Still working on putting up the entries to the journal of recent experiences living in such a unique environment talking to such cool people. Here are some thoughts on the creation of this website:

Wait Why am I Doing this Again..
In this vast void of the digital, where algorithms dictate our every click and scroll, the quest for epistemic agency becomes a rebellion against the homogenizing forces of Big Tech. I naively propose to carve out a sanctuary of thought and code through a portfolio / blog hosted on Neocities. This project is not just a nostalgic nod to the bygone era of the cool aesthetics of the early web but a deliberate act of reclaiming creative and intellectual autonomy.

Resurrecting the Spirit of GeoCities
In the mid-1990s, GeoCities emerged as a digital tapestry where users wove their identities into the fabric of the early digital spaces. Organized into thematic "neighborhoods," it offered a democratized platform for self-expression, allowing individuals to create personal webpages without corporate gatekeeping. However, with its acquisition by Yahoo! in 1999 and eventual shutdown in 2009, a vibrant chapter of user-generated content was unceremoniously closed.
Enter Neocities—a modern revival of that pioneering spirit. Launched in 2013, this platform seeks to "make the web fun again" by providing free, user-friendly web hosting that encourages creativity without intrusive advertisements or data mining. I’m still trying to get inside the College Park neighborhood lol. Also this static site hosting platform offers 1 GB of storage for free users, empowering people to build and share without the constraints imposed by monolithic platforms / structures. I’d recommend going through the different sites found there, humans will always be so creative :).

Digital Epistemic Agency Through Technical Creativity
Epistemic agency—the capacity to act as a knower and contributor to knowledge—is increasingly mediated by paradigmatic digital infrastructures. Yet, these infrastructures often obscure the underlying mechanisms of knowledge production, rendering users as passive consumers rather than active participants. By engaging in technical creativity through coding and web development, we dismantle the black boxes of technology, transforming them into transparent systems we can understand and manipulate.​ Mark Fisher, in his examination of capitalist structures, observed that "capitalism is a system which is always shifting the way it monetizes things, and the way it monetizes things is always opening up new and unexpected reconfigurations of desire." This perpetual adaptation often channels creative impulses into commodified avenues, diluting genuine innovation. By reclaiming our technical creativity, we resist this commodification, transforming our digital engagements into acts of knowledge production and self-expression. This reclamation allows us to navigate the digital landscape with intentionality, crafting our own narratives and tools rather than succumbing to the passive consumption of pre-packaged experiences.​ Engaging in coding and web development not only demystifies the technologies that permeate our lives but also empowers us to contribute to the digital commons. This active participation fosters a more equitable distribution of knowledge and challenges the monopolistic tendencies of dominant tech entities. Through technical creativity, we assert our agency, ensuring that our digital identities and contributions are crafted by our own hands, free from the homogenizing forces of corporate algorithms.

Coding as Liberation from Big Tech Oligarchy
The hegemony of Big Tech has cultivated a digital environment where user data is harvested with impunity, and content is filtered through profit-driven algorithms. This oligarchic control stifles diversity of thought and homogenizes online experiences. Gilles Deleuze's concept of the "society of control" is manifest in these digital enclosures, where freedom is simulated but not actualized.​ Coding becomes an act of defiance—a means to reclaim autonomy and resist the passive consumption of pre-packaged digital experiences. By developing our own digital spaces, we subvert the panoptic gaze of data surveillance and create enclaves of genuine interaction and creativity. This self-sufficiency challenges the monopolistic tendencies of Big Tech, offering alternative narratives and platforms that prioritize user agency over profit.​ By engaging in open-source projects and decentralized networks, we contribute to a digital ecosystem that values transparency and collaboration. This collective effort undermines the centralized power structures of Big Tech, fostering a more equitable and diverse digital landscape. Through coding, we not only liberate ourselves but also pave the way for others to reclaim their digital autonomy, challenging the status quo and envisioning new possibilities for our digital futures.

A Somewhat Pretentious Imperative of the Personal Blog
Baudrillard posited that in the age of hyperreality, signs and symbols become detached from their referents, leading to a simulacrum of reality. In the context of the internet, this translates to curated personas and echo chambers that distort authentic self-expression and discourse. A hard-coded personal blog, or featured expressions of your work through a digital portfolio, serves as a countermeasure—a space where the self can be articulated without the distorting lens of corporate algorithms. Hosting this guy on Neocities is a deliberate choice. It aligns with the appealing ethos of the early web—a decentralized, user-driven ecosystem that fosters genuine community and creativity. Neocities' commitment to preserving the spirit of GeoCities, while providing modern tools and support, makes it an ideal platform for me to do this. In the near future, I’ll be hosting this site (in a parallel & archival sense) through the Open Computing Facility at my school. I have no concrete and fully developed thoughts on the details of aligning the domain name towards the institution I attend, but the OCF maintains some principles of open access and community-driven computing. Having talked to a couple volunteers at their spot on the bottom floor of MLK, they do an awesome job fostering an environment where exploration and innovation are not just encouraged but facilitated. By leveraging the OCF's domain hosting infrastructure, I aim to create a digital space that is both resilient and reflective of the collaborative spirit inherent in academic and open-source communities.​ Also, I kind would love a job, and radicalness in these senses can only get you so far or will at least limit you. There are important discussions to be had on this, a better future, but I think I am too naive and also positioned to not have the place to shout below from a tall tower of ultimate privilege that is unbound by the invisible structures that still enclose us. I operate within it, as does everyone else, and I’m having a relatively nice time still. To critique all the time is so tiring and to be honest I engage at such a surface level, not only because I’m not really knowledgeable on anything in general but also I feel good watching ML papers explained by Peter Griffin on Instagram reels with Minecraft parkour in the background. So I accept some parts of the tech hegemony lol..
In establishing a portfolio on Neocities, I aim to cultivate a digital garden where ideas can flourish untainted by the monoculture of Big Tech. This space will serve as an example of the use of technical creativity in reclaiming epistemic agency and resisting the commodification of our digital lives. It is an invitation to others to join in this act of digital reclamation—to code, to create, and to connect on our own terms. Join me! Contact me, on any pointers of using that platform or if you want to work on anything in general :P