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+<?php
+$title = "Why Have a Web Site in 2019?";
+if (isset($early) && $early) {
+	return;
+}
+include($_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] . '/includes/head.php');
+?>
+
+<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>