I first created a website over thirty years ago (in 1994) when I was an undergraduate student in computer science. I then created several other websites, including one for an Internet startup I founded, with the help of a whole technology crew. But I stopped creating websites when I started my PhD in 2004, which required me to focus on other tasks.
Why create a website now? My work primarily involves creating content—research, courses, talks—and since I began my PhD, I have accumulated a substantial amount of it. Having a dedicated space to share all that content in an organized manner will, I hope, allow others to find it useful.
I also like the idea of having a home on the internet that I fully own and control, independent of any platform whose rules may change, or that may disappear altogether. I expect this site to become the main place where I share my work, especially on AI, strategy, and related topics.
Building the site was also a way to reacquaint myself with the craft of making things for the web. The process involves a technology stack with several layers, including servers, content delivery networks, styling with CSS, and scripts to automate tedious tasks (like generating HTML from text files or uploading the site to the server). I could have used a pre-made tool, but I wanted to understand the process and retain control over every detail. It may not have been the most productive use of my time, but it was certainly fun.
I leave you with a picture of my homelab, which I started building during Covid. It lives in my basement and hosts this website, along with a number of other experiments. The “UNIX” license plate on the wall is from one of my favorite museums, the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California.
