diff --git a/CNAME b/CNAME
index 8b137891791fe..3c66e9296652e 100644
--- a/CNAME
+++ b/CNAME
@@ -1 +1 @@
-
+www.neilchandarana.com
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/_config.yml b/_config.yml
index d4916414195c9..db52de0b4663d 100644
--- a/_config.yml
+++ b/_config.yml
@@ -3,13 +3,13 @@
 #
 
 # Name of your site (displayed in the header)
-name: Your Name
+name: Neil Chandarana
 
 # Short bio or description (displayed in the header)
-description: Web Developer from Somewhere
+description: A home for poorly researched ideas on data systems
 
 # URL of your avatar or profile pic (you could use your GitHub profile pic)
-avatar: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/barryclark/jekyll-now/master/images/jekyll-logo.png
+avatar: #https://raw.githubusercontent.com/barryclark/jekyll-now/master/images/jekyll-logo.png
 
 #
 # Flags below are optional
@@ -18,17 +18,17 @@ avatar: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/barryclark/jekyll-now/master/images/je
 # Includes an icon in the footer for each username you enter
 footer-links:
   dribbble:
-  email:
+  email: neil.chandarana18@gmail.com
   facebook:
   flickr:
-  github: barryclark/jekyll-now
-  instagram:
+  github: 93tilinfinity
+  instagram: neilchanda
   linkedin:
   pinterest:
   rss: # just type anything here for a working RSS icon
-  twitter: jekyllrb
+  twitter: 
   stackoverflow: # your stackoverflow profile, e.g. "users/50476/bart-kiers"
-  youtube: # channel/<your_long_string> or user/<user-name>
+  youtube: channel/UCf05rA2fSzzL1H_RrZ7LN7w # channel/<your_long_string> or user/<user-name>
   googleplus: # anything in your profile username that comes after plus.google.com/
 
 
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ google_analytics:
 
 # Your website URL (e.g. http://barryclark.github.io or http://www.barryclark.co)
 # Used for Sitemap.xml and your RSS feed
-url:
+url: # http://neilchandarana.com
 
 # If you're hosting your site at a Project repository on GitHub pages
 # (http://yourusername.github.io/repository-name)
@@ -76,6 +76,10 @@ sass:
 gems:
   - jekyll-sitemap # Create a sitemap using the official Jekyll sitemap gem
   - jekyll-feed # Create an Atom feed using the official Jekyll feed gem
+  - jemoji
+
+plugins:
+  - jemoji
 
 # Exclude these files from your production _site
 exclude:
diff --git a/_includes/collecttags.html b/_includes/collecttags.html
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..ae5b67c9ebb29
--- /dev/null
+++ b/_includes/collecttags.html
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+{% assign rawtags = "" %}
+{% for post in site.posts %}
+    {% assign ttags = post.tags | join:'|' | append:'|' %}
+    {% assign rawtags = rawtags | append:ttags %}
+{% endfor %}
+{% assign rawtags = rawtags | split:'|' | sort %}
+
+{% assign site.tags = "" %}
+{% for tag in rawtags %}
+    {% if tag != "" %}
+        {% if tags == "" %}
+            {% assign tags = tag | split:'|' | sort %}
+        {% endif %}
+        {% unless tags contains tag %}
+            {% assign tags = tags | join:'|' | append:'|' | append:tag | split:'|' %}
+        {% endunless %}
+    {% endif %}
+{% endfor %}
+
+
+
+
+
diff --git a/_includes/tagcloud.html b/_includes/tagcloud.html
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..0fba60a86f4e9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/_includes/tagcloud.html
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+{% capture temptags %}
+  {% for tag in site.tags %}
+    {{ tag[1].size | plus: 1000 }}#{{ tag[0] }}#{{ tag[1].size }}
+  {% endfor %}
+{% endcapture %}
+{% assign sortedtemptags = temptags | split:' ' | sort | reverse %}
+Tags:
+{% for temptag in sortedtemptags %}
+  {% assign tagitems = temptag | split: '#' %}
+  {% capture tagname %}{{ tagitems[1] }}{% endcapture %}
+  [<a href="/tag/{{ tagname }}"><code style="color:#a94064"><nobr>#{{ tagname }}</nobr></code></a>]
+{% endfor %}
diff --git a/_layouts/default.html b/_layouts/default.html
index b2939c0bc4483..96475733365b3 100644
--- a/_layouts/default.html
+++ b/_layouts/default.html
@@ -2,39 +2,45 @@
 <html>
   <head>
     <title>{% if page.title %}{{ page.title }} – {% endif %}{{ site.name }} – {{ site.description }}</title>
-
     {% include meta.html %}
-
     <!--[if lt IE 9]>
       <script src="http://html5shiv.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/html5.js"></script>
     <![endif]-->
-
     <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="{{ site.baseurl }}/style.css" />
     <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="{{ site.name }} - {{ site.description }}" href="{{ site.baseurl }}/feed.xml" />
-
-    <!-- Created with Jekyll Now - http://github.com/barryclark/jekyll-now -->
+    {% include collecttags.html %}
   </head>
 
   <body>
     <div class="wrapper-masthead">
       <div class="container">
         <header class="masthead clearfix">
-          <a href="{{ site.baseurl }}/" class="site-avatar"><img src="{{ site.avatar }}" /></a>
-
+<!--          <a href="{{ site.baseurl }}/" class="site-avatar"><img src="/images/logo-removebg-preview.png" /></a>-->
           <div class="site-info">
+<!--            <h1>-->
+<!--              <a href="{{ site.baseurl }}/">-->
+<!--                <img src="/images/logo-removebg-preview.png" alt="Neil Chandarana logo" />-->
+<!--              </a>-->
+<!--            </h1>-->
             <h1 class="site-name"><a href="{{ site.baseurl }}/">{{ site.name }}</a></h1>
             <p class="site-description">{{ site.description }}</p>
           </div>
 
           <nav>
             <a href="{{ site.baseurl }}/">Blog</a>
-            <a href="{{ site.baseurl }}/about">About</a>
+<!--            <a href="{{ site.baseurl }}/links/">Links</a>-->
+            <a href="{{ site.baseurl }}/bio/">Bio</a>
           </nav>
         </header>
       </div>
     </div>
 
     <div id="main" role="main" class="container">
+<!--        {% if page.url == "/" %}-->
+<!--        <div class="tagcloud">-->
+<!--            {% include tagcloud.html %}-->
+<!--        </div>-->
+<!--        {% endif %}-->
       {{ content }}
     </div>
 
diff --git a/_layouts/post.html b/_layouts/post.html
index d27c48066a71e..95c74987cc571 100644
--- a/_layouts/post.html
+++ b/_layouts/post.html
@@ -5,12 +5,23 @@
 <article class="post">
   <h1>{{ page.title }}</h1>
 
-  <div class="entry">
-    {{ content }}
+  <div class="post_container">
+
+    <div class="meta1">
+    {{ page.date | date: "%B %e, %Y" }}
+    </div>
+    <div class="meta2">
+    {% for tag in page.tags %}
+      {% capture tag_name %}{{ tag }}{% endcapture %}
+<!--      <a href="/tag/{{ tag_name }}"><code style="color:#a94064"><nobr>#{{ tag_name }}</nobr></code>&nbsp;</a>-->
+      <code style="color:#a94064"><nobr>#{{ tag_name }}</nobr></code>&nbsp;</a>
+    {% endfor %}
+    </div>
+
   </div>
 
-  <div class="date">
-    Written on {{ page.date | date: "%B %e, %Y" }}
+  <div class="entry">
+    {{ content }}
   </div>
 
   {% include disqus.html %}
diff --git a/_posts/2014-3-3-Hello-World.md b/_posts/2014-3-3-Hello-World.md
deleted file mode 100644
index d4665b6d18e9e..0000000000000
--- a/_posts/2014-3-3-Hello-World.md
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,10 +0,0 @@
----
-layout: post
-title: You're up and running!
----
-
-Next you can update your site name, avatar and other options using the _config.yml file in the root of your repository (shown below).
-
-![_config.yml]({{ site.baseurl }}/images/config.png)
-
-The easiest way to make your first post is to edit this one. Go into /_posts/ and update the Hello World markdown file. For more instructions head over to the [Jekyll Now repository](https://github.com/barryclark/jekyll-now) on GitHub.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/_posts/2021-1-23-a-paradigm-for-life.md b/_posts/2021-1-23-a-paradigm-for-life.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..362f9675ecc31
--- /dev/null
+++ b/_posts/2021-1-23-a-paradigm-for-life.md
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+---
+layout: post
+title: 'Input-> System-> Output: A paradigm for life'
+tags: thinking
+---
+I came across an article that claimed a piece of analysis failed because of ‘bad’ data. 
+
+It reminded me of a phrase I used to hear on the trading floor, “US non-farm payrolls beat estimates”.
+
+Is it possible for data to be inherently good or bad? I am not convinced. The state of data should only be that they 
+exist, and are held as the truth because they exist. In other words, US non-farm payrolls didn't beat estimates, your 
+estimate was too low.
+
+There must be another reason to explain the system’s unexpected performance. Consider the following paradigm.
+
+![input,system,output](/images/blog_01_2021/PXL_20210122_185257907~2.jpg)
+
+When applied to a machine learning or data science project might give something like the following 4 steps.
+
+![ML system flow](/images/blog_01_2021/PXL_20210125_144448228~3.jpg)
+
+Putting my paranoid/Trader cap on, 4 steps mean 4 modes of failure. 
+
+The rest of this blog shall pay close attention to mode 2. Otherwise labelled as DevOps, data architecture, data engineering.
+ I never know which one to use so I’ll stick with ‘move data from there to here’.
+
+The aim of this blog is to challenge myself and hopefully the reader to think about big data systems at a layer of 
+abstraction that remains invariant in time.
+
+Learn to fish and you’ll never be hungry, or something like that.
+
+Stick around and you can expect to explore:
+* Database principles
+* Types of failure
+* Lambda architecture
+* Where today’s tools fit in
+* Lots of hand-drawn diagrams...no one does them anymore
+
+<!---
+
+layout: post
+title: You're up and running!
+
+Next you can update your site name, avatar and other options using the _config.yml file in the root of your repository (shown below).
+
+![_config.yml]({{ site.baseurl }}/images/config.png)
+
+The easiest way to make your first post is to edit this one. Go into /_posts/ and update the Hello World markdown file. For more instructions head over to the [Jekyll Now repository](https://github.com/barryclark/jekyll-now) on GitHub.
+--->
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/_posts/2021-1-24-scaling-relational-databases-queues.md b/_posts/2021-1-24-scaling-relational-databases-queues.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..4cb99e5af5e85
--- /dev/null
+++ b/_posts/2021-1-24-scaling-relational-databases-queues.md
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+---
+layout: post
+title: 'Queueing a relational database'
+tags: relationaldatabase
+---
+
+Neil’s notes: 
+* Hitting the database directly is bad
+* Adding a queue helps
+* Batching updates helps
+
+Suppose you decide to build a simple web analytics application. 
+
+The application you have in mind tracks the number of pageviews for any URL a customer wishes to track. Additionally, 
+the application should be able to report the top 100 URLs by number of pageviews.
+
+You start with the following data schema:
+
+![Data schema](/images/blog_01_2021/PXL_20210125_145337225~2.jpg)
+
+You build the back end to consist of a Relational Database Management System (say MySQL), a table with the above schema 
+and a web server. Each time a web page tracked by your application is loaded, the web page pings your web server with
+ the pageview, and your web server increments the corresponding row in the database. 
+
+![A web application](/images/blog_01_2021/PXL_20210125_145356099~2.jpg)
+
+The web application is a success, and traffic is growing like wildfire. You start getting lots of emails from your monitoring systems all with the same error: 
+
+“Timeout error on inserting to the database”
+
+Your logs tell you that write requests are timing out because the database cannot keep up with the load. Your system is losing valuable information and you need to act quickly.
+
+You realise that it is inefficient to perform a single increment per request. You draw up and implement a queuing system between the web server and the database so whenever a pageview is received, that event is added to the queue. You also create a worker that reads 100 events at a time off the queue and batches them into a single update request to your database. 
+
+![A web application with queue](/images/blog_01_2021/PXL_20210125_145409766~2.jpg)
+
+It works well and the web server no longer pings the database directly and you no longer receive timeout notifications!
+    
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/_posts/2021-1-25-scaling-relational-databases-sharding.md b/_posts/2021-1-25-scaling-relational-databases-sharding.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..2b803e49bd010
--- /dev/null
+++ b/_posts/2021-1-25-scaling-relational-databases-sharding.md
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+---
+layout: post
+title: 'Sharding a relational database'
+tags: relationaldatabase
+---
+
+Neil’s notes:
+* Queues can’t escape overload, the database is the bottleneck
+* Spread the write load horizontally across multiple machines (sharding)
+* Sharding requires significant day 1 work
+* Re-sharding cost is very real
+
+![Sharded Application](/images/blog_01_2021/PXL_20210125_150212123~2.jpg)
+
+Your application goes viral. Your worker can’t keep up with the writes so you add more workers and parallelise
+ the updates. This works for a short time but you realise the bottleneck is in the database.
+
+A Google search on scaling write-heavy brings up Sharding or horizontal partitioning. To spread the write load 
+by partitioning the table across multiple servers using a shard key.
+
+How to shard:
+* Choose a hash function
+* Shard_id = hash(key) mod n_shards
+
+You write a script to map all the rows of your table to you hash function and split the table into 4 shards. 
+It takes a while to run and you don’t want new pageview increments to unbalance your uniform partition. 
+You decide turn off the worker till partition completion caching the interim pageview increments. 
+
+Your application now needs to know how to find the shard for each key so you wrap a library around your 
+database handling code that reads the number of shards from a new configuration file you created. 
+
+You also write additional logic to query the top 100 URLs from each shard and merge them to return a global 
+top 100 URLs.
diff --git a/_posts/2021-1-27-scaling-relational-databases-issues.md b/_posts/2021-1-27-scaling-relational-databases-issues.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..aac252a36cfa4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/_posts/2021-1-27-scaling-relational-databases-issues.md
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+---
+layout: post
+title: "Mo' data, mo' problems"
+tags: relationaldatabase
+---
+
+Neil’s notes:
+* Bugs inevitably make it to production code
+* Fault-tolerance might be more important than I initially thought
+* Complexity comes in more than one form; setting up a system + operating it + ?
+
+_“I used to build cool features for customers. Now I’m spending all my time dealing with problems reading and writing data”._
+
+As the application becomes more and more popular, you keep having to re-shard the database into more and more shards to keep up with the write load. Each re-shard, gets more and more painful because there’s so many more shards + active workers + config changes to co-ordinate. 
+
+You forget to update the config file and that causes pageview increments to be written to the wrong shards. You have to write a one-off script to manually comb through the data and fix the incorrect increments.
+
+Eventually, there are so many shards across so many servers that occasionally the disk on one of your servers goes bad. While that machine is down, the data on its shard are unavailable to your application. You do a couple things to address this:
+
+* You set a pending queue to divert increments for an unavailable shard. That pending queue flushes every 5 minutes. 
+* You backup each shard without write ability. Users can now still use the application when the master shard goes down. 
+
+Job done? Not quite.
+
+While working on your queue/worker code, you notice you accidently deployed a bug that increments pageview count by 3 instead of by 1. There is no way of knowing which data got corrupted so your backups don’t help.
+
+After all your efforts to make the system tolerant to machine faults and scalable, there is still no resilience to human faults. 
+
+Unfortunately, as the system complexity increases the fault probability increases. On top of that, additional work is pushed to you both in operating the database and developing the application code.
diff --git a/_posts/2021-1-28-data-vs-information.md b/_posts/2021-1-28-data-vs-information.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..eb1db9ed62c15
--- /dev/null
+++ b/_posts/2021-1-28-data-vs-information.md
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+---
+layout: post
+title: 'Is there a difference between Data and Information?'
+tags: thinking
+---
+
+**TL;DR:** Yes.
+
+In the last few posts, I jumped straight into the pitfalls of old school databases. It’s not profound or original material and more practically serves as a history lesson in data systems. I never enjoyed how history was taught at school, looking back I believe it was because I never had any concept of a particular event’s interconnectedness with other events around it in both time and geography. 
+
+Sharing this blog with a few friends, the feedback was more or less _“blog goes over my head but I like the bio”_. That’s no fun. 
+
+This blog is about data systems. To give a flavour of interconnectedness, data systems are the backbone of almost every application used today. They are like the sewage system; undoubtably important but for most, rarely attracts thought. 
+
+**What is a data system?**
+
+A data system answers questions based on information acquired in the past up to the present.
+
+A bank account answers: What is my current balance? What transactions did I make in January?
+
+A social media network answers: How many followers do I have? What is this person’s name?
+
+Data systems don’t just memorise + regurgitate, they combine different bits and pieces of information together to produce answers. For example, your current balance is combines information on all transactions on your account. 
+
+**What bits and pieces do data systems store?** 
+
+A crucial observation is that some information can be derived from other pieces of information. 
+
+Your follower list is derived from the sequence of every follow and unfollow action each and every user has ever made on your profile. 
+
+You can keep tracing information back till eventually you get information that is not derived from anything. This what I’ll call data.
+
+**Data vs information: Is there a difference?**
+
+Unfortunately, the words data and information are often used interchangeably in media or within industry. Don’t accept poor word choice. Data are small block of truth that alone may have no meaning but within the right context and combined in the right way become information that does have meaning. Viewing information as a big object made up of irreducible blocks of data gives clarity on what data are and are not.
+
+Wrapping up, data and information are not the same. Anything you could ever imagine doing with data can be expressed as a function that takes in data and returns answers. So, the crux of everything you can learn about data systems is the following general-purpose definition:
+
+Query = function(all data)
diff --git a/_posts/2021-2-2-tom-brady-data-system.md b/_posts/2021-2-2-tom-brady-data-system.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..53dfaf73833dc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/_posts/2021-2-2-tom-brady-data-system.md
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+---
+layout: post
+title: 'The Tom Brady of data systems'
+tags: systemstheory
+---
+
+Built to last. Always delivers. GOAT. 
+
+I want a data system like Tom Brady.
+
+We’ve had problems with relational databases. They aren't Superbowl worthy. So, what data systems are?
+Or better yet, what general properties do help a data system achieve GOAT status?
+
+Here is what I have arrived at after a little research: (order and importance tbd)
+
+1) **Robustness/fault tolerance** – the ability to provide the right information in the face of the challenges involved with using, maintaining & growing your service.
+
+2) **Low latency** – the ability to provide the right information when you need it. 
+
+3) **Scalable** – the ability to maintain performance in the face of increasing data or load by adding resources to the system.
+
+4) **Generalised** – the ability to satisfy a range of use cases.
+
+5) **Extensible** – the ability to allow functionality to be added with minimal development cost.
+
+6) **Minimal maintenance** – self-explanatory. Largely depends on implementation complexity i.e. how easy the system is to reason with. 
+
+7) **Debuggability** – the ability to trace the source for each value in the system.
+
+8) **Ad hoc queries** – the ability to arbitrarily mine your dataset. This ability opens the door to discover interesting facets of your datasets.
+
diff --git a/_posts/2021-2-27-dissection.md b/_posts/2021-2-27-dissection.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..d5de6fa12eae8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/_posts/2021-2-27-dissection.md
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+---
+layout: post
+title: 'Dissection'
+tags: implementation
+---
+
+[www.whatprinted.com](https://www.whatprinted.com) is a web app that increases transparency of the [Swaption](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swaption) market. 
+For a range of currencies, it allows users view options that expire today. 
+
+It’s taken me the best part of 3 weeks to get this site running. 
+In that time, the database system gone through major overhauls. Here’s the tech stack at the time of writing:
+
+* Python
+* Apache Thrift
+* Google App Engine
+* MongoDB
+
+And here’s how the stack fits into the system’s architecture.
+
+High level:
+![High Level Architecture](/images/blog_02_2021/IMG_20210227_124923_242_2.jpg)
+
+Low level:
+![Low Level Architecture](/images/blog_02_2021/IMG_20210227_125545_781_2.jpg)
+
+Where is the Computational load?
+![Computational Load Distribution](/images/blog_02_2021/IMG_20210227_125859_176_2.jpg)
+
+Continuing our search for GOAT status systems, I’ll dissect the hell out of the site with respect to the [Tom Brady data system principles](https://www.neilchandarana.com/tom-brady-data-system/). 
+
+...Probably not as fun as dissecting a rat, but more fun than me explaining what a swaption is. 
diff --git a/_posts/2021-4-30-info-data-queries-views.md b/_posts/2021-4-30-info-data-queries-views.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..9384df4e5362e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/_posts/2021-4-30-info-data-queries-views.md
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+---
+layout: post
+title: 'D1.1 - info, data, queries, views'
+tags: implementation
+---
+
+This is the first dissection piece on [www.whatprinted.com](https://www.whatprinted.com). It will span at least 3 blog
+entries and will primarily poke holes in the robustness property of this data system. I've called it D1.1 for those who
+like an organised homepage.
+
+The service has been running for free for 2+ months now. There have been no bugs yet but there have also been no more
+features shipped. In the last article, you saw the data architecture for this service.
+
+At the core of this architecture is the ‘master dataset’. This stands as the source of truth for the system. Fancy
+phrase but what does that mean? Well, if I was to lose every single part of the system after the master dataset,
+I could still reconstruct the service easily with no loss of data.
+
+In the past, overloaded machines, failing disks and power outages could all destroy systems but today most of those
+risks can be offloaded to cloud vendors (at a price). Human error remains which is an inevitable eventuality. Still,
+the master dataset should be protected from corruption at all costs.
+
+There are two components to the master dataset: the data model and the physical storage. I care about the data model.
+If all queries are functions of data, the data model is the structure organising data to be consumed by your function.
+
+We’ve talked about data, information and queries before ([data vs info](https://www.neilchandarana.com/data-vs-information/)).
+Let’s have a look how that applies in an example related to our service.
+
+![whatprinted query](/images/blog_02_2021/Screenshot_20210430-191629_2.png)
+
+If this makes no sense to you then check out the previous blog ([dissection](https://www.neilchandarana.com/dissection/)).
+
+Why is this important? Firstly, it helps conceptualise an end-to-end data pipeline.
+Secondly, and crucially, provides the basis we need to discuss 3 core concepts to developing data models that do
+most of the fault-tolerance/robustness heavy lifting. In other words, ‘are these results accurate?’ will be a whole
+lot quicker, easier, less stressful to answer. And let's face it, less stress = more happy.
+
+ 
diff --git a/_posts/2021-5-3-raw-immutable-true.md b/_posts/2021-5-3-raw-immutable-true.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..021cefda316f9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/_posts/2021-5-3-raw-immutable-true.md
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+---
+layout: post
+title: 'D1.2 - raw, immutable, true'
+tags: implementation
+---
+
+Raw. Immutable. Eternally true.
+
+Here’s how [www.whatprinted.com](https://www.whatprinted.com)’s master dataset performs along these dimensions. 
+
+**Rawness verdict: 6/7 - Almost raw.**
+
+WhatPrinted is about a single financial product – swaptions. The regulatory data source contained entries on multiple 
+products. Therefore, a single pass was made on the data source to ignore non-swaption products. The structure of the 
+data source was otherwise maintained. 
+
+Why does rawness matter? The more processing you do before storage, the more implicit restrictions you make on the 
+queries you are able to make on the data set. Raw = flexible. At the cost of storage space. I’ll discuss that trade-off 
+at some point in the future. 
+
+![rawness of data](/images/blog_05_2021/rawness_v_questions.png)
+
+Actually this might look more like exponential decay that linear restriction on the set of accessible questions the 
+dataset could answer.
+
+A corollary of this is that if you know questions you require of the dataset apriori, then you should process the data 
+in a way that will optimise space for your needs.  The key point is that you only get one shot to do this well since 
+the master dataset is the first point of storage for the service.
+
+**Immutability verdict: 7/7 - Immutable.**
+
+Never update, never delete. 
+
+It’s pretty obvious why immutability is desirable – fault tolerance and simplicity (in operations and in storage). 
+A consequence of storing the evolution of a single record is an increased storage requirement. In our service, 
+a single record is a specific trade. The trade evolution could only consist of an amendment, cancellation or 
+termination update. Once cancelled or terminated the same trade id is unlikely to be revived. Overall, I expect the 
+number of states of a particular record to be between 1 and 3, rarely hitting 4-6. Relatively low so I don't care too
+about the additional storage required by implementing immutability.
+
+**Eternal truth: 7/7 – once true, always true.**
+
+Timestamped data entries ensure that if a piece of data was once true at a given time, that particular data point still
+ reflects the truth at that time even if the state of the data point has been updated since.
+
+So there we have it. Once trades enter the master dataset, they are processed but minimally with a filter.
+They are timestamped and written but never updated or deleted. And always reflect the true state of the trade at any
+given point in time.
+
+Next, I'll formalise this into what is known as a 
+[fact-based data model](https://isaaccomputerscience.org/concepts/data_big_fact_based) 
+(<- pretty good description of what is to come).
+
diff --git a/_posts/2021-8-16-bend-or-break.md b/_posts/2021-8-16-bend-or-break.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..e722e7687897e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/_posts/2021-8-16-bend-or-break.md
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+---
+layout: post
+title: Shy code, loud systems
+tags: systemstheory
+---
+
+**High concentration, low upside**
+
+Have you ever tried to use a heavy excel spreadsheet, with multiple tabs and thousands of rows and columns. If you are lucky enough to spot an error in an important cell, you trace its dependents and get pointed to 4 more cells. Each of those 4 cells, are dependent on 3 more cells, and so on. Before you know it, two hours have passed and you've performed at least 4 forward and backward traces in an attempt to correct the original error. The cost of this process is not only time and opportunity cost, but something equally precious and in limited supply, concentration.
+
+High-concentration-low-upside tasks are incredibly costly and yet incredibly common across industries. How do you spot these tasks? If you feel like you need a mental break after completing a task that has to be done at least once a week and is not mentioned in your appraisal or you don't get a bonus for doing it well. 
+
+I'm not even going to discuss those who don't see this as a problem. Those who do could address it by reducing the amount of human concentration required to complete. Ideally to 0 concentration (autonomous system), but in the near term to 'low' or 'very low'. And the way to achieve this is to write software.
+
+**But I thought programming was magic?**
+
+The thing about software is that errors don't disappear into a black hat. They still exist. It's just that the software creator now has the power to make the experience of encountering errors as pleasant or as unpleasant as they like. Here's how to avoid the latter: 1) make sure the software creator understands the current pain, 2) see 1).
+
+People who program their way out of the lame tasks they face will always understand the pain. And if it is important enough to them, they learn whatever programming principles needed to implement something decent. As a side note, I started doing consulting work this year, so for the first time I got a taste of learning the pain and then programming to solve it; it's way harder that just solving your own problems.
+
+**Reversibility & coupling**
+
+Even if the task is well understood, software can still introduce more problems. *The Pragmatic Programmer, Hunt & Thomas* have a section about reversibility and coupling of modules within systems. It advises how to make the experience of encountering errors when creating software pleasant. I particularly like the section on the **Law of Demeter**, or the ***principle of least knowledge.*** It states two things:
+
+1) Module code should only talk to friends
+
+2) Module code should have minimum necessary knowledge about objects in the codebase
+
+![Law Of Demeter](/images/blog_08_2021/law_of_demeter.png)
+
+**Shy code, loud systems**
+
+If abided by, the law helps ensures errors can be traced to their source easily and quickly through reducing the coupling between each unit in the software's code base. Not only that but the code base in general can be more quickly understood since modules are only related through a light interface without knowledge of module internals aka **shy code**. 
+
+In terms of our initial example, there may be more steps to trace but each unit traces back to a single source that can be tested easily.
+If implemented correctly, changes to one module should have minimal ripple effect into another.
+
+If it's loud systems you want, then it's shy code you gotta write.
diff --git a/_posts/2022-3-24-stop-building-shitty-systems.md b/_posts/2022-3-24-stop-building-shitty-systems.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..e5330d0a0ce11
--- /dev/null
+++ b/_posts/2022-3-24-stop-building-shitty-systems.md
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+---
+layout: post
+title: 'Stop building shitty systems'
+tags: thinking
+---
+
+In late 2019, I had dinner with two good friends in a dimly lit London bar. The type of bar where plans to rob casinos are forged.
+
+We were discussing an opportunity to do some consulting work together. One friend asked, “Sometimes when consulting, you don’t know the next job you’ll have to take. Are you willing to take a project and do whatever is needed to complete it?”
+
+“No”, I answered. I’m no mercenary. Would anyone give a shit about The Batman if he fought for payment? Nobody cares about Justice as a Service (JaaS). Besides there’s already movie for that, John Wick. And even then the plot is really about not being a mercenary. Mercenaries don’t have character. 
+
+In 2021 I tried to be a mercenary, just to test it out. I started a consultancy firm but mainly did work for a single client. 0 marketing. That felt natural. I’m still not a mercenary.
+
+*What can you build?* vs *What should you build?*
+
+![can build vs should build](/images/2022_03/Screenshot_20220324-175540.png)
+
+Most interviews steer the conversation towards what you can do for them not what you should do for them. They wouldn’t dare entertain doubts over their existence whilst trying to hire. 
+
+For any creative, exploring what you can do is a massively expansive adventure. Software engineering is creative - I don’t care who says otherwise. 
+
+Along this adventure, you learn 3 fundamental things - especially if you take this adventure on by yourself.
+
+1. How to do research
+2. Coping with being a noob
+3. How to show up again tomorrow 
+
+This isn’t a conscious syllabus. I’d say about 3 years of side/main projects should be enough. It might take longer or shorter depending on what else you are dealing with in your life. If it takes longer so what, enjoy it.
+
+These 3 things are important because together they fortify the idea that you can build anything. Which you can. Now you have a framework for actually being able to carry it out. 
+
+At this point life looks different. You aren’t afraid to pick up something new, you aren’t overwhelmed by the fact that you know nothing, and you have confidence you can manifest reality around you. True power.
+
+Today, I look at job postings on linkedIn and I feel nothing. That’s because a tech stack list, some obscure set of responsibilities and a salary contribute a grand total of 0 to the leading question - “should I build this?”.
+
+How do I answer this question? Meaningful relationships and meaningful work is Dalio’s answer. I like it but it’s vague. 
+
+Meaningful relationships are easier to judge than meaningful work because the feedback loop for relationships are short. Every conversations builds or breaks the meaningfulness of the relationship between two people. Does every push to github build or break the meaningfulness of work? Hmm. 
+
+So, the search for a good way to judge meaningful work continues. Ran Prieur wrote an article on [judging technology](https://www.ranprieur.com/tech.html). 
+It’s important. I’ve run out of time now but in the next post I’ll adapt some of the criteria for the context of deciding what to work on. If nothing else, it’s advice to myself on how to stop building shitty systems.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/about.md b/about.md
deleted file mode 100644
index bc21f5731bf4b..0000000000000
--- a/about.md
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,15 +0,0 @@
----
-layout: page
-title: About
-permalink: /about/
----
-
-Some information about you!
-
-### More Information
-
-A place to include any other types of information that you'd like to include about yourself.
-
-### Contact me
-
-[email@domain.com](mailto:email@domain.com)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/bio.md b/bio.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..a2bddedfb2c62
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bio.md
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+---
+layout: page
+title: Bio
+permalink: /bio/
+---
+:metal: I'm Neil. Software engineer and sometimes writer of my thoughts on things I find interesting.
+
+Quick facts:
+* Did almost every role as [Healthtech-1](https://www.healthtech-1.uk)'s founding engineer. Over 1 million patients were registered at 1,000+ NHS GP surgeries using the software in 2 and a half years. I spent a lot of time on fullstack features, built a few algorithms, database management, hiring, cyber security, and the rest.
+* Started a [mini deliveroo](https://www.instagram.com/feed.bucks/) in my local town during Covid using Shopify, Facebook ads and a lot of cold calling.
+* Occasionally enjoy writing articles like [this](https://towardsdatascience.com/yield-curve-building-in-python-8d7974a6e7e3) or [that](https://towardsdatascience.com/machine-learning-cycling-300w-ftp-part-1-2abb04b30036).
+* [Reminiscences of a Stock Operator](https://www.trendfollowing.com/whitepaper/Edwin_LeFevre_Reminiscences_of_a_Stock_Operator.pdf) made me decide to become a derivatives trader. Did it for 4 years and then left to write software full time.
+* :mortar_board: Got a degree in Maths at the University of Warwick ages ago and used to know about approximating integrals using [Markov Chain Monte Carlo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12eZWG0Z5gY).
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/images/2022_03/Screenshot_20220324-175540.png b/images/2022_03/Screenshot_20220324-175540.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..cea8f1cf06e1c
Binary files /dev/null and b/images/2022_03/Screenshot_20220324-175540.png differ
diff --git a/images/blog_01_2021/PXL_20210122_185257907~2.jpg b/images/blog_01_2021/PXL_20210122_185257907~2.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..5a26a8222262f
Binary files /dev/null and b/images/blog_01_2021/PXL_20210122_185257907~2.jpg differ
diff --git a/images/blog_01_2021/PXL_20210125_144448228~3.jpg b/images/blog_01_2021/PXL_20210125_144448228~3.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..67bf680bff8e5
Binary files /dev/null and b/images/blog_01_2021/PXL_20210125_144448228~3.jpg differ
diff --git a/images/blog_01_2021/PXL_20210125_145337225~2.jpg b/images/blog_01_2021/PXL_20210125_145337225~2.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..abb6c7810b45c
Binary files /dev/null and b/images/blog_01_2021/PXL_20210125_145337225~2.jpg differ
diff --git a/images/blog_01_2021/PXL_20210125_145356099~2.jpg b/images/blog_01_2021/PXL_20210125_145356099~2.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..482684d231b1c
Binary files /dev/null and b/images/blog_01_2021/PXL_20210125_145356099~2.jpg differ
diff --git a/images/blog_01_2021/PXL_20210125_145409766~2.jpg b/images/blog_01_2021/PXL_20210125_145409766~2.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..7e901edd61de1
Binary files /dev/null and b/images/blog_01_2021/PXL_20210125_145409766~2.jpg differ
diff --git a/images/blog_01_2021/PXL_20210125_150212123~2.jpg b/images/blog_01_2021/PXL_20210125_150212123~2.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..f9aa0fd654eb7
Binary files /dev/null and b/images/blog_01_2021/PXL_20210125_150212123~2.jpg differ
diff --git a/images/blog_01_2021/PXL_20210125_150218712~2.jpg b/images/blog_01_2021/PXL_20210125_150218712~2.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..8c5afcfb27817
Binary files /dev/null and b/images/blog_01_2021/PXL_20210125_150218712~2.jpg differ
diff --git a/images/blog_02_2021/IMG_20210227_124923_242_2.jpg b/images/blog_02_2021/IMG_20210227_124923_242_2.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..8d934faec14b4
Binary files /dev/null and b/images/blog_02_2021/IMG_20210227_124923_242_2.jpg differ
diff --git a/images/blog_02_2021/IMG_20210227_125545_781_2.jpg b/images/blog_02_2021/IMG_20210227_125545_781_2.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..f81cfec3591ad
Binary files /dev/null and b/images/blog_02_2021/IMG_20210227_125545_781_2.jpg differ
diff --git a/images/blog_02_2021/IMG_20210227_125859_176_2.jpg b/images/blog_02_2021/IMG_20210227_125859_176_2.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..f054e4d791c8d
Binary files /dev/null and b/images/blog_02_2021/IMG_20210227_125859_176_2.jpg differ
diff --git a/images/blog_02_2021/Screenshot_20210430-191629_2.png b/images/blog_02_2021/Screenshot_20210430-191629_2.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..75f8b28020173
Binary files /dev/null and b/images/blog_02_2021/Screenshot_20210430-191629_2.png differ
diff --git a/images/blog_05_2021/rawness_v_questions.png b/images/blog_05_2021/rawness_v_questions.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..d10ddaa996c33
Binary files /dev/null and b/images/blog_05_2021/rawness_v_questions.png differ
diff --git a/images/blog_08_2021/law_of_demeter.png b/images/blog_08_2021/law_of_demeter.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..1b60c081ed59c
Binary files /dev/null and b/images/blog_08_2021/law_of_demeter.png differ
diff --git a/images/logo-removebg-preview.png b/images/logo-removebg-preview.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..796dc26b9f4d6
Binary files /dev/null and b/images/logo-removebg-preview.png differ
diff --git a/images/logo.png b/images/logo.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..dc724cdc90533
Binary files /dev/null and b/images/logo.png differ
diff --git a/index.html b/index.html
index 5e0cb3ee5773d..58678035e5c00 100644
--- a/index.html
+++ b/index.html
@@ -6,13 +6,22 @@
   {% for post in site.posts %}
     <article class="post">
 
-      <h1><a href="{{ site.baseurl }}{{ post.url }}">{{ post.title }}</a></h1>
+      <div>
+      {{ post.date | date: "%e %b %Y"}} &nbsp <a href="{{ site.baseurl }}{{ post.url }}">{{ post.title }}</a>
 
-      <div class="entry">
-        {{ post.excerpt }}
-      </div>
+        {% for tag in post.tags %}
+<!--        <a href="/tag/{{ tag }}"><code style="font-size:70%;color:#a94064"><nobr>#{{ tag }}</nobr></code>&nbsp</a>-->
+        <code style="font-size:70%;color:#a94064"><nobr>#{{ tag }}</nobr></code>&nbsp</a>
+        {% endfor %}
 
-      <a href="{{ site.baseurl }}{{ post.url }}" class="read-more">Read More</a>
+<!--      <div class="date">-->
+<!--        Written on-->
+<!--      </div>-->
+<!--      <div class="entry">-->
+<!--        {{ post.excerpt }}-->
+<!--      </div>-->
+<!--      <a href="{{ site.baseurl }}{{ post.url }}" class="read-more">Read More</a>-->
+    </div>
     </article>
   {% endfor %}
 </div>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/links.md b/links.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..7768d9c066b50
--- /dev/null
+++ b/links.md
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+---
+layout: page
+title: Links
+permalink: /links/
+---
+
+A page for my links!
diff --git a/style.scss b/style.scss
index 3915a90244691..f31f46ca22f9f 100644
--- a/style.scss
+++ b/style.scss
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ html {
 
 body {
 	background: $white;
-  font: 18px/1.4 $helvetica;
+  font: 18px/1.4 merriweather,Georgia,Times,serif;
   color: $darkGray;
 }
 
@@ -27,11 +27,11 @@ body {
   margin: 0 auto;
   max-width: 740px;
   padding: 0 10px;
-  width: 100%;
+  width: 75%;
 }
 
 h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6 {
-  font-family: $helveticaNeue;
+  font-family: merriweather,Georgia,Times,serif;
   color: $darkerGray;
   font-weight: bold;
 
@@ -120,6 +120,7 @@ img {
   color: $gray;
 }
 
+
 // Specify the color of the selection
 ::-moz-selection {
   color: $black;
@@ -151,12 +152,12 @@ img {
 //
 
 .wrapper-masthead {
-  margin-bottom: 50px;
+  margin-bottom: 10px;
 }
 
 .masthead {
   padding: 20px 0;
-  border-bottom: 1px solid $lightGray;
+  border-bottom: 1px solid;
 
   @include mobile {
     text-align: center;
@@ -194,10 +195,10 @@ img {
   margin: 0;
   color: $darkGray;
   cursor: pointer;
-  font-family: $helveticaNeue;
+  font-family: merriweather,Georgia,Times,serif;
   font-weight: 300;
   font-size: 28px;
-  letter-spacing: 1px;
+  letter-spacing: 0.5px;
 }
 
 .site-description {
@@ -212,9 +213,9 @@ img {
 
 nav {
   float: right;
-  margin-top: 23px; // @TODO: Vertically middle align
-  font-family: $helveticaNeue;
-  font-size: 18px;
+  margin-top: 25px;  //@TODO: Vertically middle align
+  font-family: Helvetica;
+  font-size: 16px;
 
   @include mobile {
     float: none;
@@ -225,10 +226,10 @@ nav {
 
   a {
     margin-left: 20px;
-    color: $darkGray;
+    color: $gray;
     text-align: right;
     font-weight: 300;
-    letter-spacing: 1px;
+    letter-spacing: 0.5px;
 
     @include mobile {
       margin: 0 10px;
@@ -242,12 +243,14 @@ nav {
 //
 
 .posts > .post {
-  padding-bottom: 2em;
-  border-bottom: 1px solid $lightGray;
+  margin-top: 10px;
+  padding-bottom: 0.4em;
+  background-color: $lightGray;
+ // border-bottom: 1px $lightgray;
 }
 
 .posts > .post:last-child {
-  padding-bottom: 1em;
+  padding-bottom: 0.4em;
   border-bottom: none;
 }
 
@@ -275,7 +278,7 @@ nav {
   margin-top: 50px;
   border-top: 1px solid #ddd;
   border-bottom: 1px solid #ddd;
-  background-color: $lightGray;
+ // background-color: $lightGray;
 }
 
 footer {
@@ -287,3 +290,31 @@ footer {
 // ... Otherwise it really bloats up the top of the CSS file and makes it difficult to find the start
 @import "highlights";
 @import "svg-icons";
+
+// post page meta data display
+.post_container
+{
+    font-family: Helvetica;
+    font-weight: 300;
+    letter-spacing: 0px;
+    margin-top: -10px;
+    text-align:left;
+    font-size: 15px;
+    color: gray;
+}
+.meta1, .meta2
+{
+    display:inline;
+}
+
+// homepage tag cloud display
+
+.tagcloud
+{
+    font-family: Helvetica;
+    font-weight: 300;
+    letter-spacing: 0px;
+    text-align:left;
+    font-size: 14px;
+    color: gray;
+}
