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Notes to Self
Along the Ray
..musings on old-school-web livelihoods & creative pursuits
This is me putting my notes & thoughts online without filters and without worrying about who I’m writing for. Let’s just say in a way you opened my notebook without me knowing it.1
I love old school web technology; so much so that I’ve made a living for 30+ years with it (and counting!). Here I share thoughts and ideas on blogging, communities/forums, newsletters (print too) and other solo entrepreneurs leveraging the web (artists, writers, craftspeople, software devs, etc.).
I also touch upon being independent, making a living at it (slowly & organically!) and being an “unplatformer” i.e. platform independent; not reliant on major tech giants like Google, Facebook, etc..
There’s some techie stuff to geek out on too (once a geek…) and anything else that comes to mind as a hacker of many trades and master of none.
I’m looking for a new way of making a living (digital or analog) that maintains my independence so I figure writing and experimenting here might lead to other things or ideas I haven’t thought of.
Oh hi! I’m Ray and I live in a tiny camper wandering around somewhere. I have a personal blog over at Along the Ray where I write about my travels ’n such.
I’m self-taught because it was the best way for me to learn as a deaf born person mainstreamed into a hearing world.
Back in the early ’90s I was discriminated from being promoted into management because they didn’t think a deaf person could do it.
So I quit.
It was the best thing I ever did because I started working for myself.
First as a computer consultant. Then as a webmaster building websites for clients. Which lead to building and running a fan website of my own devoted to coverage of Gator sports. From there it blossomed into a credentialed media company.
It was a blast because we innovated in a lot of areas like charging for paid subscriptions, doing live video chats and podcasts, email newsletters, forums, etc.
All way before it became a thing these days.
(It wasn’t all sunshine and jet packs. There were times where we almost went bankrupt, dealt with embezzlement, had the IRS knocking on our door, etc. etc. I’m sure I’ll share these things here too when relevant.)
Most of the time I jot things down in a paper notepad and later “transliterate” ’em on the computer into text (markdown) files using Obsidian as an editor.
These text files are saved in a folder on my computer that’s automatically synced to the cloud from which Blot.im renders into this very page you’re reading.
Feel free to ask. And if you have thoughts on something I’ve written, don’t hesitate to share.
Let’s always be learning (and growing) together.
Forever wondering,
Ray
P.S. I’d like to hear from you — feel free to sign the “guestbook” below where the comments are; tell us a bit about yourself, how you found us, and perhaps where you might be on your own journey…
Email address is optional. Pop it in if you'd like getting a heads-up of any replies to you.
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