💖 Website News 💖
2025 November Word Counting Calendar is available for novel writing month!
Site Archived – This site was archived on August 12, 2025. While I'm selecting a new blogging platform, this archive will keep my old content accessible. Let me know if something isn't working via Mastodon or Bluesky!
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Welcome to my [archived] website!
Visit dsriseah.com if you are looking for recent writing. If you are subscribed to the RSS feed, it redirects to dsriseah.com.
There are three main topics I write about on this site:
- Designing Productivity Tools – I make tracking tools like the Emergent Task Planner, which you can find in the Productivity Tools section. I hate ugly forms, so I apply principles of visual hierarchy to make information as clear and beautiful as I can. The design thinking behind the tools may be of interest to process-oriented souls.
- The Challenge of Creative Development – The Internet often presents creative work as fast and easy, but this paints a false picture of the difficulty of learning something new. I write about my own challenges so other people on this path might know they are not alone.
- Sharing Experiments, Projects, and Processes – To get unstuck, I make-up experiments to help convert uncertainty and fear of failure into useful data. After all, when you fail an experiment, you are guaranteed new insight! I also like sharing what I like about science, graphic design, computer programming, and psychology in novel and amusing ways
Sri's Open Studio
Sri’s Virtual Coworking Cafe (DS|CAFE) is an open studio where I and others create a productive vibe as we pursue our individual goals. This is where a lot of my daily writing goes in the form of live blogging and process sharing. Unlike this blog, you can be an active participant! The general idea is to provide the level of distraction you need to have a productive day.
Unlike other coworking spaces, DS|CAFE is explicitly designed to host the conditions where friendships can grow organically. The general idea is to encourage the sharing of stories, experiences, and knowledge. By also rewarding authenticity, transparency, and curiosity through our patterns of conversational practice, I think this leads to the kind of environment where growing familiarity helps nurture the seeds of friendship.
More simply: we just try to to be nice to each other in a heartfelt and genuine manner 😀
If you’re interested in joining DS|CAFE, you’ll find the details on the virtual coworking page.
Discord Overview
Here's what you need to join DS|CAFE. You can find more details on the virtual coworking page.
(1) Sign up for a Discord account
After you create your account, you can install the Discord apps on your computer/mobile device or use their web client.
(2) Click the Server Invitation Link
You'll find this link on the virtual coworking page.
(3) Important! Accept the Server Guidelines!
As protection against spam, you need click a special
reaction emoji at the bottom of the
#accept-guidelines channel. It looks
like a "thumbs up" 👍
Until you do this, the server will be invisible to you!!!
On success, you'll see our default
Coworking Rooms. Say hi in our main
#chat and someone will help you get to
know the server!
About DSri
As a kid I liked to write and draw. I drews lots of pictures of spaceships.
Later I spent a lot of time on my Apple II, learning to read machine language and draw computer graphics. For college I almost picked English as a major, but decided to pursue computer engineering and graphics design as part of my master plan to make lots of video games with spaceships.
In the mid 1990s, I was part of a tiny startup game
company in the Boston area to make a game called
Crixa, and after that company folded I
moved to Florida to work at Electronic Arts. I soon
realized that I was not a good fit for the industry,
and after a lot of painful soul searching I left the
business entirely to practice interactive design.
These days I work as a freelance designer/developer
using video game technology for
Learning Sciences research software
and
interactive installations, currently with Javascript and NodeJS. I also have
a side hustle selling versions of my
productivity tools
on
Amazon.
On a personal note, I’m a second-generation
Taiwanese
American living in Southern New Hampshire about 40
miles north of Boston. I’m
transitioning from the name
“Dave” to “Sri”
(pronounced SREEE), which is a long story in itself.
My preferred pronouns are
they/them.
I really like curry, daylight-balanced lighting,
hats, cats, select rodents, gadgets that work better
upside-down, temperature control of all kinds, and
gear that is obsessively designed to provide utility
that empowers people. I especially like
excellence-seeking positive-minded people who are
generous, conscientious, curious, and kind.
