+ {featured.title} +
+ +{featured.excerpt}
+diff --git a/.htaccess b/.htaccess new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0519ecb --- /dev/null +++ b/.htaccess @@ -0,0 +1 @@ + \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/.memory/hanko-seal.md b/.memory/hanko-seal.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a26a772 --- /dev/null +++ b/.memory/hanko-seal.md @@ -0,0 +1,79 @@ +# The Hanko Seal — concept note + +**Status:** Concept, partially implemented · **Date:** 2026-07-22 +**Related:** [brand/BRAND.md](../brand/BRAND.md) · [brand/tokens.css](../brand/tokens.css) + +--- + +## What it is + +The small vermillion square beside the wordmark is a **hanko** (判子) — a +Japanese seal, also called an *inkan* (印鑑). The character on it, **印**, is +read *in* and literally means "seal, stamp, mark." + +When a seal appears on artwork next to the artist's signature, the signature +and seal together are a **rakkan** (落款) — the traditional finishing gesture +on ink paintings and calligraphy. You sign the work, then press your seal in +red. + +The red is not decorative. Seal ink is a vermillion paste called **shuniku** +(朱肉), which is where the brand red comes from — `#D0342C` is named Shuniku in +the brand guide for exactly this reason. + +## Why it fits this brand + +The logo is a handwritten signature: a brush stroke. A seal is what completes a +brush stroke. The rakkan pairing already existed in the identity before the +sumi-e direction was chosen — the seal only made it explicit. + +It is also the origin of the **1–2% coverage rule** in the brand guide. A seal +is small, pressed once, and means *this is finished, and it is mine*. Spread +the same red across a page and it stops reading as a seal and starts reading as +a generic accent colour. The restraint is not stylistic caution; it is what +makes the mark mean something. + +## Where it currently appears + +- Beside the signature wordmark in the site header +- Top-left of the full-page mobile menu +- Previously bottom-right of the hero portrait (removed with the photo) + +## Open — the thing to do later + +**印 is a placeholder.** A traditional hanko carries its owner's *name*, not a +generic character. Using 印 is close to signing a painting with the word +"signature." It reads well, but it is not yet personal. + +Replacing it solves a second, unrelated problem already logged in the brand +guide: the signature wordmark is roughly 4:1, so it cannot serve as a favicon, +social avatar, or app icon — it becomes an illegible smear at 32px. A seal is +square and legible at any size. + +Directions worth exploring when this is picked up: + +1. **Initials in seal script** (篆書, *tensho*) — the archaic script style + traditionally used on hanko. Most authentic; needs care to stay legible to a + Western audience. +2. **A stylised C** carved in negative space, in the manner of a *hakubun* + (white-character) seal, where the character is cut away and the ground + prints red. +3. **カルロス** (Karurosu) — the name in katakana, which is how a non-Japanese + name is conventionally rendered on a personal seal. +4. **A mark rather than a character** — abstract, derived from the signature's + own stroke geometry. + +Whichever is chosen becomes the favicon, the avatar, and the small-size lockup +across every surface. It is a brand-defining decision, not a detail — worth +doing deliberately rather than as a quick swap. + +## Implementation notes + +The seal is rendered as a token-driven element, not an image: + +- `.ca-header-seal` and `.ca-menu-seal` in `app/src/styles.css` +- Colour comes from `--ca-seal`, which shifts to `--ca-ink-surface-seal` + (`#E8564A`) on ink grounds — `#D0342C` muddies against near-black +- Square by design: `--radius` is `2px`, near-square rather than rounded + +Swapping the placeholder for a real mark means replacing the character with an +SVG, keeping the same token-driven colour behaviour. diff --git a/.pre-seed-backup/.htaccess b/.pre-seed-backup/.htaccess new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0519ecb --- /dev/null +++ b/.pre-seed-backup/.htaccess @@ -0,0 +1 @@ + \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/.pre-seed-backup/.user.ini b/.pre-seed-backup/.user.ini new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d411df0 --- /dev/null +++ b/.pre-seed-backup/.user.ini @@ -0,0 +1 @@ +open_basedir=/www/wwwroot/CarlosAriasPersonal/:/tmp/ \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/.pre-seed-backup/404.html b/.pre-seed-backup/404.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a2f560c --- /dev/null +++ b/.pre-seed-backup/404.html @@ -0,0 +1,74 @@ + + +
+ + +{SITE.description}
-+ {item.title} +
++ {item.description} +
++ Twenty-six years, one instinct. +
++ If a process is repetitive, it should build and run itself. That + started on a Commodore 64 in 1988 and it hasn’t changed. +
++ Your homepage hero copy goes here — describe what {SITE.name} offers and who it’s for. Edit it in app/src/pages/index.astro. +
+ +{featured.excerpt}
+- The page you're looking for has wandered off. It may have been moved, retitled, or never existed at all. -
- -About
++ I’ve done this before it was obvious more than once. This time it feels like + 1988 again. +
+
- This is placeholder copy for your About page. Describe what {SITE.name} is,
- who it’s for, and why it exists. Edit this in app/src/pages/about.astro.
-
- Summarize what visitors will find here — the topics you cover, the value - you offer, and what makes your site worth their time. -
-- If your site uses the content pipeline or other automation, explain it here. - Otherwise, use this space to describe your process, standards, or approach. -
-+ I taught myself to code in 1988, on a Commodore 64, at eight years old, using + Commodore BASIC. What began as curiosity quickly became a lifelong obsession + with technology, automation, and figuring out what computers could do next. + I’ve been building software professionally since 1999. +
++ As technology evolved, so did I. I moved from BASIC to Visual Basic, C++, Java, + and eventually web application development. By the late 1990s I was building + database-driven applications and eCommerce systems from scratch. By the early + 2000s I had built my own content management system — before platforms like + WordPress made CMS technology mainstream. +
+ ++ That pattern has followed me my whole career: I see where technology is going + and start building before it becomes obvious. ++ +
+ For more than 25 years I’ve worked across software engineering, product + development, automation, digital marketing, and technology leadership. + I’ve built SaaS platforms, founded technology companies, led engineering + teams, and developed systems across FinTech, financial services, healthcare, + digital marketing, and other industries. +
+ ++ AI has brought me back to the feeling I had when I first discovered programming + in 1988. I’ve worked with automation and intelligent software in different + forms for years, but modern agentic AI fundamentally changed how I think about + and build software. Since 2022 I’ve focused heavily on AI engineering, + autonomous systems, and building intelligent agents that can reason, make + decisions, use tools, coordinate workflows, and perform real work with minimal + human intervention. +
+ ++ Software that once needed a team and 6–12 months can now, in some cases, + be designed and built by me in 6–12 days. ++ +
+ My work today goes beyond adding AI features or chatbots to traditional + software. I build autonomous, agentic systems designed to + actively perform work — systems that research, analyse information, make + decisions, interact with APIs and software, generate and modify content, + execute workflows, monitor results, and continuously adapt to what is happening + around them. +
++ I’m particularly interested in building AI agents that replace + workflows, not just individual tasks — turning complex business + processes that traditionally need multiple people, tools, and repetitive manual + work into intelligent systems that operate with increasing autonomy. +
+ ++ It’s an agentic website. AI agents play an active role in + its development, content, optimisation, maintenance, and evolution. I provide + the vision, architecture, constraints, and strategic direction; AI performs much + of the execution. +
++ In many ways, it feels like 1988 again. We’re at the beginning of a new era + of computing. The tools are changing incredibly fast, the rules are still being + written, and once again I find myself experimenting, building, and trying to + understand what technology will be capable of next. +
++ Changelog +
++ An agentic website that documents its own evolution. Every change — added, + updated, fixed, and the odd bug caught along the way — logged as it happens. +
+{e.summary}
+ {e.detail &&{e.detail}
} ++ {author.jobTitle} +
++ Automation, an autonomous system, or a fractional CTO engagement — tell me what + you’re working on and I’ll get back to you. +
-- A tip, a correction, or a question. We read everything and reply to most of it. -
-