Answers to Random Questions
I can't really call it Frequently Asked Questions, because there hasn't yet been anyone except me to do the asking. But here are the answers to some questions I've come up with that you might wonder about, too.
Keeping track of a secret is too much trouble! Is there an Easy Mode?
Yes! Let's say you have a sheet of QRazy.fun labels and an item to which you want to add a tag with description. Just stick on the label, scan it, acquire a new secret (but don't bother to save it), then edit the tag. Until you close your browser, you can keep editing the tag. Once you leave the site, the tag will still work. Instant tag! You just won't be able to edit, search for, or list tags you create this way.
Why does this site look so... retro?
I like to keep things simple. It's important, since it means that QRazy.fun will load fast even with a poor wireless connection. I wanted a site without funky Javascript that doesn't work half the time unless you're running Internet Explorer 6 Google Chrome. I was inspired by sites like this, and this, and this. (Warning: links not suitable for work.)
This site won't open new windows or tabs. It won't eat memory or processor cycles. It won't take forever to load if you have a crappy signal. It won't load megabytes of Javascript libraries or pointless graphics. It won't have pop-ups, -overs, or -unders. It will, I hope, simply get the job done.
What's the business model? How is this site going to make money, or at least pay its own bills?
My plan is to keep running the site for free (it's self-hosted and uses minimal resources) until Google or Meta recognizes its genius and buys it from me for a few billion before they enshittify it. Absent that, unless QRazy.fun becomes really popular and the cost of hosting becomes prohibitive, I plan on just keeping it available for free. If it somehow becomes so popular that the hosting bill is too high, that also means that there will be sufficient users that charging a very, very small fee for new tags should cover things. With luck, I'll be able to lose a little money on each (free) tag but make it up in volume. In any case, as long as the site exists you'll be able to display your tags for free.
I won't do ads.
What's with the whole "Secrets" thing? Why not just have accounts like everyone else?
I dislike having to create an account for everything I do on the web. Keeping track of a secret is the simplest alternative I could come up with. In fact, if you just want to make a very occasional QRazy.fun label, you could just create a new Secret for each label and then forget it. You wouldn't be able to list, search, or modify your tags, but they'd still work for their original purpose.
By the way, Secrets were designed to be easy to type on phone keyboards. They are not case-sensitive and spaces are ignored.
What if I lose my Secret?
That's probably not a big deal. You won't be able to edit any of your old tags, but they'll still work. You can just create a new Secret with new tags and go on from there.
Can't you recover or reset my Secret?
Nope. I don't have it anymore. Even if you ask nice or threaten or plead or get a court order, I cannot recover your Secret. Just create a new Secret and move on. Your old tags will still work, you just won't be able to edit them.
What do I need my Secret for?
You will need your Secret to edit any tags you have already created or to create new tags. You can also use your Secret to get a list of the tags created with that secret or to search all your tags.
Why can't I pick my own Secret?
There is a method behind the Secrets. Basically, too many users are daft at picking passwords (and Secrets). It ends up making less trouble for almost everyone if we just let the computer pick.
What's so bad about Javascript?
Javascript was a nice idea: instead of just a markup language (HTML), you could have an actual procedural language that ran in the browser and opened up a lot more possibilities. Many of these possibilities make the web a better place. Alas, even the creator of Javascript calls it "a blessing and a curse." In the modern web, it is way overused. Even simple web sites often load many megabytes of Javascript just to display a few kilobytes of useful (we hope) text. Javascript is also a supply-chain nightmare, where even simple-appearing calls can actually load live code from thousands of developers which can be changed even after a site is tested and security-audited. It's also the source of countless web sites that break a fundamental notion of the web: they display differently on different browsers and platforms.
I once heard the head of a company that contracted out web development whining that it's "impossible" to be sure that their sites would work well in the many diverse environments. That may be, but there's a trick that solves 91.7% of cross-platform compatibility problems: make sure your site is fully functional with Javascript disabled. Mention this to most web developers, and they'll start screeching like junkies deprived of their next fix. "It can't be done, you don't understand, we don't want Javascript, we need Javascript!" But I wrote a whole electronic medical record system that was fully functional with Javascript disabled. Nicer if you had it, sure, but pretty much guaranteed to be cross-platform compatible (yes, including Lynx).
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