An Update, and a Return to Form

Start Packing Boxes

Dynamic Interests is moving. The neighborhood is a bit more of an up-and-comer, but the rent is a lot cheaper and I get to paint the walls however I want. Currently, I use SquareSpace to manage the site. I want to be upfront and say that I’ve had a good time on SquareSpace and if you want to do anything more complicated than what I’m pulling off then it’s a good solution for the money and very easy to use. The problem comes down to a couple personal factors: I’m looking for something cheaper, and I’m dissatisfied with the direction the internet at large is moving these days.

Web 1.0

Remember the days of dialup? When websites had to be slick and high efficiency or else risk losing page views when the reader inevitably aborted loading a giant complicated homepage over a 256 baud modem? A website required dedication to run, both because of the overhead associated with hosting but also the technical prowess needed to formulate the page. Something fundamental has been lost, and a small but growing cohort of internet die-hards is fighting to bring it back. That magical touch of humanity that made every website unique.

I want to bring as much of this early internet charm back into Dynamic Interests as I possibly can. With all the hidden motives and profit-centered boardroom backends littering the internet of today, I want what you see to be what you get: a simple collection of my thoughts and hobbies. No ads, no trackers, no gods, no masters.

Over the Garden Wall

Every major platform is fighting tooth and nail to keep you within its grasp at all times, and when it does lose you it sends along a parting gift in the form of trackers to watch where you go and learn how to make money off that activity or add features to keep you firmly planted in their playpen. Organic discovery of information and activities on the web is very nearly a thing of the past. Finding a new website was like meeting new people; normally you are introduced to someone through someone you already know. Search engines used to be a great way to find information and were square one for what could become a long journey, now even they do their best to keep you confined with AI tools that claim to answer your questions without having to leave. It takes the most popular results, puts them in a blender, and then mama-birds them back to you. No extra reading required, and certainly no need to go to other sites and give them page views or ad revenue.

Thou Shalt Not Make a Machine in the Likeness of a Human Mind

We have begun the process of stealing fire from the gods and the eagle is already pecking at our collective liver before we even duck down the nearest alley in an attempt to escape. AI as we know it today is not a true intelligence, it is an expensive and expansive pattern recognition tool that we have taught to predict what we want next. It is a digital golem that has increased workload for average workers, exacerbated the problem of data center power usage by an order of magnitude, and poisoned the well of common media discourse. Learn how AI works so you can avoid its ramifications at all costs.

For my part, my intention is to thwart the encroachment of The Machine by creating a site that is obviously genuine on its face and has the look and feel of something that was crafted by human hands. I also intend to switch platforms to prevent my writings and photographs from being used to train AI with my consent. What AI companies scrape without my consent is not something I am equipped to fight against, but there are steps I can take to not give anyone my permission to do so. By agreeing to the terms of service, I allow SquareSpace to do what they will with the content of my website. No longer will that be the case. If someone wants to use my intellectual property to train AI they’ll have to steal it fair and square.

Pulling Fun out of Thin Air

I never pictured myself as a creative. The most fun I had in art class in high school (besides goofing around with my friends when I wasn’t supposed to) was doing woodblock prints, which I had little talent for. It took a lot of time and growth to see myself as any kind of artist. Despite that, here I sit writing things that people seemingly want to read and taking pictures that I don’t know if anyone else really enjoys, but I can say I enjoyed making them with all my heart. I’ve started to learn a musical instrument, and who knows what the future holds. If I can do all that, so can you.

What I intend to say here is that creation of any kind is (and should be) a selfish endeavor with manifold benefits to yourself and the world around you. Our own unique styles of expression make each day more interesting and each other person you meet a limitless bounty of experience from which to learn. I want to enhance this rich tapestry by taking as much control as I possibly can over my website which has become my primary form of sharing my expression with whoever wants to read. From the front page right down to the bone, I want it to be recognizable not just as organic but as something I made.

Thanks for tagging along, and I’ll see you on the other side.