Hi, my name is Tom. I’m a computer programmer. I like solving hard problems. I like finding simple solutions. I like finding solutions so simple that I don’t even really have to do that much work.

On this site, I share some of my projects and my experiences and some of my opinions on software design and development.

What’s cool now

Element Sketchpad

Element Sketchpad is a purely Euclidean interactive notebook with coloring, animation, and sound as first-class citizens alongside compass and straightedge constructions. Create animations, play games with your friends, or work through all of mathematics starting with Euclid’s Proposition 1.1 … in a world with no numbers and no coordinates and no words. Where touchpad users, AI agents, and Element Scheme scripts emitting the Construction Calculus all interact as purely geometric entities.

Past work

Custom PNG decoder overnight

A teammate was blocked at standup because a high-level API was unavailable, so I told him how I would fix it, and they said it was insane. But the trick was, nothing about it was that hard. Just took a willingness to get my hands dirty.

Everyone was ready to quit

The threat intelligence tool we built, when left on our own to figure it out, turned out to be a key asset for the company and a key factor in a successful acquisition.

How I work

Reading code · Formal methods and concept art · Your MVP isn’t minimal enough · Freedom