Fun exercise to try and list them out! My last couple of weeks:
- 3D-printable parts storage solutions (via: I found some part storage bins in the discard pile at a local hackerspace)
- MITM proxy to snoop on Github Copilot API requests (via: we're building an jupyter AI assistant thing and got curious how other players do it).
- DIY robot arms (via: I'm making several for a nested 'you pass butter' joke, via a casual conversation about robotics being accessible now. YouTube is amazing at surfacing smaller makers once you start watching a few videos on a given topic)
- Learning about Oauth and JWT (via: 'why is auth still a pain?')
- Invertebrate UV fluorescence (via: that millipede is glowing under my UV torch!)
(a small subset of these end up documented https://johnowhitaker.dev/all.html eventually if you're curious to see a longer historical list)
I like rabbit holes where following the curiosity gradient to a satisfying conclusion is possible. "How does X work" leads eventually to code that does X. I'm less happy when they lead into a tangle of complexity, like digging into a library only to find weird abstractions 6 layers deep or trying to compare 18 different alternatives in a field I don't know very well.
Today I gave some thought to what would be a fitting name for my boat (if I were to rename it).
One option: the glider pattern from Conway's Game of Life. Instantly recognizable by true hackers, just a weird symbol to others.
Of course a quick check on Wikipedia. Know that I'm always interested in things small / simple / computing, so... cellular atomata. Which led me to varieties used to simulate or help understand biological systems ("systems biology" - if only that field had even existed back when I left high school).
From there on: artificial life, Core Wars & co, self-replicating machinery, and... Astro-chicken (deserves a HN post of its own, imho).
Btw. it's amazing to see how many big, open questions there still are, related to the origins of (biological) life, and evolution. Eg. full simulation of a single cell organism: never been done (too complex).
- 3D-printable parts storage solutions (via: I found some part storage bins in the discard pile at a local hackerspace)
- MITM proxy to snoop on Github Copilot API requests (via: we're building an jupyter AI assistant thing and got curious how other players do it).
- DIY robot arms (via: I'm making several for a nested 'you pass butter' joke, via a casual conversation about robotics being accessible now. YouTube is amazing at surfacing smaller makers once you start watching a few videos on a given topic)
- Learning about Oauth and JWT (via: 'why is auth still a pain?')
- Invertebrate UV fluorescence (via: that millipede is glowing under my UV torch!)
(a small subset of these end up documented https://johnowhitaker.dev/all.html eventually if you're curious to see a longer historical list)
I like rabbit holes where following the curiosity gradient to a satisfying conclusion is possible. "How does X work" leads eventually to code that does X. I'm less happy when they lead into a tangle of complexity, like digging into a library only to find weird abstractions 6 layers deep or trying to compare 18 different alternatives in a field I don't know very well.
OP I'd also like to hear yours!