The Useful Trap

Let’s get one thing straight: I’m not here to vanish.

This isn’t a bunker blog. I’m not living off-grid in a Faraday cage, eating freeze-dried beans and whispering to my VPN. I still use maps. I still text friends. I still let machines help me—when they earn it.

But I’m also not here to be strip-mined by convenience.

We’ve been sold a lie: that usefulness requires surrender. That if you want directions, you must give your location. If you want connection, you must give your soul. If you want to live in the 21st century, you must be watched, logged, and optimized.

Bullshit.

There’s a middle path. A narrow one, sure—but it’s there. And it’s worth walking.

Privacy isn’t about hiding. It’s about choosing. Choosing what to share, when to share it, and who gets to profit from your life. It’s about remembering that your attention, your habits, your metadata—they’re yours. And they’re valuable. Not in some abstract, philosophical sense. In the cold, hard, billion-dollar sense.

The tech works best when it serves you, not the other way around. But most of what we call "smart" today is just a leash with a touchscreen.

So this blog—Between Keys—is about that tension. The friction between freedom and function. Between privacy and participation. Between the tools we need and the traps they hide.

I’m not here to preach purity. I still use email. I still carry a phone. But I want to know what it costs me. I want to know what’s under the hood. And I want to know how to say no—gracefully, or with a middle finger, depending on the day.

If you’re looking for a manifesto, look elsewhere.
If you’re looking for a conversation, welcome.
Let’s walk the line.

—Tim