Owen Lacey
@owenlacey.dev
Developer / Maths nerd / Attention seeker
๐ owenlacey.dev
๐ Leeds, UK
๐ owenlacey.dev
๐ Leeds, UK
Pinned
Owen Lacey
@owenlacey.dev
ยท Nov 10
"Are you the one?" is free money
blog.owenlacey.dev
Really happy to have published this post that I've been working on for a few months now ๐ฅฐ
Safe to say I enjoy these side quests - I'd like to think it's the first of many!
blog.owenlacey.dev/posts/are-yo...
Safe to say I enjoy these side quests - I'd like to think it's the first of many!
blog.owenlacey.dev/posts/are-yo...
This is a bit of me momath.org/mindbenders/
Monthly Mindbenders โ National Museum of Mathematics
National Museum of Mathematics: Inspiring math exploration and discovery
momath.org
January 17, 2026 at 1:38 PM
This is a bit of me momath.org/mindbenders/
And this is why I kind of like the name "side quests" for stuff like this. Half the fun for me is the exploratory nature of it, I find blogging about things I'm an "expert" on tedious/boring
January 17, 2026 at 1:14 PM
And this is why I kind of like the name "side quests" for stuff like this. Half the fun for me is the exploratory nature of it, I find blogging about things I'm an "expert" on tedious/boring
I'll start: 25%?
My idea for the AYTO post (pinned) came after watching this 3B1B video: youtu.be/v68zYyaEmEA?...
It was only when I applied the techniques to a specific example I was able to properly articulate it, so I made the post
My idea for the AYTO post (pinned) came after watching this 3B1B video: youtu.be/v68zYyaEmEA?...
It was only when I applied the techniques to a specific example I was able to properly articulate it, so I made the post
Solving Wordle using information theory
YouTube video by 3Blue1Brown
youtu.be
January 17, 2026 at 1:10 PM
I'll start: 25%?
My idea for the AYTO post (pinned) came after watching this 3B1B video: youtu.be/v68zYyaEmEA?...
It was only when I applied the techniques to a specific example I was able to properly articulate it, so I made the post
My idea for the AYTO post (pinned) came after watching this 3B1B video: youtu.be/v68zYyaEmEA?...
It was only when I applied the techniques to a specific example I was able to properly articulate it, so I made the post
Tech bloggers: finger in the air, what % of your posts did you know or understand before you started the thing?
January 17, 2026 at 1:07 PM
Tech bloggers: finger in the air, what % of your posts did you know or understand before you started the thing?
Reposted by Owen Lacey
A sneak peek at the hero for my next samwho.dev blog post. Itโs still very early so donโt expect to see this published any time soon.
I want to talk about the enormous rabbit hole I let myself fall into, and why this post has taken longer to get off the ground than my others.
I want to talk about the enormous rabbit hole I let myself fall into, and why this post has taken longer to get off the ground than my others.
January 17, 2026 at 11:31 AM
A sneak peek at the hero for my next samwho.dev blog post. Itโs still very early so donโt expect to see this published any time soon.
I want to talk about the enormous rabbit hole I let myself fall into, and why this post has taken longer to get off the ground than my others.
I want to talk about the enormous rabbit hole I let myself fall into, and why this post has taken longer to get off the ground than my others.
Learning about p5js recently, so made a tiny repo as a dumping ground for future doodles
github.com/owen-lacey/p...
github.com/owen-lacey/p...
GitHub - owen-lacey/p5js-playground
Contribute to owen-lacey/p5js-playground development by creating an account on GitHub.
github.com
January 16, 2026 at 8:55 PM
Learning about p5js recently, so made a tiny repo as a dumping ground for future doodles
github.com/owen-lacey/p...
github.com/owen-lacey/p...
Reposted by Owen Lacey
"Polar coordinates"
explores some famous conformal maps (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conform...), I still remember being galaxy-brained when I discovered this principle โจ
boids for scale.
#genuary #genuary10 #genuary26
explores some famous conformal maps (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conform...), I still remember being galaxy-brained when I discovered this principle โจ
boids for scale.
#genuary #genuary10 #genuary26
January 14, 2026 at 10:07 AM
"Polar coordinates"
explores some famous conformal maps (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conform...), I still remember being galaxy-brained when I discovered this principle โจ
boids for scale.
#genuary #genuary10 #genuary26
explores some famous conformal maps (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conform...), I still remember being galaxy-brained when I discovered this principle โจ
boids for scale.
#genuary #genuary10 #genuary26
This inspired me to look at manual approaches for minimizing the edge distance for my hollywood actors graph (keeping the lovely vobel layout). Here's a before & after - with a >50% reduction in edge length ๐ช
Thanks @macwright.com !
Thanks @macwright.com !
January 14, 2026 at 8:59 AM
This inspired me to look at manual approaches for minimizing the edge distance for my hollywood actors graph (keeping the lovely vobel layout). Here's a before & after - with a >50% reduction in edge length ๐ช
Thanks @macwright.com !
Thanks @macwright.com !
Playing with graph layouts using the golden angle. The best solutions are always the simplest ๐ฅฐ
January 12, 2026 at 10:17 PM
Playing with graph layouts using the golden angle. The best solutions are always the simplest ๐ฅฐ
Retrospectively added storybook support to this as well to allow you to click around (why didn't I think of this at the time?!)
January 12, 2026 at 3:52 PM
Retrospectively added storybook support to this as well to allow you to click around (why didn't I think of this at the time?!)
Using a SAT solver to create your own layout is ๐คฏ๐คฏ๐คฏ
January 12, 2026 at 4:02 AM
Using a SAT solver to create your own layout is ๐คฏ๐คฏ๐คฏ
This is completely hypnotic ๐ตโ๐ซ
kywch.github.io/games/2048.h...
kywch.github.io/games/2048.h...
2048 Game - Kyoung Whan Choe
kywch.github.io
January 11, 2026 at 9:08 PM
This is completely hypnotic ๐ตโ๐ซ
kywch.github.io/games/2048.h...
kywch.github.io/games/2048.h...
*frantically starts listening to cool music*
January 11, 2026 at 4:54 PM
*frantically starts listening to cool music*
One nice side-effect of my plan to merge owenlacey.dev and blog.owenlacey.dev is that I can make my next.js server actions their own dedicated service.
So ๐ฅ: api.owenlacey.dev
Currently a single endpoint at /now-playing, where you can see what I'm listening to on spotify rn
So ๐ฅ: api.owenlacey.dev
Currently a single endpoint at /now-playing, where you can see what I'm listening to on spotify rn
Owen Lacey
owenlacey.dev
January 11, 2026 at 4:54 PM
One nice side-effect of my plan to merge owenlacey.dev and blog.owenlacey.dev is that I can make my next.js server actions their own dedicated service.
So ๐ฅ: api.owenlacey.dev
Currently a single endpoint at /now-playing, where you can see what I'm listening to on spotify rn
So ๐ฅ: api.owenlacey.dev
Currently a single endpoint at /now-playing, where you can see what I'm listening to on spotify rn
That's cool, I think it's very hard to have an original idea on the internet ๐
I'll give those a read, thank you!
I'll give those a read, thank you!
January 11, 2026 at 4:13 PM
That's cool, I think it's very hard to have an original idea on the internet ๐
I'll give those a read, thank you!
I'll give those a read, thank you!
Nice one, really appreciate that! Inclined to agree, and coincidentally I've just had a run in with @2048.blue so it's unlikely I'll need to reinvent the wheel
January 11, 2026 at 3:24 PM
Nice one, really appreciate that! Inclined to agree, and coincidentally I've just had a run in with @2048.blue so it's unlikely I'll need to reinvent the wheel
Disclaimer: At this stage, I wanna do all of them. That might change, and I've been rotating between these ideas for a while now. At any given stage I'll be working on the thing that I'm enjoying the most, and I reserve the right to do none of them in pursuit of another silly idea ๐
January 11, 2026 at 2:59 PM
Disclaimer: At this stage, I wanna do all of them. That might change, and I've been rotating between these ideas for a while now. At any given stage I'll be working on the thing that I'm enjoying the most, and I reserve the right to do none of them in pursuit of another silly idea ๐
3 - โOmni-solverโ
For every puzzle that can be reduced to an integer programming problem (Sudoku, Kakuro, Hanjie, Queens etc). This will be a primer on integer programming, and Iโll make an app that is able to solve each of these types of puzzles (hopefully) from just an image.
For every puzzle that can be reduced to an integer programming problem (Sudoku, Kakuro, Hanjie, Queens etc). This will be a primer on integer programming, and Iโll make an app that is able to solve each of these types of puzzles (hopefully) from just an image.
January 11, 2026 at 2:57 PM
3 - โOmni-solverโ
For every puzzle that can be reduced to an integer programming problem (Sudoku, Kakuro, Hanjie, Queens etc). This will be a primer on integer programming, and Iโll make an app that is able to solve each of these types of puzzles (hopefully) from just an image.
For every puzzle that can be reduced to an integer programming problem (Sudoku, Kakuro, Hanjie, Queens etc). This will be a primer on integer programming, and Iโll make an app that is able to solve each of these types of puzzles (hopefully) from just an image.
2 - โ2048 reinforcement learningโ
Can I train some AI to beat my 2048 high score, and how well does it objectively perform?
Can I train some AI to beat my 2048 high score, and how well does it objectively perform?
January 11, 2026 at 2:56 PM
2 - โ2048 reinforcement learningโ
Can I train some AI to beat my 2048 high score, and how well does it objectively perform?
Can I train some AI to beat my 2048 high score, and how well does it objectively perform?
1 - โ6 degrees of kevin baconโ
Prove/disprove that you can get to Kevin Bacon from any other hollywood actor in <= 6 movies. This will be an interactive website with an infinitely scrollable graph in its first iteration, but can think of tonnes of applications.
Prove/disprove that you can get to Kevin Bacon from any other hollywood actor in <= 6 movies. This will be an interactive website with an infinitely scrollable graph in its first iteration, but can think of tonnes of applications.
January 11, 2026 at 2:56 PM
1 - โ6 degrees of kevin baconโ
Prove/disprove that you can get to Kevin Bacon from any other hollywood actor in <= 6 movies. This will be an interactive website with an infinitely scrollable graph in its first iteration, but can think of tonnes of applications.
Prove/disprove that you can get to Kevin Bacon from any other hollywood actor in <= 6 movies. This will be an interactive website with an infinitely scrollable graph in its first iteration, but can think of tonnes of applications.
RIght, I've got analysis paralysis, here are my top 3 ideas for my next project that keep me awake at night. I'm gonna do an elevator pitch for each, and would love to know how interested you would be in any/all/none of them ๐
Drop a like/comment/DM, whatever you want - thank you!
๐งต
Drop a like/comment/DM, whatever you want - thank you!
๐งต
January 11, 2026 at 2:56 PM
RIght, I've got analysis paralysis, here are my top 3 ideas for my next project that keep me awake at night. I'm gonna do an elevator pitch for each, and would love to know how interested you would be in any/all/none of them ๐
Drop a like/comment/DM, whatever you want - thank you!
๐งต
Drop a like/comment/DM, whatever you want - thank you!
๐งต
In terms of "how":
1. Created a .gitmodules file referencing the new repo
2. Update build script to build the post-specific js (this is not scalable, I know), this means I don't need to build the components manually before I can deploy the site
1. Created a .gitmodules file referencing the new repo
2. Update build script to build the post-specific js (this is not scalable, I know), this means I don't need to build the components manually before I can deploy the site
January 11, 2026 at 2:33 PM
In terms of "how":
1. Created a .gitmodules file referencing the new repo
2. Update build script to build the post-specific js (this is not scalable, I know), this means I don't need to build the components manually before I can deploy the site
1. Created a .gitmodules file referencing the new repo
2. Update build script to build the post-specific js (this is not scalable, I know), this means I don't need to build the components manually before I can deploy the site
Since the success (shut up, Owen) of my AYTO post last year, I've had a bunch of questions about how I made the interactive components. Therefore ๐ฅ, I've put the code for them into a separate repo, should you be so inclined.
That failing, my DMs are open โ๏ธ
github.com/owen-lacey/w...
That failing, my DMs are open โ๏ธ
github.com/owen-lacey/w...
GitHub - owen-lacey/website-components
Contribute to owen-lacey/website-components development by creating an account on GitHub.
github.com
January 11, 2026 at 2:27 PM
Since the success (shut up, Owen) of my AYTO post last year, I've had a bunch of questions about how I made the interactive components. Therefore ๐ฅ, I've put the code for them into a separate repo, should you be so inclined.
That failing, my DMs are open โ๏ธ
github.com/owen-lacey/w...
That failing, my DMs are open โ๏ธ
github.com/owen-lacey/w...
Reposted by Owen Lacey
January 10, 2026 at 7:52 PM