---
title: "About"
---

This is my personal website (and the third iteration thereof).

The first version used WordPress since it was quite easy to get into,
  didn't require much research, and web hosting services made it easy to set up.
It lasted around three months near the end of 2020, after which I lost my posts because of
  hosting troubles and because I wasn't using proper backups.

The second version also used WordPress, and lasted until the start of 2025
  (though the last post I had written up to that point was from the start of 2024).

This version uses [Quarto](https://quarto.org/), an open-source publishing platform that has
  some nice features like text-based configuration and Jupyter integration.
As a bonus, it also produces static web pages.


Why Quarto?
-----------

I had a couple of reasons for switching platforms:

- WordPress is either overkill or not enough.
  I don't need a block editor or multiple users, and I don't want to make custom content
    just for it to be specific to WordPress
- I write a lot of code and LaTeX, which WordPress relies on plugins for.
  Quarto uses (primarily) Pandoc-style Markdown, which allows for inlining of both out of the box.
    - Also, because of Jupyter integration, code cells can generate output for the page they're in.
- Since pages are written in Markdown, everything can be edited locally and version-controlled in Git.

The last two are particularly nice in ensuring that the site is reproducible,
  technically even without Quarto.
Instead of articles that live in a WordPress database or as scattered random files,
  I have the complete documents in a structure 1:1 with how the website is organized.


Mathematics
-----------

As of writing, all posts on this site are about math.
In particular, they are dedicated to certain non-obvious insights I choose to investigate.
Typically, although information about these subjects may exist online, it does not exist in a single,
  easily-accessible source.

I find writing math posts to be an excellent motivator when it comes to researching things.
It also gives me a chance to learn new tools that otherwise I would not have a reason to use,
  not to mention being a good exercise in writing and diagram creation.

An example of this (and one that relates to the creation of the site) is when I was writing code
  for what would become the contents of [this post](/posts/math/polycount/5/).
It was easy enough to learn a library for rendering images (or GIFs),
  but I didn't have a gallery to host them, nor a means to share the rationale which produced them.
In a frenzy, I tried gathering my notes in a single text file before eventually putting them on a website.
Along the way, I learned LaTeX to typeset the relevant equations.

I do my best to attribute the programs I use and direct sources I consult along the way,
  but extra information is frequently available on Wikipedia,
  which I may link to in order to give my explanation some grounding.

Unless otherwise stated, the figures and articles in this category are available under
  [CC BY-SA](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).
