January 2025

Breaking from tradition somewhat (with there being no State-of-Security article / no summary of 2024), I figured I'd take a different approach in 2025 and talk about how each month had been (with the occasional tech article mixed in obviously). It could be this format works well (time will tell), or I may abandon it and just review a Nandos menu item each month instead (my stomach prefers this).

So how did 2024 finish? In a word, chaotically. What should have been a relaxing period over Christmas (ok, I don't really relax) became a mix of coding and very long days. While the end result was great, losing the time I booked off (especially when trying to spend it with loved ones) is not ideal. I finished the year close to being burnt out, hoping that 2025 would provide some rest!

So what has January been like? Actually good (for the most part). Outside of the usual tech stuff I've been steadily losing weight (it turns out you can survive on 800 calories a day, who knew?!), and even managed to get in a chainsaw session (one of the best I've had so far). Time will tell how the dieting goes (I need to stop thinking about Nandos), but hopefully I can lose at least 20 kilos by the end of the year.

From a tech perspective it's already an interesting start to the year, with multiple projects both inside and outside of work. While I won't detail everything here (as I plan to write separate articles for each topic), I've got a few things active / in the pipeline:

Data size optimisation
Functional performance optimisation
GitHub Copilot testing
A return to Unraid
Meshtastic / resilient communication

2025 promises to be a busy year (aren't they all), with a mix of things to keep me active. Who knows, this year I might find time to actually paint a room ;)