<!DOCTYPE html><html lang="en" class="antialiased break-words"> <head><!-- High Priority Global Metadata --><meta charset="utf-8"><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width,initial-scale=1"><title>My Old Websites | Michael James Williams</title><meta name="generator" content="Astro v4.5.17"><!-- Fonts --><link rel="preconnect" href="https://fonts.googleapis.com"><link rel="preconnect" href="https://fonts.gstatic.com" crossorigin><link href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Montagu+Slab:opsz,wght@16..144,100..700&family=Sarabun:ital,wght@0,100;0,200;0,300;0,400;0,500;0,600;0,700;0,800;1,100;1,200;1,300;1,400;1,500;1,600;1,700;1,800&display=swap" rel="stylesheet"><!-- Low Priority Global Metadata --><link rel="icon" type="image/png" href="/favicon.png"><link rel="sitemap" href="/sitemap-index.xml"><link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" href="/rss.xml" title="RSS"><!-- Page Metadata --><link rel="canonical" href="https://michaeljameswilliams.com/blog/my-old-websites/"><meta name="description" content="People say the Internet is forever, but I've found that's not always true."><!-- Open Graph / Facebook --><meta property="og:type" content="article"><meta property="og:url" content="https://michaeljameswilliams.com/blog/my-old-websites/"><meta property="og:title" content="My Old Websites | Michael James Williams"><meta property="og:description" content="People say the Internet is forever, but I've found that's not always true."><meta property="og:image" content="https://michaeljameswilliams.com/dante-preview.jpg"><meta property="og:image:alt" content="Dante - Astro.js and Tailwind CSS theme"><!-- X/Twitter --><meta property="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image"><meta property="twitter:url" content="https://michaeljameswilliams.com/blog/my-old-websites/"><meta property="twitter:title" content="My Old Websites | Michael James Williams"><meta property="twitter:description" content="People say the Internet is forever, but I've found that's not always true."><meta property="twitter:image" content="https://michaeljameswilliams.com/dante-preview.jpg"><meta name="twitter:image:alt" content="Dante - Astro.js and Tailwind CSS theme"><meta name="astro-view-transitions-enabled" content="true"><meta name="astro-view-transitions-fallback" content="animate"><link rel="stylesheet" href="/_astro/_slug_.C8Gj-yYB.css"><script type="module" src="/_astro/hoisted.80fzn2mn.js"></script></head> <body class="bg-main text-main"> <div class="flex flex-col min-h-screen px-4 md:px-8"> <nav class="min-h-10 pt-4 pb-12 relative sm:min-h-14 sm:pb-24 md:pt-8" data-astro-cid-dmqpwcec> <div class="w-full max-w-3xl mx-auto relative" data-astro-cid-dmqpwcec> <button class="menu-toggle w-8 h-8 -ml-1 flex items-center justify-center relative z-30 md:hidden" aria-label="Open Menu" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="menu-items" data-astro-cid-dmqpwcec> <span class="menu-toggle-icon w-6 h-px relative bg-current" data-astro-cid-dmqpwcec></span> </button> <ul id="menu-items" class="menu flex gap-6" data-astro-cid-dmqpwcec> <li class="py-1" data-astro-cid-dmqpwcec> <a class="text-xl font-serif text-main hover:underline hover:underline-offset-2 hover:decoration-1 md:text-base" href="/" data-astro-cid-dmqpwcec> Home </a> </li><li class="py-1" data-astro-cid-dmqpwcec> <a class="text-xl font-serif text-main hover:underline hover:underline-offset-2 hover:decoration-1 md:text-base" href="/projects" data-astro-cid-dmqpwcec> Projects </a> </li><li class="py-1" data-astro-cid-dmqpwcec> <a class="text-xl font-serif text-main hover:underline hover:underline-offset-2 hover:decoration-1 md:text-base" href="/blog" data-astro-cid-dmqpwcec> Blog </a> </li> </ul> </div> <div class="absolute right-0 top-4 z-10 md:top-8" data-astro-cid-dmqpwcec> <button id="theme-toggle" class="w-8 h-8 -mr-2 flex items-center justify-center" aria-label="Change color scheme"> <svg class="w-4 h-4 fill-current" viewBox="0 0 16 16" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"> <circle cx="8" cy="8" r="8"></circle> </svg> </button>   </div> </nav>    <main class="grow w-full max-w-3xl mx-auto">  <article class="mb-16 sm:mb-24"> <header class="mb-8"> <h1 class="text-3xl leading-tight font-serif font-medium sm:text-5xl sm:leading-tight">My Old Websites</h1> <div class="mt-4 text-sm"> <time datetime="2024-06-26T00:00:00.000Z"> June 26, 2024 </time>  </div> </header> <div class="max-w-none prose prose-dante sm:prose-lg"> <p>People say you should be careful what you put on the Internet, because <em>the Internet is forever</em>. I used to write a lot, and actually found this quite comforting: put something online and, hey, you’re sorted, it’s <em>forever</em>!</p>
<p>But of course, it still requires time and money and technology; someone has to actually put effort in to maintain that “forever. “The Internet is forever” is a warning that someone <em>else</em> might put that effort in, even if you don’t want them to.</p>
<p>I had a couple of websites that can only be seen today thanks to the work of <a href="https://archive.org/">the Internet Archive</a>:</p>
<h2 id="gamedevmichaeljameswilliamscom"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200906105251/http://gamedev.michaeljameswilliams.com/">gamedev.michaeljameswilliams.com</a></h2>
<p>I’m not a game developer, but I believe that game development is a great context for learning skills like programming. This was my old personal website, where I tried to help people learn to code through writing tutorials about Flash game development - and to help myself learn to write better tutorials, at the same time!</p>
<p>Sadly I had some issues with the host and the site died. It’s all backed up - I could restore it - but it’s hard to make that a priority. Who needs to know about Flash development these days?</p>
<h2 id="androidappstorm"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130321043135/http://android.appstorm.net/author/michaeljw/">Android.AppStorm</a></h2>
<p>In 2011 Envato I was invited to launch and edit a new site for the then-thriving AppStorm network of app review and roundup sites. I ran it for a few years, with a great team of writers that I miss today.</p>
<p>Eventually I stepped down to do more data work and handed the site over to the excellent <a href="https://www.androidauthority.com/author/ritaelkhoury/">Rita El Khoury</a>; later still, the entire AppStorm network was sold, and unfortunately the new owners let it fall to the wayside.</p> </div> <div class="mt-8 flex flex-wrap items-center gap-6 text-sm justify-between sm:mt-12 sm:text-base"> <div class="flex flex-wrap gap-x-5 gap-y-1 text-sm"> <a class="text-main hover:underline" href="/tags/retrospective">
#Retrospective </a> </div> <button class="inline-flex items-center justify-center px-6 py-2 font-serif text-sm leading-tight italic  text-main bg-main border border-main rounded-full transition hover:bg-brand hover:text-white copy-url-button" aria-label="Copy link" data-url="https://michaeljameswilliams.com/blog/my-old-websites/" data-tooltip-default="Copy link" data-tooltip-success="Copied">Share</button> </div> </article>   </main> <footer class="w-full max-w-3xl mx-auto pt-12 pb-10 sm:pt-24 sm:pb-14"> <div class="mb-4 flex flex-wrap gap-x-6 gap-y-1"> <a class="font-serif hover:underline hover:underline-offset-2" href="/about"> About </a><a class="font-serif hover:underline hover:underline-offset-2" href="/contact"> Contact </a> </div> <div class="pt-6 flex flex-col gap-4 border-t border-dashed border-main sm:flex-row-reverse sm:justify-between sm:items-center"> <div class="flex flex-wrap gap-x-4 gap-y-1"> <a class="inline-flex items-center justify-center text-sm hover:underline hover:underline-offset-2" href="https://twitter.com/michaeljw" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer"> Twitter </a> </div> <p class="text-sm">
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