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authorAdam T. Carpenter <atc@53hor.net>2020-11-29 08:53:22 -0500
committerAdam T. Carpenter <atc@53hor.net>2020-11-29 08:53:22 -0500
commitaa6ade8c1bc51bc8f379442bb00710438d1385fd (patch)
treed0a99de1f2ceec24c6fe15d61661f96a33a05d3b /computing
parentdaa21252743400c83f9d46c7fdefc00058553d7f (diff)
download53hor-aa6ade8c1bc51bc8f379442bb00710438d1385fd.tar.xz
53hor-aa6ade8c1bc51bc8f379442bb00710438d1385fd.zip
organized posts, added profile, started makefile
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-<!DOCTYPE html>
-<html>
- <head>
- <link rel="stylesheet" href="/includes/stylesheet.css" />
- <meta charset="utf-8" />
- <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" />
- <meta
- property="og:description"
- content="The World Wide Web pages of Adam Carpenter"
- />
- <meta property="og:image" content="/includes/images/logo_diag.png" />
- <meta property="og:site_name" content="53hor.net" />
- <meta property="og:title" content="Why Have a Web Site in 2019?" />
- <meta property="og:type" content="website" />
- <meta property="og:url" content="https://www.53hor.net" />
- <title>53hornet ➙ Why Have a Web Site in 2019?</title>
- </head>
-
- <body>
- <nav>
- <ul>
- <li>
- <a href="/">
- <img src="/includes/icons/home-roof.svg" />
- Home
- </a>
- </li>
- <li>
- <a href="/about.html">
- <img src="/includes/icons/information-variant.svg" />
- About
- </a>
- </li>
- <li>
- <a href="/software.html">
- <img src="/includes/icons/git.svg" />
- Software
- </a>
- </li>
- <li>
- <a href="/hosted.html">
- <img src="/includes/icons/desktop-tower.svg" />
- Hosted
- </a>
- </li>
- <li>
- <a type="application/rss+xml" href="/rss.xml">
- <img src="/includes/icons/rss.svg" />
- RSS
- </a>
- </li>
- <li>
- <a href="/contact.html">
- <img src="/includes/icons/at.svg" />
- Contact
- </a>
- </li>
- </ul>
- </nav>
-
- <article>
- <h1>Why Have a Web Site in 2019?</h1>
- <blockquote>
- Adam, why on earth do you have a website? Wait... Is this a
- <em>blog</em>? It's 2019, why don't you just use Facebook?!
- </blockquote>
-
- <p>
- I've wanted to have my own website for a long time mostly because I like
- playing with technology. I think it's cool that I can make a few files
- on a computer in my closet available for the entire world to see. The
- web has become a near-necessity in our daily lives and it's only been
- around for a couple of decades. That has always fascinated me enough to
- drive me to see if I can do it on my own. I started self-hosting my own
- web server about a year ago now and it's been an awesome study in the
- way all of the tech we use on the web works.
- </p>
-
- <p>
- A written website is also a good way to keep up on my writing skills.
- I've graduated college and won't be writing essays for the foreseeable
- eternity. Which is fine except that I have no reason to write creatively
- or formally anymore. Having this site encourages me to continue turning
- thoughts into words, even though it's more casual than a term paper.
- </p>
-
- <p>
- This extends into the professionalism of a personal website. Normally
- you can't point your employer towards your Twitter profile as the
- distillation of your online footprint. Having a website, especially one
- that separates professional and personal interests, is ten times better
- than a resume, especially in the world of technology. It lets you tell
- people exactly who you are and what you do, without forcing them to
- navigate through an auth wall or a bunch of puppy photos. Your
- professional and personal lives don't bleed together quite as much and
- it makes for a kick-ass business card.
- </p>
-
- <p>
- Most importantly however, I enjoy the level of control that I gain with
- creating and operating my own website, something I have also sought for
- a long time. In high school I set up an old Dell from my school's
- recycling center with Windows XP and Microsoft Internet Information
- Services. It didn't have SSL or even a domain name but it was reachable
- over the WAN. I set up an upload system so that my friends and I could
- 'post' memes and funny messages for each other on raw html pages written
- with Microsoft Word. That was the extent of its functionality. It was
- slow, insecure, and went offline every time the router got a new IP
- assigned to it. But I didn't care. It was a site the school couldn't
- block. It had no name and no rules and nobody could tell us what to do
- with it because it was ours. And we called it the
- <em>Troll Nexus Center</em> because that's what you do when you're 15
- </p>
-
- <p>
- My reasons then for building the Troll Nexus Center still stand now.
- <em
- >Having your own website is having your own piece of internet
- property.</em
- >
- I first heard this wording from
- <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azkWYxyqh3Y"
- >Luke Smith over on his YouTube channel</a
- >
- and it's one-hundred percent true. Tumblogs, Google Sites, Facebook
- profiles, and GitHub Pages are all like renting an apartment. Sure,
- there are some really nice apartments out there but it's not the same as
- owning your own home. You have to pay rent obviously, and rent is
- subject to change once your lease is up. If anything breaks you text
- your landlord and wait to have it fixed. You aren't allowed to fix it
- yourself and sometimes it doesn't get fixed at all. And of course you're
- limited by how much you can customize things to your own liking. Whether
- it's painting walls or knocking them down.
- </p>
-
- <p>
- These limitations may or may not apply to you. Whether you're paying for
- storage, server space, metrics, or watching an ad every five seconds,
- these services aren't free either. And you certainly can't fix
- everything that goes wrong with them. I started on Google Sites. It's a
- truly fantastic system. Building a site is like putting a PowerPoint
- slide together. I just plain outgrew it. There were too many things I
- wanted to do that I simply couldn't. I was also at the mercy of Google's
- constant change. After I finished constructing my first site, Google
- <a
- href="https://gsuiteupdates.googleblog.com/2016/11/a-totally-rebuilt-google-sitesnow.html"
- >announced they would be shutting down the old Google Sites in favor
- of an entirely new platform under the same name</a
- >. Weeks of work got thrown out the window. You might also not care
- about ads or customization. You may be intimidated by doing things
- yourself and prefer that the landlord take care of everything.
- Personally, I like the challenge and the craftsmanship that comes with
- doing something myself. And I like being in total control of my server,
- site, and content. Not from a tinfoil hat perspective but from a "gosh I
- really wish I could just share more than 15 gigabytes of family video
- with my relatives in New York and Ohio" perspective.
- </p>
-
- <p>
- So that's why I created my own website. If you want to know
- <em>how</em> I host my own website, look for another post about my
- server setup where I'll explain everything I'm hosting and how I got it
- all hooked up. And that's a wrap. Now you know why I'm here instead of
- somewhere else online. Sure, I do have Facebook and YouTube accounts but
- I don't frequently update anything on either of them. This site is my
- home online. It's where I keep all of my interests, hobbies, and
- memories for sharing with others.
- </p>
-
- <p>
- Now you know where to find me. If you want to keep up with me, be
- old-fashioned and subscribe to my RSS feed.
- </p>
- </article>
- </body>
-</html>