I took a short 22-year break from blogging and decided it’s time to get back in the game.
Fortunately, I had backed up my original blog content on a hard drive that sat in a closet for two decades. With the help of AI, I managed to rehydrate most of the original posts.. and it was an unexpected trip down memory lane!
The Internet Really Has Changed
Migrating 22-year-old content is like digital archaeology. Here’s what I discovered:
- HTTPS wasn’t everywhere yet. In 2003, HTTP was the default. HTTPS was mostly for banks and e-commerce. Which meant updating hundreds of broken links.
- Permalinks were around, but mostly brand new. Most of my original links were completely trashed. Even the ones that still worked had multiple redirects baked in. Bell Labs got bought out, then spun off, then sold again.
- Some content survived intact. A few links not only worked but led to (relatively) unchanged pages. Finding a 22-year-old blog post still live on the original URL felt like discovering buried treasure.
- Embedded content markup was completely different. YouTube didn’t exist when I started blogging. Neither did modern social media embeds. Everything needed manual intervention.
- WordPress has evolved. My original blog ran on b2, a predecessor to WordPress. Amazing how 22 years can completely transform a simple SQL schema. AI saved the day. Claude helped me create what was essentially a SQL migration script to convert the old format. It wasn’t perfect, but got me 90% there. (I tried ChatGPT first; total disaster for this use case.)
Digital Time Capsule
Reviewing the old content was a trip down memory lane:
- Discussions about “utility computing” (this was pre-AWS)
- Early experiments with “brains in cars” (hello, Tesla)
- Excitement about bash shell on Windows (now mostly obsoleted by WSL)
The predictions that seemed wild then are just… Tuesday now.
What’s Next
I’ve still got dozens of links to fix and content to polish, but I’m excited to be writing again. The internet has changed dramatically, but the joy of writing hasn’t.
I’m back!
