A second sailcloth’s adjustment, hiatus and future plans for masq31.
Hello readers.
Firstly, some good news like always. I have managed to renew my professional certifications and join the IEEE alliance as a student member to top off my year’s accomplishments. I also renewed my Pentest+ and Security+ certifications. I could not have done this without the support of Medium as a platform and your continued reading of my articles. My most popular topic in the past 2 years was working with Bluestacks through Windows Hyper-V which still sees quite a few views each week. I continue to help the community through programs like Digital Literacy of Rochester. I also continue to work on occasional technology hobby projects.
With that said, my blog will be going on another hiatus for a number of reasons. I have one last update on my project work from 2023 to show you my current direction beyond my IT career. I may return to blogging, never say never, but for now my needs have shifted and supplanted. If you’re interested in my future work I have a nice surprise for you at the end of this blogpost, so do stick around.
My prototype badge project built on RISC-V based ESP32 modules is complete. I have the code kept private for the moment, but I have 5 working units which provide a great deal of flexibility for future iterations on this project. Working with the ESP32 microcontroller and various screen and card interfaces has taught me a great deal on CPU timing around RISC-V and overall memory allocation. I hope to carry those learnings into my new classwork projects. My close peers will receive the first 4 units in the wild at conventions. If you spot them wearing my badge, feel free to say hello.
I have worked with some vintage laptop technology over the holiday season as a fun self-driven hobby project. Notably I assembled components together to rebuild a 32 bit Pentium based Windows XP laptop. The device supports the old CardBus standard and required a CD for OS installation which required some waiting for the right parts. It was plenty capable of running Windows XP in its time and it still has these capabilities to this day. Driver support for the device was delegated to HP under the Compaq Evo C620n support page. I was able to get the drivers working to my delight.
You can find the details in the final blog I’ve published on the V3 Razr Unlock.
My final project I present today isn’t strictly hacking or technology-based, but a new endeavor for my name. My background in audio-visual editing alongside my past travels and decade-long history in video game speedrunning, tournament organizing, competition, as well as my peer’s experience with gaming music and culture provides a unique and important perspective worthy of discussion. With a shift in numerous online content creators occurring in 2024, I feel now is the best time to share this powerful and passionate experience with others. I’ve partnered with my friend Redd500 to apply our combined perspectives onto the world of video game culture as it exists today.
I’m happy to announce The ReddMasq Poddcast to my readers. Our weekly show compares new and old perspectives on gaming through our combined energetic, casual and enthusiastic dynamic. For those who find this development intriguing, I highly encourage you to head over to masq31.dev and listen to our latest episodes. We’re also available on Apple Podcasts and Pocketcasts for those who find podcast apps easy and convenient.
Again, thank you very much for reading, listening and following along with my professional journey. And remember, as always…
Stay Safe. — Masq31
