Site copy refresh: Validation Cloud, Sand Dollar, public interest tech

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 +69,103 @@ export default function About() {
           <h1 className="text-4xl font-bold tracking-tight text-zinc-800 sm:text-5xl dark:text-zinc-100">
             I&apos;m {site.name}. I build{' '}
             <span className="text-teal-600 dark:text-teal-400">
-              resilient infrastructure for fintech and Web3
+              blockchain infrastructure, AI agents, and public interest technology
             </span>
             .
           </h1>
           <div className="mt-6 space-y-7 text-base text-zinc-600 dark:text-zinc-400">
             <p>
-              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 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&apos;s AI knowledge vault, a shared
+              cross-machine synchronized knowledge base that keeps engineering
+              context current across the team. Based in {site.location}.
+            </p>
+            <p>
+              His blockchain work began at IBM, where he developed the transaction
+              state machine for Sand Dollar, the world&apos;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.
             </p>
             <p>
-              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.
             </p>
             <p>
-              I care deeply about agentic AI and developer experience. I recently
-              open-sourced{' '}
+              <Link href="https://docs.clawql.com" className={linkClassName}>
+                ClawQL
+              </Link>{' '}
+              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{' '}
               <Link
-                href="https://github.com/danielsmithdevelopment/ClawQL"
-                className="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"
+                href="https://docs.clawql.com/security/best-practices"
+                className={linkClassName}
               >
-                ClawQL
-              </Link>
-              , 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
+              </Link>{' '}
+              and cited by engineers building production agentic systems.
+            </p>
+            <p>
               <Link
-                href="https://docs.clawql.com"
-                className="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"
+                href="https://challengethefootage.com"
+                className={linkClassName}
               >
-                docs.clawql.com
-              </Link>
-              . I also contributed agentic web-search + MCP skills to Google&apos;s
-              AI Edge Gallery and experiment with on-device ML and GenAI UX via my
-              fork of the gallery sample.
+                Challenge the Footage
+              </Link>{' '}
+              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&apos;s documented ~10%
+              misidentification error rate, Fourth Amendment suppression motions
+              using the Institute for Justice&apos;s database of officer abuse
+              cases, and Section 1983 civil damages demand letters. Public
+              defenders get free unlimited access.
             </p>
-            <p className="font-medium text-zinc-700 dark:text-zinc-300">
-              Previously:
+            <p>
+              The{' '}
+              <Link
+                href="https://github.com/danielsmithdevelopment/surveillance-evidence-integrity/tree/main/witness"
+                className={linkClassName}
+              >
+                Witness app
+              </Link>{' '}
+              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.
+            </p>
+            <p>
+              The{' '}
+              <Link
+                href="https://docs.clawql.com/government"
+                className={linkClassName}
+              >
+                clawql-government
+              </Link>{' '}
+              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.
             </p>
-            <ul className="mt-2 list-disc space-y-2 pl-5">
-              <li>
-                Led blockchain infrastructure and multi-chain indexing at
-                DraftKings Marketplace
-              </li>
-              <li>
-                Designed Progressive Deployments, Canary Testing, and Zero Trust
-                security at Upgrade Inc.
-              </li>
-              <li>
-                Built the core state machine for the Bahamian Sand Dollar CBDC at
-                IBM Blockchain
-              </li>
-            </ul>
             <p>
-              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.
             </p>
           </div>
         </div>

personal-site/src/app/articles/[slug]/page.tsx

@@ -54,7 +54,6 @@ export default async function LinkedInArticlePage({ params }: Props) {
         </p>
       ) : post.syndicationSource ? (
         <p className="mt-12 border-t border-zinc-100 pt-8 text-sm text-zinc-600 dark:border-zinc-700/40 dark:text-zinc-400">
-          Canonical curriculum and module-by-module versions:{' '}
           <Link
             href={post.syndicationSource.href}
             target="_blank"

personal-site/src/app/articles/page.tsx

@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ function Article({ article }: { article: ArticleWithSlug }) {
 export const metadata: Metadata = {
   title: 'Articles',
   description:
-    'Full text of featured LinkedIn posts, readable on this site, with links back to each thread.',
+    'Essays and long-form writing on public interest technology, agentic AI security, and platform engineering — including PragmaticVectors pieces and LinkedIn mirrors.',
 }
 
 export default async function ArticlesIndex() {
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ export default async function ArticlesIndex() {
   return (
     <SimpleLayout
       title="Articles"
-      intro="Each item is the full post mirrored from LinkedIn (same content as the thread, formatted for the site). Open a post to read it here, then use the link at the bottom for comments and reactions on LinkedIn."
+      intro="Long-form writing and mirrored posts — PragmaticVectors essays, ClawQL security curriculum pillars, and LinkedIn threads formatted for the site."
     >
       <div className="md:border-l md:border-zinc-100 md:pl-6 md:dark:border-zinc-700/40">
         <div className="flex max-w-3xl flex-col space-y-16">

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: {

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() {
         <span className="ml-3">Open to opportunities</span>
       </h2>
       <p className="mt-2 text-sm text-zinc-600 dark:text-zinc-400">
-        I’m particularly interested in roles blending{' '}
-        <strong className="font-medium text-zinc-800 dark:text-zinc-200">
-          AI agents, LLM tooling, or MCP
-        </strong>{' '}
-        with{' '}
-        <strong className="font-medium text-zinc-800 dark:text-zinc-200">
-          production platform engineering
-        </strong>{' '}
-        (Kubernetes, observability, reliability). Reach out if that sounds like
-        your team.
+        {openToOpportunities.intro}
       </p>
-      <div className="mt-4 flex flex-wrap gap-3">
+      <p className="mt-4 text-sm font-medium text-zinc-800 dark:text-zinc-200">
+        I&apos;m open to:
+      </p>
+      <ul className="mt-3 space-y-4">
+        {openToOpportunities.items.map((item) => (
+          <li key={item.title}>
+            <p className="text-sm font-medium text-zinc-800 dark:text-zinc-200">
+              {item.title}
+            </p>
+            <p className="mt-1 text-sm text-zinc-600 dark:text-zinc-400">
+              {item.body}
+              {'href' in item && item.href ? (
+                <>
+                  {' '}
+                  <Link
+                    href={item.href}
+                    className="font-medium text-teal-600 underline decoration-teal-500/30 underline-offset-2 hover:text-teal-700 dark:text-teal-400 dark:hover:text-teal-300"
+                  >
+                    {item.hrefLabel}
+                  </Link>
+                </>
+              ) : null}
+            </p>
+          </li>
+        ))}
+      </ul>
+      <div className="mt-5 flex flex-wrap gap-3">
         <Button
           href={`mailto:${site.email}?subject=Hello%20Daniel`}
           variant="primary"
           className="flex-none"
         >
-          Email me
+          Email
         </Button>
         <Button href={site.github.url} variant="secondary" className="flex-none">
-          GitHub profile
+          GitHub
         </Button>
+        <Button href={site.social.x} variant="secondary" className="flex-none">
+          X
+        </Button>
+        {linkedinProfile ? (
+          <Button href={linkedinProfile} variant="secondary" className="flex-none">
+            LinkedIn
+          </Button>
+        ) : null}
       </div>
     </div>
   )
@@ -234,7 +261,7 @@ function AiAgentsSection() {
     <div className="rounded-2xl border border-zinc-100 p-6 dark:border-zinc-700/40">
       <h2 className="flex text-sm font-semibold text-zinc-900 dark:text-zinc-100">
         <SparklesIcon className="h-6 w-6 flex-none" />
-        <span className="ml-3">AI &amp; agents</span>
+        <span className="ml-3">Focus areas</span>
       </h2>
       <ul className="mt-6 space-y-5">
         {aiHighlights.map((item) => (
@@ -297,10 +324,12 @@ export default async function Home() {
             {site.location}
           </p>
           <h1 className="mt-3 text-2xl font-bold tracking-tight text-zinc-800 sm:text-3xl lg:text-4xl dark:text-zinc-100 leading-snug">
-            {site.tagline}
+            {site.headline}
           </h1>
-          <p className="mt-6 text-base leading-relaxed text-zinc-600 dark:text-zinc-400">
-            {site.bioShort}{' '}
+          <div className="mt-6 space-y-4 text-base leading-relaxed text-zinc-600 dark:text-zinc-400 [&_p]:my-0">
+            <ArticleMarkdown source={site.homeSummaryMarkdown} />
+          </div>
+          <p className="mt-4 text-base text-zinc-600 dark:text-zinc-400">
             <Link
               href="/about"
               className="font-medium text-teal-600 underline decoration-teal-500/30 underline-offset-2 hover:text-teal-700 dark:text-teal-400 dark:hover:text-teal-300"
@@ -335,8 +364,9 @@ export default async function Home() {
             Featured projects
           </h2>
           <p className="mt-2 text-sm text-zinc-600 dark:text-zinc-400">
-            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.
           </p>
         </div>
         <div className="mx-auto mt-10 grid max-w-2xl grid-cols-1 gap-8 sm:grid-cols-2 lg:mx-0 lg:max-w-none xl:grid-cols-3">

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 (
     <SimpleLayout
       title="Projects"
-      intro="Curated to match my resume’s open-source section: MCP servers and transports, evolutionary-loop tooling, edge gateways, and product PWAs — plus a few extra public repos. Each card links to GitHub, npm, and/or a live site when available (icons below the title)."
+      intro="Featured work across institutional blockchain infrastructure, public interest technology, and the ClawQL agentic stack — plus related open-source libraries and product PWAs. Each card links to GitHub, npm, and/or a live site when available."
     >
       <ul
         role="list"

personal-site/src/app/speaking/page.tsx

@@ -2,33 +2,45 @@ import { type Metadata } from 'next'
 import Link from 'next/link'
 
 import { SimpleLayout } from '@/components/SimpleLayout'
-import { site } from '@/lib/site'
+import { site, speakingTopics } from '@/lib/site'
 
 export const metadata: Metadata = {
   title: 'Speaking',
   description:
-    'Conference talks, panels, and podcasts — especially on AI agents, platform engineering, and reliability.',
+    'Talks on agentic AI security, CBDC design and deployment, blockchain infrastructure at government scale, and surveillance evidence accountability.',
 }
 
 export default function Speaking() {
   return (
     <SimpleLayout
       title="Speaking & media"
-      intro="I don’t have a canned list of public recordings on this page yet — but I care a lot about clear technical communication, whether that’s workshops, incident reviews, or architecture deep dives. If you’re planning a podcast, meetup, or panel on AI agents, MCP, Kubernetes/SRE, or blockchain infrastructure, I’d love to hear from you."
+      intro="I’m available for conference talks, panels, workshops, and podcasts on agentic AI security, blockchain infrastructure at government scale, CBDC design and deployment, and surveillance evidence accountability."
     >
-      <div className="prose prose-zinc max-w-none dark:prose-invert">
-        <p>
-          For speaking inquiries or panel invitations, email me at{' '}
-          <Link
-            href={`mailto:${site.email}`}
-            className="font-medium text-teal-600 hover:text-teal-700 dark:text-teal-400 dark:hover:text-teal-300"
-          >
-            {site.email}
-          </Link>
-          . I’m especially interested in topics that sit at the intersection of{' '}
-          <strong>LLM tooling</strong>, <strong>production platforms</strong>, and{' '}
-          <strong>developer experience</strong>.
-        </p>
+      <div className="space-y-12">
+        <ul className="space-y-10">
+          {speakingTopics.map((topic) => (
+            <li key={topic.title}>
+              <h2 className="text-base font-semibold tracking-tight text-zinc-800 dark:text-zinc-100">
+                {topic.title}
+              </h2>
+              <p className="mt-3 text-sm leading-relaxed text-zinc-600 dark:text-zinc-400">
+                {topic.body}
+              </p>
+            </li>
+          ))}
+        </ul>
+        <div className="border-t border-zinc-100 pt-10 dark:border-zinc-700/40">
+          <p className="text-sm text-zinc-600 dark:text-zinc-400">
+            For speaking inquiries or panel invitations, email me at{' '}
+            <Link
+              href={`mailto:${site.email}`}
+              className="font-medium text-teal-600 hover:text-teal-700 dark:text-teal-400 dark:hover:text-teal-300"
+            >
+              {site.email}
+            </Link>
+            .
+          </p>
+        </div>
       </div>
     </SimpleLayout>
   )