I have no clear vision for this domain name or web page. I also have no clear vision for this "blog" format site I'm now slowly building "from scratch" in my own "special" way. This page is where I've decided to explore that.
This page is mostly going to be me free-form rambling for a while longer than I probably should to explore my thoughts on this further followed by checking the whole thing into the private github repo that's functioning as my CMS/database.
Summarizing my motivations is difficult as it's definitely a multifactorial thing. But I'll do my best to keep it brief and come back around to the tangental thoughts later.
I want to keep this focused on "software for fun" as opposed to "software for profit". That is to say, focusing on the parts of software engineering that bring me a sense of intrincic joy. Namely: - Learning & exploration - Creative expression - Puzzles, problem solving, and "type 2" fun - Tapping into "flow" state
Building a site from the ground up checks all those boxes for me. Maybe more on these topics later.
Short form communication platforms are the modern day norm.
Formulaic streams of advertisement laced dopmine bumps to keep users addicted and eating out of the palm of your hand has been the recipie for success for internet content creators and platform developers alike. I feel with time, even business and day to day interpersonal comunication has shifted this direction. Get in, make your point, get out. Don't clarify or elaborate. Keep your slack & text messages short and assume anyone who didn't understand is the problem. Communicate in memes and fragements. Paragraphs? gross.
Well call me crazy, but in an age where an emoji is worth a thousand words, but I'm building the opposite. A longer form blog, to vent longer form communications into the either. Don't like it, go back to TikTok and X. I don't care, this blog is for me not you.
These are a few of the topics I'd like to cover here in the future:
I want to explore the software stacks & methodologies of yesterday, and perhaps compare and contrast them to today. I'm building this blog from the ground up out of sticks and glue not because it's the best way, but because sometimes it's necessary to look back at where we came from to appreciate where we are today. So I'll likely be covering some topics that are considered outdated practices and perhaps evaluating where some old techniques may still application today, as well as why some of those techniques are better left in the past.
Many blogs cover how to be a software developer. Fewer cover what it's like to be a software developer. The internal experiences. How it shapes the way you view and interact with the world. What goes on inside the brain of developer through different phases of project both while banging out code and while "AFK".
Pairing this idea with an interest in the history and evoloution of writing software, I may chronical what it is/was like to work in older tech stacks by building some modern day things out of old tools.
Developing software to run on purpose-built hardware comes with many unique challenges and tradeoffs the average app/web developer will never face. While I have many stories from working in industry, to talk about these challenges in any depth (without violating an NDA) I'll probably need to build some unique embedded systems myself. This might entail Raspberry Pi hacking or lower-level micro controllers, or even more complex systems like integrating this web hosting platform I'm building with my own hand-rolled IoT and web tech into complete "products".
I've always connected at some level or another to the philosphies of open source software, had some level of interest decentralization, data privacy, and personal control over the information you put into cyberpsace. Some of this will likely come through in how I write this blog and software that runs it.
Other significant hobby interests of mine over the years have included:
These topics may or may not find a place in this blog. As of writing this, I have hobby project ideas in many of these areas, some that may relate to software development, others that don't.