It’s “Hello World”, I know…

I’m not exactly proud or embarrassed to say that I sometimes run purely off a little spite. In some class, I was once made to do a “hello world” website task, an absolute classic. Now don’t get me wrong - I didn’t have a problem with this task, it’s as easy as it sounds - type hello world in an HTML file, and then open it in a browser. For some stupid reason, I wanted to be different, so I put my own bit of personality into my task just to make it a little more “fun”.

Honestly, this story doesn’t really have a real lesson or moral to it, I just wanted to share it as a silly little way to justify the title of this post. I’m not sure if I’ll ever change it, because at this point, “Howdy Universe” is a harmless tradition of mine, and I guess it could be your own too.

I guess the point is - We can all make things our own in some way.

About…

“About” pages always just feel a little weird. I rarely visit one unless I’m trying to find some information about something/someone, and most other times I just ignore the option to visit one. Now that I’m writing one, I feel like that this page is going to be very important. I’ll mention why in a moment.

This website

I’ve been wanting to make a website for a while, and I’ve finally gotten around to it! My motivations are pretty flawed, though. While I’ve had the skills and knowledge to set up a website like this one, I never started on it because my end-goals for it felt a little empty. The impending doom of trying to find a job is what led to go “I should probably have something to show off” since I tend to close-source a lot of my projects (post about that coming soon).

This website is essentially 2 things:

A portfolio of sorts
A blog. Whatever that means.

To me, the “blog” element is just a pretty label to put on a guy on the internet who has lots to say. Amongst the things I say are opinions and statements. While I try to keep an open mind, and I’ll almost always listen - I’m pretty damn clear when I’ve got an opinion about something. That being said, my opinions are my own. On this website, I’m not speaking on behalf of a company, or a group of people, or really any other entity (unless specified otherwise). I’m just speaking on behalf of myself.

If I say that something sucks, it’s because I, personally, have reasons to believe that something sucks. If I say that something is great, it’s because I, personally, have reasons to believe that something is great. I’m just sharing my thoughts.

I am not defaming anyone, nor am I out to attack anyone in particular. Furthermore, I maintain a level of professionalism where I avoid naming names. In the event that someone may personally identify with a vague description (Hypothetically, if I say that I met someone smelly, and you think that I’m talking about you), then that is your own perception of the matter (and within the bounds of the example, if you’re identifying with this “smelly” person, then consider taking a shower).

I state this firmly due to previous experiences I’ve had. I know what defamation means, and it is not something I have committed, or will commit any time soon. My thoughts have basis, and are simply just my thoughts. Sometimes people will agree with me, but that doesn’t mean I’m trying to wage a war.

Me

Oh, me? You want to know about me? - Okay I’ll stop, I don’t really know why I wanted to write that, it’s not even that funny.

I’m Benjamin Barrett, 20 years old as of writing this. I’m studying a Bachelor of Computer Science, majoring in Software Development, and in 2024, I’m aiming to do a work placement of sorts, allowing me to have 12 months of pure (and paid) industry experience.

While I shall probably remain unspecific about which University I’m at, the information is out there on more professional career-facing websites. I choose to remain quiet here for privacy’s sake, and so my aforementioned voiced opinions are less targeted-feeling.

Do you do anything else?

Yes, in fact, I do! (This joke is beginning to grow on me, I will admit.)

When I’m not a slave to assignments, I have a variety of interests and hobbies. You could even argue that my hobby is “learning random things”.

There’s a good chance you’ll see the following topics on this site:

Programming Projects that I’ve worked on (not for my education, but for me)
Content Creation, including video editing, or just general commentary on stuff I’ve made or want to make.
Gaming
Random, “personal” stuff. It is my blog, after all.
- Don’t worry, I’m not going to broadcast my mental breakdown, I just mean random things that don’t fit anywhere else, like if I’m talking about a new hobby I’ve picked up, or a new interest I’ve found.

I hope that’s enough information. I’d feel like a bit of a narcissist if I said much else, really.