After experiencing kindness during difficult chapters of his own life, developer Oleg Ugrin wanted to create a place where anyone could find a few words of encouragement. His new website, Ctrl Alt Amen, brings together reflection, Scripture and an invitation to slow down—in English and Japanese.
For Oleg Ugrin, founder of Hikari Apps, the idea behind Ctrl Alt Amen is not about claiming to change people’s lives with technology. It begins with something quieter: reminding a person having a difficult day that somebody cares.
Why Oleg decided to create a space for encouragement
In a written interview with NewsPositive, Ugrin said he had long been affected by seeing people struggle with loneliness, financial difficulties and grief. He could not resolve every problem, he explained, but he could try to offer something positive in a difficult moment.
As Ugrin explains in his written responses, the ambition is modest but meaningful: to offer a moment of encouragement, not a promise to solve every problem.
That impulse became Ctrl Alt Amen, a digital project intended to offer brief, accessible encouragement and optional faith-based reflection. The name is a playful reference to the familiar Ctrl+Alt+Delete keyboard shortcut: a reminder that sometimes people need a moment to reset.
Kindness became personal during a time of loss
Ugrin shared that his mother died in October 2026. During the grief that followed, expressions of care from other people reinforced his belief that small acts of kindness matter.
He remembers people reaching out, offering prayers and showing concern. He does not suggest that kindness can erase grief. Rather, he says those gestures helped him feel less alone at a difficult time and strengthened his desire to extend that same care to others.
The site also draws on Ugrin’s Christian faith. He describes faith as a motivation for his work while emphasizing that visitors should be free to explore or ignore religious material. Ctrl Alt Amen contains Bible passages, prayer and study tools, but the public content is free to browse without signing in. Saving personal notes and certain reading preferences across devices requires an account, according to the site’s help and privacy pages.
Why Japan matters to the project
Ctrl Alt Amen is available in English and Japanese. That choice reflects a personal connection rather than a claim of international reach.
Ugrin told NewsPositive that he had visited Japan five times since 2024, spending roughly a month there on each visit. He is studying Japanese and hopes eventually to live in the country. His fondness for its culture, people and approach to simplicity influenced the website’s atmosphere and design.
The name Hikari means “light” in Japanese. For Ugrin, it expresses the gentle purpose he wants his creative projects to serve: offer something positive without asking people to do more than they feel able to do.
A live website and an idea still taking shape
The website already offers encouragement, Bible reading and study resources, reflection prompts and a digital preview of an “Amen” key experience. Ugrin is exploring a physical keyboard with a dedicated Amen key and possible Sakura and Bamboo designs, but the hardware remains a concept, not a product in production. The site also explains that its on-screen controls are not connected to a physical keyboard.
Ugrin describes Ctrl Alt Amen as an early-stage independent project. He is not claiming proven health benefits, independently measured wellbeing improvements or a large existing user base. His aim, he says, is to listen to visitors and improve the site based on what they find useful.
The person behind the project
For NewsPositive, the most compelling part of Ugrin’s story is not a technical feature or a promise of impact. It is the choice to respond to personal experiences of kindness by building something intended to offer that feeling to strangers.
His message to a person having a difficult day is simple: the future does not have to be solved all at once. A small moment of reflection or encouragement may be enough for today.
Featured portrait: Courtesy of Oleg Ugrin. Photographed at Sunshine 60, Ikebukuro, Tokyo, June 9, 2026. Reproduced with permission.
About the interview: Oleg Ugrin responded in writing to questions from NewsPositive and explicitly authorized publication of selected quotes and discussion of his mother’s death. The biographical details above are attributed to his account, not independently established facts.
Sources and further reading: Ctrl Alt Amen — Oleg Ugrin’s founder story; Ctrl Alt Amen — English; Ctrl Alt Amen — Japanese; Official FAQ.
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