Hello,
I'm Axel.

I'm a Design Engineer living in Hermosillo, Mexico. I've been working in the software development industry for pretty much my entire adult life, in roles related to both front-end development and design. I lived through the browser wars, the web standards movement, social media becoming mainstream, and the decay of privacy online. Today I'm very much into the indie web and the small web movements. This website is my hub on the web, from work to hobbies and everything in-between.
Axel Valdez

Content Timeline

This timeline shows the 20 most recent posts across the blog, the stream of consciousness, memories, and links sections.

  1. A website to destroy all websites

    henry.codes/writing/a-website-to-destroy-all-websites/

    “How to win the war for the soul of the internet and build the Web We Want.”

  3. Everybody's talking about how Steve Jobs was a product guy and Tim Cook wasn't (we've heard every analisis youtuber say the words "supply chain" every single time they talk about Cook), and how now Apple will be back with John Ternus as a product guy. But Ternus is a hardware guy. Steve Jobs was definitely not a hardware guy. Or a software guy. Steve Jobs was the Rick Rubin of tech products. A vibe-tech-product-developer.

    Thought #29

  4. I miss email

    I miss email as a personal communication tool. Surely I still use it, but it is 20% paper trail for transactions, and 80% cold-messaging from companies I don't know—or plain old spam, if there's even a difference.

    Continue reading →

  5. Kindness

    This is a note from my journal that works as a constant reminder of being kind, something that's very important on my current journey. I share it here because, as simple and silly as it may seem, sometimes finding something simple at the right time can give someone a shift in perspective, and I've found innumerable things on my own path that I'm extremely grateful for.

    Continue reading →

  7. Journaling

    In its simplest form, journaling is keeping a record of our thoughts, emotions, and reactions to our circumstances. It gives us a history to revisit, reference material that would otherwise get lost in unreachable corners of our memory. I've gone back to pages from 4 or 5 years ago and been surprised to realize that I'd already lived through situations similar to current events I considered new.

    Continue reading →

  8. Give me ADHD and a timer and I will conquer the world.

    Thought #27

  9. 52 Factorial Seconds

    youtube.com/shorts/L0nmxIQWefA

    The amount of possible combinations of a shuffled playing cards deck absolutely blows my mind. If I think hard enough about it I start hyperventilating.

  11. It is in a state of pain that we find most answers to our own unknowns. If we keep avoiding pain, steering away from painful situations out of fear of discomfort, we remain static, just watching life pass us by.

    Thought #26

  12. Starbucks isn’t a coffee chain. It’s a global network of clean restrooms with a coffee side hustle. Overpriced? Charge me double, I don't care. Some heroes wear aprons and misspell your name.

    Thought #25

  13. Notebooks

    For years I’ve tried to have a digital-only note system, but it’s difficult. It’s easy to have an organized archive for quick-reference in digital form, but for daily on-the-go notes nothing beats the availability of pen and paper.

    Continue reading →

  14. How Generative Music Works

    teropa.info/loop

    An impressive, very well explained and interactive presentation about generative music. Super inspiring.

  15. Demonstration of how easy it is to stop thinking

    youtube.com/watch?v=YiLkudRIqLg

    Very simple and impressive demonstration of how to create silence in your mind.

  16. Kagi Small Web

    kagi.com/smallweb

    A website to discover non-commercial, independent and made-by-individuals pages and blog posts. The UI is very much like StumbleUpon (RIP).

  17. Kagi Small YouTube

    kagi.com/smallweb/?yt

    Pretty much the same as Kagi Small Web (see previous link), but for it surfaces YouTube videos from creators with less than 400k subscribers.

  18. Slash Pages

    slashpages.net

    A list of common pages you can add to your personal website. By Robb Knight.

  19. It is ridiculous to watch a season of a TV series and then having to wait 2-3 years for a new season. Something has to change, and I think it will as soon as someone figure it out and the rest have to follow through or lose audience.

    Thought #24

Web Rings

I participate in several IndieWeb and SmallWeb webrings.

If you don't know what a webring is, you're probably too young and/or too cool. Here's an explanation.