Hello, I'm Russ, and this is my website. I'm a software engineer who programs for the love of the craft in an age of disillusionment. The purpose of this site is to give me a place to publish my thoughts on programming, personal projects, and professional developments.
2026-06-06
Today's project is to start this site and establish it's initial goals. Before publishing, let's walk through some topics.
Should this blog be published under my real life name or under a nickname? I struggle with this one for a number of reasons.
For starters, my opinions change over time and I don't want to be defined by something I wrote 10 years ago which is now controversial. I think of myself as a well-rounded individual, but any take can potentially turn sour over the years.
Also, some things I might write could be unpopular with potential employers. For example, at the moment, employers have a cult-like obsession with "AI"-obsessed. Any criticism could be bad for my work reputation and employment prospects.
Otoh, I'm a professional in it for the love of the game. I would like credit for my own thoughts and work. And, publishing anonymously is almost a form of self-censorship. Goodness, it's a free country, after all.
So, let's do what's only reasonable: Publish objective content, use opinion sparingly, stay civil, ask reader for grace.
How often shall it receive updates?
Let's go with weekly as a goal. Daily is too much for me to keep up with, monthly may not be enough to establish a habit.
I program in my spare time for learning and fun, and I often wish to have a medium to write down my ideas. I could, and do, write these ideas on paper or in a text editor, but there's some value in preparing an idea for a reader. The act of explaining the idea often refines it.
Sometimes I may want to explore software engineering topics such as specific technologies, APIs, frameworks, or "AI".
I would like this site to be minimalist in nature. This is not a rejection of modern tech, but a celebration of the Internet's roots, a topic I'd like to explore in more detail later.
For now, let's use HTML5 and minimal Javascript and CSS. This should ensure that minimalist search engines like Wiby will index it.
I would also like to have some backend application to facilitate "fun" demos and to store basic information like traffic statistics--let's not go overboard, though.
I've publish a summary of this planning exercise under the "spec" link above.