All About Me: What I've Been Up To the Last 6 Months (June 2025)

2025-07-03

All About Me: What I've been Up To the Last 6 Months(June 2025)

Pull up a chair, get a hot drink, this could take a while.The Start of a new year, was the start of a new chapter, after finishing my studies late 2024 the question now was "Now What?"

I had been procrastinating what came next for a while, I had always wanted to build my online presence, document my learning and showcase my skills in public. I had always held back for things not being quite right or perfect, but now it was imperative it had to be done, the fire was burning and it was time to jump off the roof.

This post is a reflection on what I've been doing since then, the projects I've built, the blog I've published, the brand I'm shaping and whats next on the wishlist.

Getting Online

I had various iterations of my portfolio I had been developing with React and Django, and a blog using Wordpress, Static Site Generators like Jekyll, React and Django (again). The problem every time was the same not quite happy with the design, technical skills not quite their, time and scope creep.

I needed a new approach and this time was it doesn't need to make a cup of tea, keep it simple and quick (fix it later). So I went all in on simplicity, HTML/CSS/JavaScript and added a sprinkling of magic powder in the form of Node.js, Markdown, JSON.

It nuked my procrastination and provided me with the most important factor - momentum. When things didn't go right (or I changed my mind) it didn't halt anything I went ahead anyway. Build Now - Fix Later.

The final piece in the jigsaw was my social media, X and LinkedIn. It’s been full of stops and starts, but the occasional like or contact add has been great reinforcement that I’m moving in the right direction.

My Portfolio

I had a vision in mind what I wanted to achieve with my portfolio - simple, proffesional and interactive. My previous attempt was too focused on creating a brand and less about me and what I am doing. So by utilising Node.js to dynamically create a skills table generated from my projects and creating simple JSON entry for my project it allows me to quickly add new projects and less worry about the portfolio itself.

The next choice was what projects? Answer - It doesn't matter. My approach allows me to chop and change projects at will. So at first I could load up any project I had, but now as my skills develop and my projects become more advanced and relevant they can be replaced keeping me on focus on projects and not thinking - what projects do I need for my portfolio. I build and then I decide is this suitable for my portfolio.

Check out my Old and Current.

Projects

Choosing projects I leaned into creating tools that solved my own problems or explored previously studied concepts I wanted to understand better.

Some highlights are:

• Note Viewer App After Evernote changed its free tier policy, limiting to just 50 notes, it left me at a loss. Throughout my study I used it to take lecture notes, deep-dive notes, project-planning and everything else in between. So I devised my own lightweight note viewer, so I could view previous notes and create new ones in Markdown format and then display via HTML/CSS/JS using modular styling and structured data rendering.

• Project Manager App Having used many productivity tools and completed many to-do list tutorials, This is my version. It came from wanting a desktop app I could manage my projects with and explore Electron, which was something I had been interested in learning.

• WinOpsToolkit My first solo learning topic after completing my course, was to focus on Windows and understanding the operating system. Often an overlooked topic for software development, I wanted to understand the system behind development. Interested in Powershell scripting and about to enhance my C# knowledge so I could gain experience in the Windows Stack. This combined this with some real problems, organizing my bloated downloads folder (Its my dumping ground for everything) and managing my power profiles so at different times of the day dependant on my use would change the sleep settings.

• Cheatsheet My favorite method for learning is to create cheatsheets to help me when learning new frameworks or topics. Repetition is key and having a quickfire reminder helps speed this up. Using my favorite lightweight builders Node.js and JavaScript I created a quick, visual tool for my deep dive into C#.

• NASA Earthdata Dashboard When applying for jobs, I like to create a mini-project to familiarize myself with their tech stack and upgrade my skills. This was an example to explore C# .NET, Angular and Typescript (Both new to me with this project) and using APIs to ceate a visualizing dashboard.

• Healthcare IoT App During my studies this was my favorite project, during Design Interaction module. Turning it from a multi-assignment design piece into an active project I am pursuing. Combining my interest in Healthcare, Iot (Raspberry Pi) and my interest in project management. Still currently in Analysis and Design phases, I plan on creating an interactive healthcare app focusd on voice-controlled interfaces utilising Raspberry Pi to collate and act as server to display patient health data to ultimately assist in physically challenged patients remaining in their own home.

I'm genuinely happy with the progress I’ve made in this area over the last six months. Not just in the projects themselves, but in the confidence to share them, through demos, videos, landing pages, and all the messy in-between bits. I’ve built a system that helps me showcase what I’m learning, not just quietly build it.

That said, I know there’s more to refine. The next challenge I’m setting for myself is to move beyond “proof of concept” and start shipping things that feel finished, polished, and ready for others to use , whether that’s as a product, a tool, or a real-world solution someone can rely on.

Blogging

During my final year of study, I had started casually summarizing each year and subject. Reflection was something I found really helpful, it pushed me to actually understand what I’d learned. Over time, those summaries morphed into a kind of personal development blog. Like my portfolio, it went through a few iterations.

By January, I decided it was time to stop drafting and start publishing. I gave myself a clear goal: post weekly, one topic at a time. I used the same lightweight stack that worked elsewhere — Node.js, Markdown, and JSON — with a simple script to rebuild the site and upload it to hosting. There's definitely room to revisit the DevOps setup, but for now, it’s served me well and helped me stay (mostly) on track.

More importantly, blogging has become a kind of therapy. It helps me clarify my thoughts around complex topics I’ve studied, distill what actually matters, and sometimes just get things off my chest. It’s also been a surprisingly helpful tool for idea generation, whether it’s SEO strategy, branding direction, or future project ideas that bubble up while writing.

Here are some Highlights:

• The original post and Series Reviewing and reflecting on my years in study.
• Building My First PC Tying into my earliest classes and my pursuit of development, in how I built my PC and some guide and tips.
• My love of Git and Markdown Part of the reasoning behind these posts was to share my philosopy on development. This was a guide to what should be learned first over how I learnt or the traditional methods.
• UI/UX: How I learned to Love Design Another reflective piece on my journey from hating design to how it became fundamental to my philosopy and one of my favourite topics.

Landing Page

My brand, my site TekNabu, isn't just a homepage, its a seed.

Its where I'm building:

• My future freelancing presence
• A space to host digital products
• A place to share learning resources with others

My focus and reasoning on pushing my personal online brand, is value. We live in a commodified digital world and everyones most valuable asset is themselves. Online we can shape, mold and present any version of yourself to maximize your value.

Its a brand new horizon, throw the board in the water and ride the wave.

You can also follow my journey on X and LinkendIn

Whats Next?

Reflecting on these six months, I'm proud how far I have come, but also clearly where I want to go. I've laid the foundation for a working portfolio, a living blog, real projects, a lightweight personal tech stack, and confidence to share it all publicly.

Now it's time to evolve, from building for myself for building for others.

Over the next six months, I want to focus on three main themes:

• Polish and Ship
  I've built a lot of great tools, proof of concepts and explored some ideas. Now I want to finish them by:

  • Turning at least 1-2 of my projects into fully packaged, downloadable products.
  • Adding installers, setup instructions, and onboarding for users.
  • Incorporate feedback loops (forms, issues, contact options)

• Resource Hub
  Blogging and projects like Cheatsheets and Note-Viwer have helped me collate and organize my thoughts and lessons learned. I want to take that further:

  • Introduce long-form tutorials and reference guides
  • Create a learning roadmap series based on some of blog insights. Eg, Windows Under the Hood and C#
  • Improve SEO and discoverability
  • Start cross-posting to platforms like Medium, Hashnode and Dev.to

• Enter the Arena: Freelancing and Products
  My landing page is more than a blog and a portfolio, its the seed of my brand identity and business. So:

  • Offer Freelance Services - Script Automation, Web Development, UI Prototyping
  • Launch digital products (tools and templates)
  • Start building an email list or newsletter to connect more

• Bonus: Level Up

  • Upgrade my Web Development skills mastering Typescript and Next.js
  • Finish my C#/.Net Journey
  • Learn Basic DevOPs (CI/CD, automated deploys)
  • Finish My Windows mastery and do the same for Linux

Raise the sails it's time to set sail for unchartered waters.