{ "version": "https://jsonfeed.org/version/1.1", "title": "The Bard", "description": "Stories and thoughts from the early web, told quietly", "home_page_url": "https://kartavya-jharwal.github.io/The-Bard", "feed_url": "https://kartavya-jharwal.github.io/The-Bard/feed.json", "authors": [ { "name": "Kartavya" } ], "items": [ { "id": "https://kartavya-jharwal.github.io/The-Bard/posts/building-the-garden.html", "url": "https://kartavya-jharwal.github.io/The-Bard/posts/building-the-garden.html", "title": "Building the Garden", "summary": "Boundaries for a digital garden that can grow without becoming a framework maze.", "date_published": "2026-07-22T00:00:00+00:00", "tags": [ "digital-garden", "architecture" ], "authors": [ { "name": "Kartavya" } ], "date_modified": "2026-07-22T20:19:38+00:00", "freshness": 0.9999985169885733, "entropy_decay": 1.48301142666174e-06, "half_life_days": 365.0, "word_count": 165, "reading_time": 1, "code_loc": 0, "version": "c1f565fb80dc", "content_html": "

A digital garden needs structure, but structure should not erase the odd corners that make a personal website personal.

\n

One contract, many editions

\n

Every article can expose a small common record: identity, dates, aliases, tags, and links. The ordinary edition uses the shared reading shell. A bespoke edition may instead be a complete HTML document with its own styles and scripts.

\n

Isolation is a feature

\n

Shared articles receive layered, scoped CSS. Bespoke documents live at separate paths. Neither side needs to win a specificity war, and the site can stay coherent without making every page uniform.

\n

Grow in visible phases

\n\n

The garden is static when published. Tools may help prepare it later, but a visitor receives durable HTML, CSS, and JavaScript that need no application server.

" }, { "id": "https://kartavya-jharwal.github.io/The-Bard/posts/a-room-for-reading.html", "url": "https://kartavya-jharwal.github.io/The-Bard/posts/a-room-for-reading.html", "title": "A Room for Reading", "summary": "A small manifesto for calm, personal spaces on the web.", "date_published": "2026-07-21T00:00:00+00:00", "tags": [ "reading", "personal-web" ], "authors": [ { "name": "Kartavya" } ], "date_modified": "2026-07-22T20:19:38+00:00", "freshness": 0.9999985170725351, "entropy_decay": 1.4829274649352797e-06, "half_life_days": 365.0, "word_count": 245, "reading_time": 1, "code_loc": 0, "version": "c1f565fb80dc", "content_html": "

A personal site can be a room rather than a feed: somewhere words keep their shape, the reader controls the light, and nothing demands the next click.

\n

The page should yield

\n

Comfort is not one fixed design. A bright page at noon may be glare at midnight. A generous line can become exhausting on a narrow screen. Theme, measure, type size, and rhythm belong to the reader.

\n

Those controls should feel close at hand and then disappear. The interface is useful before reading and distracting during it, so focus mode treats chrome as a temporary guest.

\n
\n

The best reading interface leaves evidence of care, not evidence of machinery.

\n
\n

Motion with consent

\n

Auto-scroll can make long-form reading feel like following a quiet current. It must remain predictable: steady speed, immediate pause, no leap after returning to a sleeping tab, and an obvious way out.

\n\n

A site with memory

\n

Progress is private browser state, not an account. The page remembers where this device stopped and keeps that record local. A thin line shows distance without turning attention into a score.

\n

This first room is deliberately small. The future garden can add backlinks, maps, aliases, and strange editions, but the act of reading remains the foundation underneath them.

" }, { "id": "https://kartavya-jharwal.github.io/The-Bard/posts/85-percenter-manifesto.html", "url": "https://kartavya-jharwal.github.io/The-Bard/posts/85-percenter-manifesto.html", "title": "The 85-Percenter's Manifesto", "summary": "A defense of the perpetual beginner, the expert-in-training, the ambitious generalist who chooses breadth over depth.", "date_published": "2025-10-28T00:00:00+00:00", "tags": [ "polymath", "learning", "philosophy", "meta", "manifesto" ], "authors": [ { "name": "Kartavya Jharwal" } ], "date_modified": "2026-07-22T20:19:38+00:00", "freshness": 0.9999985171582332, "entropy_decay": 1.482841766820009e-06, "half_life_days": 365.0, "word_count": 961, "reading_time": 4, "code_loc": 17, "version": "c1f565fb80dc", "content_html": "

There's a myth in modern education and career advice: you must finish what you start. You must go deep. You must become an expert.

\n

But what if the real magic happens at 85%?

\n

The Curse of Completion

\n

I've built dozens of projects. Learned half a dozen programming languages. Started blogs, YouTube channels, podcasts. Read hundreds of books\u2014finished maybe half.

\n

The productivity gurus call this \"shiny object syndrome.\" The career advisors call it \"lack of focus.\" My inner critic calls it failure.

\n

I call it research.

\n

The 85% Sweet Spot

\n

Here's what I've learned about that 85% mark:

\n\n

But you haven't yet hit:

\n\n

Why Polymaths Choose 85%

\n

The polymath isn't afraid of depth. They're strategic about depth.

\n

Going from 85% \u2192 100% in one domain often takes as much time as going from 0% \u2192 85% in three new domains.

\n

The math is simple:\n- Path A: 100% in one skill = mastery, narrow applicability\n- Path B: 85% in three skills = competence, combinatorial creativity

\n

Which has more creative potential? Which leads to more interesting intersections?

\n

The Specialization Trap

\n

Modern society worships the specialist. The doctor who only does knees. The developer who only writes Rust. The writer who only does noir detective fiction.

\n

And yes, specialists are valuable. But they're not the only valuable archetype.

\n

History's most interesting contributors were generalists:\n- Leonardo da Vinci (artist, engineer, anatomist)\n- Benjamin Franklin (writer, scientist, diplomat)\n- Richard Feynman (physicist, safe-cracker, bongo player)

\n

They didn't master every field to 100%. They went deep enough to see connections others missed.

\n

Building in Public at 85%

\n

This site exists because I'm tired of pretending I'm an expert.

\n

I'm not. I'm a perpetual 85-percenter.

\n

And that's not a bug\u2014it's the feature.

\n

Every post here is:\n- A snapshot of my understanding right now\n- Subject to revision as I learn more\n- An invitation to fellow travelers\n- A breadcrumb for future me

\n

The Ambitious Polymath's Creed

\n
    \n
  1. Finish enough to learn, not to perfect
    2. \n
  2. Document the journey, not just the destination
    3. \n
  3. Value questions over answers
    4. \n
  4. Celebrate the half-built
    5. \n
  5. Ship at 85%
    6. \n
\n
" }, { "id": "https://kartavya-jharwal.github.io/The-Bard/posts/welcome-to-the-web/index.html", "url": "https://kartavya-jharwal.github.io/The-Bard/posts/welcome-to-the-web/index.html", "title": "Welcome to the Web", "summary": "The web was a different place back then - simpler, more personal, and filled with genuine curiosity.", "date_published": "2025-06-28T00:00:00+00:00", "tags": [ "web", "internet", "early-web", "nostalgia", "personal-websites" ], "authors": [ { "name": "Kartavya Jharwal" } ], "date_modified": "2026-07-22T20:19:38+00:00", "freshness": 0.9999985168238368, "entropy_decay": 1.4831761632194684e-06, "half_life_days": 365.0, "word_count": 739, "reading_time": 3, "code_loc": 1, "version": "c1f565fb80dc", "content_html": "
\n

Welcome to the Web

\n
\n \n Filed under: Web\n Reading time: ~5 minutes\n
\n
\n
\n\n
\n

The web was a different place back then - simpler, more personal, and filled with genuine curiosity. Let me tell you about what made it special.

\n\n

The Magic of Discovery

\n \n

Do you remember the first time you discovered the World Wide Web? Not the modern internet with its algorithmic feeds and endless notifications, but the real web - the one where every click was an adventure into the unknown.

\n\n

Back in the mid-90s, finding a new website was like discovering a hidden treasure. There were no search engines worth mentioning (sorry, AltaVista), no social media to guide your attention, and certainly no recommendation algorithms. You found sites through:

\n\n \n\n

Personal Expression

\n\n

Every website was a personal statement. There were no templates (well, except for those horrifying Microsoft FrontPage ones), no content management systems, and definitely no \"best practices\" that homogenized everything into the same boring layout.

\n\n
\n

\"The web was a place where individuals could carve out their own digital territory and express themselves without the constraints of corporate platforms.\"

\n - Some wise netizen, circa 1996\n
\n\n

You'd visit someone's homepage and immediately know something about their personality:

\n\n \n\n

The Visitor Counter Era

\n\n

Let's talk about visitor counters for a moment. These weren't just statistics - they were social proof, pride, and motivation all rolled into one small image.

\n\n 
<img src=\"http://counter.digits.com/wc/-d/4/-f/0/thebard\">
\n\n

Getting your first 100 visitors was a milestone. Breaking 1,000 meant you were somebody on the web. And if you hit 10,000? You were practically internet famous.

\n\n

The Guestbook Philosophy

\n\n

Guestbooks were the social media of their time, but better. Instead of endless scrolling through algorithmic feeds, you had focused, intentional communication. People would:

\n\n
    \n
  1. Actually read your content
    2. \n
  2. Leave thoughtful comments
    3. \n
  3. Share their own websites
    4. \n
  4. Start conversations that lasted for years
    5. \n
\n\n

There was something beautiful about the commitment required. You couldn't just hit \"like\" and move on. If you wanted to interact, you had to actually say something.

\n\n

Technical Constraints as Creative Forces

\n\n

The limitations of the early web actually made it better. When you only had:

\n\n \n\n

You had to be creative. You couldn't rely on massive JavaScript frameworks or high-resolution videos. Every byte mattered, every design choice was intentional.

\n\n

What We Lost

\n\n

Don't get me wrong - the modern web has incredible capabilities. We can do things now that would have seemed like magic to a 1995 webmaster. But in gaining all this power, we lost something precious:

\n\n \n\n

Bringing It Back

\n\n

That's why sites like this one matter. We don't need to abandon modern web standards or accessibility practices. But we can choose to:

\n\n \n\n

The early web wasn't perfect, but it was human. And in our rush toward efficiency and engagement metrics, humanity is exactly what we've been missing.

\n\n

Join the Renaissance

\n\n

I believe we're seeing the beginning of a new renaissance of personal websites. People are tired of algorithmic feeds and corporate-controlled platforms. They want to own their content, control their presentation, and connect with real communities again.

\n\n

So dust off that HTML knowledge, fire up a text editor, and build something weird and wonderful. The web is still here, waiting for you to make it personal again.

\n\n

Welcome back to the web. Let's make it great again.

\n
\n\n " }, { "id": "https://kartavya-jharwal.github.io/The-Bard/posts/building-websites-with-notepad.html", "url": "https://kartavya-jharwal.github.io/The-Bard/posts/building-websites-with-notepad.html", "title": "Building Websites with Notepad", "summary": "Remember when building a website meant opening Notepad and typing HTML by hand? There was something pure about that approach.", "date_published": "2025-06-25T00:00:00+00:00", "tags": [ "html", "css", "nostalgia", "web-development" ], "authors": [ { "name": "Kartavya" } ], "date_modified": "2026-07-22T20:19:38+00:00", "freshness": 0.9999985169068755, "entropy_decay": 1.4830931245324308e-06, "half_life_days": 365.0, "word_count": 724, "reading_time": 3, "code_loc": 22, "version": "c1f565fb80dc", "content_html": "

Remember when building a website meant opening Notepad and typing HTML by hand? There was something pure about that approach - no frameworks, no build tools, no package managers. Just you, a text editor, and the raw materials of the web.

\n

The Notepad Era

\n

Back in the late 90s and early 2000s, Notepad was the IDE of choice for many web developers. Not because it was particularly good at editing code, but because it was:

\n\n
<!DOCTYPE html>\n<html>\n<head>\n    <title>My First Website</title>\n</head>\n<body>\n    <h1>Welcome to my homepage!</h1>\n    <p>This site is under construction.</p>\n    <img src="construction.gif" alt="Under Construction">\n</body>\n</html>\n
\n\n

Why It Was Better

\n

1. You Learned HTML Properly

\n

When you're typing every angle bracket by hand, you really learn the structure of HTML. You understand:

\n\n

2. No Distractions

\n

Modern IDEs are amazing, but they can be overwhelming. Notepad had:

\n\n

It was just you and the code.

\n

3. Instant Gratification

\n

The workflow was beautifully simple:

\n
    \n
  1. Type HTML in Notepad
    2. \n
  2. Save as .html
    3. \n
  3. Double-click to open in browser
    4. \n
  4. See your creation instantly
    5. \n
  5. Hit back, edit, save, refresh
    6. \n
\n

No build processes, no compilation, no waiting. Pure, immediate feedback.

\n

The Downsides

\n

Let's be honest - there were some real problems with the Notepad approach:

\n

Limited Features

\n\n

Prone to Errors

\n

Without syntax highlighting or validation:

\n\n

Scaling Issues

\n

For anything beyond a simple personal homepage:

\n\n

The Modern Middle Ground

\n

Today, we can capture the spirit of the Notepad era while avoiding its pitfalls:

\n

Use Simple Tools

\n

You don't need a full IDE for everything. Consider:

\n\n

Hand-Code When Possible

\n

Even with modern tools, try to:

\n\n

Embrace Constraints

\n

The limitations of Notepad forced creativity. Modern constraints might include:

\n\n

The Zen of Hand-Coding

\n

There's something meditative about typing HTML by hand:

\n
<article>\n    <header>\n        <h1>My thoughts on web development</h1>\n        <time datetime="2025-06-25">June 25, 2025</time>\n    </header>\n\n    <p>When you hand-code HTML, every element has intention.\n       Every attribute serves a purpose. Nothing is accidental.</p>\n\n    <footer>\n        <p>Written with love in a simple text editor.</p>\n    </footer>\n</article>\n
\n\n

Each tag you type is deliberate. Each structure you create has meaning. There's no generated code you don't understand, no magic you can't explain.

\n

Lessons for Today

\n

What can we learn from the Notepad era?

\n
    \n
  1. Understand your tools - Don't let abstractions hide the fundamentals
    2. \n
  2. Start simple - Build complexity gradually
    3. \n
  3. Value craftsmanship - Take pride in clean, semantic code
    4. \n
  4. Embrace constraints - Limitations often lead to creativity
    5. \n
  5. Know the basics - Frameworks come and go, but HTML is forever
    6. \n
\n

Try It Yourself

\n

This weekend, challenge yourself:

\n
    \n
  1. Open a simple text editor (not an IDE)
    2. \n
  2. Build a small website by hand
    3. \n
  3. Use only HTML and CSS
    4. \n
  4. No copy/paste from frameworks
    5. \n
  5. No external libraries
    6. \n
\n

You might be surprised how satisfying it feels to build something from scratch, character by character, tag by tag.

\n

After all, every great website starts with a single <html> tag.

\n
\n

This post was written in VS Code but could just as easily have been typed in Notepad. Some things never change.

" } ] }