A shadow drop for the Switch 2! Some insights:

• It's actually called the Switch 2
• Everything that was leaked is true
• Bigger screen, magnetic joy-cons
• It was a super minimal video, there were no surprises whatsoever
• I'm going to try and get tickets to the hands on event in Melbourne

If Trump 2.0 goes mostly like Trump 1.0 — a daily stream of chaotic talk, but very little chaotic action to speak of, leaving an electorate to quickly tire of his antics and turn against him in the midterms two years hence — the dark mark on Biden’s historical legacy will likely be his stubborn refusal (and/or cognitive inability) to recognize that age had caught up to him, leading him to run for a reelection and drop out only after embarrassing himself in a debate, leaving Democrats no time to hold a proper primary election to choose a popularly-elected candidate for 2024. But if Trump 2.0 is unlike Trump 1.0, and is filled with actions that leave a lasting mark on the nation and the world, history will remember Biden for allowing Trump to get off the hook for obvious crimes against democracy itself.

Dark but true.

Looks like we'll see some sort of Switch 2 console reveal in the next couple of days. Seems to be likely Friday morning Australia time.

This is so dodgy but also so clever. Don't know if I hate it or love it.

These pictures are just so sad and show how devastating the fires have been.

I've been wondering where this sound was coming from for weeks. Mystery solved!

There's been a lot of growth in the garden over the past few months.

In summary:

• The fruit trees continue to grow without much activity, we got one tiny plum out of the plum tree
• We've had bulk strawberries of various shapes and sizes, some were sweet and amazing, some were eaten by bugs and a bit yuck
• We had a really solid harvest of cucumber, they tasted awesome
• We're starting to get some eggplants taking shape
• We also had a great harvest of asian greens, I found some of them to be a bit bitter but the more Bok choy like varieties were good
• Some huge heirloom tomatoes are coming through, they're thick and green right now

The Messenger is one of my favourite games I've ever played. I shared my some of my thoughts about it in my best entertainment of 2024 post but I'll share more of my thoughts here:

• The game was a great example of "you don't need amazing graphics for a game to be awesome", the creative platforming puzzles, variance of enemies and bosses and beautiful 2D art style made the game one of my favourites
• The were odes to certain classic games, obviously all Metroidvania games but also some Donkey Kong Country vibes at certain times
• The humour within the dialogue between characters was great
• The riddles as to where the next clue was when the game became a Metroidvania was weird but I came to love it, I often had to use hints as I couldn't figure out where to go next
• Switching between the NES and SNES graphics and music via portals was a really creative mechanic, towards the end of the game there were multiple puzzles that required jumping through these portals in a certain order to progress which I enjoyed
• The music itself was phenomenal, it was so catchy and whimsical
• The story was weird but fun
• There were sections that reminded me of the frustration of a game like Celeste where you just can't progress through a certain platforming section, but I love this challenge and feeling of "1 more try..."

2024 was a year of patience.

It was a year of of saving money for our wedding whilst still paying off our mortgage.

It was a year of family days with Boots and Emma; walking on rail trails in Red Hill and exploring the Dandenong Ranges.

It was a year of growth and learning at work. Becoming a more senior member of the organisation. Picking up new skills like React Native.

It was also a year of fun! We had our engagement party. We went camping in the Cathedral Ranges. We went to multiple weddings.

My goals for 2024 (2023, 2022) were as follows:

1. Work on my mental health
2. Keep doing what I'm doing at work, hopefully be up for promotion and more money at some stage in the year
3. Continue to love Boots, maybe join up with the Southern Obedience Club, they have their first classes back on the 31st of January
4. Be a 15 handicap at some stage in the year, keep doing lessons with Jack, be more aggressive, hit driver on long holes, work on chipping and putting
5. Get the garden in awesome shape for our engagement party, pray for good weather on the night, plant seasonal vegetables and flowers throughout the year
6. Keep up regular posting on my blog, game reviews are something I enjoy doing so maybe focus on that, get subscribers up to 50, probably need to have some kind of presence in the tech community (maybe via Threads) if I get serious about it

I think I achieved most of this!

I'm in a way better place compared to last year with my mental health. I feel happier and healthier than I did this time last year. I feel like I'm much more in control of my emotions. This might be because it was a very stable year both personally and professional. I had good hobbies and got out in the sun a lot. I had a good routine. Emma tells me I'm just like Boots as I'm "routine based". This is definitely true. Having a good routine just makes everything in life flow and just be a lot easier. I'm excited for the future. Getting married will be awesome. Our honeymoon will be awesome. Interest rates seemingly will be lower in 2025 which would be huge help for our financial situation. There's a lot to look forward to.

I've kept up some good momentum at work. I'm on a decent salary (like everyone I'd like to be paid more) and the work is interesting. I feel like I really contribute within my mobile squad team. I keep saying this every year but the title of Senior Software Engineer would be awesome. I feel like I'm close.

I definitely continued to love Boots but his obedience didn't improve much. He walks okay with me and Emma on common routes. He just pulls in the early parts of a walk or when he sees other dogs. His recall is fantastic when he's off leash. I have no worries at all with him playing with other dogs in a dog park. I joined up to the Southern Obedience Club but only went ~4 times. I just got lazy with it so this was a bit of a fail. In hindsight, joining the dog club again in Moorabbin was a mistake. It's a little too far to travel especially on a cold winters night.

My golf really came a long way this year. As of today I'm a 15.8 handicap which achieves the goal of:

Be a 15 handicap at some stage in the year

I've been floating around the 15-16 handicap range since August. I wrote last week that playing old man golf is "my game" and I still 100% agree with that. I hit a lot of 5/6 iron off the tee and get the ball in play. In saying all of this, I need to work on all aspects of my game. I need to chip a lot better. I still miss a lot of my long irons left and right. I need more consistency generally. I'm still keen on going down to the club to get fitted for a 2-3 hybrid just for a bit more distance off the tee. This will also need some practise and potentially some lessons to perfect.

The back garden is in very solid shape. I love tending to it and ensuring the area that is boots proofed is well watered and weeded. The front garden needs some work but might be easier to contain once we have a front fence. I need to water the lawn a bunch in the next few weeks for my annual backyard cricket event. I'm also keen on planting more kangaroo paw around my plum tree.

I posted regularly on this blog. I never really tried to get more subscribers but that's okay IMO. I'm quite happy keeping this to being my own little private place on the internet. A place where I can share things with family and friends.

This year I'd like to:

1. Live in the moment for the wedding and honeymoon
2. Commit to a regular workout schedule
3. Maintain good mental hygiene
4. Get my golf handicap down to 12
5. Have the "senior engineer" job title
6. Work on more coding side projects
7. Go on more fun dates, and continue doing family days with Emma and Boots

I just want to make the most of this special time in my life when it comes to the wedding and honeymoon. Enjoy and cherish every second of it.

Committing to a general work out schedule is key for me this year. I got a little better towards the end of last year with my weights but need to keep this up. Being fitter and stronger also helps me with my golf.

I mentioned my mental health is a lot better right now than it was this time last year so this is more maintenance. I need to continue to sleep well, play golf, get out in the garden and play video games. These things make me happy.

My handicap is still sitting at 15.8 as of today. I think getting it down to 12 is pretty much keep doing what I'm doing. I don't need to practise like crazy. I just need to play competitions regularly.

It's time for me to have the Senior Engineer job title. Have this by the end of the year.

I want to work on learning Svelte in more depth. Some small projects using Svelte would be a great start here.

As I mentioned earlier, one of the most memorable aspects of 2024 was me and Emma's family days. I want to keep this going. I'm also hoping to take Emma out on more fun dates (like to The Nutcracker) and more regular dinners in the city.

This sums up my love for bigger dogs. It does make me sad that Boots doesn't get to do this in his life though. Guess he's pretty happy being lazy and greedy.

This is pretty messed up. The cartoon isn't even controversial. It depicts exactly what is currently happening which is tech billionaires donating money.

I've made some big changes to the way in which I consume media over the break. These are the things I've done are as follows:

1. Cancel Spotify and switch back to Apple Music
2. Cancel YouTube Premium
3. Continue using Overcast for podcasts

My reasoning for each:

1. I'm done with Spotify and the app, I want to switch back to a clean Apple based UI that's a no fuss music player, also the UI in CarPlay is much better I'm finding, it also has a couple of artists that Spotify doesn't have (Joni Mitchell, Cannibal Ox)
2. I want to watch much less YouTube this year, what I'm going to do is to subscribe to certain channels via my RSS reader (NetNewsWire) and only watch videos that come through via the feed, taking steps even further (to ensure I watch less YouTube) I've deleted the YouTube app from my phone and I'm using the Focus for YouTube extension to ensure that YouTube has a clean interface with no temptations
3. I experimented a bit with other podcast clients (like Pocket Casts) but Overcast continues to be the best by far

The overall ethos of this philosophy is to:

consume media local first

That means:

1. Download music (albums) and podcasts
2. Have an RSS reader only on my Mac, don't sync this to iCloud or have the RSS reader app on my iPhone
3. YouTube doesn't provide a local first way (sadly yt-dlp is a bit of a hack and you can easily get hit with 403 status codes) but using the aforementioned Focus for YouTube and not consuming YouTube on my phone is a good strategy

Some other goals for mine for media this year include:

1. Continue to play more games
2. Watch more TV and movies especially with Emma
3. Discover more music
4. Watch less TikTok but keep the app on my phone as it is a brilliant way to kill time
5. Be more present with talking to friends, reach out to people more first, be the person to initiate contact

What an all time test that was. I was captivated all the way through. The thoughts from the TGC guys are spot on.

This year I've got a few more gadgets to talk about compared to last year which is nice.

To re-establish the ground rules a gadget is defined as:

a small mechanical or electronic device or tool, especially an ingenious or novel one.

To me a gadget is just an "electronic device or tool" but it can extend to anything thats helps me get things done. Similar to the entertainment post it doesn't necessarily have to be released this year it just has to of had an impact on me this year.

Here are my favourite gadgets that I've used or discovered in the past year:

• Apple iPhone 15 Pro
• Belkin 3-in-1 Wireless Charging Pad
• Sunbeam Iced Coffee Machine
• Bridgestone golf balls
• ChatGPT
• OpenEmu
• lazygit

The iPhone is an obvious choice but I can't not include it here. I got the new phone in June and have obviously used it a lot throughout the year. The better battery and camera have been great. Apps run smoothly without any lag. It performs so reliably and does exactly what I need a phone to do.

The 3-in-1 Wireless Charging Pad was actually I present I got for Christmas from Emma but I already love it. It ensures my AirPods and iPhone are fully charged and ready to go everyday.

The coffee machine has been around for a while (I think we bought it in November last year) but it has fully become part of my routine every morning this year. I love the simplicity of it and it makes a nice cool glass of coffee.

I get all my golf balls from lostgolfballs. I get the hundred pack. It's assorted brands but many of them are Bridgestone. There's something about the feeling of hitting a Bridgestone ball that I really like. Maybe getting a pack of Tour B balls might be a good idea. I do also like the Callaway Chrome Soft balls too.

In tech, 2023 was the year of AI. It took over everything from a marketing perspective and every company now seemingly has some kind of chat bot. For me, 2024 was the year where I really started using ChatGPT to it's full potential. For work, for ideas even now it's become a way to search the web. It's a Google killer. ChatGPT is now one of my most used pieces of software.

I've used OpenEmu for years but this year I played The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night in it. OpenEmu makes playing these kind of difficult retro games tolerable with save states. The whole app feels very Mac-like which I love.

lazygit was an awesome upgrade for my usage of git especially at work. It's such a simple but powerful tool and makes all of my source control so much easier to reason with.

People are really interested in death I guess.

I was there yesterday. Was fantastic weather and an awesome day of cricket.

Old mate saved the day here. What a story. That growl from the koala shows that you don't want to mess with them. They look cuddly but they can be vicious with those claws.

This was me. I cringe watching this.

This was an interesting one for me to write this year. On reflection, I played way more games than I ever have this year. I got into gaming YouTube and really followed the whole trajectory of the industry.

Nintendo (alongside Apple) now ranks as one of the companies I track the closest.

My consumption of new music and television dropped off. It's potentially something for me to pick up again next year. Although I have to say I've enjoyed the way in which I spend my downtime these days; which is by usually picking up my Nintendo Switch.

As a reminder for how this works I pick my favourite:

1. Game
2. Album
3. Movie/television show

and this is not based on release year meaning it doesn't have to be released in 2024. I base it on what year did I discover and consume the entertainment.

You can view my past selections here: 2022 and 2023.

Here is my list:

1. Game of the year: The Messenger
2. Album of the year: A Hard Days Night
3. Movie/television show of the year: My Neighbor Totoro

Picking game of the year was an absolute nightmare in a good way. I'm still not sure about my decision. I played some absolute bangers this year for the first time. These included: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Super Metroid and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.

These are classics that were just so much fun to play.

I also learnt more about what kind of games I like. I like a Metroidvania.

Hallow Knight, Animal Well, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown are all incredible "modern" Metroidvania experiences. Especially Hallow Knight is just an exceptional game that I couldn't put down for a few months.

I loved Tunic which was a Zelda-like with some aspects of a Soulslike. The bosses and general game play loop were very memorable.

The reason I picked The Messenger was:

• If I had game development skills this is the kind of game I'd want to make, retro art style with some Metroidvania style game mechanics
• It has awesome platforming that reminded me of Celeste with fantastic boss fights and a fun vibe
• The banter with other characters in the game is super quirky

A close second is Hollow Knight. I'm so excited for Silksong.

There were three albums that I "discovered" this year and went deep into them. Two of these albums obviously I knew of but had never truly gone through every song.

1. Oasis: Definitely Maybe
2. The Beatles: A Hard Day's Night
3. John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman: Self Titled

This year I dug deeper into the 1963-1965 Beatles catalog and it's fantastic. A Hard Day's night has some corny love songs from this era of The Beatles but it also has some cracking acoustic guitar songs with really interesting chords.

I'll let you in on a secret: a song from A Hard Days Night will be me and Emma's first dance song.

I also developed an appreciation for Help!

Some more random honourable mentions game music: Stardew Valley and Ocarina of Time.

The movie and television category was something I lost touch with this year. Playing games really took over.

I watched House of the Dragon season 2 and thought it was okay.

Probably what captivated me the most was watching some Studio Ghibli movies.

I'd seen Spirited Away but I'd never seen My Neighbor Totoro.

The animation and colour in all Studio Ghibli movies is just phenomenal. There's a reason why people cherish all the movies so much.

I had a play with this last night. It's a fun concept.

I got Inconsolata.