Welcome to the empty set
Posted in thoughts
Tags :Welcome to the Empty Set [∅].
In mathematics and more specifically set theory, the empty set is the unique set which contains no elements.
Multiple personalities
Basically, this weblog is all about solving a case of multiple personalities. The Internet is dynamic by nature, and when you've spent as much time as me in it, on it or with it depending of your point of vue, you tend to accumulate multiple mailboxes, domain names, websites, ISPs, hosting partners, login name and passwords. Some are easier to manage than others. Typically, I've been having trouble managing the different weblogs, their overlapping contents and purposes. The situation grinded to a halt 18 months ago when I closed down my TypePad and Blogger accounts, my personal and my Mac oriented MovableType weblogs, my dotMac weblog - just to name the few. I just wasn't sure where to post what information, and in what language.
I'm currently located in Geneva, Switzerland. The French speaking part of Switzerland. So it seems natural to write in French as a number of readers are of French monther tongue. Having been brought up in English at home, and spending most of my working time on the Internet writing, reading and talking in English, it seemed natural to use it as a preferred language for tech related subjects. That was my first attempt back in 2001. Use French for personal, and English for technnical. On the long run, it turned out that the nature of certain subjects felt closer to one language or the other, with no clear cut. So my personal blog started to mix French and English posts, which didn't quite fit in with my maniac frame of mind. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I decided to simply close down the lot until I'd figured out a satisfying way of tackling this issue.
We're on the brink of turning 2007, and I still haven't solved this issue. Partly by lack of time (you know.. building websites for others), and partly because I haven't found the optimal solution. So, I decided to design a new weblog that would habour the mix of my personal ramblings, technical views and reviews, links and tips, all in English.
The domain name needed to encompass all matters related to what I think, do and wish, and was naturally chosen to be my personal name (davidroessli.com). This allows me to talk about matter related, or not, to my work, family, passions and interests in general, and it is permanent.
The Empty Set concept came after the initial layout design. It was a graphical choice first, the empty set symbol always appealed to me, and looked good in the current design. The concept only came later.
Does it exist or is it necessary?
The unique set which contains no elements. What concept is more appealing than the greenfield project?
[..] a greenfield is a project which lacks any constraints imposed by prior work.
Suddenly, it felt just right. Let's get rid of all prior work and ideas, and choose as sole constraint freedom of thought and expression. The Empty Set will be my personal brain dump and technical sandbox.
I apologise in advance to those who might experience layout glitches and rendering inconsistencies. The content will always be accessible and available, but the best user experience will be obtained when using a modern browser, CSS v2.1 or v3 compliant such as Firefox, Opera or Safari (Mac OS).
So, if all goes well, I should see 2007 in with a brand new weblog.