*Here's what I've been up to since the [last weekly status](/this-week-2024-09-01)...*
### Highlights
- Most of this work week was spent getting one of my major projects wrapped up, documented, and handed off to the team that will be responsible for it once I leave. It includes probably the largest program I've ever written and I'm really proud of the state in which I'm leaving it. It's so much better than it was when I inherited the project last year.
- Speaking of which, I'm down to five more working days in my current position before I start the new job next week. I still have a few smaller projects to transfer to someone else but I'm hoping it will be a fairly relaxing week as I wind things down. We'll see.
- I rode 29 miles on Saturday, by far my longest ride in the past year. This should be my last week of ramp-up training, and then I'll taper off a bit to be ready for the ~40 mile group ride on the 21st. I'm really looking forward to that one.
- I stumbled upon [The StoryGraph](https://thestorygraph.com/) and have started using that to [keep track of my reading](https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/voiceroyalslam). It's much prettier and easier to use than [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/) that I had previously been using for that purpose.
- Some networks like to block outbound SSH traffic, which can make interacting with GitHub repos a little tricky. But this week I learned that GitHub also offers [SSH over the HTTPS port](https://docs.github.com/en/authentication/troubleshooting-ssh/using-ssh-over-the-https-port) which can help to get around such silly limitations.```
- I've been working on a detailed post about [my recent robot-hacking adventures](https://social.lol/@jbowdre/112911333551545789), trying to capture *every* step in one place. I even re-disassembled the robot this afternoon so I could accurately report which screws needed to be removed (just 40 of them) *and* document the process with photos. That Markdown file is about 400 lines now, and I've still yet to cover the process of integrating the newly-hacked robot with Home Assistant. I'm not sure when I'll finally wrap up that post but I hope it will be later this week.
### I consumed...
- We continued the Alien marathon that we started the previous week. This week included [Alien³](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103644/), [Alien Resurrection](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118583/), and [Prometheus](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1446714/) (the one film in the franchise that I had seen before).
- We also watched Season 1 of [Kaos](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8550732/), a modern day retelling of Greek mythology. This was a really fun watch. And Jeff Goldblum as Zeus was an absolute treat, and the soundtrack was quite solid. I'd love to see more of this.
- I started reading [If This Book Exists, You're in the Wrong Universe](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/ebe5fe68-4aad-4dd7-9df0-30b00405f6af) by Jason Pargin.
- Watching Season 2 of [House of the Dragon](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11198330/); I'm not ashamed to admit that I don't actually have any idea what's going on but my wife seems to be enjoying it.
- I can't get enough of the [new Linkin Park track](https://musicthread.app/link/2lgAV3kNOQ6pCUUTeuiPDFdwbSK). I'm so excited for the band to return, and I think Emily Armstrong's unique vocal style is a great addition.
### See also:
- Lou Plummer shared some insight on [How to Be Yourself and Get Along Online](https://louplummer.lol/how-to-be-yourself-and-get-along-online/). I especially enjoyed his personal rules for interactions.
- Ian Carroll exposed how [airport security could be bypassed with a trivial SQL injection](https://ian.sh/tsa). That's, uh, kind of scary.
- Paul Otto experimented with [using Matter to control a light with a Raspberry Pi](https://medium.com/@potto_94870/turning-on-a-light-with-javascript-dedd8a8a4ab8), and provided a lot of great background information about how Matter works.
- Mathew Duggan told us [Why Login Security Sucks](https://matduggan.com/why-login-security-sucks/), and why it's such a challenging problem to solve elegantly.
- R Scott Jones talked about the value of [surrounding yourself with people who help you grow](https://rscottjones.com/being-the-smallest-house-on-the-block-in-your-friends-group/). I love being around people who are smarter than me or otherwise challenge me.
- Irene Y. Zhang wrote on [The Moral Implications of Being a Moderately Successful Computer Scientist and a Woman](https://www.sigops.org/2024/the-moral-implications-of-being-a-moderately-successful-computer-scientist-and-a-woman/), and gave me (and other men in tech) a lot to think about.
