I wrote a little bit of code to tell me if or when my electricity would be cheaper if I used on demand pricing instead of flat rate. Basically anything you might use excel for could be a programming problem.
For other hobby projects and "why Linux" it's easier to sew things together than windows, generally speaking.
Example:
Every time I sit down at my PC the first thing I usually do is open a terminal: it is both my launcher and my file manager. I have several programs with TUI (terminal user interface) or text based API (which is an applied programming interface) and I keep my notes in plain text. One type of note I keep is an "atomic" note inside my zettelkasten (this is a fancy way of keeping track of ideas and the way they connect together, but you need to revisit them for it to be useful. Kinda like anki / spaced reputation I guess).
So enough background, here's the idea and the programming:
If I always open a terminal, it's a good place to put stuff I want to see.
There are two things I want to see: twice a day I want to see a note, the rest of the time I want to see the 3 or 4 most important tasks on my todo list
I want randomized notes and I want it to be automatic.
One of the easiest things you can do in a terminal is "echo" text. So I started by, in my terminal "rc" file (the configuration file that tells the terminal what to do when you start it) echoing my todo list as the very last step in the start process. Then it's refinement. First don't give me the whole list, use shell tools to show the head of the list. Now make a conditional statement that says "if there's a file called "temp" in some folder give me the Todo list, otherwise do nothing". Basically we follow the incremental logic train until you get the final product:
If no file exists, print a note (at random) and then make the file
If the file exists write part of the todo list
Every 6 hours, delete the file automatically with cron
It is surprisingly difficult to get into a good dance position, especially for the standard (waltz, tango, foxtrot, quickstep, Viennese waltz) dances. Two actors walk up to each other and it's apparent even before they touch that they have no idea WTF they are doing: they aren't even standing up correctly.
Hobby 2: Chess
Smart guy walks over and absolutely beats the pants off of anyone else playing like 30 seconds after they get taught the rules or from glancing over the shoulder of someone else playing the game. It's all "aha! Mate in 4!".
No way dude. It is way, way not that easy. There's "good at chess" and there's "GOOD at chess". Unless you are part of a very large club or are taking lessons from someone at or above the master level, you probably don't know anybody in the second category. Dr. House is not going to blindfold beat anyone like that.
I think so. I was skeptical but I had a friend that raved about it. IMO it's got a more concentrated butter flavor and it's not too much more expensive.
I have never done a blind taste test so it could be all in my head, but it's worth trying a stick.
It was pretty delicious. That is one of the last pieces that sat out while I served everybody else.
Hot and fast (275 to 300F) 9h until internal temp of 204F and probe tender (closer to 205F when done). 24h dry brine, rendered all the trimmings and injected back into the flat before cooking. 2.5h rest. The only thing I did that was a little weird was I actually did the brisket over 2 cooks. Well, really a cook then a reheat on the grill the next day so we could eat early afternoon.
It was a trick to get the thing cooled off fast, but doing an uncovered reheat on the grill was a nice touch: it gave a crisper bark that you don't usually get after a long rest.
The thumbnail really drives it home. I've got a 5 year old and I can't imagine walking in that guy's shoes. Before writing this sentence she came to me and said "daddy can we snuggle?" If something happened to her I'd be immediately weaponized.
I did it in the husk and just tossed it on the grill after I took the brisket off. It was just not hot enough. The Kerrygold butter really carried it though after the second pass through the grill.
I don't do "turn the other cheek" on the internet, but you can if you like. I prefer to deliver a pique and block; it doesn't raise my blood pressure any, but hopefully there's a lingering rankle for anyone who doesn't have anything nice to say and can't keep their emotions in check. A little sprinkle of sand in the old underoos if you will.
!$(history | grep
<foo>
| awk '{print $1}' | tail -n1) || echo 'bad search, dummy.'