The Archive of Random Material

The Archive of Random Material (TARM) is basically an external memory storage for various things I read and watch. Much of what I consume is educational, yet I've unfortunately found that most of it leaks out of this silly brain of mine. Now, instead of leaking into the ether, it can leak onto this tiny website!

What's the benefit?

• The act of summarizing content helps reinforce it in memory, as it is simultaneously an exercise in comprehension and teaching.
• I build a constantly growing library of resources I can reference in future articles or discussions.
• Any time I need to reinforce a concept, I can do so more quickly via the written summary.
• People with similar interests to me could theoretically use TARM as a newsletter of sorts.

TARM is built with Astro, an HTML-focused static site builder. It's key paradigm is to send minimal Javascript to the client; using partial hydration, only the Javascript needed for interactive components is needed, rather than rehydrating the entire page like early static builders do.

As TARM is mostly a static reference site, it needed almost no Javascript, which is why I opted to try Astro. Anything that does require interactivity, such as a filter, can be done with progressively enhanced web components.