Whether you have followed my writing since 1990 or are just finding it now, welcome to my blog kNOw self.

The name of this incarnation carries a threefold meaning that has anchored my life's journey. First, it is a nod to the ancient Greek philosophy to "know thyself." Second, it is an invitation for friends to know me better, so that we might build meaningful connections. Finally, it reflects the Buddhist concept of "no self" (anattā). This is a reminder to embrace the fluid nature of the self, reduce my own ego, and share my journey with interconnected beings everywhere.

In the past decade, my blogging became sporadic. The current of social media had pulled me away from a dedicated, self-managed space. The convenience of exchanging fleeting thoughts in crowded digital squares replaced my long-form reflection. But I now realize the necessity of returning to a self-owned platform. I want a quiet place for me (and readers) to focus on the signal rather than the noise.

This return is accompanied by a technical reset. I have been publishing my writing since 1990, witnessing the entire evolution of our communication mediums. My words have lived through traditional paper media, email lists, newsletters, and BBS, before I rode the wave of Web 1.0, carving out corners in academic mainframe user spaces, GeoCities, and pure hand-written HTML on self-hosted servers, eventually syndicating through RSS. Then came Web 2.0—the era of interactive CMS platforms and countless blogging engines—before social media swallowed the web whole.

After wandering through all those generations of platforms, I have finally settled on something refreshingly foundational: static files, powered by a custom rendering engine to cleanly separate the content from the presentation. It is a return to the roots of the web, but with the experience of decades of software engineering and sharing my writing behind it.

The medium isn't the only thing that has evolved; the landscape of global communication has completely transformed. When I began, navigating the web as a multi-lingual writer was a very different experience. Today, Unicode is standard, the internet has elevated global English literacy, and machine translation is instantly accessible. My own primary audience has shifted from Chinese to English readers over the years. And my own English proficiency and cultural awareness have also grown a bit.

At the same time, the fundamental utility of writing on the internet has shifted. We now have smart search and AI-driven solutions that can synthesize answers in seconds. Readers' attention spans have shortened drastically, and multimedia is rapidly replacing text consumption. Why write long-form text on a personal site when AI can answer questions and video dominates our screens?

Because the purpose of this space isn't merely to distribute data; it is to share my deeply personal journey of self-observation, self-correction, and ultimately, self-liberation.

This blog is a living record of my growth across all facets of my life: as a software professional and a technology tinkerer; as a composer and a music enthusiast; as a multi-lingual writer navigating nuance; and, most importantly, as a layperson who simply wishes to be a better being tomorrow than I am today.

kNOw self is a return to that core pursuit. I am glad to be back on track, and I am glad you are here with me.