Serrano

I think it's kind of like news channels and papers really. Some people do have serious news sources that they listen to but a lot of YouTube reviewers are as much entertainers as they are critics these days.

After quite a long stretch last year in tutorial hell doing Udemy courses on React and Node I've started building my own projects, trying to produce things that I can use in a portfolio. I'm working in a hotel/holiday park at the moment as a waiter and the restaurant only have paper menus, so I pitched the idea of doing a digital menu instead. I built a prototype with React as a front-end only web app, it means only I can make changes to it but for the hotel it’s more affordable because they wouldn’t have to pay for a backend server. The way I’ve coded it basically means that the site takes arrays for each menu category (starters, burgers, steaks ect) and generates the web page based off of those, this means it’s really quick and easy to update the menu. If they want, I can turn it into a full stack application and make an interface where they can change the menu themselves. The FOH manager and head chef seemed to like it, we’re too busy in the restaurant to go ahead with it right now but hopefully it'll get green lighted later. https://172v-restaurant-proto.netlify.app/ I also started working on a stupid little map app of the area where I work to practice using a library called Leaflet. Leaflet basically allows you to setup your own google maps in your web sites and include custom markers and a few other features like that. It looked a bit jankey but it was functional and was the first project where I had enough state variables to make good use of the useReducer hook. I definitely wouldn’t add this one to my portfolio but I did learn lessons from it. Tonight, I’m going back over the Node.js project I did as part of a Udemy course and I’m trying to make sure I understand and memorize the different refactoring tricks Jonas used in his course as it makes the code a lot easier to read and write. Then I’ll need to build something of my own again. Right now I’m pretty comfortable with React but with Node I can only do basic CRUD operations so the goal is to just focus on Node for a month or two until I get to a decent level with it. Part of me worries that this is a mistake and I should just focus on front-end for now until I can get a job but since due to real-life circumstances I wouldn’t be in a position to accept a job until autumn anyway, my hope is that knowing full stack will mean more job opportunities in the long run and also just make me a more well-rounded programmer.

I was obsessed with Midnight Suns over January and February. I remember the game took a bit of a kicking over it's writing when reviews first started coming out but once I got used to the tone that the game follows I think the writing was pretty good, if a bit cringey in places. The cast of characters really grew on me and there were some good one liners and a very wholesome dynamic between the cast, it really felt like a little family. Overall I'd rate Midnight Suns pretty highly, it's got a much shorter lifespan than something like XCOM by being so story-driven but it was a great experience while it lasted.

I wasn't ever lucky enough to play pen and paper d&d but after watching D20 it seems like the best game in the world if you have a good group

It would be kind of funny and ironic to do a Planescape sequel now that the player has forgotten everything that happened to the Nameless One.