From ffbed7f38989824865264095d9e7e3b0e8998b37 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Cursor Agent Date: Thu, 6 Aug 2026 04:14:42 +0000 Subject: [PATCH 1/2] Refresh site copy for Validation Cloud, CBDC, and public interest work MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Update meta, hero, about, experience, projects, speaking, articles, and footer to reflect institutional blockchain infrastructure, Sand Dollar, ClawQL, Challenge the Footage, and Witness — and shift CTAs from job seeking to collaboration, speaking, and press. Co-authored-by: Daniel Smith --- personal-site/src/app/about/page.tsx | 128 +++++---- .../src/app/articles/[slug]/page.tsx | 1 - personal-site/src/app/articles/page.tsx | 4 +- personal-site/src/app/layout.tsx | 2 +- personal-site/src/app/page.tsx | 68 +++-- personal-site/src/app/projects/page.tsx | 4 +- personal-site/src/app/speaking/page.tsx | 44 +-- personal-site/src/components/Footer.tsx | 27 +- .../src/lib/featuredLinkedInPostBodies.ts | 16 ++ personal-site/src/lib/site.ts | 264 ++++++++++++++++-- 10 files changed, 445 insertions(+), 113 deletions(-) diff --git a/personal-site/src/app/about/page.tsx b/personal-site/src/app/about/page.tsx index 15d3286..5ba95d2 100644 --- a/personal-site/src/app/about/page.tsx +++ b/personal-site/src/app/about/page.tsx @@ -43,6 +43,9 @@ function SocialLink({ ) } +const linkClassName = + 'font-medium text-teal-600 underline decoration-teal-500/40 underline-offset-2 hover:text-teal-700 dark:text-teal-400 dark:hover:text-teal-300' + export const metadata: Metadata = { title: 'About', description: site.description, @@ -66,69 +69,100 @@ export default function About() {

I'm {site.name}. I build{' '} - resilient infrastructure for fintech and Web3 + blockchain infrastructure, AI agents, and public interest technology .

- Senior Backend Platform Engineer with 7+ years building resilient, - large-scale infrastructure for fintech and Web3 platforms. Based in{' '} - {site.location}. + Daniel Smith is a platform engineer at Validation Cloud, where he + builds institutional blockchain infrastructure — Node API, staking, + and AI-powered blockchain intelligence — for enterprises managing + billions in digital assets. Based in {site.location}. +

+

+ His blockchain work began at IBM, where he developed the transaction + state machine for Sand Dollar, the world's first nationally + deployed retail central bank digital currency. Issued by the + Central Bank of The Bahamas and live since October 2020, Sand Dollar + is the reference case every central bank in the world now studies + when designing retail CBDC programs.

- Most recently at Phantom I architected multi-region Kubernetes + - CockroachDB failover systems, reduced infrastructure costs 65%, and - shipped two production AI tools: an automated Slack → Linear ticket - bot powered by LLMs and an official company-wide knowledge bot - (hackathon → maintained product) that ingests Notion, Linear, - GitHub, and Slack for natural-language queries. + Outside his role at Validation Cloud, Daniel builds open-source + infrastructure at the intersection of cryptographic audit trails, AI + agents, and government accountability.

- I care deeply about agentic AI and developer experience. I recently - open-sourced{' '} + + ClawQL + {' '} + is a production TypeScript MCP server and agentic gateway that gives + AI agents structured, auditable, token-efficient access to APIs, + documents, and enterprise knowledge. Its security architecture — 32 + modules covering Merkle-chained WORM audit logs, Arweave immutable + anchoring, supply chain signing, and kernel-level agent sandboxing — + is documented at{' '} - ClawQL - - , an MCP server for multi-protocol API access (OpenAPI, Swagger, - Google Discovery, optional GraphQL/gRPC) with lean token use on remote - calls, Obsidian vault memory, audit and session cache, and optional - tools for sandbox runs, persisted schedules, Slack notifications, and - more — see{' '} + docs.clawql.com/security/best-practices + {' '} + and cited by engineers building production agentic systems. +

+

- docs.clawql.com - - . I also contributed agentic web-search + MCP skills to Google's - AI Edge Gallery and experiment with on-device ML and GenAI UX via my - fork of the gallery sample. + Challenge the Footage + {' '} + is a free public interest tool that generates legal documents for + challenging surveillance camera evidence in court. It addresses a + structural authentication gap: no major surveillance camera vendor + publicly documents cryptographic chain of custody for footage. The + tool generates motions in limine under FRE 901, Daubert challenges + under FRE 702 citing the industry's documented ~10% + misidentification error rate, Fourth Amendment suppression motions + using the Institute for Justice's database of officer abuse + cases, and Section 1983 civil damages demand letters. Public + defenders get free unlimited access.

-

- Previously: +

+ The{' '} + + Witness app + {' '} + records police encounters on iOS and Android, transcribes in real + time using on-device Whisper, and uploads transcript, audio, and + video in priority order so evidence reaches safety even on a weak + signal. Everything is cryptographically signed and Arweave-anchored + for independent verification. +

+

+ The{' '} + + clawql-government + {' '} + specification extends the same Merkle-chaining and Arweave + anchoring infrastructure to government program outcome + accountability — addressing the structural gap California and other + states face in measuring whether bond-funded programs deliver the + outcomes voters were promised.

-
    -
  • - Led blockchain infrastructure and multi-chain indexing at - DraftKings Marketplace -
    • -
  • - Designed Progressive Deployments, Canary Testing, and Zero Trust - security at Upgrade Inc. -
    • -
  • - Built the core state machine for the Bahamian Sand Dollar CBDC at - IBM Blockchain -
    • -

- Open to conversations on platform engineering, AI agents, Kubernetes, - and scalable AI infrastructure. Currently seeking new opportunities — - happy to connect! + Daniel holds the view that the same engineering discipline that + makes financial systems trustworthy — immutable audit trails, + cryptographic chain of custody, independent verification — should + be applied to government programs, law enforcement evidence, and + public records.

diff --git a/personal-site/src/app/articles/[slug]/page.tsx b/personal-site/src/app/articles/[slug]/page.tsx index 3ed27d8..4d7f20c 100644 --- a/personal-site/src/app/articles/[slug]/page.tsx +++ b/personal-site/src/app/articles/[slug]/page.tsx @@ -54,7 +54,6 @@ export default async function LinkedInArticlePage({ params }: Props) {

) : post.syndicationSource ? (

- Canonical curriculum and module-by-module versions:{' '}

diff --git a/personal-site/src/app/layout.tsx b/personal-site/src/app/layout.tsx index 21065cd..c0d3931 100644 --- a/personal-site/src/app/layout.tsx +++ b/personal-site/src/app/layout.tsx @@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ import '@/styles/tailwind.css' export const metadata: Metadata = { title: { template: `%s - ${site.name}`, - default: `${site.name} - ${site.tagline}`, + default: `${site.name} — ${site.tagline}`, }, description: site.description, alternates: { diff --git a/personal-site/src/app/page.tsx b/personal-site/src/app/page.tsx index 7c8ff2f..bf56972 100644 --- a/personal-site/src/app/page.tsx +++ b/personal-site/src/app/page.tsx @@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import { Button } from '@/components/Button' import { Card } from '@/components/Card' import { Container } from '@/components/Container' import { ProjectOutboundLinks } from '@/components/ProjectOutboundLinks' +import { ArticleMarkdown } from '@/components/ArticleMarkdown' import { GitHubIcon, LinkedInIcon, @@ -14,6 +15,7 @@ import { featuredProjects, featuredLinkedInPosts, linkedinProfile, + openToOpportunities, site, type FeaturedProject, type WorkRole, @@ -165,28 +167,53 @@ function HiringCta() { Open to opportunities

- I’m particularly interested in roles blending{' '} - - AI agents, LLM tooling, or MCP - {' '} - with{' '} - - production platform engineering - {' '} - (Kubernetes, observability, reliability). Reach out if that sounds like - your team. + {openToOpportunities.intro}

-
+

+ I'm open to: +

+
    + {openToOpportunities.items.map((item) => ( +
  • +

    + {item.title} +

    +

    + {item.body} + {'href' in item && item.href ? ( + <> + {' '} + + {item.hrefLabel} + + + ) : null} +

    +
    • + ))} +
+
+ + {linkedinProfile ? ( + + ) : null}
) @@ -234,7 +261,7 @@ function AiAgentsSection() {

- AI & agents + Focus areas

    {aiHighlights.map((item) => ( @@ -297,10 +324,12 @@ export default async function Home() { {site.location}

    - {site.tagline} + {site.headline}

    -

    - {site.bioShort}{' '} +

    + +
    +

    - MCP stack, libraries, gateways, and product PWAs — use the icons for - GitHub, npm, or the live site when each exists. + CBDC infrastructure, public interest tools, and the ClawQL agentic + stack — use the icons for GitHub, npm, or the live site when each + exists.

diff --git a/personal-site/src/app/projects/page.tsx b/personal-site/src/app/projects/page.tsx index 5a183c3..a1fb5e1 100644 --- a/personal-site/src/app/projects/page.tsx +++ b/personal-site/src/app/projects/page.tsx @@ -8,14 +8,14 @@ import { featuredRepos } from '@/lib/site' export const metadata: Metadata = { title: 'Projects', description: - 'Open-source and product work — AI agents, DevSecOps automation, and full-stack apps.', + 'Sand Dollar CBDC infrastructure, Challenge the Footage, Witness, ClawQL, and related open-source work.', } export default function Projects() { return (
    -
    -

    - For speaking inquiries or panel invitations, email me at{' '} - - {site.email} - - . I’m especially interested in topics that sit at the intersection of{' '} - LLM tooling, production platforms, and{' '} - developer experience. -

    +
    +
      + {speakingTopics.map((topic) => ( +
    • +

      + {topic.title} +

      +

      + {topic.body} +

      +
      • + ))} +
    +
    +

    + For speaking inquiries or panel invitations, email me at{' '} + + {site.email} + + . +

    +
    ) diff --git a/personal-site/src/components/Footer.tsx b/personal-site/src/components/Footer.tsx index 9fa288d..ad82e8a 100644 --- a/personal-site/src/components/Footer.tsx +++ b/personal-site/src/components/Footer.tsx @@ -1,7 +1,7 @@ import Link from 'next/link' import { ContainerInner, ContainerOuter } from '@/components/Container' -import { site } from '@/lib/site' +import { footerExternalLinks, site } from '@/lib/site' function NavLink({ href, @@ -27,11 +27,26 @@ export function Footer() {
    -
    - About - Projects - Speaking - Uses +
    +
    + About + Projects + Speaking + Uses +
    +
    + {footerExternalLinks.map((link) => ( + + {link.label} + + ))} +

    © {new Date().getFullYear()} {site.name}. All rights diff --git a/personal-site/src/lib/featuredLinkedInPostBodies.ts b/personal-site/src/lib/featuredLinkedInPostBodies.ts index 4fee20d..e53aa70 100644 --- a/personal-site/src/lib/featuredLinkedInPostBodies.ts +++ b/personal-site/src/lib/featuredLinkedInPostBodies.ts @@ -77,6 +77,22 @@ Try it out: [npm — mcp-grpc-transport](https://www.npmjs.com/package/mcp-grpc- Repo & examples: part of the ClawQL project on GitHub. Feedback, bug reports, and PRs are very welcome. Let's make MCP even more cloud-native and production-ready together.`, + + 'california-bond-outcome-accountability': `On the structural gap between spending accountability and outcome accountability in California's bond programs — and the cryptographic audit infrastructure that makes outcome measurement independently verifiable. + +This piece connects the Oak Park surveillance contract failure to the broader bond accountability problem, and introduces the [clawql-government](https://docs.clawql.com/government) specification: Merkle-chaining and Arweave anchoring applied to government program outcomes so voters and auditors can independently verify whether bond-funded programs delivered what was promised. + +California spent roughly **$196 billion** without a durable, independently verifiable answer to a simple question: what did we get? + +Full essay on [PragmaticVectors](https://pragmaticvectors.com).`, + + 'surveillance-footage-chain-of-custody': `No major surveillance camera vendor publicly documents hash at capture, Merkle-chained audit logs, or external immutable anchoring. That is an **FRE 901 authentication** problem courts are beginning to recognize. + +This essay covers the technical architecture required to make footage independently verifiable — hash at capture, Merkle chaining, Arweave immutable anchoring — and introduces [Challenge the Footage](https://challengethefootage.com): free legal document generation for public defenders challenging ALPR, body camera, and civilian recording evidence. + +Source and model legislation live in the [surveillance-evidence-integrity](https://github.com/danielsmithdevelopment/surveillance-evidence-integrity) repository. + +Full essay on [PragmaticVectors](https://pragmaticvectors.com).`, } as const export type FeaturedLinkedInPostSlug = keyof typeof featuredLinkedInPostBodies diff --git a/personal-site/src/lib/site.ts b/personal-site/src/lib/site.ts index 602ea2b..b13e334 100644 --- a/personal-site/src/lib/site.ts +++ b/personal-site/src/lib/site.ts @@ -4,11 +4,15 @@ import { featuredLinkedInPostBodies } from '@/lib/featuredLinkedInPostBodies' /** Site-wide copy and links — update here to refresh resume CTAs and featured work. */ export const site = { name: 'Daniel Smith', + /** Meta / document title suffix: “Daniel Smith — …” */ tagline: - 'Senior Backend Platform Engineer | AI Agents & MCP | Kubernetes & Cloud Infrastructure', + 'Blockchain Infrastructure · AI Agents · Public Interest Technology', + /** Home hero H1 */ + headline: + 'Platform Engineer · Blockchain Infrastructure · AI Agents · Public Interest Technology', /** OpenGraph / meta default description */ description: - 'Senior Backend Platform Engineer with 7+ years architecting resilient Kubernetes platforms, AI-powered tools, and multi-cloud DevOps solutions. Actively seeking new opportunities.', + "Platform engineer at Validation Cloud building institutional blockchain infrastructure. Creator of the world's first CBDC transaction engine (Sand Dollar), ClawQL agentic AI platform, and challengethefootage.com — open-source tools for government accountability and civil rights.", /** Public site URL (set NEXT_PUBLIC_SITE_URL in CI for canonical links and RSS) */ url: (typeof process !== 'undefined' && process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_SITE_URL) || @@ -16,9 +20,21 @@ export const site = { location: 'San Gabriel, CA', email: 'danielsmithdevelopment@gmail.com', phoneDisplay: '626.223.0629', - hireable: true, + hireable: false, + /** + * Plain-text summary aligned with the resume PDF summary section. + * Prefer `homeSummaryMarkdown` for the home hero (links + paragraphs). + */ bioShort: - 'Senior Backend Platform Engineer with 7+ years architecting resilient Kubernetes platforms, AI-powered tools, and multi-cloud DevOps solutions. Delivered large-scale migrations that cut costs 65%, boosted developer experience 125%+, and enabled zero-downtime operations. Recently shipped production AI integrations at Phantom and open-sourced MCP/agentic contributions. Passionate about scalable, intelligent infrastructure and actively seeking new opportunities.', + "Platform engineer at Validation Cloud building institutional blockchain node API, staking infrastructure, and AI-powered blockchain intelligence for enterprises managing billions in digital assets. Previously at IBM Blockchain, developed the transaction state machine for Sand Dollar — the world's first nationally deployed retail CBDC, issued by the Central Bank of The Bahamas (sanddollar.bs, live since October 2020). Open-source work spans ClawQL (production agentic AI gateway), challengethefootage.com (surveillance evidence accountability tools used by public defenders), and the clawql-government specification for cryptographic government program outcome measurement. Background includes Phantom, DraftKings, and Upgrade spanning Kubernetes infrastructure, blockchain systems, and SRE.", + /** + * Home hero summary (markdown). Links render via ArticleMarkdown. + */ + homeSummaryMarkdown: `Platform engineer at [Validation Cloud](https://validationcloud.io) building institutional-grade blockchain node API, staking infrastructure, and AI-powered blockchain intelligence (Mavrik) for clients including Chainlink, Consensys, and BitGo. + +Previously at IBM Blockchain, I developed the transaction state machine for [Sand Dollar](https://sanddollar.bs) — the world's first nationally deployed retail central bank digital currency, issued by the Central Bank of The Bahamas and live since October 2020. Every CBDC research program currently studying retail digital currency deployment uses the Bahamas as the reference case. + +Outside my day job I build open-source infrastructure at the intersection of AI agents, cryptographic audit trails, and government accountability. [ClawQL](https://docs.clawql.com) is a production TypeScript MCP server and agentic gateway used by developers and enterprises. [challengethefootage.com](https://challengethefootage.com) and the [Witness app](https://github.com/danielsmithdevelopment/surveillance-evidence-integrity) provide free legal tools and cryptographically secured civilian recording for people facing surveillance camera evidence in court.`, github: { username: 'danielsmithdevelopment', url: 'https://github.com/danielsmithdevelopment', @@ -31,24 +47,41 @@ export const site = { } as const /** Set to your profile URL to show LinkedIn on the home hero; leave null to hide. */ -export const linkedinProfile: string | null = "https://linkedin.com/in/danielsmithdev" +export const linkedinProfile: string | null = + 'https://linkedin.com/in/danielsmithdev' + +/** External destinations surfaced in the footer (and optionally elsewhere). */ +export const footerExternalLinks = [ + { + label: 'Challenge the Footage', + href: 'https://challengethefootage.com', + }, + { + label: 'Surveillance Evidence Integrity', + href: 'https://github.com/danielsmithdevelopment/surveillance-evidence-integrity', + }, + { + label: 'PragmaticVectors', + href: 'https://pragmaticvectors.com', + }, +] as const -/** Home page — AI / agents angle for recruiting */ +/** Home sidebar — current focus areas */ export const aiHighlights = [ { - title: 'Agents & APIs', + title: 'Institutional blockchain infrastructure', body: - 'Shipped ClawQL, an open-source MCP server: agents search and execute over OpenAPI/Swagger/Google Discovery (optional GraphQL/gRPC upstreams) with lean responses; bundled multi-provider graphs; vault memory (memory_ingest / memory_recall), audit, and cache; plus optional sandbox, schedules, Slack notify, Label Studio HITL, Onyx search, and more — stdio, HTTP, and gRPC. See https://docs.clawql.com.', + 'At Validation Cloud: Node API (ranked #1 globally by CompareNodes), SOC2 Type II staking, and Mavrik AI-powered blockchain intelligence for Chainlink, Consensys, BitGo, Anchorage, and ether.fi.', }, { - title: 'On-device ML & GenAI', + title: 'Agents & MCP', body: - 'Forked and extended the Android “gallery” sample to explore local inference and GenAI UX — practical experimentation beyond pure backend work.', + 'ClawQL is a production TypeScript MCP server and agentic gateway — structured, auditable API access with vault memory, Merkle-chained WORM audit logs, and optional sandbox, schedules, and Slack notify. See https://docs.clawql.com.', }, { - title: 'Platform at scale', + title: 'Public interest technology', body: - 'Most recently at Phantom I architected multi-region Kubernetes, Istio, and CockroachDB failover systems; chaos engineering and K6 load testing; developer-experience scores up 125%+ and 133% on key CoreDX measures; and a 65% infra cost reduction after a Lambda-to-K8s migration.', + 'Challenge the Footage and Witness bring cryptographic chain of custody to surveillance evidence and civilian encounter recording — free legal tools for public defenders and open-source standards for cities and legislatures.', }, ] as const @@ -61,8 +94,15 @@ export type WorkRole = { end: string | { label: string; dateTime: string } } -/** Pulled from Daniel-Smith-Resume-final.pdf */ +/** Pulled from Daniel-Smith-Resume-final.pdf + current role */ export const workRoles: WorkRole[] = [ + { + company: 'Validation Cloud', + title: 'Senior Platform Engineer', + initial: 'V', + start: { label: 'Sep 2025', dateTime: '2025-09-01' }, + end: { label: 'Present', dateTime: '2026-08-06' }, + }, { company: 'Phantom', title: 'Senior Backend Platform Engineer', @@ -93,6 +133,25 @@ export const workRoles: WorkRole[] = [ }, ] +/** Optional longer blurbs for experience entries (resume / about). */ +export const workRoleDetails: Record< + string, + { summary: string; stack: string } +> = { + 'Validation Cloud': { + summary: + 'Institutional blockchain infrastructure platform serving enterprises managing billions in digital assets. Building Node API (ranked #1 globally by CompareNodes), staking infrastructure (SOC2 Type II certified), and Mavrik — AI-powered blockchain data intelligence for institutional clients including Chainlink, Consensys, BitGo, Anchorage, and ether.fi.', + stack: + 'TypeScript · Blockchain · Kubernetes · Node API · Staking · AI · Institutional Infrastructure', + }, + 'IBM Blockchain': { + summary: + "Developed the transaction state machine for Sand Dollar — the world's first nationally deployed retail central bank digital currency, issued by the Central Bank of The Bahamas and live since October 2020 at sanddollar.bs. Enabled asset bridging between domestic and international currency versions supporting financial inclusion across a 700-island nation. Designed high-availability, disaster recovery, and security compliance plans for payments and supply chain platforms across a multi-cloud Kubernetes setup with cloud, region, and AZ-level automatic failover. Configured observability for Stellar Lumens Validator Nodes.", + stack: + 'Golang · TypeScript · AWS · GCP · IBM Cloud · Kubernetes · Helm · Istio · Blockchain · CBDC', + }, +} + export type FeaturedRepo = { name: string description: string @@ -136,8 +195,108 @@ export type FeaturedLinkedInPost = { extraLinks?: { label: string; href: string }[] } +export type SpeakingTopic = { + title: string + body: string +} + +/** Suggested speaking topics for /speaking */ +export const speakingTopics: SpeakingTopic[] = [ + { + title: 'Cryptographic Chain of Custody for Surveillance Evidence', + body: + 'The authentication gap no major ALPR or body camera vendor can currently close, and the technical architecture — hash at capture, Merkle chaining, Arweave anchoring — that closes it. For legal technology conferences, civil liberties organizations, and government technology forums.', + }, + { + title: 'CBDC Design and Deployment: Lessons from Sand Dollar', + body: + "What it actually took to ship the world's first nationally deployed retail central bank digital currency, what worked, what didn't, and what every central bank studying CBDC deployment should know. For fintech conferences, central bank working groups, and government financial modernization programs.", + }, + { + title: + 'Agentic AI Security: From Kernel-Level Containment to Supply Chain Verification', + body: + "The 32-module security architecture behind ClawQL's agentic gateway — Seatbelt sandboxing, Merkle-chained WORM audit trails, Cosign supply chain signing, and Arweave immutable anchoring. For security conferences, enterprise AI teams, and CISO audiences.", + }, + { + title: 'Government Outcome Accountability Infrastructure', + body: + "Why California can't tell voters whether $196 billion in bonds produced promised outcomes, and the cryptographic audit architecture that makes outcome measurement independently verifiable. For government technology conferences, state auditor associations, and legislative policy staff.", + }, +] + +/** Home “Open to opportunities” sidebar */ +export const openToOpportunities = { + intro: + "I'm not actively seeking employment — I'm building at Validation Cloud and on open-source public interest projects.", + items: [ + { + title: 'Government and policy collaboration', + body: + 'Pilot programs for government accountability technology, cryptographic audit infrastructure for public programs, or advisory roles related to CBDC, digital public infrastructure, or surveillance policy.', + }, + { + title: 'Technical partnerships', + body: + 'Integrations with ClawQL, clawql-surveillance, or the Challenge the Footage ecosystem.', + }, + { + title: 'Speaking', + body: + 'On agentic AI security, blockchain infrastructure at government scale, CBDC design and deployment, or surveillance evidence accountability.', + href: '/speaking', + hrefLabel: 'Speaking page →', + }, + { + title: 'Press and research inquiries', + body: + 'Regarding Sand Dollar, Challenge the Footage, or the surveillance evidence integrity work.', + }, + ], +} as const + /** Home page cards + /articles — metadata here; bodies in `featuredLinkedInPostBodies.ts` or generated curriculum pillars. */ export const featuredLinkedInPosts: FeaturedLinkedInPost[] = [ + { + slug: 'california-bond-outcome-accountability', + date: '2026-08-01', + title: "California Spent $196 Billion and Can't Tell You What It Got", + description: + "On the structural gap between spending accountability and outcome accountability in California's bond programs — and the cryptographic audit infrastructure that makes outcome measurement independently verifiable. Connects the Oak Park surveillance contract failure to the broader bond accountability problem, and introduces the clawql-government specification.", + body: featuredLinkedInPostBodies['california-bond-outcome-accountability'], + syndicationSource: { + label: 'Read on PragmaticVectors →', + href: 'https://pragmaticvectors.com', + }, + extraLinks: [ + { + label: 'clawql-government', + href: 'https://docs.clawql.com/government', + }, + ], + }, + { + slug: 'surveillance-footage-chain-of-custody', + date: '2026-08-01', + title: 'Surveillance Footage Has a Chain of Custody Problem', + description: + 'No major surveillance camera vendor publicly documents hash at capture, Merkle-chained audit logs, or external immutable anchoring. This is an FRE 901 authentication problem that courts are beginning to recognize. Covers the full technical architecture required to make footage independently verifiable, and introduces Challenge the Footage.', + body: featuredLinkedInPostBodies['surveillance-footage-chain-of-custody'], + syndicationSource: { + label: 'Read on PragmaticVectors →', + href: 'https://pragmaticvectors.com', + }, + extraLinks: [ + { + label: 'Challenge the Footage', + href: 'https://challengethefootage.com', + }, + { + label: 'GitHub', + href: 'https://github.com/danielsmithdevelopment/surveillance-evidence-integrity', + }, + ], + }, { slug: 'truenas-scale-homelab-recovery', date: '2026-01-20', @@ -191,7 +350,9 @@ export const featuredLinkedInPosts: FeaturedLinkedInPost[] = [ 'Agentic AI Security, Part 1: Supply Chain, Golden Images, and Admission Control', description: 'Long-form consolidation of curriculum modules 1–3: digest pinning and private mirrors, golden images and signing in CI, and cluster admission policy for agent and MCP runtimes—with links to each module on ClawQL Docs.', - body: agenticSecurityCurriculumPillarBodies['agentic-ai-security-supply-chain-and-admission'], + body: agenticSecurityCurriculumPillarBodies[ + 'agentic-ai-security-supply-chain-and-admission' + ], syndicationSource: { label: 'Agentic AI Security Curriculum (ClawQL Docs)', href: 'https://docs.clawql.com/security/best-practices', @@ -210,7 +371,9 @@ export const featuredLinkedInPosts: FeaturedLinkedInPost[] = [ 'Agentic AI Security, Part 2: Identity, Least Privilege, and Zero Trust', description: 'Modules 4–6 in one guide: scoped identities for agents and tools, zero-trust fundamentals, and advanced Vault, HSM, and provenance patterns—with canonical links per module.', - body: agenticSecurityCurriculumPillarBodies['agentic-ai-security-identity-zero-trust'], + body: agenticSecurityCurriculumPillarBodies[ + 'agentic-ai-security-identity-zero-trust' + ], syndicationSource: { label: 'Agentic AI Security Curriculum (ClawQL Docs)', href: 'https://docs.clawql.com/security/best-practices', @@ -229,7 +392,9 @@ export const featuredLinkedInPosts: FeaturedLinkedInPost[] = [ 'Agentic AI Security, Part 3: Service Mesh, Sandboxing, and MCP Runtime Protection', description: 'Modules 7–9 combined: RBAC and mTLS with Istio, Kata vs gVisor sandbox tradeoffs, and MCP runtime protection—plus links to the full modules on docs.clawql.com.', - body: agenticSecurityCurriculumPillarBodies['agentic-ai-security-mesh-sandbox-mcp'], + body: agenticSecurityCurriculumPillarBodies[ + 'agentic-ai-security-mesh-sandbox-mcp' + ], syndicationSource: { label: 'Agentic AI Security Curriculum (ClawQL Docs)', href: 'https://docs.clawql.com/security/best-practices', @@ -248,7 +413,9 @@ export const featuredLinkedInPosts: FeaturedLinkedInPost[] = [ 'Agentic AI Security, Part 4: Data Classification, Model Integrity, and Runtime Monitoring', description: 'Modules 10–12: data classification and PII in logs, verifying model weights, and observability for agentic workloads—consolidated with outbound links to each original module.', - body: agenticSecurityCurriculumPillarBodies['agentic-ai-security-data-models-observability'], + body: agenticSecurityCurriculumPillarBodies[ + 'agentic-ai-security-data-models-observability' + ], syndicationSource: { label: 'Agentic AI Security Curriculum (ClawQL Docs)', href: 'https://docs.clawql.com/security/best-practices', @@ -267,7 +434,9 @@ export const featuredLinkedInPosts: FeaturedLinkedInPost[] = [ 'Agentic AI Security, Part 5: Incident Response, Automation, GPU, Workstations, and Production', description: 'Modules 13–17 in depth: automated containment, IR and PICERL, GPU abuse controls, secure local development, and production hardening for agent stacks—with links to every module.', - body: agenticSecurityCurriculumPillarBodies['agentic-ai-security-operations-and-production'], + body: agenticSecurityCurriculumPillarBodies[ + 'agentic-ai-security-operations-and-production' + ], syndicationSource: { label: 'Agentic AI Security Curriculum (ClawQL Docs)', href: 'https://docs.clawql.com/security/best-practices', @@ -286,7 +455,9 @@ export const featuredLinkedInPosts: FeaturedLinkedInPost[] = [ 'Agentic AI Security, Part 6: Threat Modeling, OWASP Agentic Top 10, and Quarterly Review', description: 'Modules 18–20: STRIDE for agentic AI, OWASP Agentic Top 10 mitigations, and a quarterly security review checklist—merged here with links to the canonical curriculum.', - body: agenticSecurityCurriculumPillarBodies['agentic-ai-security-governance-and-owasp-agentic'], + body: agenticSecurityCurriculumPillarBodies[ + 'agentic-ai-security-governance-and-owasp-agentic' + ], syndicationSource: { label: 'Agentic AI Security Curriculum (ClawQL Docs)', href: 'https://docs.clawql.com/security/best-practices', @@ -302,6 +473,32 @@ export const featuredLinkedInPosts: FeaturedLinkedInPost[] = [ /** Home page spotlight projects (aligned with resume “Open Source and Projects”) */ export const featuredProjects: FeaturedProject[] = [ + { + name: 'Sand Dollar — World\'s First Retail CBDC', + description: + "Transaction state machine for the Central Bank of The Bahamas' Sand Dollar — the first nationally deployed retail central bank digital currency in the world, launched October 2020. Enabled asset bridging between domestic and international currency versions across a 700-island nation with limited traditional banking infrastructure. Built at IBM Blockchain in partnership with the Central Bank of The Bahamas and NZIA. Golang · TypeScript · Blockchain · Central Bank · Financial Inclusion.", + github: null, + npm: null, + live: 'https://sanddollar.bs', + }, + { + name: 'Challenge the Footage — Surveillance Evidence Integrity', + description: + 'Open-source legal and technical infrastructure for challenging surveillance camera evidence in court. Generates four legal document templates (FRE 901, FRE 702 / Daubert, Fourth Amendment suppression, Section 1983) for any major surveillance vendor. Free for public defenders. Covers ALPR, body cameras, and civilian recordings via Witness. Cloudflare Workers · ClawQL · React Native · Arweave · TypeScript.', + github: + 'https://github.com/danielsmithdevelopment/surveillance-evidence-integrity', + npm: null, + live: 'https://challengethefootage.com', + }, + { + name: 'Witness — Civilian Encounter Recording App', + description: + 'React Native (iOS + Android) app that activates when you are pulled over or stopped by police, records video, audio, and real-time on-device transcript, and uploads all three artifacts in priority order — transcript first, audio second, video third — so evidence reaches safety even on a weak signal. Cryptographically signed and Arweave-anchored. React Native · Expo · Whisper · Cloudflare R2 · Arweave · TypeScript.', + github: + 'https://github.com/danielsmithdevelopment/surveillance-evidence-integrity/tree/main/witness', + npm: null, + live: null, + }, { name: 'ClawQL', description: @@ -352,6 +549,35 @@ export const featuredProjects: FeaturedProject[] = [ * Reorder here; `highlight` drives the “AI / agents” eyebrow on the projects page. */ export const featuredRepos: FeaturedRepo[] = [ + { + name: 'Sand Dollar — World\'s First Retail CBDC', + description: + "Transaction state machine for the Central Bank of The Bahamas' Sand Dollar — the first nationally deployed retail central bank digital currency in the world, launched October 2020. Enabled asset bridging between domestic and international currency versions across a 700-island nation. Built at IBM Blockchain with the Central Bank of The Bahamas and NZIA. Live at sanddollar.bs on iOS and Android.", + highlight: false, + github: null, + npm: null, + live: 'https://sanddollar.bs', + }, + { + name: 'Challenge the Footage', + description: + 'Open-source legal and technical infrastructure for challenging surveillance camera evidence in court. Generates FRE 901, FRE 702 / Daubert, Fourth Amendment suppression, and Section 1983 templates for major surveillance vendors. Free for public defenders. Model contract language, legislation, and technical standards published as open source.', + highlight: false, + github: + 'https://github.com/danielsmithdevelopment/surveillance-evidence-integrity', + npm: null, + live: 'https://challengethefootage.com', + }, + { + name: 'Witness', + description: + 'React Native (iOS + Android) civilian encounter recording app: video, audio, and real-time on-device transcript uploaded in priority order so evidence reaches safety on a weak signal. Cryptographically signed by the device and Arweave-anchored; handoff to Challenge the Footage for legal documents pre-populated with cryptographic proof.', + highlight: false, + github: + 'https://github.com/danielsmithdevelopment/surveillance-evidence-integrity/tree/main/witness', + npm: null, + live: null, + }, { name: 'ClawQL', description: From 07bae6646706b278f17f15775f6f73a8d80a76aa Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Cursor Agent Date: Thu, 6 Aug 2026 04:23:24 +0000 Subject: [PATCH 2/2] Correct Validation Cloud title to Senior DevOps Engineer Update experience, resume summary, hero, about, and meta to Senior DevOps Engineer, and include the team AI knowledge vault plus security and DevOps framing across the node and staking stack. Co-authored-by: Daniel Smith --- personal-site/src/app/about/page.tsx | 11 +++++++---- personal-site/src/lib/site.ts | 19 +++++++++++-------- 2 files changed, 18 insertions(+), 12 deletions(-) diff --git a/personal-site/src/app/about/page.tsx b/personal-site/src/app/about/page.tsx index 5ba95d2..a09df1b 100644 --- a/personal-site/src/app/about/page.tsx +++ b/personal-site/src/app/about/page.tsx @@ -75,10 +75,13 @@ export default function About() {

    - Daniel Smith is a platform engineer at Validation Cloud, where he - builds institutional blockchain infrastructure — Node API, staking, - and AI-powered blockchain intelligence — for enterprises managing - billions in digital assets. Based in {site.location}. + Daniel Smith is a Senior DevOps Engineer at Validation Cloud, where + he builds and secures institutional blockchain infrastructure — + Node API, enterprise staking, and AI-powered blockchain + intelligence — for enterprises managing billions in digital assets. + He also built the team's AI knowledge vault, a shared + cross-machine synchronized knowledge base that keeps engineering + context current across the team. Based in {site.location}.

    His blockchain work began at IBM, where he developed the transaction diff --git a/personal-site/src/lib/site.ts b/personal-site/src/lib/site.ts index b13e334..26899e1 100644 --- a/personal-site/src/lib/site.ts +++ b/personal-site/src/lib/site.ts @@ -9,10 +9,10 @@ export const site = { 'Blockchain Infrastructure · AI Agents · Public Interest Technology', /** Home hero H1 */ headline: - 'Platform Engineer · Blockchain Infrastructure · AI Agents · Public Interest Technology', + 'Senior DevOps Engineer · Blockchain Infrastructure · AI Agents · Public Interest Technology', /** OpenGraph / meta default description */ description: - "Platform engineer at Validation Cloud building institutional blockchain infrastructure. Creator of the world's first CBDC transaction engine (Sand Dollar), ClawQL agentic AI platform, and challengethefootage.com — open-source tools for government accountability and civil rights.", + "Senior DevOps Engineer at Validation Cloud building and securing institutional blockchain infrastructure. Creator of the world's first CBDC transaction engine (Sand Dollar), ClawQL agentic AI platform, and challengethefootage.com — open-source tools for government accountability and civil rights.", /** Public site URL (set NEXT_PUBLIC_SITE_URL in CI for canonical links and RSS) */ url: (typeof process !== 'undefined' && process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_SITE_URL) || @@ -26,11 +26,11 @@ export const site = { * Prefer `homeSummaryMarkdown` for the home hero (links + paragraphs). */ bioShort: - "Platform engineer at Validation Cloud building institutional blockchain node API, staking infrastructure, and AI-powered blockchain intelligence for enterprises managing billions in digital assets. Previously at IBM Blockchain, developed the transaction state machine for Sand Dollar — the world's first nationally deployed retail CBDC, issued by the Central Bank of The Bahamas (sanddollar.bs, live since October 2020). Open-source work spans ClawQL (production agentic AI gateway), challengethefootage.com (surveillance evidence accountability tools used by public defenders), and the clawql-government specification for cryptographic government program outcome measurement. Background includes Phantom, DraftKings, and Upgrade spanning Kubernetes infrastructure, blockchain systems, and SRE.", + "Senior DevOps Engineer at Validation Cloud building and securing institutional blockchain infrastructure — Node API, staking, and AI tooling — for enterprises managing billions in digital assets. Previously at IBM Blockchain, developed the transaction state machine for Sand Dollar — the world's first nationally deployed retail CBDC, issued by the Central Bank of The Bahamas (sanddollar.bs, live since October 2020). Open-source work spans ClawQL (production agentic AI gateway), challengethefootage.com (surveillance evidence accountability tools used by public defenders), and the clawql-government specification for cryptographic government program outcome measurement. Background includes Phantom, DraftKings, and Upgrade spanning Kubernetes infrastructure, blockchain systems, and SRE.", /** * Home hero summary (markdown). Links render via ArticleMarkdown. */ - homeSummaryMarkdown: `Platform engineer at [Validation Cloud](https://validationcloud.io) building institutional-grade blockchain node API, staking infrastructure, and AI-powered blockchain intelligence (Mavrik) for clients including Chainlink, Consensys, and BitGo. + homeSummaryMarkdown: `Senior DevOps Engineer at [Validation Cloud](https://validationcloud.io) building and securing institutional blockchain infrastructure — Node API, enterprise staking, and Mavrik AI-powered blockchain intelligence — for clients including Chainlink, Consensys, BitGo, Anchorage, and ether.fi. Built the team's AI knowledge vault, a shared cross-machine synchronized knowledge base that keeps engineering context current across the team; work also spans DevOps infrastructure and security across the blockchain node and staking stack. Previously at IBM Blockchain, I developed the transaction state machine for [Sand Dollar](https://sanddollar.bs) — the world's first nationally deployed retail central bank digital currency, issued by the Central Bank of The Bahamas and live since October 2020. Every CBDC research program currently studying retail digital currency deployment uses the Bahamas as the reference case. @@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ export const aiHighlights = [ { title: 'Institutional blockchain infrastructure', body: - 'At Validation Cloud: Node API (ranked #1 globally by CompareNodes), SOC2 Type II staking, and Mavrik AI-powered blockchain intelligence for Chainlink, Consensys, BitGo, Anchorage, and ether.fi.', + 'Senior DevOps Engineer at Validation Cloud: Node API (#1 globally by CompareNodes), SOC2 Type II enterprise staking, and Mavrik AI-powered blockchain intelligence for Chainlink, Consensys, BitGo, Anchorage, and ether.fi — plus the team AI knowledge vault and security work across the node and staking stack.', }, { title: 'Agents & MCP', @@ -85,6 +85,7 @@ export const aiHighlights = [ }, ] as const + export type WorkRole = { company: string title: string @@ -98,11 +99,12 @@ export type WorkRole = { export const workRoles: WorkRole[] = [ { company: 'Validation Cloud', - title: 'Senior Platform Engineer', + title: 'Senior DevOps Engineer', initial: 'V', start: { label: 'Sep 2025', dateTime: '2025-09-01' }, end: { label: 'Present', dateTime: '2026-08-06' }, }, + { company: 'Phantom', title: 'Senior Backend Platform Engineer', @@ -140,10 +142,11 @@ export const workRoleDetails: Record< > = { 'Validation Cloud': { summary: - 'Institutional blockchain infrastructure platform serving enterprises managing billions in digital assets. Building Node API (ranked #1 globally by CompareNodes), staking infrastructure (SOC2 Type II certified), and Mavrik — AI-powered blockchain data intelligence for institutional clients including Chainlink, Consensys, BitGo, Anchorage, and ether.fi.', + "Institutional blockchain infrastructure platform — Node API (#1 globally by CompareNodes), enterprise staking (SOC2 Type II certified), and Mavrik AI-powered blockchain intelligence — serving Chainlink, Consensys, BitGo, Anchorage, and ether.fi. Built the team's AI knowledge vault — a shared, cross-machine synchronized knowledge base that keeps engineering context current across the entire team. Work also spans DevOps infrastructure and security across the blockchain node and staking stack.", stack: - 'TypeScript · Blockchain · Kubernetes · Node API · Staking · AI · Institutional Infrastructure', + 'TypeScript · Kubernetes · Blockchain · AI tooling · DevOps · Security', }, + 'IBM Blockchain': { summary: "Developed the transaction state machine for Sand Dollar — the world's first nationally deployed retail central bank digital currency, issued by the Central Bank of The Bahamas and live since October 2020 at sanddollar.bs. Enabled asset bridging between domestic and international currency versions supporting financial inclusion across a 700-island nation. Designed high-availability, disaster recovery, and security compliance plans for payments and supply chain platforms across a multi-cloud Kubernetes setup with cloud, region, and AZ-level automatic failover. Configured observability for Stellar Lumens Validator Nodes.",