ian

2025 in Review

Mon, 29 Dec 2025 15:33:20 +0000

Holy moly this has been the hardest year of my life. It’s kind of crazy how that keeps happening, is that what we can come to expect from our 30s? Everything just keeps getting harder and nothing gets better?

Well, that last part’s not true, plenty of things got better and there were plenty of things worth celebrating and places to find joy. But man was there also a lot of challenge. Theo was diagnosed with lymphoma at the end of the summer and started chemotherapy this year. As of this week he has finished his treatment protocol and starts maintenance going forward, it’s been a little tough but overall he’s done great through the process and is now cancer free. The hope is that he can stay that way for quite a while going forward.

2024 in Review

Wed, 01 Jan 2025 09:00:00 +0000

Really enjoyed thinking through this year - as I did last year - not just in things that “came out” this year, but the things I enjoyed. Since I don’t know why media has this culture of caring about the best “releases” of 2024, when there is plenty of opportunities to learn and enjoy things that didn’t release in this calendar year. It also is definitely more of a personal decision since historically in these posts I’ve not ever cared about what year the books I read were released, yet I did hold myself accountable for only including this years music releases.

Action Roguelikes Rant

Thu, 11 Jan 2024 21:45:00 +0000

As somebody that generally enjoys both action games and especially roguelikes, I am familiar with the frequent discourse around what is or is not a roguelike/lite. Instead of joining that discourse, instead, I am here to be an angry person on the internet in a different direction.

I do not like the phrase “action roguelike” being used to describe the genre of games that I’m going to, for brevity, call “Vampire Survivors” clones. Calling a game that shares almost no similarities to Rogue and requires less inputs than most other games an “action roguelike” feels deceitful and misleading.

2023 in Review

Sun, 31 Dec 2023 10:00:00 +0000

This might have been the hardest year of my life, yet I don’t think I’ve come away from this year with any significant things I’d change. I’m also entering 2024 fairly optimistic about the future and excited to I think hopefully have a great year.

Now obviously, I took a couple years off from doing this. I haven’t been writing blog posts or much of anything in the mean time. As noted this was an incredibly challenging year for reasons that I don’t think I want to get into here, but suffice to say I’ve done a lot of self reflecting this year and have ended up in a pretty good place. I think I managed to make somem nice time to enjoy the things and people I love, and I think that overall it was a positive year for me, despite all that happened.

2020 Year in Review

Sat, 02 Jan 2021 17:30:00 +0000

I did a lot less of everything than I’d have liked to in 2020, but I did manage to do some things I enjoyed and I’d like to document them. I know it’s a few days late but better late than never I guess.

Books

This is all of the books I read in 2020. I started the year finishing reading the Harry Potter series for the first time (also better late than never). I have a few cocktail/recipe books in here that I’m not sure you would exactly call “reading”.

The Red Snapper

Sun, 16 Aug 2020 12:00:00 +0000

A Red Snapper cocktail is typically considered a Bloody Mary made with Gin. Originally it was just another name for a Bloody Mary but at some point the distinction between Vodka & Gin was made.

Recipe

Red Snapper

4 oz Tomato Juice

1½ oz Gin

¼ oz Lemon Juice

Celery Bitters

Hot Sauce, Worcestershire Sauce, Old Bay to taste

Execution

Combine all ingredients in shaker. Add ice and shake until cold. Serve in a Collins or Pint glass over ice with an Old Bay rim.

Whenever, If Ever

Sun, 26 Apr 2020 20:00:00 +0000

As we approach 7 years after the release of Whenever, If Ever and the subsequent rise of The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die I decided to write about some recent feelings I’d been having.

Re-listening to this album still brings chills and emotions to the forefront that rival those of The Black Parade or Is A Real Boy. Although lyrically it certainly leans on a often drug inspired vagueness not present in historically defined “emo” the instrumental backing on the songs is transcendentally orchestral.

A Bitter Breeze

Sun, 27 Oct 2019 12:00:00 +0000

The Bitter Breeze is an original cocktail designed to be a bitter digestif with a kick. It is rich, herbal and bitter, with a velvet-y sweetness underneath. I, personally, opt for stirring the cocktail but it could also be assembled like an old-fashioned in the glass.

Recipe

The Bitter Breeze

1½ oz Fernet Branca

1 oz Dark Rum

½ oz Falernum

¼ oz Ginger Syrup

Grapefruit twist

Execution

Combine ingredients in a mixing glass. Add ice and stir until chilled. Strain into a chilled rocks glass with fresh ice. Garnish with grapefruit twist.

How to use a Gamecube Controller with Unity

Tue, 08 Oct 2019 12:00:00 +0000

In most of my internet searching on this issue, I came across very little helpful information. This is my experience in trying to get a gamecube controller working with Unity. If you have a different experience or need help figuring something out, feel free to reach out to me at my email

Anyway, lets get on with it.

Set Up

To start, you need to have an adapter plug your gamecube controller into your computer. If you’re using some weird USB Gamecube Controller I don’t know how to help you, I’m sorry. If you have an unofficial adapter (like me), you will have to follow these instructions, if you have an official one it might work out of the box but I’m unsure. I’d recommend following that link and installing Zadig to configure your controller to begin. In addition, if your Adapter has a toggle for “PC” and “Wii U”, it must be set to “PC” in order to work with Unity, so if you are not getting any input from your controller that is a good thing to check.

Limoncello Soda Recipe

Mon, 25 Feb 2019 14:00:00 +0000

A Limoncello Soda is a refreshing way to drink Limoncello on a warm summery day. An alternative to this recipe would be something like a Limoncello Spritz if you had sparkling wine on hand. I think additionally, if you were so inclined you could call this a Limoncello Fizz, as it does bear resemblance in flavor and technique to something like a Gin Fizz.

This drink is designed as a before-dinner drink, something you can sip on in the waning daylight hours. I think a nice Limoncello, especially one with cream is a wonderful digestif, but I personally prefer something a bit lighter than a straight liqueur for pre-dinner drinking.

Displaying KaTeX in React Native

Tue, 23 Oct 2018 12:00:00 +0000

At Testive we are building a student native mobile app. Up until now we have relied on having a mobile friendly web-app, but since it’s been a hotly requested featuring we are currently working to build a version of our app using React Native.

The core features of the app will be the ability to answer practice questions/complete assignments, review incorrect answers, and schedule meetings with your coach. This means that a crucial feature will be the ability to display our question and answer texts.

about

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

I am a product-driven staff-level engineer with 10+ years of experience across fintech and insurtech, working primarily in Go, Typescript, Python, and React with Kubernetes, Terraform, and AWS.

I enjoy deep problems that solve real customer needs.

For more information about me you can either view my resume or my linkedin.

You can also check out my projects

If you are interested in learning more please feel free to contact me.

contact

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

I am best contacted through email at ian@flankstaek.me.

You can also find my phone number on my resume.

projects

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

You can find me on GitHub and Tangled — personal projects and open source work.

I have made games on itch.io (solo jams and experiments) and with Team Elsewhere (a small collaborative indie team).

I have made music as Weak Arms — a solo recording project.

I have a small blog.

Or you can find out more about me.