About

Hey. I’m Marco (he/they) and welcome to… what do I call this, my online scrapbook? Internet nook? Something along those lines. I’m hoping to use this place to share things I find interesting, ramble about a litany of topics, and share my sentiments as I continue playing this game people call “life” (quite mixed feelings about it, by the way. Feels very pay-to-win).

Generally, I like STEM topics though I’ll talk about basically anything I find interesting. You could’ve probably figured that out from my choice of higher education; I’m finishing up my degree in Mechatronics and Biomedical Engineering at McMaster University (they just love to smash programs together, huh?). I’m more interested in the software aspect of mechatronics, though the hardware side is pretty awesome, too. I dunno, I just love the idea of cybernetic systems and the complex ways we can control machines with algorithms. I don’t love the fact that it can and is used for many nefarious purposes, but I think that speaks more to the human condition than it does the strength and certainty of steel (my blessed machine can do no harm).

Besides that, I’m also the Chief Technology Officer at crewd., a startup I’m working on with a couple of my friends. We’re hoping to create a modern, labour-sharing marketplace that the construction sector can use to lend out benched workers instead of laying them off during downtime. I would talk more about it, but that’s what the company website is for and you should probably just head over there (after you’ve finished exploring this site, of course). Plus, I don’t particularly want to fill this page with work-related topics, just “me” topics.

Below, you'll find some miscellaneous, material facts about me that are potentially (not) informational.

Music

I have a hand-curated Spotify playlist that I believe truly represents my disorganized taste in music. I would embed it if it wasn't for the fact that it necessitates DRM on this website which I extensively object to. Here's the list in plain text instead:

Hozier - Take Me to Church
Joji - PIXELATED KISSES
Ryo Fukui - Early Summer
Dvořák - Lullaby in G Major, B. 188
Loathe - Heavy Is the Head That Falls with the Weight of a Thousand Thoughts
Haley Heynderickx - The Bug Collector
Elton John - Rocket Man
Outkast - Hey Ya!
Katy Perry - California Gurls (ft. Snoop Dogg)
HOME - Before the Night
Dios - Runaway
underscores - The Peace

Video Games

Here's a question: would you rather have unlimited bacon but no games, or games, unlimited games, but no games?

Anyway, here are some games I like:

DELTARUNE - I may suck at bullet hells, but I'll brute-force it if it means a great story and incredible music.
Slay the Princess - The story, the art, the music, the everything, I love it all.
Cyberpunk 2077 - (after the launch fiasco, specifically) Being a cyber-samurai or super-netrunner is fun and all, but consider running around like a crazed gunman, blowing everyone up into smithereens-
Barotrauma - Especially love the circuitry mechanics in the game; my friends call me insane and I'm not particularly sure why.
Hades & Hades II - something something squidward "oh no he's hot" meme something something.
OpenTTD - I get to build giant rail highways that would never exist in real life, at least until my money runs out.

Reads

There isn't a whole lot here admittedly, though I hope to expand this section in the near future.

The Way of Kings (still reading) - First story I've read in a while, recommended by a good friend. I must say, I love the way Sanderson builds his worlds and I thoroughly enjoy the non-linear storytelling in this.
Homestuck - This is the only webcomic I've read thus far. My memory fails me and I've forgotten a fair bit but I still recommend this, though I felt some of Act 6 became a bit of a slog. Maybe I should re-read it, though.

Software

For those that care.

OS: Arch Linux (btw).
WM: niri + Dank Linux (I should try my own Quickshell config some day).
Shell & Terminal: zsh + oh-my-zsh + kitty.
Editor: VS Code (I'm basic, I know).
Browser: Firefox.
Hotel? Trivago.

Daily Drivers

For those that really care.

`ia-workstation`

Main desktop. A pre-built from Memory Express that gets the job done. Kind of wish in hindsight that I just built it myself but I didn't have much time then.

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5700X.
GPU: GIGABYTE RTX 4070 SUPER.
RAM: Kingston FURY Beast DDR4-3200, 32GB.
Storage: Kingston KC3000 1TB + some random 1TB WD Blue 2.5" SATA drive I had lying around.
Cooling: Some kind of Cooler Master AIO?
Motherboard: ASUS PRIME B550-PLUS AC-HES.
PSU: I don't even know, lmao.

`ia-nomad`

My laptop. It works but it's genuinely falling apart (I think I've lost 5 of 8 bottom panel retaining screws?). I'd hope to replace this in the future with something like a Framework 13 Pro.

(As a side note, Dell genuinely sucks hot doo doo garbage. I've had to replace the fans 9 times over 8 years, and set clock limits and undervolting so the keyboard doesn't become a hotplate. Even then, it still dies after 2 hours on battery while on power-saving mode. Should've figured for a gaming laptop but that's still atrocious.)

Model: Dell G3 15 3579 (2018).
CPU: Intel Core i7 8750H.
GPU: NVIDIA GTX 1050 Ti Mobile.
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws DDR4-3200, 32GB (aftermarket, but the motherboard caps the speed to 2666 MHz 😂😂😂).
Storage: WD Black SN770 512GB (aftermarket) + some SK Hynix 256GB SSD (original) that I stuffed into an M.2 to 2.5" SATA converter.

Funny Buttons

Hey, look at that, 88x31 buttons. And this time, they're on a static webpage with no JavaScript!