Well, nobody actually challenged me but I wish they had. I have been wanting to do this for quite a while, but never knew where to start. I still don’t know where to start, but I’ve decided to just start and see where things go.
So, what is it that I’m going to start? A blog?
Yes, this is a blog, but really it’s just a log of what I really want to do and that is to try and “up my game” in regards to electronics engineering.
I’ve always been a tech guy, I have a deep understanding of how computers, smartphones and many gadgets work at a pretty low level. I have a good understanding of electricity as far as AC/DC currents work, wiring up lights, receptacles and switches. I’m a really good software developer/engineer but I’ve always felt there was a bit of knowledge missing in the middle between writing software to make computers compute, store or display something and being able to write software for something that I’ve created that will interact with the physical world.
I’ve made a few attempts to do this in the past, but only recently realized I was making the same mistakes that I’ve told several other people not to do when they tell me they want to learn how to code. I was collecting and reading everything I could get my hands on, watching youtube videos and trying to understand it all without actually attempting to do any of it myself and I knew full well that this is not how I learn, I learn by doing.
Now, as my oldest daughter is coming up on eleven years old, coupled with my techie background, I’ve become active in the Hour of Code and support Girls Who Code and other initiatives to give girls more opportunities in STEM subjects. This has given me more motivation than just my own personal interest and frankly a bit more leeway from my wife in ability to spend a little time and money on it since there are other potential benefits than just a nerdy husband wanting to do nerdy things that she just doesn’t understand.
I’m going to try and do at least one thing a week to further my knowledge in this area, try to find a way to make sure it’s interesting for my daughter(s) and document it here to keep things rolling. I’ll try to keep it interesting, we’ll see how it goes!