Host the Service You Cannot Lose
Self-hosting is useful when the remote is something you can clone, back up, and rebuild — not when it is a second personality.
IntermediateExplore topics / 01
Digital.
Signals, with a way out.
Computing on terms we can understand. Local tools, open formats, and useful networks.
Connected territoriesInfrastructure ↗Home ↗Energy ↗Knowledge ↗Skills ↗Economics ↗Resilience ↗Society ↗
8 essaysAll territories ↗
Keep the Secret Off the Machine
An OpenPGP certification key that never sits on the daily laptop is a different object from a passphrase in a password manager.
Expert
A Token Is Not the Secret
A YubiKey can hold OpenPGP subkeys you cannot extract. That is a virtue only if you already have a backup that is not the card.
Expert
Custody Without a Custodian
An exchange balance is an IOU. A seed phrase is a secret. Confusing the two is how “not your keys” stops being a slogan and becomes a lesson.
Expert
Dependency Is Not the Enemy. Having No Exit Is.
Every useful system depends on something. The important question is what happens when the terms change.
Discovery
The Export You Can Actually Use
A download becomes an exit route only when another tool can recover the work, the structure, and enough context to continue.
Intermediate
Own the Critical Path
You do not need to control everything. Find the few dependencies that determine whether you can keep going.
Intermediate
Local First, Cloud When Useful
Put your work within reach. Let the network add possibilities without becoming permission to continue.
Intermediate