About

Work

I'm currently a Senior Data Analyst at McAfee, working on product analytics, retention, and revenue optimization. Previously, I've worked in enterprise risk at a Big 5 bank and supply chain analytics at an F500 manufacturer. These days I'm also into AI/ML and experimenting with what's possible when you run models locally. Check out my projects.

Here's a visual breakdown of where my data skills lie across the data landscape.

Interests

Gaming: Massive Soulsborne fan. Bloodborne's lore lives rent-free in my head. I also dabble in retro gaming and emulation when the nostalgia hits.

Movies: Big on horror and sci-fi. The Thing (1982) is peak cinema and I will die on that hill. I can (and will) rewatch the Dark Knight trilogy at any time.

Tech & Self-hosting: I run a home server on a repurposed laptop and self-host everything I can. I believe in the indie web, RSS feeds, and ethical ads. This blog runs on the NEAT stack (Netlify, Eleventy, Alpine.js, Tailwind) and I've let AI agents loose on it - the commit history is wild.

Organization: I organize my life in Obsidian and call my vault "Vault 76" (yes, like Fallout). I've written about my vault structure if you're into that sort of thing.

Hobbies

• Expert: Procrastination 🏆
• Pretty Good: Gaming, Movies
• Okay-ish: Self-hosting
• Meh: Fitness
• Know a Little: Cycling, Audiophiling, Photography, Retro Gaming & Emulation, Hiking
• Barely Started: Rock Climbing, Cover Music
• Want to explore: Flight Sims (MSFS), Game Dev (Unreal), Content Creation, Remastering old games, DVD Commentaries, Travelling, Reading

Things I've Learned

• Never trust how you feel about your life past 9pm. (Or as Nietzsche said: "Never trust a thought that occurs to you indoors.")
• Don't get confined by titles, Arjuna. Your duty is to do karma (solve problems).
• Will you do it if no one's watching?
• Social skills atrophy. Use them.
• We don't understand the truth, we just discover it.

Why I Write Here

I've always created personal sites as a form of expression - putting my learning out in public before anyone else gets to point it out. Exposing my stupidity and naivety on my own terms, basically.

The philosophy I keep coming back to is this:

"[One] who works with the door open gets all kinds of interruptions, but [they] also occasionally gets clues as to what the world is and what might be important." - Richard Hamming

Writing in public keeps me honest. Knowledge isn't a dump of everything you've seen or heard - it has to be relevant, distilled, worth saving. Not just something a Google search away. This site is my attempt at that.

Let's Connect

If any of this resonates with you, or if you just want to chat about Bloodborne lore, AI, or why self-hosting is both a blessing and a curse, hit me up at hi[at]carteakey[dot]dev.

You can also sign my guestbook - yes, I have one in 2026. Retro is in.