About Jason

Curious by nature.
Optimistic by choice.

Fuelled by coffee. Guided by logic. Sustained by sarcasm.

Indie author. Developer. Veteran. Building and publishing on the open web because stories, and people, deserve better than walled gardens.

CanadaHe / HimAllyAuthorTechnologistProtocol-native

What I write about

Three threads, one curiosity.

Speculative fiction

Near-future, social, and political stories about power, identity, and the choices that haunt us.

Explore fiction

Open web & protocols

Building with AT Protocol, portable identity, and user-owned data. Practical ideas, not hype.

Visit the lab

Signals vs. noise

Notes on media, technology, culture, and society, filtering the noise so we can think clearly.

Read essays

Why this site exists

The open web is a promise we can keep.

This site runs on my own data server using the AT Protocol. That means I own my content, my readers can follow me anywhere, and nothing disappears because a platform changes its mind.

Owned data

I control the data. You own your experience.

Portable identity

Follow, reply, and connect across apps and servers.

Independent publishing

No middlemen. No ads. Just stories and ideas.

Built for readers

Fast, accessible, and respectfully designed.

I’m not here to go viral.
I’m here to build things
that outlast the platform.

Current workbench

Byline (by jasonbu.online)My open source, AT Protocol-first publishing app. Write once. Publish anywhere.View Pejorative: Echoes of a NationMy debut novel. Power, prejudice, and a country at a crossroads.View Protocol Lab NotesField notes from my experiments with AT Protocol, portable identity, and open tools.View Standard.site ExperimentsExploring simple, interoperable building blocks for the open social web.View

Protocol identity

My public identity across the open social web.

DID: did:plc:72bim4...5wpuio4v
Handle: @jasonbu.online
PDS: woodear.us-west.host.bsky.networkHealthy
Bluesky: @jasonbu.online
Gander: @jgbutterfieldwrites.gander.social
Eurosky: @jgbutterfield.eurosky.social

Connect with AT

Selected timeline

Some milestones on the long road here.

2003-2010

Early web builder

PHP, MySQL, and late nights.

2010-2016

WordPress era

Community, blogging, and indie publishing.

2017-2020

Writing & books

First novel. More stories. More coffee.

2021-2023

Open web shift

Discovering the open social web.

2024

AT Protocol

Building with Byline. Running on my PDS.

2025+

What's ahead

Better tools. Better stories. Together.