Hello!
I created this website during my senior year of high school with a desire to share my unique passions and perspectives surrounding technology with the rest of the world. The people I know in real life view me as a fountain of information, and flock to me whenever anything out of the ordinary happens with their electronic-related… anything, really. It’s something I enjoy doing, however, the scope and opportunity for that is extremely narrow. As someone who’s constantly interacting with technology in so many different forms, I have the opportunity to experience things others never encounter, and develop unique viewpoints on topics that rarely surface in people’s everyday lives.
I believe in the value of spreading knowledge and awareness to as wide of an audience as I can. Tackling that effectively, however, with topics as involved as the ones I research, is far from trivial. Generally speaking, if your audience can’t find some personal relation in what they’re reading, they don’t tend to understand or retain much. If you introduce a topic in a way that starts out too disorienting, they’ll also turn their backs. This isn’t something specific to me. It’s a pattern I see emerging among lots of these projects and efforts. The authors and contributors are extremely knowledgeable and talented in their work, but when it comes to thoroughly explaining the inner-workings of their project to the masses, it’s easier said than done. If this remains true, you can’t realistically expect a technical-leaning interest to develop outside of this niche group of enthusiasts. The divide will remain, and the growth (or decay) of our technology will continue as-is with little input from the people it affects the most. I aim to make the geeky side of things more interesting and approachable, even if by a small margin. Hopefully, it will help surface crucially important information that much better.
I’m not an ordinary person. Neither is this website. Actually, the entire world-wide-web has twisted itself up quite a bit since its inception. What used to be a place to share your passions, start a business, or grow your online presence, has morphed into a battle of attention, clicks, and revenue-centric content. Put simply, there’s nothing wrong with monetizing your work online. However, due to the current construction of the internet, creators feel compelled to construct all of their content around it. This leads to a noticeable degradation in the quality of work being produced. It doesn’t take much effort to create a website, AI-generate some content, and put a few bold headings on a blog post with common search queries to drive network traffic. In fact, it’s easier to make money doing this then it is to build something great.
So, why build something great?
Well, if money is the only incentive for your content, then why are you publishing it in the first place?
This obsessive vision for how the web must function is holding us back. People exhibit relentless frustration as they hunt for content online, and are now met with SEO-optimized, ad-infested spam that’s become devoid of its original meaning. Search-algorithms and AI-assistants then learn to use this information, providing unknowing users with terribly incorrect responses to serious questions. It then continues to rise above its authentic counterpart, forcing the rest of the creative industry to accept it, and re-engineer their content to match it. It rapidly devolves into a game of who can manipulate a computer algorithm the best. It’s a game that should never be the deciding factor in what you intend to publish, and how you broadcast that information.
So, in order to focus entirely on the quality and thoroughness of my work, I have to set some things in stone.
- Addressing the elephant.
None of my content on this website has, or ever will be generated using artificial intelligence. It’s crafted with original ideas, original research, and original talent. The content takes the reins here, not the effort-to-click ratio. - Be consistent with your audience’s expectations.
Look familiar?
You won’t find it here.
This style of writing excels at short-term engagement, but falls short of maintaining a lasting impression. Eventually, it’ll drive keener audiences away, as they develop an expectation of being underwhelmed by the content they were originally seeking out. Don’t be stupidly vague. - Be truthful and accurate.
I’m human. I have a bias. I also make mistakes. The last thing I want is for that to undermine the accuracy of my research. On applicable articles, I do my best to link back to the origins of the information I’m relaying. This is more important for some topics than others. You likely won’t see a handful of footnotes on a phone tutorial, but they’ll absolutely be there when the context calls. Also, when something is purely about my own thoughts and ideologies, it’s categorized appropriately. - Be approachable.
I’ve been doing nothing short of evolving over the years. That includes not only my understanding of myself and the industry, but the way the population absorbs the jargon they’re faced with and why current attempts are falling short. I can’t bend too far towards over or under-explaining. In order to be successful in my efforts, I have to get as close to that middle ground as I’m able to.
So, what can you actually expect to see here? It’ll be quite the array of topics. I’ve pre-made some categories that you can see at the top of this webpage, that may or may not change going forward. Without spilling too much, you’ll hear a lot about digital privacy and security, and how it’s becoming more important than ever in our modernized society. There are so many things that fly completely under the radar here, it’s unbelievable. I’ll also continue to use this as a basin for what I used to do, which is share tips, tricks, and tutorials for software and electronic devices. From the most common tasks people still scratch their head about, to the most edgy of edge-cases you won’t find anywhere else on the internet. I’ll also write about my viewpoints on the tech industry, drawing attention to when things go incredibly right, and terribly wrong. All of this is part of my continued effort to get people involved, and make a lasting difference.
Thank you for your interest! I hope to see you soon.
Tristian
Image Credits: FreePik, Inspired Pencil, Bright Side – YouTube
