Not exactly something new

So, this is a blog. Do not expect mind-boggling insights. If you are reading this first post, I would not suspect you to, anyway. I do not have grand projects to talk about. There is no important package for which I am the maintainer. Maybe I will get around to making actual contributions some day, but for the time being I will simply use this as a brain dump. A Pensieve, if you will. Something to pin down the thoughts that keep bugging me when I should be sleeping instead. And a place to find them again, as I tend to forget things that are not persisted elsewhere.

As for the topics, there are at least two broader areas that may (or may not) come up:

First, I am somewhat into tech. I have studied Computer Science while doing freelance work as a software engineer, system administrator, and graphics designer. Most of the voltage-based companions of my life run open-source software. My machines are driven by Ubuntu, Fedora, Lineage, InfiniTime, and the like. A good portion of the software I use is self-hosted.

As any person writing a blog probably does (my apologies if you do not), I may have some opinions on certain things. I will try to stick to topics where these are positive. (In fact, I do have an entirely different blog on the rather depressive topic of local politics in a particularly rural area of Germany reserved for all the negative sentiments.) One tech topic that continues to make me optimistic is the Fediverse, about which I will certainly write. And RSS feeds. Yeah, they are old, but I owe them a lot.

Second, I like places where knowledge is shared. As such, I have worked at the (famously unknown) University of Bamberg as a teaching assistant. I am currently focused on systems programming. In the summer terms, the chair I am employed at introduces undergraduates to computer architecture and operating systems foundations. My job is to hold the exercises, and I like it a lot.

“It” has many aspects: creating visualisations for difficult concepts, sketching out different learning settings – all of this I find rewarding. Under the umbrella of the faculty’s Student Council, we organise different workshops. One is part of Girls’ Day, where pupils make first steps programming with Turtle Graphics. In three hours, they learn about variables, loops, and even functions. Every single time, they surprise us with their creativity. The other one is a two-day introduction to LaTeX, a very practical course that gets about 30 – 60 students per semester ready for their theses.

This should give you a rough idea of what to expect. You can follow this blog via RSS or on the Fediverse. So, see you around!?