Running Recap: January through May 2024
I can't believe it's already June! This year has been going by fast. I figure this is a great time to go over a recap of my running progress from the first 5 months of the year and show off some highlights.
Blog
HPCinfra in Barcelona, Spain
For work, I was able to attend the HPCinfra conference held this year in Barcelona, Spain! This conference/workshop is designed for data center engineers and operators to discuss facility management, sustainability, and future developments in HPC (high performance computing.)
Reader/Writer's Block
I've been having a bit of a writer's block lately! At this rate, I won't make my New Year's resolution of one written piece per week. It's no different for my reading - I suppose I'm having a bit of a reader's block too. A few days, ago, I picked up a book and read one chapter - my first this year.
New Phone
For almost 5 years, I used the Samsung Galaxy A10e, one of the first-generation phones from the Galaxy A line. It worked great, and lasted for much longer than I expected, and I have practically no complaints about that phone. Unfortunately, the years started to catch up to it. The touchscreen started to lose its sensitivity, the occasional text or call wouldn't go through, and it generally started to slow down, among other minor issues. However, the final push that caused me to begin my search for a new phone was the fact that the A10e was still running on Android version 9. Which, at the time of writing this, has been out of support for about 2 and a half years. That means that my phone has been more prone to bugs, glitches, viruses, and spyware. So, I did what any true American does after about a year of owning a phone - I got a new one!
Raspberry Pi Gatekeeper
Go to | #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6 | #7
Advertisements! I hate them, you hate them, we all hate them. What if I told you there was a way to block ad traffic from ever entering your network? Actually, this happened to me a few days ago by a coworker. I learned about a software called Pi-hole specifically designed for Raspberry Pi's that blocks all ad traffic. Sounds good, right? Now, how are you supposed to set it up?
Red Paint
There was a blood drive at work yesterday! I'd never donated blood before and wanted to do it at least once.
Leg Day
I walked/ran well over 10 miles today - which is not the most distance I've done in one day by a long shot - but today was certainly a leg day, and I'll feel it tomorrow. Today was filled with what I could say are 3 mini-adventures through Marin and San Francisco, which is more than I bargained for! I also took several pictures today.
Reminder to the Reader(s)
If you are reading this, then you should probably read this article. If not, then carry on.
Winning at Solitaire
I've been playing a lot of solitaire (Klondike 3) on my phone recently. My app has a timer, for some reason. It made me come up with some funny ideas like doing a solitaire speedrun. To my delight, it already exists! It's become a mild addiction, but this game has made me come up with an interesting question. How likely are you to win a game of solitaire? What is the maximum possible win rate that the best solitaire player can have?
Attempt the 3x+1 Problem
I was introduced to the \(3x+1\) problem in a few [1] [2] YouTube videos, which made it seem like there was no solution. I am here today to prove them wrong! Or perhaps, right, depending on how you interpret this. As I was writing this, I kind of lost track of what I was doing.