The Vikorus blog
Guides worth reading.
Clear explainers on pay and benefits, and an in-depth guide to every app we make.
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Pay & Benefits
Military Pay, Explained: Base Pay, BAH, BAS, and Special Pays
A plain-English guide to how military pay is built — base pay, allowances, and special pays — and how to see your own numbers in seconds.
Pay & BenefitsHow VA Disability Compensation Actually Works
Combined ratings are not simple addition. Here is how the VA math works, why dependents matter, and how to calculate your monthly compensation.
Pay & BenefitsPlanning Federal Retirement: TSP and FERS, the Basics
How the Thrift Savings Plan and the FERS pension work together, and how to project your federal retirement before you get there.
BuildingHow a Small Studio Ships 30+ Apps: Inside an AI Software Factory
The approach behind Vikorus — building focused, high-craft apps for niche communities at the pace of a much larger team.
App guides
An in-depth guide to every app — also used as press and media-kit copy.
Games "Where Do You Want to Eat?" and the Case for Letting a Wheel Decide Why deciding where to eat is so hard, how choice overload stalls us, and how handing the call to a spinning wheel breaks the loop. On SpinEats Games Agent Roast: Feed It Your Profile, Get an AI Roast A for-laughs app that takes your profile and hands back a savage, funny AI roast. On Agent Roast Building AgentAwake: A Tiny Menu-Bar Utility to Keep Your Mac Awake A small macOS menu-bar tool that stops your Mac from sleeping exactly when you need it up. On AgentAwake Trades Bending Conduit Right: The Math Behind Offsets, Saddles, and 90s A working electrician's guide to the geometry of conduit bending — and why getting the numbers right the first time saves pipe, time, and temper. On ConduitWorker Money Budgeting Without the Anxiety: A Calmer Way to Track Bills and Spending Most budgeting fails not because the math is hard, but because the tools feel like work. A quieter approach is easier to keep up. On Bedrock Games Dumb Dice Race: A Gloriously Silly Party Dice Game A deliberately dumb dice race built for laughs, not strategy. On Dumb Dice Race Aviation Following a Flight Should Be Simple: A Look at At-a-Glance Flight Tracking Why most flight trackers overwhelm you, and how a focused status view answers the only question you usually have. On Flightful Money Following Federal Spending Without Drowning in It Government spending and efficiency actions are public, but rarely readable. Here is why the raw data is so hard to follow, and how to make it scannable. On DOGE Watch Money Getting Paid Faster: Invoicing for People Who Work With Their Hands Why a clean, timely invoice is one of the most underrated tools in a trade business — and how to send one without an accounting degree. On Invoice Rocket Pay & Benefits High-3 vs. the Blended Retirement System: Projecting Your Military Pension The two systems that decide your military pension work differently — knowing which one you are under, and what it will pay, is worth doing early. On Retirement Pay Aviation How AIS Vessel Tracking Works, and How to Watch Ships Move in Real Time A plain-English guide to the AIS system behind live vessel tracking, and how to follow ships, ferries, and boats near you. On VesselSpot Aviation How High Am I? Understanding GPS Altitude and Reading It Off Your Phone What altitude really means, why different tools disagree about it, and how a clean GPS altimeter gives you a straight answer. On GPS Altitude Pay & Benefits How Reserve and National Guard Drill Pay Is Calculated Part-time service pay runs on a drill-period system that looks nothing like a full-time paycheck — here is how the numbers actually work. On DrillPay Pay & Benefits How the FERS Pension Is Calculated, and Why Your Numbers Are Worth Knowing Early The FERS annuity comes down to three inputs — years of service, your high-3, and a multiplier — and small changes to any of them move the result. On FERS Pro Money Keeping an Honest Ledger: Why Session Tracking Beats Memory A plain look at why players who track their sessions understand their results better than players who guess. On SpinLedger Trades Lawn Care by the Calendar: Why Timing Beats Effort A healthy lawn is less about how hard you work and more about doing the right task in the right season — here is how the cycle actually works. On YardSage Games Lexico: A Calm Daily Word Puzzle for Language Lovers A quiet daily word game built for the pleasure of language, not the pressure of the clock. On Lexico Building Making the Most of an MRE: Field Rations, Reheats, and Real Recipes How the Meal, Ready-to-Eat is built, and simple ways to turn one into something you actually look forward to. On MRE Pro Pay & Benefits Military Ranks and Insignia: A Field Guide to How the Hierarchy Fits Together Enlisted, warrant, and officer ranks across the branches follow a logic — once you see it, the insignia stop being a memorization problem. On Military Ranks Sports & Fitness Pickleball Scoring, Untangled: Sideout, Rally, and Keeping an Honest Score How pickleball scoring really works, why the score is called as three numbers, and how to keep a clean count on the court. On Pickleball Pro Games PlushTown: A Cozy Town-Builder Made of Plush Characters A relaxing town-building game where the whole world is soft, slow, and made of plush. On PlushTown Aviation Point, Spot, Identify: Making Sense of the Aircraft Overhead How to turn a dot in the sky into a specific aircraft, with airport information built in, from wherever you happen to be standing. On FlightSpot Trades Quoting Paint Jobs: How to Estimate a Room Without Guessing The difference between a painter who makes money and one who works for free often comes down to a single skill — a fast, accurate on-site estimate. On Painter Quote Pro Trades Running a Notary Business: The Records Behind the Stamp A signing takes minutes, but the job log behind it is what keeps a mobile notary organized, paid, and ready at tax time. On NotaryDesk Pay & Benefits Scoring the Army Fitness Test Without the Guesswork The AFT combines several events into a single result — here is how the scoring logic works and how to get an accurate number fast. On AFT Pro Building TexturePack: A Curated Texture Library for Creators A hand-picked library of high-quality textures and packs, ready to drop into your work. On TexturePack Aviation The Art of Airport Pickup Timing: When to Actually Leave for Arrivals Why airport pickups go wrong, how flight tracking fixes the timing, and how to hit the curb at exactly the right moment. On FindMyTraveler Games The Endless Wave: What Makes a Pick-Up-and-Play Game Worth Coming Back To A look at the design of simple, one-more-try arcade games, and why a breezy endless runner earns its place in the spare minutes of a day. On Surf Fox Sports & Fitness Tracking PRs the Right Way: Personal Records, One-Rep Max, and Progressive Overload What a personal record really tells you, how one-rep max is estimated, and why writing lifts down is the habit that builds strength. On MaxReps Pay & Benefits Training to Standard: Making Sense of Military Fitness Tests Every branch holds its people to a physical standard — understanding how scoring works is the first step to training for it instead of surviving it. On MilitaryFit Games Trivia Rush Today: A Fresh Daily Trivia Habit A quick daily trivia game built around one thing — showing up and keeping the streak alive. On Trivia Rush Pay & Benefits Understanding Your Thrift Savings Plan: Funds, Matching, and the Long View How the TSP works fund by fund, why the match and your contribution rate matter so much, and how to keep the whole picture in view. On TSP Pro Pay & Benefits Understanding Your VA Disability Rating and Monthly Compensation Why VA combined ratings never add up the way you expect, and how to find your real monthly number. On VA Disability Aviation What ADS-B Is, and How to Watch the Aircraft Above You in Real Time A plain-English guide to the technology behind live flight tracking, and an app that turns it into a clean map of the sky over your head. On ADSB Tracker Money What Your Gold Is Really Worth: Karat, Weight, and Melt Value The melt value of gold comes down to two things — how pure it is and how much it weighs — measured against the live spot price. On Karat Pro Pay & Benefits What Your Military Paycheck Is Actually Made Of Base pay, BAH, BAS, and special pays are separate systems with separate rules — here is how they fit together. On Military Pay Trades Where an AI Assistant Actually Helps a Busy Real Estate Agent The real estate business runs on writing and follow-up, and both are exactly where a focused AI assistant earns its keep. On AgentOwl Trades Why Cleaning Routines Fall Apart, and How to Build One That Sticks The trouble with keeping a home clean is rarely effort; it is the absence of a repeating system. Here is how to build one. On TidyLoop