with this site, you grant permission for your interactions (likes, replies, etc.) to be displayed here.

Content on this site belongs to its respective authors. Please respect copyright and link back when sharing.

Disclaimer

This is a personal website provided "as is" without warranties of any kind. I do my best to keep things running smoothly, but I can't guarantee uninterrupted service or that the site will be free of errors.

Changes to These Terms

I may update these terms from time to time. Significant changes will be noted in the entry's updated date.

Contact

Questions about these terms? Feel free to reach out through the contact information on this site.

This is a personal IndieWeb website. I respect your privacy and aim to collect only the minimum data necessary to provide the features you use. This policy explains what information is collected and how it's used.

Information Collected

When You Visit

Like most websites, basic server logs may be recorded, including:

• IP address
• Browser type and version
• Pages visited and timestamps
• Referring URL

These logs are used for security monitoring and debugging purposes only. They are not used for tracking or profiling.

When You Sign In

This site uses IndieAuth and RelMeAuth for authentication. When you sign in, the following information may be stored:

• Your website URL (your identity)
• Your profile information (name, photo) if provided by your IndieAuth server
• Authentication tokens for your session

Your credentials are never stored on this site. Authentication is handled entirely by your own IndieAuth provider or identity service.

When You Grant Micropub Access

If you choose to connect your Micropub endpoint, this site may request permission to create posts on your website. This is entirely optional and requires your explicit consent.

The scopes we may request include:

• create – to publish likes, replies, and other interactions to your site

When you grant these permissions:

• We store an access token to communicate with your Micropub endpoint
• We only create posts when you explicitly take an action (like liking or replying)
• You can revoke access at any time through your IndieAuth provider

How Your Information Is Used

• Authentication: To verify your identity when you sign in
• Micropub: To create posts on your site when you interact with content here (only with your consent)
• Display: To show your name/photo alongside your interactions
• Security: To protect the site and its users from abuse

Information Sharing

Your information is not sold, rented, or shared with third parties for marketing purposes. Information may only be shared:

• With your Micropub endpoint (to create posts you've requested)
• If required by law
• To protect the rights and safety of users

Cookies and Sessions

This site uses cookies only for essential functionality:

• Session cookies: To maintain your login state

No tracking cookies, analytics cookies, or third-party cookies are used.

Data Retention

• Server logs: Retained for a limited period for security purposes
• Session data: Cleared when you log out or after session expiry
• Micropub tokens: Retained until you revoke access
• Interactions: Your likes, replies, and other interactions may be displayed indefinitely

Your Rights

You have the right to:

• Access information stored about you
• Request deletion of your data
• Revoke Micropub access at any time through your IndieAuth provider
• Log out and clear your session

Security

This site uses HTTPS encryption, secure session handling, and follows security best practices. However, no system is perfectly secure. Please use strong credentials with your IndieAuth provider and be mindful of the devices you use.

Changes to This Policy

This privacy policy may be updated occasionally. Significant changes will be reflected in the entry's updated date.

Contact

If you have questions about this privacy policy or your data, please reach out through the contact information on this site.

I've always been a big fan of the em dash — and I'm not the only one. Unfortunately it has become a telltale sign of AI-generated text, even if still used by many real people. And while I do use AI to help me with coding, I don't like to use it as my voice, and I don't want people thinking that my blog posts were not written by a real person.

Since I want to keep using the em dash, I started thinking if I could use something else in its place. I thought that a "double tilde" would look fun and quirky ~~ while conveying the same meaning. The problem with using two tildes is that it's not accessible: people reading the post with a screen reader will hear "tilde tilde", instead of a small pause, every time it encounters the symbols.

There are a few solutions to this problem. The easiest one is to just keep using the em dash, and use CSS to make it look different. The text could still be AI-generated, since it contains em dashes, but I'm not trying to prove that I'm human — I just want to remind the reader that behind these words is a human being who wants to convey some warmth and humor.

One problem with this solution is that I would have to add markup to every em dash:

<p>This is HTML <span class="custom-em-dash">—</span> with some CSS.</p>

And even if I could do a programmatic search-and-replace, it's still a bit ugly.

Can I do this without any special markup? As far as I know there's no way to do this in pure CSS, but there's is a clever way of doing it with CSS and a custom font:

@font-face {
  font-family: "QuirkDash Connected";
  src:
  url("/path/to/quirk-dash-connected.woff2") format("woff2"),
       url("/path/to/quirk-dash-connected.ttf") format("truetype");
  unicode-range: U+2014; /* EM DASH ONLY */
  font-display: swap;
}

Here, "QuirkDash Connected" is a custom font with just one symbol, an em dash that looks like this: —

Since it has only one symbol, I need a fallback font:

body {
  font-family: "QuirkDash Connected", system-ui, ...;
}

This will make the browser use the custom font for em dashes, and other fonts for any other characters. Because I'm still using an em dash, screen readers will pause when they encounter them, and other people (not you reading this from RSS) will see my quirky symbol.