Tech & AI, Explained

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George’s Personal Encyclopedia of Modern Software

My fountain of knowledge. A live, always-growing reference covering everything orbiting modern web development, AI/LLMs, and the broader tech I touch. Built for me. Written in plain English. Designed so that if I forget something, I can find it again in seconds — and so that, over time, I can not just understand this world but explain it to others.

Who this is for

Me — George. I am not a programmer, developer, or software engineer. I am a smart, curious person who has been learning by doing alongside Claude. This encyclopedia is the consolidated record of that journey, plus everything I’m likely to encounter next.

If you’re not me (hi, future me), please don’t expect dense technical jargon. Every entry is written so a non-coder can understand it on the first read.

What’s inside

There are three ways into the same body of knowledge:

Way inWhen to use itWhere to find it
Glossary (A–Z)“I forgot what RLS / JWT / hydration / CDN means.”glossary
Textbook chapters”Teach me databases (or React, or auth) from the beginning.”The numbered section folders (01-foundations/ through 15-broader-tech-bonus/)
How-to guides”Walk me through how to deploy a Next.js app to Vercel.”how-to

Plus several cross-section collections (currently 7, but the count can grow as new collection types prove useful):

  • Gotchas & tips — hard-won lessons, common traps, “I wish someone had told me this earlier” notes
  • Reading paths — curated routes through the content for specific goals (e.g. “I want to build my first webapp,” “I want to understand AI agents”)
  • Cheat sheets — daily-use command references (Git, npm, Vercel CLI, gh CLI, Supabase CLI, PowerShell)
  • Common errors — paste-and-fix references (build, Git, Supabase, browser, TypeScript, Vercel runtime, Node, OAuth, CSS/Tailwind, CI, performance)
  • Decision frameworks — “when to use X vs Y” structured guides (Server/Client, merge/rebase/squash, RLS, auth, tiers, TS strict, styling, tests, refactor, fetch/actions, self-host/SaaS, monorepo)
  • Conventions — how entries are written, status labels, cross-link rules
  • Roadmap — what’s stub, what’s drafted, what’s gold-standard complete, and what’s planned next

How to use it

  1. Looking something up? Start with the INDEX or open the glossary.
  2. Want to learn a whole topic? Open the section folder (e.g. 04-databases) and read its index.md — it’s both a map and a recommended reading order.
  3. Trying to do something? Check how-to for step-by-step procedures.
  4. Just exploring? Open reading-paths and pick a journey.

Every entry is a regular markdown file. Open it in VS Code, the GitHub web UI, Obsidian, Typora, or any markdown viewer. Cross-references are clickable links.

Status labels

Every entry has a status badge at the top so you know how polished it is:

  • 🟥 STUB — title and tagline only; placeholder. Not yet written.
  • 🟨 DRAFT — substantive but unfinished. Probably has gaps or rough patches.
  • 🟩 COMPLETE — written, reviewed, cross-linked, sourced. The gold standard.
  • 🟦 LIVING — finished but expected to evolve frequently (e.g. “Claude Code features” — the product itself keeps changing).

See CONVENTIONS.md for the full set of rules I follow when writing entries.

How this grows

This encyclopedia is never finished. Every session with Claude that involves something new is an opportunity to add or improve an entry. The intended cadence:

  • When I encounter a new concept → an entry gets written or upgraded
  • When I hit a gotcha → it goes in gotchas-and-tips/
  • When we discover a better way to do something → the relevant entry is updated and noted in CHANGELOG.md
  • Periodically → I (with Claude) do a “consolidation pass” to merge duplicates, prune outdated entries, and fix broken links

The goal is not to write it all at once. The goal is to make sure that whenever I learn something worth keeping, it has a home.

Scope

Core focus: Modern web development + AI/LLMs + comprehensive Australian AI landscape coverage.

That includes: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, TypeScript, React, Next.js, Tailwind, shadcn/ui, Node.js, npm, Git/GitHub, Vercel, Supabase, Postgres, SQL, RLS, REST APIs, serverless, edge functions, authentication, OAuth, JWT, OWASP top 10, testing, CI/CD, hosting, domains, DNS, SSL/HTTPS, CDNs, environment variables, dark mode, accessibility, responsive design, PWAs, prompt engineering, LLM internals, agents, MCP, RAG, embeddings, Claude Code itself, AI-assisted development workflows.

Bonus coverage (lighter touch — only what’s useful to me): the cloud, containers/Docker, operating systems overview, mobile development overview, basic networking, computer science fundamentals.

Major addition — AI Landscape (Sessions 52-61): Comprehensive Australian-context coverage of:

  • 150+ AI vendor entries (consumer assistants, design tools, video/music/voice generation, coding agents, enterprise platforms, specialist clinical/legal/educational tools)
  • 45+ profession-specific and life-context decision frameworks (everyday, professional, by industry)
  • 34+ how-to guides (sign-ups, API setup, evaluations, practical workflows)
  • 13+ cheat sheets (quick references for daily use)
  • All with Australian regulatory context (AHPRA, TGA, ATO, ACCC, ACMA, Fair Work, Privacy Act, Spam Act, state legislation)

If something doesn’t fit cleanly anywhere, it probably belongs in 15-broader-tech-bonus or ai-landscape.

What this is NOT

  • ❌ Not a substitute for official documentation. When I need exact API references, I go to the source. This is the interpretive layer on top — the “what does this mean and why does it matter” companion.
  • ❌ Not project-specific. The St Mark’s Bible Quest project has its own AGENT_GUIDE.md and PROGRESS.md. Project-specific lore lives there, not here.
  • ❌ Not a course someone else made for me. This is mine. Every entry reflects how I actually understand and use the concept.

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