About Stuff on Creativity Hacker

About The New Site

jeff@smithicus.com (Jefferson Smith) — Sun, 20 Apr 2025 00:36:31 +0000

Welcome to the new Creativity Hacker. If you remember the old site, things will look very different this time around, but there’s method beneath the madness. Follow me down below the fold to find out how I’m organizing things this time around. And more importantly, why.

About The Comment System

jeff@smithicus.com (Jefferson Smith) — Fri, 28 Mar 2025 20:40:55 +0000

Having had my web site hacked a couple of years ago, I abruptly lost all enthusiasm for running one, so after I locked it down, I took a few years to think about what to do. In that time, I’ve realized that for 98% of what I truly want my website to be, there is zero reason to give anybody access to changing the site from within the site itself. Even I don’t have such powers. And by not letting anybody change anything, the site can be remarkably secure against hackers. Not 100%, but much, much closer than any system that includes interactive editing features as part of the design.

About My Policies

jeff@smithicus.com (Jefferson Smith) — Thu, 27 Mar 2025 17:17:17 +0000

Privacy

I collect no information other than what you choose to share in the comments. Since those are public, be aware that whatever you say here, you are saying to the world.

About Contacting Me

jeff@smithicus.com (Jefferson Smith) — Thu, 27 Mar 2025 14:38:32 +0000

If I already know you, you can ignore Sydney here. Let’s reconnect. Just send me a note using one of the methods below and I’ll get back to you pronto.

I’m also delighted to hear from fans, followers, and anyone who sincerely wants to chat about interests we have in common. Just tell me a bit about that shared passion and I’ll respond.

About Social Media

jeff@smithicus.com (Jefferson Smith) — Thu, 27 Mar 2025 05:31:30 +0000

I spent decades on social media, right from the very beginning, and in that time, watched them drift from exciting virtual communities into soulless commercial marketplaces. What finally drove me away wasn’t a single post or policy change - it was recognizing the slow erosion they’ve inflicted on how we think, and how we treat each other.

You know that AI Apocalypse we’ve all been dreading? Turns out it wasn’t algorithmic intelligence we should have been worried about - algorithmic greed will do the job long before real AI ergos its first cogito sum.

About The Old Site

jeff@smithicus.com (Jefferson Smith) — Thu, 27 Mar 2025 05:21:39 +0000

For those who are wondering about the old site, you may recall that I got hacked a while ago, and, frankly, my enthusiasm for continuing to wage that particular battle evaporated overnight. What to do, what to do?

About Following Me

jeff@smithicus.com (Jefferson Smith) — Wed, 26 Mar 2025 19:11:11 +0000

Take Back Control of What You Read

The internet used to be a place where you decided what you wanted to read. You visited sites you trusted, you followed writers you respected, and then you read their stuff at your own pace. But these days, most people get their information from social media and algorithmic feeds—streams of content carefully tuned to maximize the platform’s benefit, not yours. And if you don’t read something right now, it’s lost forever in the ever-churning sea of “new.” That’s not an accident - it’s designed that way to keep you hooked.

Well, I’m not interested in playing that game. So here’s what I’m doing differently.