Dude, Where’s My Blog?

the blog formerly known (but never referred to as) as “HiLights”

In August of 2023, the blog I had maintained at the HiWorks website became the target of a copyright troll. Using AI-powered reverse image search engines, the internet was scraped for anything resembling photographs found in publicly-available databases of independent news agencies. When a potential match was found, a letter was sent demanding payment for “past unauthorized usage.”

For the record, the imagery in question was from a 2015 post featuring a digitally modified photograph of a public political figure. Although a “fair use” argument could easily be made (only a portion of the original work was used, its purpose was satirical, it did not diminish the value of the original work, and it did not provide HiWorks any commercial benefit), the strategy of this particular company is to use the threat of costly litigation to force monetary settlements. After discussing the matter with legal counsel, this is what we did. My legal counsel also reminded me that, due to obligations arising from the settlement, I am not permitted to discuss the terms of said agreement.

I began writing the blog over a decade ago to share news about what was going on at my new architecture office, but over the years it evolved into something else. It became a platform to share observations about the larger role of the built environment. It became a place where I could work through ideas as I attempted to make sense of this world and all its beautiful contradictions. In other words, it became less about HiWorks and more about things outside of it.

It is for this reason - and to provide an apparently necessary financial/legal barrier between it and HiWorks - that the blog has moved from the HiWorks website to this new personal website. Given how many of the posts were navel-gazing personal essays, it makes sense to host it on a website dedicated to self-indulgent self-aggrandizement. I’ll continue to add new material to the blog, but I’ll also repost some of the more memorable essays from this old blog… paying special attention to remove any and all photographs I didn’t take myself.