Okay, maybe this is my first blog post. At least, on my new website! (I’m way too proud of having this thing up and running)
Anyways, I guess the following post marks my true first-ever blog post: https://forum.magicmirror.builders/topic/15297/how-to-create-your-own-module-for-beginners-by-a-beginner
It resulted from my 6-week internship at ML6, where I developed a real-time style transfer module for their Magic Mirror. As I was new to the world of Magic Mirrors, NodeJS, JavaScript and HTML, I struggled quite a bit to develop this damn thing. My progress was painstakingly slow, but I was determined to make it work. I scoured the documentation, fora, and source code, looking for insights. Through lots of trial-and-error, I eventually managed to pull it off. And that with still 20 minutes left until the (hard) deadline…
Objectively speaking, the module itself was not all that impressive, but I was still immensely proud of it, given the long way I had come. It did what it had to do, and my supervisor was content with it. I guess, in the end, that’s all that really matters.
[Intermezzo: In the final days of the internship, I felt like I had mastered the niche subset of skills required for the task. Even up to the point where I was confident that I could create any possible module within a day’s work. Most likely, I was right at the peak of the Dunning-Kruger curve. To this day, I remain blissfully unaware of all that lies beyond.]
I wrote the blog post initially as an internal document for any future interns coming to work on the Mirror, so that they might get a head start and not have to struggle like I did. However, I was a little too proud to put so much work into a document that might get read by <4 people. Therefore, I decided to also put it online as a beginner’s guide, of which, strangely, there were not many on the Magic Mirror forum.
Today, it has over 1400 views and 5 upvotes. Yes, it’s not that much. Yes, I’m still way too proud of this. Why? Because at least, I know that it helped 5 people, and hopefully a bunch more.
More likely than not, the Magic Mirror is no longer in use at the ML6 office. My precious module has become a relic of closed-source company archives. The humble blog post, on the other hand, lives on. I guess the lesson here is simple: knowledge shared is never truly forgotten.
And yes, this means you may expect more writings on my behalf. Stay tuned!