Hello, world
Why I rebuilt this site and what I plan to write about.
I’m Bobby, a software engineer. I like building useful things, figuring out how they work, and leaving a little room for curiosity.
Go on. Push a few buttons.
The table could not load. Check your connection and reload the page to play.
Pick up where you left off?
Or launch to start a new game.Paused. The ball waits for you.
←→ flippers · hold Space to launch · P pause
Hold Launch (or Space) to pull the plunger and let go to fire. For the first eight seconds after a launch, a drained ball comes straight back. You get three balls; when one drains, your bonus is paid times your multiplier.
Knock down all three drop targets on the right to light a mission, then shoot either ramp to accept it. Missions come in order: Reactor Service wants eight bumper hits, Navigation Check all three top lanes, and Supply Circuit two more ramp shots. After those three, Station Turnaround asks for four bumper hits, then the orbit, then the dock.
An accepted mission starts with 60 seconds of fuel. The orbit adds eight seconds and the dock twenty, up to 60; run dry and the mission fails. Each mission earns a mark (Turnaround earns two), and three marks raise your rank, shown as chevrons on the display.
Roll through all three top lanes to raise the multiplier (up to 5×) and arm a kickback (the left first, then the right), which sends one outlane drain on its side back into play.
Keys work while the table is focused: ← or A for both left flippers, → or D for the right, Space for the plunger, P or Esc to pause, and Z, X, / to nudge. On a touch screen, hold both flipper buttons at once if you need to.
High scores, your rank and the sound setting stay in this browser. Leaving the page pauses the game; come back and you can resume at the start of the ball you were on. Sound starts off.
I spend a lot of time thinking about what happens on the other side of the screen.
APIs, backend systems, and all the little decisions that make software reliable. The parts you notice most when they stop working.
Infrastructure, observability, and turning an unexpected problem into a fix that lasts. Good tools make room for the interesting work.
Abuse prevention, content safety, and security. Making systems useful means thinking about how they can go wrong, too.
Languages, infrastructure, and the bits in between. Open a drawer.
From backend services to scripts and interfaces. Different problems call for different tools.
Running software, describing infrastructure in code, and making deployments repeatable.
Storing state, moving quickly, and automating the steps between a change and a release.
The part people touch. Turning the system underneath into something clear and useful.
Things I’m building, things I’m learning,
and the occasional rabbit hole.
Why I rebuilt this site and what I plan to write about.
An idea, a question, a good rabbit hole.
I’m always happy to talk shop.