Lots of info there about my in-development game, Botnet of Ares, but also some older blog posts about technical topics or other things I found interesting.
While I'm a bit too young to have used one in school, my dad did give me his slide rule from when he was a student. It's one of my most prized possessions, if only to show how far humanity has come in terms of computing devices.
Ham radio is well worth getting into if you come from a software background but want to get more hands-on with embedded electronics. Radios are ubiquitous in modern technology, and getting a deeper understanding of how they work can have surprising career benefits too!
I've been studying for my amateur radio license recently, and this article is a great introduction to the basics.
But really, if you want to get your hands dirty with some practical electronics, and also want to be able to communicate without relying much on nearby infrastructure, amateur radio is a great hobby.
Thanks for the interest! I'll be handling the music myself, I'm a producer & multi-instrumentalist and two tracks for the game have already been composed.
I'm working on Botnet of Ares, a hacking simulator game for PC [0]. It's an homage to classics such as Uplink and Hacknet, and also a commentary on the state of the IoT security industry.
Recently I've managed to port the game onto a real-world cyberdeck, the uConsole. [1]
I too struggle with procrastination. I have a big personal project that is nearing completion & very important to me, but also turning into a bit of a slog. However, because I'm procrastinating working on said project, I managed to do many other things that are also important to me, such as writing more & sharpening some skills.
This seems like an interesting product for tinkerers and hobbyists, or possibly for educational purposes (e.g. Linux computer for university students to learn on). I find it hard to see how this can replace a more typical small desktop computer though.
For us that spend a lot of time on the internet, it's easy to forget that most people are not that different from you. I believe comments online, on Hacker News on otherwise, tend to be made by people with fairly extreme views - you have to feel something very strongly to shout your opinion into the internet! But most people are, well, normal, including you. Step out of your bubble every now and then and you'd be surprised at what good may come out of it.
Well, the quality of the games that reach some level of commercial success has indeed gone up. On the other hand, ~50 brand new games release on Steam every day and a lot of them are gonna be first-time releases from amateurs for whom the level of quality & polish achievable with a small team & publisher support is just out of reach.
The best indie games are amazing these days, but they hide a long tail of disappointed developers.
Times have changed a lot since Garry broke through with the infamous Garry's Mod. That's where I got my first taste of programming - writing a PID controller for a tank turret so I could point the tank's gun using my mouse.
Today, it's easier than ever to get started making games (even I can do it! [0]) but standing out in a crowded marketplace is very difficult. The music industry saw a very similar trend about 10-15 years ago, with the release of consumer recording equipment. In both cases it lead to a 'de-professionalization' of the industry, where most participants are amateurs but most of the success still goes to established studios - barring one-in-a-million outliers such as Garry's Mod, or other indie darlings like Hollow Knight, Balatro, Stardew Valley.
In British English, 'college' does not refer to University / higher education, it's closer to high-school. Garry's british and probably went to a UK college at the normal age for someone in his cohort.
I've submitted Botnet of Ares [0], my hacking simulator.
[0] https://store.steampowered.com/app/3627290/Botnet_of_Ares/