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| 1 | +import Comments from "@components/Comments" |
| 2 | + |
| 3 | +export const title = "What Have I learned in 2024?" |
| 4 | +export const description = "A somewhat interesting insight into what I've learned in 2024. Will this new profound knowledge carry with me into 2025? We'll have to just wait and see." |
| 5 | +export const date = "2025-01-08" |
| 6 | +export const type = "blog" |
| 7 | + |
| 8 | +# Things I've Learned in 2024 |
| 9 | + |
| 10 | +2024 was a pretty lackluster year for me all things considered. However, it may |
| 11 | +have also been the year where I was the most excited to try and experiment with |
| 12 | +new things. Ranting aside, let's dive into all the cool new gadgets I've played |
| 13 | +with in 2024. |
| 14 | + |
| 15 | +> This is about a 5 minute read. |
| 16 | +
|
| 17 | +## Databases and Caching |
| 18 | + |
| 19 | +Working with and managing databases was a new experience for me in 2024. When I |
| 20 | +was writing a custom application for a client, we needed to reliably manage data |
| 21 | +without the risk of data corruption. Normally, JSON was my go-to choice because |
| 22 | +it was familiar to me, but it was far, far too unreliable for the situation at |
| 23 | +hand. |
| 24 | + |
| 25 | +I've settled with [PostgreSQL](https://www.postgresql.org/) as my go-to choice |
| 26 | +when working with databases. It's probably overkill for small applications, but |
| 27 | +it definitely gets the job done. It even comes with a cool dashboard called |
| 28 | +_pgAdmin_ to help visualize your data. |
| 29 | + |
| 30 | +However, making requests to your database can be computationally expensive. |
| 31 | +That's where caching comes in. If data is frequently requested, it may be worth |
| 32 | +looking into caching solutions. I use [Redis](https://redis.io/) for this. |
| 33 | +Unlike a traditional database, Redis stores your data in-memory which makes it |
| 34 | +much faster and less expensive on your hardware. |
| 35 | + |
| 36 | +My biggest complaint about SQL is _it's just not fun to write_. Please use an |
| 37 | +[ORM](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Object%E2%80%93relational_mapping). It'll |
| 38 | +make you and your colleagues' lives so much easier. However, it's still |
| 39 | +important to be weary of what SQL is capable of, so don't drop it off your mind |
| 40 | +entirely. |
| 41 | + |
| 42 | +## Managing Websites with Cloudflare |
| 43 | + |
| 44 | +I purchased _this domain_ about a year ago and linked it to my GitHub account. |
| 45 | +Managing a website has showed me both the beauty and ugly of this world, but it |
| 46 | +was all worth it just to get these cool letters to appear in your searchbar. I |
| 47 | +personally recommend you get a grasp of HTML and CSS instead of using an |
| 48 | +off-the-shelf website builder like Wix and Wordpress. It'll take time, but |
| 49 | +having full creative control over your website is worth the hardship. |
| 50 | + |
| 51 | +[Cloudflare](https://www.cloudflare.com/) is probably the safest and most secure |
| 52 | +way to manage your website. It's especially vital if you host your website on |
| 53 | +your own hardware. It also provides a bunch of useful tools such as analytics, |
| 54 | +storage, and workers. If you want a fancy business email, they'll handle that |
| 55 | +for you too. |
| 56 | + |
| 57 | +## Building My First PC |
| 58 | + |
| 59 | +Learning how to build your first PC is certainly an experience to have. You |
| 60 | +start off clueless, and then you know everything. It involves so much research |
| 61 | +even before you start assembling anything. For example, what are you looking for |
| 62 | +in a computer? Video editing? Music production? Gaming? Programming? Digital |
| 63 | +art? All of these should be considered when looking for PC components. You can |
| 64 | +also just order a prebuilt one, but that's no fun. |
| 65 | + |
| 66 | +For me, I wanted something for programming, and of course, _gaming_. A lot of my |
| 67 | +work involves performance testing, so I needed a CPU that could handle millions |
| 68 | +of operations per second without stuttering. I don't play very graphically |
| 69 | +demanding games, so I just went with a solid midrange GPU. However, some games |
| 70 | +are memory hogs like modded Minecraft, so I got ahold of some fat 32 GB RAM |
| 71 | +sticks, but most people could settle with 16 GB. If you have several downloaded |
| 72 | +games or video recordings, you might also want to peek at big storage options. |
| 73 | + |
| 74 | +I've also made a few mistakes too. I ordered _a TN monitor_ instead of an OLED |
| 75 | +monitor. Honestly, it's not worth getting anything TN or LCD these days. Color |
| 76 | +accuracy simply outweighs anything they could ever offer. My current build also |
| 77 | +doesn't support Bluetooth. Like I said earlier, _please_ do the research. These |
| 78 | +mistakes could've been avoided if I just read the fine print. Use something like |
| 79 | +[PCPartPicker](https://pcpartpicker.com/) to compile your parts. |
| 80 | + |
| 81 | +## Computer Servers |
| 82 | + |
| 83 | +When I upgraded my PC, it left me with some cold metal, i.e., my old computer. |
| 84 | +Not sure what to do with it, it just sat in a corner for a few months collecting |
| 85 | +dust overtime. Then all of sudden, _eureka_! Its new purpose was to now host a |
| 86 | +Minecraft server. I wiped out everything and installed a fresh copy of Ubuntu |
| 87 | +(I'm a normie, I know) onto it. Normally, the spare HDMI cable lying around was |
| 88 | +used for accessing it, but then I discovered how much more convenient SSH was. |
| 89 | + |
| 90 | +Today, it's still being used for a Minecraft server, but I also run other things |
| 91 | +on it such as a Jellyfin, a media server for watching your _totally legally |
| 92 | +obtained media_ on it. My Discord bots are also running on it which alleviates |
| 93 | +some of the stress from my main computer. I also run a Nextcloud server for |
| 94 | +better privacy when managing sensitive files. |
| 95 | +[Check out the |
| 96 | +Awesome-Selfhosted repository](https://github.com/awesome-selfhosted/awesome-selfhosted). |
| 97 | +It might be fun setting up a homelab of your own. |
| 98 | + |
| 99 | +## Conducting My Own Business |
| 100 | + |
| 101 | +The knowledge I have for managing my own "brand" is quite bleak and the learning |
| 102 | +experience will have to carry into 2025. Working with _actual_ clients by |
| 103 | +yourself is fun, exciting, depressing, and stressful all at the same time. Just |
| 104 | +pace yourself in a way that doesn't burn you out. Anyway, whatever I write here |
| 105 | +next year will probably be more interesting. |
| 106 | + |
| 107 | +## Conclusion |
| 108 | + |
| 109 | +Overall, it was certainly a year. Anyway, that's enough yapping. |
| 110 | + |
| 111 | +<Comments /> |
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