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Jay Hoffmann

I work at Reaktiv. I write at The History of the Web.

Our Personal Worlds

Kening Zhu advocates for creating a ‘digital garden’—a personal world prioritized over audience engagement. This serves as a reminder of the importance of reflection and personal ideology in shaping our digital and intellectual landscapes. It is something I want to focus on soon.

The build vs buy dilemma for personal decisions

As a tinkerer, I often grapple with the ‘build vs buy’ dilemma. ‘Building’ involves creating a personalized workflow system with light coding and no-code solutions, while ‘buying’ means embracing an existing app’s methodology. For years, I’ve used Obsidian for note-taking and organization. Recently, I considered building a second-brain app, similar to Obsidian or Roam, using…

Finding Focus in the new year

I’m going to begin the year with introspection, uncertainty, and a desire for new experiences and growth. I have been thinking about focus and setting new goals now that I’ve found some success in prioritizing.

Holidays and the nature of conflict

Conflict, though complicated, is mediated through conversation. Something easy to forget during the holidays. + a post on how to blog so others can find you, thinking about the web and fun, ad collaborating with a team.

Writing is magic

My thoughts on the power and challenges of writing as a tool for communication and self-evaluation. It is difficult to translate thoughts into words, and your mind will often resist the task. But it’s all worth it.

Web Components, Web Technologies and Things that Last

Web components are having a moment, and I think they’ve finally clicked. What does it mean to write on the web? And what is a mindful universe?

Bleak House and narratives

Dickens’ Bleak House is a powerful critique of industrialism and capitalism, cleverly intertwined with a captivating narrative. The novel exposes the frivolity of the ruling class and their disconnect from the victims of modernity. Through a compelling story, Dickens skillfully delivers his insightful rebukes.

Navigating the end of year scaries

Balancing a few things at once right now, but what I’m really excited about is focusing on a new direction for History of the Web, and getting that out into the world. + Almost done with Bleak House.

Travelers in landscapes from our past

A post thanksgiving flurry into the holidays always has me thinking about the future.

Choosing WordPress hosts for my personal site

I usually find my head spinning trying to pick out a new host. That still kind of happened this time, but it definitely went better.

What’s the next move?

It used to be so easy to think about thinking, and now it takes effort. Is that the way life goes, or is it a product of our time?

Steinbecks' Resistance

Through Tom Joad, Steinbeck communicates one of his greatest lessons. The power of resistance.

Inspiring, really.

A week of focus, and diving into some new nonfiction

Thinking is an active pursuit

Learning how to think in three easy steps

Mapping out my ideal notebook format

Thinking through my 2024 bullet journal system