03 Jun 26

• Fixed hover animation on travel page cards — transition was missing on the base .card class, causing the lift effect to snap instead of animate.
• Improved travel page card style — uniform image height, image zoom on hover, portrait aspect ratio maintained, card body pinned to bottom with mt-auto.
• Converted travel page sections (Bahrain, Georgia, Kerala, etc.) into accordions — multiple sections can be open at the same time, Bahrain opens by default.
• Improved footer styling while keeping the existing 3-strip structure — boxed social icon buttons, separator dots in the credits row, hover underline on nav links, and a quote icon in the bottom bar.
• Fixed note card animation — a duplicate .note-card CSS block was overriding the transition property, removing the translateY animation on hover.
• Created a unified pagination partial used across all section pages — smart page window with ellipsis, chevron icon nav buttons, and theme-aware styling using CSS variables. Replaced Hugo’s deprecated _internal/pagination.html in all layouts.
• Improved ML library page — fixed broken <h> tag in the shelf shortcode, 2-column mobile layout, consistent aspect-ratio: 2/3 for book covers, excluded book images from medium-zoom.
• Redesigned tags page — replaced accordion with a tag cloud, popularity-based sizing, live filter input, and inline post panel that shows posts for the selected tag without navigating away.
• All the above improvements were made with the help of Claude Code.

03 May 26

• Made improvements in image figure shortcode to handle images in posts to handle custom width and other details.

01 Apr 26

• Changed website background to #F4F5F6 and post background to #FFFFFF.

29 Mar 26

• Removed fw-light from the intor heading and description in the home page.

24 Mar 26

• Modified footer text to ‘Made with ♥️ and ✨ by Bino from India’.
• Improved pages.

23 Mar 26

• Modified Blog Statistics page to add the target and actuals posts for tracking my writng progress.
• Added Blog Roadmap page to list the features I want to add to this website.
• Removed slash pages and added pages to list all my links in this website.
• Improvements in trravel page design.
• Removed ‘More button’ from the menu bar and added pages link.
• Imporved pages link details.

14 Mar 26

• Added movies page to list all the movies and series I watched.

11 Mar 26

• Updated Hugo version to v0.157.0.
• Added new shortcodes to image responsive in library and other pages.
• In Now page last modified date is disabled.
• Disabled navigation between pages using the left (←) and right (→) arrow keys as its conflicting with Glightbox.
• Added sketches and photos in slashes page.

10 Mar 26

• Instead of Now page page link travel page page link added in the more section.
• Updated open graph and twitter protocol metadata tags updated to show the image correctly.
• Updated scheme metadata to include more details.

08 Mar 26

• Added contact page and Travel page link in the footer.

07 Mar 26

• Added sketches page for my old sketches.

06 Mar 26

• Added ‘Playfair Display’ font for headings in the website.
• Updated contact section in the blog post to add contact page link.
• Updated About page to add contact page link.
• Updated headings in the main page as h2 and blog listing titles as h3.
• Modified home page to show image cards in the Desk section.
• Updated profile pic in about page.
• Modified Wall page to fix the dark mode issues and updated card to add images..

01 Mar 26

• Added photos page for my random clicks. Still work in progress.

26 Feb 26

• Updated Bootstrap to version 5.3.2
• Removed dark theme using by inversion method and added dark theme based on Bootstrap.

25 Feb 26

• Added contact page

24 Feb 2026

• Improvements in footer section padding and font sizing. Also added slashes, favorites, and Wall links.
• Removed now from the more section in the menu.

23 Feb 2026

• Added list of slashes pages.
• Added thisisfor page.

18 Feb 2026

• Added Malayalam writings in the room section.
• Modified home page to show image cards in the Malayali section.

06 Feb 2026

• Created travel tales section and updated in the menu.

21 Jan 2026

• Created projects section and updated in the menu.

29 Oct 2025

• Updated images back to the essay sections.

17 Oct 2025

• Added last updated time in the footer.

09 Oct 2025

• Reduced space between cards in the Room, and Notes.

21 Sep 2025

• Changed background to #FAFAFA and the blog posts background as white.

26 Aug 2025

• Card color changed from #FFFFFF, again.

19 Aug 2025

• Modified footer to display random quotes in the footer when user is refereshing the page.
• Others section added in the main menu.

18 Aug 2025

• Card color changed from #FFFFFF to #F9FAFB.
• Text color changed from hsl(222deg, 22%, 5%) to #090408.
• Modified title and sub heading to make it more bold.
• Footer texts color also updated from #596073 to #F9FAFB.
• Updated bio with links in the home page.

05 Aug 2025

• Added Favourites page to list my favourites posts.
• Added Archive section, again.

04 Aug 2025

• Added statistics in the home page in the ‘more on this site’ section.
• Added Favourites section in the home page.

30 Jul 2025

• Modified cards to add rounded (rounded-4) corner in every sections.

23 Jul 2025

• Added Essays and Notes section in the Room which will include all the posts other than Malayalam posts.

16 Jun 2025

• Updated wall page in the home.

12 Jun 2025

• Changed Room style to display the full content if the post is from the notes section and otherwise summary only with a read more button.
• Changed hovering color of essays to same blue as in the all section.

28 May 2025

• Added blog statistics in the webiste. This is one of the updates I’m most satisfied with recently.
• Restructured internal pages for easy maintenance.
• Minor improvements in the cards in the home and all section

27 May 2025

• Renamed Garden to Room, Coder to Workbench, Writer to Desk.
• Removed colored border for essays and notes in the All section of the sections.

26 May 2025

• Changed Coder space and Writer space to feed like structure, If its a note or drawer post, it will show full. Otherwise summary with link will show.
• Added colors to identify the post type in the above spaces.

24 May 2025

• Updated the About page to dynamically display featured blog sections using front matter tags, replacing the previous hardcoded approach.
• Heading icons fonts size reduced in all the spaces.

20 May 2025

• Added icons in the writer and malayali space posts listing.

19 May 2025

• Added icons in the coder space headings such as All, Essays, and notes.

18 May 2025

• Updated back the post images from the preview cards in the Desk section.
• Hovering color changed to #FF373C from #27AE60.

13 May 2025

• Added section link in the top blog post, so user can back to the list of section.

10 May 2025

• Menu changes to Malayali from ML.
• Malayalam font added in post preview and Malayali Space.
• Cleaned up the layout by removing post images from the ‘More Posts’ section beneath each article.

09 May 2025

• Added Writer space section to view the all the non tech essays and notes in one section.
• Redesigned the home page to incorporate Garden, Coder space , Writer space, and Malayali Space.
• Modified menu to add the spaces and removed the sub links like Essays, Notes, Desk, and Drawer.
• Removed post images from the preview cards in the Desk section.

08 May 2025

• Added navigation between pages using the left (←) and right (→) arrow keys.
• Added Coder space section to view the tech essays and notes in one section.
• Feed section renamed to Garden.

07 May 2025

• Feed style changed from cards design to minimal listing style.

06 May 2025

• Added Shelf to write my notes about everything other than tech. Drawer will be used to write poetry, musings, and social media posts only.

05 May 2025

• Added a menu footer below the actual footer to include various links.
• Added shadow effect in the blog post images.

10 Dec 2024

• Added date in the feed page.

23 Nov 2024

• Added English books to the library section.
• Also added menu for English and Malayalam books.
• Updated Malayalam writings, Now, Library, and tags links in the home page.

19 Nov 2024

• The heading alignment issue in the Drawer and Notes sections has been fixed.
• Fixed: Images are opening twice when clicking in gallery.

17 Nov 24

• Inside a card, added a ‘Reply via Email’ link at the end of each blog post.
• Also added email share button in the social sharing section.
• Added tag icon along with tags.

14 Nov 2024

• Updated the feed to organize and display all posts grouped by month and year.

13 Nov 2024

• Updated about content and minor modifications in the styles.

12 Nov 2024

• Changed text colur (hsl(222deg, 22%, 5%)) and heading color (#0F1031).

11-Nov 2024

• Implemented image gallery feature.
• Added links curated by me to the desk section. Previously, link posts were hidden.

03-Nov 2024

• Reverted drawer style to card with lesser width.
• Card footer added for feed section.

02-Nov 2024

• Changed drawer style from regular card to masonry layout.

01-Nov 2024

• Added read more link in the search results.
• RSS feed updated with full content.

31 Oct 2024

• Added search option in the menu.

27 Oct 2024

• Started to migrating my various social media posts to drawer.

22 Oct 2024

• Updated 404 page. Do you want to view that, go here.
• Added explore button in the home page to get an idea about my blog and various links in it.

21 Oct 2024

• Reactivated drawer link on the menu.
• Temporarily disabled now link from the menu.

19 Oct 2024

• Added disclaimer page.

16 Oct 2024

• Added changelog page.
• Added uses page.

08 Oct 2024

• Updated library.

18 Jun 2024

• Added drawer link on the menu.

29 May 2024

• Removed images from tech essays.

2 Apr 2024

• Tags link updated in the feed page.

17 Mar 2024

• Updated last modified date in posts.

07 Mar 2024

• Collections removed.

01 Mar 2024

• Collections link removed from the menu.

21 Feb 2024

• Link color updated as green.
• Added notes and removed collections from the home page.

02 Feb 2024

• Improved dark mode CSS and JS to avoid the flashing when switching pages.
• Limited image zooming to blog posts only.
• Added collections of links and notes from the web community on various topics.
• Added link to notes in the menu.
• Removed Codbix newsletter posts from collections.

01 Feb 2024

• Image zoom feature implemented.

29 Jan 2024

• Feed link added in the menu.

27-Jan-2024

• Feed page implemented.

24 Jan 2024

• Secondary color added to summary text and card hover style added.

14 Jan 2024

• Added drawer section.

02 Jan 2024

• Removed my reading highlights from this website.

01 Jan 2024

• If there is no description auto summary will show in the blog cards.

Send an email

Comments? Questions? Suggestions? I would love to hear from you. Please write to binovarghese8120@gmail.com. I will try to reply as soon as I can.

Signal

If you’re on Signal and prefer to chat, my username is bino.02 or click this link.

I’ll read it

If you have a blog, or you’ve written something and are looking for your first reader, send it to me. I will read it.

Projects

If you like to suggest a feature or report an issue in any of my projects, please open an issue on GitHub against the repo (if you can), or send me an email.

Social media

Even though I’m on Instagram, LinkedIn, and X, I don’t check them regularly, and replies to DMs may take days, months, or sometimes never arrive.

This site would not have been possible without the help of many open source tools and services, and I’m deeply grateful to all the contributors who have shared their work with the community.

Built with a JAMstack architecture, the site uses Hugo as the static site generator and is hosted on Netlify. It’s served securely via HTTPS, with a free SSL certificate provided by Let’s Encrypt and automatically managed by Netlify for seamless delivery.

Other tools used include:

• Bootstrap for responsive design.

• Bootstrap Icons for elegant icons

• Inter is the main font used in this website. It’s a beautiful sans-serif typeface by Rasmus Andersson.

• Playfair Display is the font used in the headings. It’s a transitional design done by Claus Eggers Sørensen.

• Gaythri is font for Malayalam posts. It’s designed by Binoy Dominic and built by SMC with the support of Kerala Bhasha Institute.

• Medium zoom for image zooming in the blog posts.

• fuse.js for searching.

• Lightbi is the theme used for this website.

• Unsplash is the source of beautiful cover images.

• Dark theme plugin by Radu Matei. ( This has been removed.)

Personal website and opinions

This is my personal website, and the opinions expressed here are entirely my own. They do not represent the views of any organization or individual I may be associated with. My thoughts and opinions evolve over time; I see this as a natural outcome of continuous learning and maintaining an open mind.

This blog serves as a semi-permanent snapshot of my thoughts at various points. As such, the views expressed in past posts may not reflect the ones I hold today, and may change as I continue to grow.

Technical posts

I often share technical posts, ranging from long essays to short notes. I treat this website as a digital garden, where content is constantly being refined, updated, and interconnected. These posts describe processes that worked for me at the time of writing. If I discover errors or find better solutions, I will update the content. I aim to provide context behind my decisions, but keep in mind that these posts are written primarily for my own reference.

I cannot guarantee that my technical posts are error-free, and I am not responsible for any harm to your systems, data, or anything else as a result of following the information provided. All technical content is provided “as-is,” with no warranty whatsoever.

Non-technical posts

In addition to technical content, I also share reflections on topics such as poetry, books, philosophy, travel, and life in general. These non-technical posts are for informational and personal expression purposes only. The views and insights reflect my experiences and research at the time of writing. While I strive for accuracy, I do not claim to be an expert in these areas, and the content may not reflect the most current information.

Readers should seek professional advice if needed, as my reflections are not intended to serve as professional guidance.

This disclaimer is subject to change at any time without prior notice.

These are the pages on this site, paths that lead you to its many corners.

About me

• About me — Get to know who I am.
• Contact — Ways to get in touch, including my social media links.

The Writings

• Featured — Posts I like the most on this site.
• Tech space — Writings from a software developer.
• Personal reflections — Thoughts from a wanderer.
• Malayalam writings — Words from an aspiring author.
• Archive — All posts in reverse chronological order.

Other Updates

• Projects — Things I’m working on beyond this blog.
• Travel tales — Photos and stories from my journeys.
• Movies — A list of films I’ve watched.
• Photos — Random clicks, mostly from my phone.
• Sketches — Occasional sketches, simple and silly.
• Now — what I’ve been up to lately.
• Uses — The tools I use, both hardware and software.

Library

• Malayalam Library — Books I’m reading in Malayalam.
• English Library — Books I’m reading in English.
• Blogroll — Blogs that inspire me and that I return to often.

Meta

• For Page — A page about who this website is for. Read more here.
• Blog Statistics — Numbers and insights from the blog.
• Blog Roadmap — Features I plan to add to this website.
• Tags — The tiny lanterns of this website.
• Credits — Tools and services that made this site possible.
• Changelog — A record of the paths I’ve crossed.
• Disclaimer — Just in case.
• My 404 error page — When things go missing.

Miscellaneous

• The Wall — A place for posters and paths to different corners of the site.
• Search — Explore the site and (hopefully) find something magical.

This is a curated list of the apps, tools, and everyday essentials I use for work and daily life. It covers everything from software I depend on, to hardware I love, and even a few small things that make my life smoother.

Hardware

• MacBook Air M4
  Absolutely loved it—the speed, the display, and that stunning Space Black color.
• 24 inch Dell Monitor
  This is a perfect monitor for me, big and beautiful.
• Apple Dual USB-C Power Adapter
  This will work with both MacBook and iPhone.
• Logitech MK240 Wireless Keyboard
  Black with yellow combination, sweet and short.
• Sony HT-S400
  I am a home theatre fan from the childhood, so I bought one.
• Kindle Paperwhite
  This is for daily reading, but now days I am not using this much.
• Portronics Metal Laptop Stand, Mobile stand and IKEA Mojlighet Headphone Stand.
  I love these type of small handy things.

Mobile

• iPhone 15 Pro
  The color is Natural Titanium. I love switching cases every few months and have built up a small collection.
• AirPods Pro 2
  These are my everyday carry headphones—what I love most is the noise cancellation.

Software

The below are the default apps I am using and this is inspired by default apps site by Robb Knight.

📨 Mail Client: Apple Mail
📮 Mail Server: Gmail
📝 Notes: Apple Notes and Obsidian.
✅ To-Do: Notepad and pen are working fine for me.
📷 Photo Shooting: iPhone
🎨 Design: Canva
📆 Calendar: Apple Calendar
📁 Cloud File Storage: iCloud and Google Drive
📖 RSS: NetNewsWire
🙍🏻‍♂️ Contacts: Apple Contacts
🌐 Browser: Safari for general purpose and Brave for work.
💬 Chat: WhatsApp, Discord
🔖 Bookmarks: Brave
📑 Read It Later: Raindrop
📜 Word Processing: MS Word
📈 Spreadsheets: MS Excel, Google Sheets
📊 Presentations: N/A
🛒 Shopping Lists: Apple Reminders
🍴 Meal Planning: N/A
💰 Budgeting and Personal Finance: Excel, ya its working for me.
📰 News: No, thank you.
🎵 Music: YTMusic
🎤 Podcasts: Apple podcasts
🔐 Password Management: Apple Passwords
🧑‍💻 Code Editor: VS Code
✈️ VPN: N/A
🗄️ Code Repositories: GitHub
💽 Hosting: Netlify
📖 Reading: Kindle (Nowadays mostly physical books.)
📓 Journaling: Apple Journal
🗺️ Maps + Driving Directions: Google Maps
⌨️ For learning typing: Typing club
🪶 Malayalam dictionary: Olam
✏️ Programming font: FiraCode

As we all know, we use many apps and software daily. Here, I’ve highlighted just the main ones, though I’ll add more if I come across something interesting. For more setups, check out the awesome collection at uses.tech, where people share their favorites.