Codenstuff.com

Hi guys,

It's been a while... a really long while. Judging by my post history, I haven't been "active" since December 2017, although I have stopped by once or twice to leave a quick message in the chat and to make sure Craig hadn't blown the site to pieces or something . By the way, really nice work on the remodel. Kinda looks like the good old days

So what have I been doing this whole time?

Summer 2017 was when I finally made the cross-Atlantic journey from Canada to Croatia to visit the wonderful @Filip, whom I met on this website something like an eternity ago. By December 2017, I would have been in my last semester studying Physics. By then, I had realized it wasn't quite what I wanted to do, so I transferred to another uni and started a Mechanical Engineering degree. There, I got acquainted with the school's rocket team and decided to join because, well, rockets. Being in Mechanical Engineering, I naturally went into the avionics department so I could build circuits and code and... oh wait, why am I in Mech Eng again?

It didn't take long before I realized my first love might have been my true love all along. I switched majors yet again (thankfully didn't have to transfer unis this time) and started over in a Computer Engineering degree. I've been a happy camper ever since. That was in January of 2019, and that same summer, I journeyed all the way to the desert of New Mexico with the team so we could launch our rocket 10,000 ft in the air as part of the Spaceport America Cup. We won in our category, amazingly enough, and what a thrill it was. That same summer, I got my first engineering internship writing test methods in C for some embedded software at a firm that manufactures data acquisition systems.

This year unfortunately, the rocket competition was cancelled due to the ongoing pandemic, and of course classes have been moved online, so I'm just quietly finishing my semester at home. Thankfully, amidst all the craziness, I was able to find a job for the summer. I'll be working in a research lab at the school (from home) getting 60-some odd Raspberry Pis to communicate with just as many actuators over a network. It's an interesting challenge and I can't wait to get started.

I can't promise I'll be as active here as I used to be, but I do intend on checking in a lot more and maybe posting a few tutorials or projects I end up working on. In the meantime, I'd love to hear about what everyone else has been up to these days.

Cheers!

Hi Comathi,

Well you've certainly kept busy over the last few years and it sounds like you've found your passion and pursuing it, great stuff. You met Filip? didn't you know it's risky meeting weirdos you've met online in real life no offence Filip.

I have a touch of flu at the moment so not feeling very well, don't worry its NOT the virus!

Personally I haven't done much these last few years due personal, family and health issues but I'm trying to get back in to it all and recently filled my cupboards with Raspberry Pi's, Arduino's and various other electronic devices and modules in order to have a play around and see how things work. So far I've managed to burn out a heat sensor and blow up a lipo battery, so it's going well so far.

It's nice to hear you're doing well and hope to see you around a bit more in the future.

Until then stay safe.

What's going on guys! It's crazy to believe how long it has been since I first started using this website (I'm not sure exactly when, but I believe it has been around 7-9 years ago) and how much has changed. I started using this website as a middle schooler and now I'm a junior in college studying computer science. I would say that beginning programming young has definitely helped me stay ahead of my studies so I am incredibly grateful for this community for getting me started in this field.

Over the past couple of years, I've had the opportunity to work with two different startups as well as visit Google's HQ in Mountain View CA (it was very very cool!) One startup was using microcontrollers (they were using a Raspberry Pi while I was there) to control HVAC units for commercial buildings. It used AI to detect how to properly heat or cool the buildings (similar to a Nest thermostat). For this project, I, unfortunately, did not work on any of the cool stuff but rather I wrote some shell scripts for the microcontrollers. The other startup I worked with was creating systems for inventory control that also used Raspberry Pis and also RFID technology to track and prevent theft of items. I did get to work on a lot of the cool stuff for this one (writing the python scripts that used MQTT which allowed multiple sensors to talk to each other) and it was quite fun.

After these experiences, I kind of started really questioning what I would like to do with myself in terms of my career. I eventually decided I would like to get into fintech because I realized how much I enjoyed finance (it was my first major before computer science) and I thought how great it would be to combine two of my passions.

Anyways, I hope I get to hear from more CodenStuff members, see how they have evolved over the years, and hear what plans they have for the future! Maybe one day we can have an in-person Codenstuff meetup!

God well I worked as an intern for a local programming company out here in Rockford, IL I did some freelance work before then but most of the stuff I made was just a sheer hobby. After working my internship I realized I didn't wanna do it as a career. My career of choice is day trading the stock and futures market. Reason being is the most precious commodity we have is time. When I was at a nursing home I saw regret in people's eye's there and no one talked about their house, car, etc: They were talking about the experiences they've had of people who've impacted their life and the life's of people they impacted which to me is far more valuable than any materialistic thing you could give. So yeah....

Instead of abandoning my programming and design career I decided after all the work I put in I ended up making a few courses on it to help those who are new on how to proceed. One as a free gift for visiting my website (https://michaelsboost.github.io/) 1 on graphic design using only free software regardless on what device you have. And I still have more planned. As problems are often hidden as opportunities so as a hobby I like to make free and open source software to some of the commercial counterparts like svgMotion for tween based vector animation as there wasn't anything that existed at the time (and at current time of posting) for mobile users.

I've written 2 ebooks (both on my website), made an online store and have a clothing line now. Just living each day doing my best to break the barriers of life and being the test of mediocrity.

One thing I wish someone taught me when I was younger is if you do what the majority do you will live how the majority live and I learned that the hard way. So yeah that's some insight for my fellow brothers and sisters here. Much love all