# Update Hello, computers! Welcome back for another weekly update on the oh-so-boring Dustin. This week has been a lot of frontloading tasks since I will be out of town next week, so that means lots and lots of Java for the past four or five days. Maybe this is the Stockholm Syndrome talking, but it's slowly starting to grow on me. I don't really deal with the OOP mindset in a work setting, so it's taken time for me really sink into it. Outside of Java, next week is Valentine's, so I'm trying not to be neglectful and properly prepare. We've got a trip planned, and one of the minor tech projects I'm working on is a self-watering system for our bonsai trees. I've occasionally seen these automatic irrigation systems online, so I wanted to build my own. I thought I had all the necessary parts, but I forgot about the analog-to-digital converter for the raspberry pi to interpret the moisture sensor's output. So this is the current state of it until the ADC arrives tomorrow. ![[auto-irrigation-incomplete.jpg]] I recently got a 3D printer and have been playing around with that, slowly diving into 3D modeling to make custom gadgets. With this trip coming up, I made a couple of little snowball molds, one themed for Minecraft and the other for Pokemon. I think they turned out nicely. ![[snowball-molds.jpg]] It finally warmed up here enough to run outside, and reality is hitting me--or more accurately my legs--that treadmill running is inadequate for race prep compared to real road or trail running. I feel like I'm close to square one again in my training. That's not wholly accurate since I'm back up to 7ish miles, but it needs to be a lot higher in order to complete my next race. Writing is going alright. Not the best, not the worst. I'm making slow and steady progress most days (with the exception of those few days of frontloading other tasks), but it's slower than I'd like. Well, there's no one to blame but myself, so I'll keep pressing on. # Interesting Articles/Write-ups I Came Across This week was a bit more history focused with new information consumption: - Finished *Steve Jobs* by Walter Isaacson - [Intel's founding](https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/history/virtual-vault/articles/intels-founding.html) and related vault stories - [History of HP](https://www.hp.com/us-en/shop/tech-takes/history-of-hp) - [History of Bell Labs](https://www.bell-labs.com/about/history/) - [Teen on Musk’s DOGE Team Graduated from ‘The Com’](https://krebsonsecurity.com/2025/02/teen-on-musks-doge-team-graduated-from-the-com/) # Topics Reviewed - Systems Engineering hub (old job, 31 notes)