System Update: January 2026
Currently Running
I finished Fall Quarter a few weeks ago and took the scenic route home (by train)! While I started to feel a little stir-crazy by the end of the nine-hour journey, I’ll never regret hurtling through Central Californian agriculture while reading, seeing tons of Highland cattle during lunch, and writing to the sight of an oceanside sunset.
While I wait for Winter Quarter to arrive (which will be in three days now!), I’ve been working on extracurricular research projects (both with labs and on my own). I’ve been building a UAV path planner, writing onboarding and documentation for Cruz Control, and building a simulation for the Media Lab project I mentioned last time.
Background Services
As the end of the year came and went, I reflected a bit on my own software engineering process (among other things). A few things stuck out to me.
A maxim in engineering that I think about often (as it applies to the kind of engineering I do) is measure twice, cut once. I think before taking a computer systems class this past quarter, I’d interpreted it incorrectly when applying it to my work. Before this class, it meant something along the lines of researching the best, most secure way of doing things, premature optimization, etc. Over the course of the computer systems class (where we built an HTTP server in C), however, my professor emphasized the importance of building tiny experiments to
- understand the shape of the data passing between functions, and
- get a firmer grasp on what it is you’re trying to build.
I have no clue why it took me this long to understand this, but I’ve been making significantly more progress on personal projects after this lesson sunk in. (Thanks, Prof. Veenstra!)
Link Cache
- Here’s a rational treatment of “manifestation”.
- Here’s a list of music-related APIs and databases.
- Have you ever been able to identify a certain aesthetic style in media but not have a name for it? Take a look at this!
Tweets
A System Update is not complete without a robot. Feast your eyes on some insane dexterity. (Wait for the part where it screws things in!)
While I don’t identify with the persona described here, this made for an interesting read.Incredibly precise manipulation from @KyberLabsRobots pic.twitter.com/q5QypyEho4
— Chris Paxton (@chris_j_paxton) December 20, 2025
Highly sensitive? Anxiety-prone? Can't sit in a chair normally? There's a reason these traits cluster, and a reason this cluster is vulnerable to nervous systems turning against themselves. I got stuck in that hell and found my way out. This is my @threadapalooza
— Alex Krusz (@AlexKrusz) December 30, 2025
Music
I hope your 2026 is enchanting and full of whimsy.
