“faq”

While these questions may not have been directly asked, I sense they might be present in the mind of a discerning employer reviewing my resume.

Why don’t you have LinkedIn?

While many find value in LinkedIn, I perceive it as leaning toward performative professionalism, echoing other social media platforms where optics often trump genuine connections. It’s alarming how metrics and algorithms can sometimes eclipse true authenticity.

Additionally, my stance on privacy is not just a preference, but a principled decision in an age of pervasive data exploitation. In a time when data protection should be the baseline standard, tech giants often use our digital footprints—including personal and professional details—for their data-mining operations, often placing their data needs above user security. This cavalier approach to privacy is something I choose not to endorse with my participation. It’s absurd that people, without thought, are putting more and more personal information online (info, photos, etc.) when everything gets scraped for AI nowdays, and the data, used for commercial purposes; such as to market invasive and discriminatory surveillance tech to the police.

I also prefer controlling who views my achievements and career trajectory. It’s not about secrecy, but rather, discretion. I’ve opted to share my journey through my personal website, providing a more organized reflection to those I consider significant.

Although LinkedIn is lauded for networking, it’s worth reflecting on the motivations behind its use. When visibility and online accolades become measures of worth, it’s a slippery slope to valuing validation over authenticity.

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Did you make this website?

Yes. This website has been undertaken with Hugo as its foundational framework. CSS and styling done from scratch, avoiding the common path of standardized, readily-made templates, which you merely drop content into. The objective has been to foster an aesthetic that is inherently minimalistic at its core—beyond mere visual simplicity.

In pursuit of this, I have consciously steered clear of the superfluous elements that so often pervade modern websites, heavy with JavaScript and devoted to ‘responsive design’. Such features often render these sites indistinguishably mundane and devoid of intrigue. Most tread the same trodden path, adhering to a monotonous design ethos that is as galling as it is bloated.

For guidance on specific configurations of Hugo, I have referred to the Hugo Bear Blog Theme. The choice of color scheme is an attempt to strike a balance between a fully light theme and a fully dark theme; a topic I intend to explore in a separate post.