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š Celebrating 21 Years of My Web: A Personal Journey Through Code, Creativity, and Community
This July marks 21 years since I first launched my corner of the internet. What began in 2004 as a simple personal site has grown into a constellation of interconnected projectsāeach a reflection of my evolving passions, curiosities, and philosophies. From retro gaming and stargazing to spiritual practice and hacker culture, this network has seen me through grief, growth, and everything in between.
Iāve run these sites as a hobby, a business, andāultimatelyāas a life practice. Some are active, some are on hiatus, and some are in the process of being reborn. But together, they tell a story. Hereās a look at each site, where itās been, and where I hope to take it next.
š¹ļø Retrohalla (formerly: Hacker Labs: The Geek and an Otaku Blog)
Launched: July 2012
Focus: Game streaming, game reviews, TV & anime commentary, and all things geeky & otaku
The Past Few Years:
Hacker Labs began as a healing project after the death of my fatherāmy way of staying grounded through gaming, writing, and diving into nerd culture. It quickly became my most active and visible site, a home for game reviews, anime thoughts, and creative output. But after years of content creation, burnout set in, and the site has been on hiatus for over two years.
Goals Going Forward:
A full rebrand is in progress. Hacker Labs will get a new name, a new domain, and a sharper focus on retro gaming. Itāll return with a cleaner look, a tighter theme, and a renewed sense of purpose.
š® Jedite83’s Book of Shadows
Launched: Fall 2009
Focus: A personal Wiccan Book of Shadows, featuring notes, rituals, and occasional blog posts on Paganism and the occult
The Past Few Years:
This site has always been my spiritual journalāan evolving Book of Shadows that grows with me. In 2024 and early 2025, I experimented with a companion YouTube series, sharing my journey in video form. Though that series is currently on hiatus, the core of the project remains strong.
Goals Going Forward:
Iāll continue updating the site organicallyāadding spells, notes, reflections, and discoveries as I walk the Pagan path. No pressure, no rush. Just real-time growth and magick in motion.
š Learning the Stars
Launched: January 2025
Focus: Stargazing notes, skywatching tips, and personal explorations of astronomy
The Past Few Months:
Learning the Stars is a passion project born out of a 2025 commitment to take stargazing seriously. Itās a personal field guide as I relearn the constellations, track celestial events, and deepen my understanding of the night sky.
Goals Going Forward:
Iāll keep building out seasonal skywatching guides, telescope tips, and binocular-friendly observation notes. Itās a site for rediscovering wonderāand inviting others to look up with me.
š» Hack the Planet
Launched: January 2025 (successor to earlier hacking sites dating back to 2004)
Focus: Hacking, cybersecurity, and the cultural history of the hacker underground
The Past Few Months:
Hack the Planet is part technical notebook, part digital time capsule. It documents my journey to rebuild my hacking skills and recover lost knowledge from older sites I ran. Iām also pulling archives from the ā80s, ā90s, and early 2000s to preserve and remix old-school hacker wisdom.
Goals Going Forward:
This site will grow with my learningāfilled with walkthroughs, notes, philosophy, and curated archives. Itās a love letter to hacking past and present, and a resource for anyone walking the same path.
š§ CyberMage Network
Launched: January 2025 (legacy dating back to July 2004)
Focus: Central hub of my personal blog network; digital philosophy, manifesto, archives
The Past Few Years:
From 2021 to 2025, my network operated as a formal business under the name Temple of the CyberMage. But this year, I chose to step back from the business structure and return to my roots as a hobbyist. The company was dissolved, and CyberMage Network was bornānow the central hub of everything I do online.
Goals Going Forward:
CyberMage Network will continue to grow as the connective tissue between my other projects. It currently hosts my manifesto and soon will include a full public directory of everything across my digital ecosystem.
