"Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests."

- Luke 2:8-14, NABRE

Thanksgiving day is upon us once again! With that comes feasts, games, annoying relatives, the whole shabang! Let's talk about some fun thanksgiving traditions, shall we?

In my household, we actually begin our traditions the day before turkey day. As we host the feast, my mother spends the day baking all sorts of wonderful pastries, you know em': pumpkin pie, apple pie, brownies, cookies, all of the above! Because of this, we really don't feel like cooking a full meal after all that baking, so what do we do? Well, we go to Olive Garden, of course! Because nothing screams festive autumn like salty Italian food.

Moving swiftly on, we typically start our turkey day with some pumpkin & banana bread and cream cheese. Guys, if you've never had cream cheese on banana bread, you are seriously missing out on one of the greatest joys in life.

Do you remember Charlie Brown (not the 2015 movie, we don't talk about that one)? Well, if you do, then you'll love our next family staple! Around noon, we have a hearty lunch of popcorn, pretzel sticks, jelly beans, and toast! It is also around this time our first guests arrive, and this is when the chaos ensues. Just, y'know that scene from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation when all the relatives arrive and it's just full unembroidered chaos? Well... that, I know its meant for Christmas but it gets my point across!

Anyway, after that, we all sit down and eat, we all say what we're thankful for, blah blah blarmagoden, usual family shenanigans here.

Welp, thats Thanksgiving for you! This is a shorter post, but I wanted to get something out before December. I wish you all the merriest of thanksgivings!

As of writing I'm just past the halfway point of my first semester and, so far, the best way I can describe the whole experience, as far as classes themselves go, is, "not that different to highschool". Don't get me wrong, it definitely feels more free, not as "busy", but you have to understand, at the school I'm attending, we don't have those giant 300-person lecture halls, but rather smaller "class sized" classrooms, that, coupled with the sparser class schedule, has definitely given a sense of much-needed familiarity while remaining novel.

Alright, boring class-talk out of the way, now we get into everything else which has been a whiplash-filled roller coaster rolling upon a track of mostly-joyful chaos!

Due to the sheer amount that's happened so far, I'm only really gonna go over my first week. I may write more about it if I find anything that may pique your interests, but we'll see. As of writing this, the first week there was about 2 months ago, and as I didn't write down everything I did like an idiot, this will be mostly from memory, so take what I'm saying with a grain of salt.

Sunday

Yes, my first college experience started on the sabbath, because why not?

The main event this day was something we call the "Crimson Celebration". Basically, they get all the first-year students and crammed them into some bleachers in a basketball court, and within contained a stage with overly dramatic lighting and music and such. If this is starting to sound like those pep-rallies you get in high school, you are are not wrong because that is literally what it was, maybe taken up a notch.

Anyway, the actual event was fine for the most part. There were two emcees leading the event (who were just plainly reading off a script the entire time) that announced quite literally everything, but otherwise they did a good job.

The first speaker was actually the school's president and his wife. He gave the stereotypical "you're all welcome here! you'll do great things! yippee" speech, but otherwise he's definitely down-to-Earth guy. I actually got the opportunity to talk with him before the event started, and he definitely seemed very into his job. So, if you're reading this, hi Mr. Clark!

Anyway, he left and then the choir came out and sang our what I think is an anthem? The actual singing was okay, but the lyrics were definitely something to be desired. The best way to describe it was if Simon & Garfunkel's Bridge Over Troubled Water was turned into a public domain Youtube music library song and then tried & failed to make it more inspirational.

Then they left, the band came out, then some guy talking about careers, three more dance routines, then they wrapped up. After the event in the parking lot there were complimentary food trucks, because deep down they knew that, if there was no food provided, nobody would come. Welcome to America :D!

Monday

Day 2!

Basically nothing happened this day except a "mandatory" speech-play thing about drug overdoses. They got this doctor who talked to all (AKA 50/2500) of us about how dopamine and oxytocin work to fuel addiction and how narcan is the ultimate first aid for overdoses, etc. Yes, it was important and could save a life, but in my opinion, was not worth the drive.

After he spoke a group of ex-addicts came up and ran a play about overdosing, and then pretended to actually take the drugs too. I'm not sure who approved this, but they did, so.

As we left they gave all of us a bottle of narcan for the next questionably legal party we attend.

Tuesday

Day 3 was when things started cooking. This one's gonna take a while as there was so much that happened, so hang on to your hats!

Part I: Kickoff Fair

The first event this day was the oh-so infamous kickoff fair. It held the most awesome and exhilarating experience of... tables lined up along a long but thin walkway! It was just all the clubs and services lined up to get people interested. Don't get me wrong, it was definitely useful and important, however it was not what I was expecting from a kickoff fair. If anything, that Crimson Celebration and this should have just swapped names.

Speaking of what's useful and important, here is when I met probably the most influential group in my college experience thus far, I'm talking the Catholic Center. I cannot begin to describe how awesome these guys are. I plan on writing more about the center in general at some point, but until then: you're all G's, you'll always be in my prayers.

Oh, and also while I was there I met Paul. He's cool, hi Paul! :D

Alright, hubby-dubby outta the way. Now it's time for...

Part II: Welcome BBQ

There isn't as much to talk about here, but still a couple moments.

I got there a little late as I was finishing up my prayers with the aforementioned G's in the chapel, but as we wrapping up, we just hear this loud techno music just blasting. Now, the chapel we're in was about 500 feet uphill from the main event and we were inside, so that speaker is mighty impressive. Anyway, we left, I bet this one guy who was there with us to walk all the way to the event with a rubber duck on his head and I won with ease, and we got there in a pinch.

Here's where things got chaotic. Keep in mind that this event had only been officially on for about 10 minutes at this. We got there and immediately saw hundreds, and I mean hundreds of people just crowded and packed like sardines in the food line. And then, outside, every table and tent was just filled to the brim, with almost everyone needing to eat on the grass. We had a hunch the school may had underprepared.

Otherwise, everything was chill. They had live music, cheerleading, cornhole, all the things! We just ate then walked around for a while. All-in-all, very good event!

Anyway, before they signed off we stole the mic and recited the Memorare (we didn't really do that).

Wednesday

If you thought Tuesday was busy, well just wait until you hear about Wednesday! Day 4 marked the first day of classes, and just as this week had been overly chaotic as-is, my past self decided to troll me by giving me three whole classes!

First and foremost was Computer Science I, something I am actually interested in! Nothing really exciting happened here, just the usual going over the syllabus and whatnot, normal first-class things.

Next was everyone's favorite; Pre-Calculus. Precalc is one of those classes that sounds easy on the surface, but in reality it just hurts your head for the entire semester. This is how I started out, ignorantly hopeful! Though, there was tincy-tiny thing that got everyone in the class irate, and it fell upon all of us all at once when we were to told that the homework platform was gonna be $60! And we weren't given any prior warning or nothing, just "first homework due Monday, good luck lol". But, except for that minor monetary inconvenience, normal first-class things again.

Lastly was English 101, and honestly? I had this preconceived notion going in that I was gonna hate this class a lot more than I actually am. Atmosphere's chill, professor's engaging, workload is actually manageable, all around good experience so far, no true complaints!

Thursday

Day 5 A.K.A. Day 2 of classes! This day had some good news and some bad news, the good news being I only had two classes! The bad, it started at 9 AM.

After getting reminded of the horrors of high school due to a 6:30 wake up, I was shipped off to my first class of the day: Anthropology. This class has nothing to do with my major, it's what we call a "first year seminar". It's basically just a history class except some of the assignments you gotta keep track of the deadline yourself. The actual class is okay, I like learning about other cultures. For example, did you know that, in order to settle disputes, Eskimos will hold a one-on-one duel in which the opposing parties will punch each other directly in their temples until getting knocked out? Me neither, but now I do!

Moving swiftly on, the next class of the day... wasn't for another four hours, so I just hung in the chapel 'till then. Once it did start... it was just precalc again, so nothing much to say here, moving on.

Friday

The finale has arrived: Day 6. This day I just had but one 50-minute class... that was cancelled. So I basically went to campus for no reason whatsoever. Nothing really happened the rest of the day, so I'll just cut it here.

Epilogue

College so far has definitely been an interesting experience so far. Many ups and many downs, but I think it all balances out. I've met so many cool and interesting people and have done so many cool things, so if you're just graduating high school, I'd recommend it! ...as long as you have the money. ...and know what your majoring in, because it is just not worth it if you don't.

This raises a question I’ve been chewing on: from a Catholic perspective, is it actually sinful to break these restrictions if it’s just for personal use? For example, is it wrong to rip a DVD you bought, or strip the DRM from an ebook you paid for, just to make sure you can keep it accessible? At first glance, the answer might seem obvious, but if we want to be honest, we need to dig into what’s really going on here.

The Catholic Lens

The Church is clear that the Seventh Commandment, “Thou shalt not steal”, applies not only to physical property but also to intellectual property [1]. At the same time, Catholic teaching also reminds us that laws and contracts only bind us if they’re just [2]. St. Thomas Aquinas even goes so far as to say that an unjust law “is no law at all, but rather a species of violence” [3].

So the real question isn’t just “what does the law say?” but “does this law actually serve justice and the common good?”

Crime vs. Sin

Here’s where things get interesting: not everything illegal is sinful, and not everything sinful is illegal. Running a red light, for example, is sinful because it endangers lives; it violates justice. But ripping your own DVD to store on a hard drive? That doesn’t deprive the creator of profit, nor does it harm anyone. It might technically be illegal under copyright law, but it doesn’t rise to the level of sin, because it doesn’t violate justice.

The key question is always: does this law protect the common good? If yes, then breaking it is sinful. If not, then breaking it is morally neutral. And if the law itself enforces injustice, think of segregation laws, then breaking it can actually be virtuous.

The Problem with Digital Contracts

Things get even murkier with ebooks and streaming. When you “buy” a Kindle book, you don’t really own it, you’re just renting access under Amazon’s terms, and they can revoke it whenever they want. That’s not a fair exchange, because you’re paying full price without full security of ownership.

So what happens if you strip the DRM or download a backup copy of a book you already paid for? From a Catholic perspective, that’s not theft. You’ve already given the author their due. What you’re doing is simply preserving your access against an unjustly restrictive system [2].

Conclusion

So where does this leave us? Catholics should avoid both extremes: don’t fall into laxity (pirating and sharing without paying is theft, plain and simple), but don’t fall into scrupulosity either (thinking that every technical violation of copyright law is a sin).

If you’ve paid for something, then making sure you can actually use it (whether by ripping, format-shifting, or stripping DRM) is not sinful. Civil law might call it a crime, but before God, what matters is whether justice is upheld.

To borrow Aquinas’ words, laws and contracts that go beyond fairness “are not binding in conscience” [3]. Which means that while we must always avoid theft, we can rest assured that preserving access to what we rightfully purchased is morally safe, and in some cases even a duty, especially when it protects human dignity and access to knowledge.

References

1. Catechism of the Catholic Church [CCC] 2401–2409
2. Catechism of the Catholic Church [CCC] 2410
3. ST I–II, q. 96, a. 4

The intranet, not to be confused with 1980s office networks, is a tiny slice of anywhere from three to ten web pages from the entirety of the internet a person visits most often when not working. These often boil down to YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, maybe Pinterest, and rarely anything beyond. Knowing this, if someone said to me "the UK is killing the intranet", I would 100% have to agree, but the fact of the matter is that the internet is not being attacked here.

Now, obviously, the internet as a whole is not completely out of the woods, but it never really has been since its inception, just the area of concern has shifted. I would even argue that the internet isn't more at risk now than it ever historically has been. This is where we still need to act, however, as the intranet is still going downhill.

What should be done?

With all these new attacks on the intranet, I forsee a revival of the classic internet, or what we now call the indieweb.

The indieweb is a part of the internet that is personally owned, self-hosted, and interoperable by design. It is the collection of individual sites, blogs, wikis, podcasts, federated social networks, and small communities that live on domains people control themselves and can talk to one another without asking permission from a single corporate platform.

I think we will soon start seeing a revival of this type of internet as people start becoming more privacy and mental-health concious, as we are beginning to see with social media, but also as big platforms continue to push harder against their users for the sake of more revenue.

This Sounds Interesting, How do I Start?

I'm so glad you asked! This is where the post becomes less philosophical and more practical. If you came for the philosophy, I invite you to stay, but no offense taken if you decide it's not for you.

Reading

If you're just interested in finding sites to consume, perhaps to get off YouTube or Reddit, then I recommend The Forest! It's a conglomeration of thousands of other sites just like this one that talk about a variety of things. You just hit the button, and it will take you! Many sites also link other sites they enjoy to read, often with similar interests and points-of-discussion. TheCoup has also been indexed into The Forest, if you find it, let me know! Do check it out!

Setting up your own

If you're technologically illiterate when it comes to servers and whatnot, do not fret! My suggestion for you is to visit Neocities, they are free to start out with and you get a website you can do whatever you'd like with, they are actually where this site was originally hosted for a while (an old version is still up for historical reasons).

If you're a little more ambitious, then I recommend checking out Derek Sivers' Technology Independence, it's a step-by-step guide on setting up your own website and domain name for cheap and completely beginner friendly. If you want some extra doohickeys for your site, do check out LandChad.net by Luke Smith, just be aware guides on LandChad may not be compatible with Sivers' guide.

Conclusion

The internet is not dying, our intranet is. The handful of sites most people treat as “the web” are tightening their grip, trading user well-being for engagement metrics and ad dollars. That squeeze feels like the sky is falling, but only because we’ve forgotten how vast the sky really is.

The remedy is not to beg the intranet’s gatekeepers to be kinder; it is to walk out the gate. Reclaim a corner of the network you can tend yourself: a blog, a wiki, a tiny podcast, a federated timeline, anything you can back up, move, or delete on your own terms. Each new domain, each new RSS feed, each new peer-to-peer connection is a vote for an internet that belongs to people instead of platforms.

Start small. A free Neocities page today can become a self-hosted site tomorrow. A single link in The Forest can lead to a dozen more. One person choosing the indieweb path encourages another, and the network effect that once centralized the web can just as easily decentralize it again.

The intranet may keep shrinking, but the internet is still limitless. All you have to do is step outside.

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What brought this on?

As many of you are undoubtedly aware, YouTube will soon begin rolling out "AI" age detection on their platform. If this "AI", a term I still despise by the way, of theirs incorrectly deems you a snot-filled disappointment based on the videos you watch, your only way to dispute is to give them a government-issued photo ID, a selfie, or your credit card information.

This all started when the United Kingdom put their Online Safety Act into effect which was meant to "protect the children" by requiring sites containing "harmful and age-inappropriate content" [1] to have age verification before its users are able to access the site, without ever actually defining what "harmful" or "age-inappropriate" means. YouTube (and a few other services) seemed to overcategorize what "harmful and age-inappropriate" was, releasing a statement [2] explaining everything in mentioned the paragraph above.

The hatred of this law was also fueled more when a petition was organized to get Parliment to repeal the law, which almost over night surpassed its legally required goal of 100,000 signatures to be considered for discussion... 3 times over, and at the time of writing, 5 times. In response, the U.K. government... did nothing, if you count a half-assed "trust us" response [3] as nothing as I do.

What can we do?

If you’re in the UK, email or write to your MP. Ask for tighter privacy rules and clear definitions in the Online Safety Act, or the repealment of the act altogether.
If you’re in the US, do the same with your House rep and both senators; tell them we need federal data-privacy legislation that keeps biometric snooping (and forced ID uploads) off American platforms.

Everywhere else, the simplest move is to leave. Delete the app, clear your history, and move your subscriptions to RSS or open platforms like Odysee. Fewer eyeballs mean fewer ad dollars, and that’s a metric the boardroom can’t ignore.

If you must watch YouTube (I don't blame you), then I'd recommend trying out FreeTube, MPV (if you're fancy like that), or literally anything that can anonymize your viewing.

So, again I encourage you, on August 13th, join in the fight.

Thank you and 73.

References

1. “Online Safety Act.” GOV.UK, 24 Apr. 2025, https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/online-safety-act.
2. “Extending Our Built-in Protections to More Teens on YouTube.” YouTube, 29 Jul. 2025, https://blog.youtube/news-and-events/extending-our-built-in-protections-to-more-teens-on-youtube/.
3. “Petition: Repeal the Online Safety Act.” Petitions - UK Government and Parliament, https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/722903.

I feel like, as a society, we've really begun to take for granted some of the simplest technologies we have today; the radio, for example. I could talk about radio all day for a completely different reason (link eventually), but I wanted to take a moment to just admire the technology itself and what it has done.

Music

Obviously, the biggest and most important reason is music! Before the advent of the record player, music was actually a pretty niche activity. Most music was listened to live at orchestras, and yes, you had those weird early listening devices in the 1880s, but they were bulky, pricey, uncomfortable, and didn't really catch on.

That's where the radio comes in! In 1920, the first licensed radio station went on the air in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and has been playing songs ever since August of that year.

I ran a poll on a Discord community, and 75% of people said they exclusively listen to music through services like Spotify. That's fine, but you all are really missing out on one of the greatest feelings life has to offer.

Communication

Okay, I'm going to try really hard not to talk about Ham here; that one is coming up soon, I promise!

All jokes aside, the greatest thing this technology has truly offered is near-instant communication. Think about it: Pre-1895, the fastest way to get your message from LA to New York was by mail, delivered by some guy on a horse. And, again, yes, they had the telegraph by the 1860s, but that was still inefficient, as you needed either to know Morse code or to find someone who did. But when the radio came around, as long as you understood the language the message was transmitted in, you could get the message immediately!

Conclusion

So, that's all I really had to say about that. Tune in next time!

You really should listen to your local station; it's quite something.

73

References

• The Development of Radio

This philosophy has contributed greatly to society, there is no doubt about that. I, myself, even push the use of it wherever I can and encourage others to do the same. However, in recent years I've noticed a "trend" of sorts that has shifted the paradigm abruptly. The best way to describe this shift in my mind is what I call "free software extremism".

This phrase (and post in general) was somewhat inspired by Luke Smith's video entiled Free Software Extremism isn't Far Enough as it really made me think about the practicalities of free software. And, yes, I am aware that what I'm about to discuss isnt directly the same as the video's content; the name and a few other things is what mainly inspired me here.

What I Mean by "Free Software Extremism"

To be clear, when I use the term "free software extremism," I'm not referring to a passionate commitment to free software principles or advocating for its wider adoption. Instead, I'm pointing to a rigid, often dogmatic approach that, in my view, can become counterproductive.

You often encounter individuals whose fervent advocacy for "liberation!" from proprietary software, while well-intentioned, can manifest as a rigid expectation for everyone around them to adopt their choices. This often means going out of your way to completely avoid proprietary software, even when it creates unnecessary friction in your personal and social life.

Paradoxically, by shackling oneself to an absolute rejection of all proprietary tools, one can become bound by self-imposed limitations that restrict connection and participation. The true spirit of free software is about living freely and being empowered, not creating new barriers for yourself or others. The key is understanding how to unlock the the world without compromising your core values.

My goal here is not to advocate for the abandonment of free software principles or embracing a world of walled gardens. Far from it. I strongly encourage advocating for privacy-respecting platforms like Signal over conventional messaging apps including even SMS and open-source alternatives to commercial services where possible. These are excellent steps towards digital autonomy and should be pursued whenever feasible.

However, true freedom also means understanding when a pragmatic choice is necessary. If a particular proprietary program is genuinely vital for your family's communication, your professional work, or maintaining crucial social connections, an uncompromising stance risks isolating you and hindering your ability to participate effectively in the world around you. It's about finding the balance that empowers you, rather than imposes new constraints.

Conclusion

Ultimately, the powerful ethos of free software is about empowering individuals and fostering control over our digital lives. Yet, when this noble pursuit veers into the territory of extremism, it risks transforming liberation into isolation, and genuine choice into rigid dogma. True digital freedom, in my view, lies not in an unwavering, absolute adherence to a prescribed list of applications, but in the intelligent and compassionate application of principles that allow us to navigate the world effectively, maintain our vital connections, and participate fully in the society around us. Let us champion free software for the profound freedoms it genuinely offers, while also embracing the pragmatism that ensures those freedoms truly enhance, rather than hinder, our real-world lives and relationships.

HUGO Migration

This site has officially been migrated to HUGO! If you have no idea what that is, all you need know is it makes managing this site 10x easier. For those unfamiliar, Hugo is what's called a static site generator. Essentially, it takes my content (now being written in Markdown) and my site's design templates, and then automatically builds all the individual HTML files for the entire site. This means I write less code and can focus more on the actual content (something this site deperately needs more of).

This is a massive improvement in my eyes compared to the old HTML & CSS solution as it no longer requires the manual repetitiveness for sections like blogs or God forbid the navbar needs an update. Previously, adding a new blog post meant manually linking it on the main blog page, homepage, and anywhere else it may need a link. In addition, any small tweak to the navigation bar required me to go through and edit every single page on the site. Hugo now handles all of that automatically; I update a template once, and it propagates everywhere. This frees up so much time!

I've tried to copy the theme from the old site as best I could, so most of the changes won't be seen on your end. That doesn't mean there are none though! For example, thanks to HUGO, this site now has a fully functioning tag system for the blog!

All this may seem a bit odd after I made this post about avoiding web frameworks (which, I find funny as it's essentially the topic of the viral justfuckingusehtml.com but before it fully kicked off), and after this experience, I somewhat retract some of those points. My previous stance was primarily about avoiding bloated client-side JavaScript frameworks for simple sites. Hugo, as a static site generator, operates differently as it's a build tool that runs before the site is deployed, producing pure HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, rather than a full-on framework. I still think default HTML and CSS is the way to go if all you need is a basic landing page and stuff like that, but for a growing content site like this blog, leveraging a powerful tool like Hugo dramatically improves workflow without sacrificing performance or the 'static' nature of the site.

Professional site

I'll try to keep this one brief as my goal isn't to just plug my work. I'm excited to announce the launch of my professional site! Here is where you can find my professional services such as web development, server setup, hardware support, whatever IT.

In another yet similar ironic twist, the site utilizes Nuxt.JS + TailwindCSS as it's stack (or what I've been calling NuxtWind). Yes, I know, it's another complete contradiction, but it employers dig it, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

If you're ever in need of low-cost tech support, do check it out!

I'm going to uni

I've been meaning to write a post about this for a long while, and I still plan to, I've just been extremely busy with a bunch of things. But, yes, I'll be attending Bridgewater State University as a Cybersecurity major starting in very early September (in fact, I move in the last day of August).

That's all I can say right now, when I do start I plan on writing a post with all the juicy details.

End

That's all I have for y'all right now, I plan on making this site more complete as time goes on, but until then.

73

See also

• HUGO
• Just Fucking Use HTML
• Professional site

For centuries, astronomers have been peering through telescopes, scribbling equations, and naming random rocks after Roman gods, all while pretending they’ve got the universe figured out. But here's the thing: astronomy is basically just a giant cosmic guessing game. And the best part? They pass off their guesses as facts.

Let's dive into the absurdity, shall we?

Theories Facts

First, let's talk about theories. In astronomy, a "theory" is basically a fancy way of saying, "We think this is how it works, but we're not really sure." Take the Big Bang Theory, for example. It's the leading explanation for how the universe began, but it's still just a theory. Yet, it's taught in schools as if someone was there 13.8 billion years ago with a stopwatch and a clipboard.

Dark matter? Dark energy? Oh, you mean the invisible stuff that makes up 95% of the universe but can't be directly observed? Sure, sounds legit. Astronomers will tell you they've "proven" its existence because their math doesn't work without it. That's like saying, "I lost my car keys, so they must have been stolen by a ghost."

And then we have black holes. For decades, we were told that nothing, not even light, can escape a black hole. Then, out of nowhere, astronomers were like, "Oh wait, actually, stuff can fly out of black holes. Our bad." So, which is it? Are black holes cosmic vacuum cleaners, or are they just space's version of a malfunctioning Roomba?

Pluto

Remember when Pluto was a planet? Good times. Then, in 2006, a group of astronomers got together and decided, by vote, that Pluto didn't make the cut anymore. That's right, Pluto's planetary status wasn't determined by some groundbreaking discovery or new evidence. It was decided by a glorified popularity contest.

Imagine if we applied this logic to other sciences. "We've decided, by vote, that gravity is no longer a thing. Everyone, start floating!"

And the criteria they used to demote Pluto? It didn't "clear its orbit." Well, guess what? Neither does Earth, technically. But you don't see anyone kicking Earth out of the planetary club.

The Universe, I guess

Astronomy loves to act like it's got all the answers, but the universe keeps throwing curveballs. For example, we used to think the universe was expanding at a steady rate. Then we found out it's actually accelerating. Why? Nobody knows. Astronomers just shrug and say, "Dark energy, probably."

Or how about the fact that we keep discovering new moons, planets, and even galaxies? Every time we build a bigger telescope, we find something we didn't know existed. It's like the universe is playing hide-and-seek with us, and we're losing.

And let's not forget the James Webb Space Telescope, the shiny new toy that's supposed to answer all our questions about the cosmos. Instead, it's just raising more questions. Like, "Why do some galaxies look older than they should?" and "Are we even sure the Big Bang... happened?"

The End

At the end of the day, astronomy is a humbling reminder that we know jack-squat about not only the universe, but basically everything. Sure, we've made some cool discoveries, like exoplanets and gravitational waves (still technically a theory though ;)). But for every answer we find, we uncover ten more questions.

So, the next time an astronomer tells you they've "proven" something about the universe, just smile and nod. Because chances are, in a few years, they'll change their minds.

Epilouge

As much as it sounds like I utterly despise this field, the polar opposite is true. After Computer Science, Astronomy is right there in my favorite sciences, this was just my take on how, like many fields, it's not as defined as many say. But that's okay!

Astronomy isn't a farce because it's useless or unimportant. It's a farce because it's a field built on uncertainty, speculation, and the occasional wild guess. And honestly? That's what makes it so fascinating.

This led me to an interesting question; why do so many people shill and make it a point to use a web framework for every project, even when it feels unnecessary?

To tackle this problem we first need to look at the source; what is a web framework, and what was it designed to do? Well, firstly, a web framework is tool or package of tools usually used by a web developer to help them build a website more efficiently. However, the problem here is that 90% of internet sites are not huge megacorporation services like Google, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, etc, but rather smaller sites like your local church, food pantry, plumber, or blog site; ones that don't require complicated functions like the bigger ones do.

The reality is, frameworks can offer some conveniences—things like routing, state management, and component reuse. But for small to medium-sized projects, especially those that don't require complex features, using a full-blown framework often feels like bringing a tank to a knife fight. The added layers of abstraction and opinionated structures can slow you down, obscure your understanding of what's actually happening under the hood, and create headaches during debugging.

I get it: frameworks are popular because they make large-scale applications more manageable and scalable. But that's just it: large projects. If your project doesn't need all that power, there's no reason to force it. HTML, CSS, and JavaScript have come a long way, and you can often achieve the same results with fewer dependencies, more control, and cleaner code.

At the end of the day, it's about knowing your tools. Sometimes the simpler solution is the better one.