For those who adopted AI technologies early - this may not be the article for you. At the release of ChatGPT over a year ago now I was skeptical at best as to how it could make any meaningful difference to my day to day work and life. But I was wrong.
I wouldn’t say I am slow to adopt new trends - but there was soo much hype around LLM’s that it was difficult to tell noise from reality. It took me a few months and some encouragement from peers to really include AI in my every-day development. I’m writing this article in the event that there are still people who have not seen the productivity improvements that can be had by a few choice decisions.
My ability to learn about new technologies often comes with needing to play with pieces of a larger concept. I can do lots of reading and tutorial-based learning, but ultimately getting my hands into the different pieces is how I learn best.
I’ve been taking this approach with LLM’s and Generative AI in my HomeLab but….. this comes at a cost. I won’t begin to claim to know the difference in operation of Ai capabilities across GPU and CPU and how they compare… yet :wink:. But what I do know is that with resources I am actively testing (Chat / CodeGen) - I need GPU power.
I find it both fascinating and hilarious the impact of those of whom you interact with on a daily basis eventually begin to impact you and how you operate. From both mannerisms that begin to become common place among groups to the language you use to communicate with others.
Example
Take for example language - the more effective examples of language and the impact that some language has where other examples fall flat. This is a great way to learn what does and doesn’t work while also striving to consume the leadership traits you find admiral.
Seems obvious for the engineering community but hear me out:
I believe something that all levels of engineers can benefit from is looking at abstract problems they encounter in their (or their companies) everyday function and trying to solve them in code. Yes a given technology may already exist to solve this problem and it is certainly worth evaluating it’s suitability for your needs - but what if you find a use case that hasn’t been solved for?
No seriously - this wasn’t my attempt at a clickbait title but a change that I believe has been pivotal in my adult life as both a professional and father/husband/community leader.
What would you do with an extra 500 hours a year?
Maybe pick up a new skill, maybe master and existing skill. Maybe donate your time and energy towards your community. Maybe just spend more time with family. Given you are doing something productive most of the time then in most cases you, those around you and your community will likely benefit from it.
I was having a conversation recently about how and why I chose blogging as an experiment that I was going to invest my time and energy into - and it quickly became a sound-boarding session for things I had and hadn’t considered (something I love about growth mindset individuals).
The Pursuit
I knew from the beginning that I wanted to pursue interacting with more people in greater capacities and both communicating the ways of which I think about things at a specific point in time and also sharing my thoughts with others. I had been thinking about this for a while, but I hadn’t really considered the idea of blogging as a way to do this.
For a very long time I have always been fascinated with home automation. It’s soo much more than just turning a light on and off with my phone. It’s about adding intelligence to my home that makes the lives of my family better by removing unnecessary tasks and optimizing how we operate.
Example
For example - take your standard consumer HVAC forced-air system in homes today. It’s an incredibly simple system that reads the temperature from a single point (typically a thermostat) and turns on and off the heating and cooling valves based on that.
Early this year (2023), My family and I were facing an interesting issue. We were expecting an addition to our family with the arrival of our son in April/May and our house (our first) was reaching the maximum capacity that it could handle. Don’t get me wrong, we are very grateful for what we have worked to build and we have more than enough. We love the area we live in, our neighbors and our community.
Especially when the data is fun to aggregate and process. Finally some code!
I’ve been using a free Strava account for years now. It tracks my workouts and gives me some high-level information to share with friends and followers.
Desk Treadmill data
For each workout that I have been recording with the hardware from the previous post, I’ve specifically been naming them “Desk Treadmill” such that I could easily aggregate them in the future.
I will always admit that I love everything that is working for a fully remote company. I’ve battle tested the 2+ hr commute daily for longer than I cared to admit, and that time feels like a huge part of my life has been wasted. Working remotely has offered me time to focus on the things that matter, when they matter.
Focusing on work and the tasks at hand - with zero interruption - while also being able to inject random bouts of family time throughout the day that I would have otherwise not had the ability to do. This is a huge part of my life. Snack time with my daughter when I’ve been banging my head against the wall for hours.
