Hello There!
If you’re reading this, it means I finally started up that website I’ve been talking about for ages. I’m just as surprised as you! I didn’t think I would ever get around to it, but here we are.
There are a handful of reasons I decided it was time to finally kick off this project. Here are a few of the big ones, in no particular order:
- It provides a centralized place to post about my research publications (and cool things I do that don’t quite make it into papers)
- I can talk about my side projects, hobbies, and other such musings
- It gives me a bit more presence on the internet, as I’m currently pretty difficult to find
- I’ve been paying for the domain for years anyways, and it’s about time I started getting some sort of return on that investment
Who are you, and why should I care?
I’m Marcus Mellor, Ph. D. student and researcher at Oklahoma State University (at the time of writing). My usual internet alias is infinitymdm, thus the name of this website. I’m writing this post because I want to make the world a better place, and for some reason I think that a blog will help do that.
Professionally speaking, I’m an electrical engineer with a background in test tools development and an interest in computer arithmetic. I want to make electrical and computer engineering more accessible to people, and I also want to understand it (or at least some of it) better myself. My hope is that writing about it will help with both of those goals.
Why should you care? Because this stuff is important! The world runs on electronics and software, and most of it was built 50+ years ago. We need people to take care of the myriad systems and services that support us all. We also need to keep finding ways to do things better, so that we can leave things in better shape than we found them for the people who come after us.
Website Plans
Hopefully you now understand my big-picture goals. What, specifically, am I going to do with this little plot of internet real estate? I’m glad you asked! I envision a couple of main attractions, but there will probably be some other bonus items as well.
Blog
First off is the blog. That’s where you are now, so you probably already figured out that there was going to be a blog. Most of the site content will likely be here. I’ll write about fun stuff like
- interesting papers I read
- my own research publications
- work I do for research that is cool, but not quite publication-worthy
- programming and hardware design
- my hobbies, including books, video games, and a smorgasbord of tinkering
- musings on design, pedagogy, and philosophy
- side projects (like the Mechtronica TTRPG system that you should check out)
If nothing in that list sounds fun to you, here’s a cute dog video for compensation.
I imagine the majority of my posts will be paper reviews. I’d like to get into the habit of “translating” engineering research papers into layman’s terms. Here I’ll steal a word invented by Scott Clanton, an amazing engineer and a mentor to me at one of my first jobs after college:
laymanize (verb) : to explain complex material in simpler terms, so that it is comprehensible to the layperson.
Paper explainers will probably be titled something like “Laymanized: [paper title]”. I guess we’ll all find out together how this plan pans out.
While paper reviews are one of the primary goals here, I’ll also post about other things I do. I’d like to at least occasionally post about the state of my Linux distro of choice, Solus. Maybe I’ll even do the occasional book or video game review. Who knows what the future holds?
About
This section will contain a brief bio, as well as a portfolio of my past projects. I’m thinking I could also have my CV linked, as well as links to the handful of other places I can be found on the internet.
Projects should be a big part of this section, too. Maybe I’ll have a little showcase gallery or something like that to demonstrate cool stuff I’ve worked on, with some demo gifs of tools I’ve made. These may be blog posts in their own right, so it all fits together.
I’ll most likely have some acknowledgements here as well, and maybe some links to other cool sites and projects.
The End
Did you make it this far? Here, have a cookie. You earned it. 🍪
While this post is intended to announce the start of the blog and stuff, it’s really a public statement of my intentions. I find that I have an easier time actually doing things if I state my goals to an audience. So, even if you’re the only person reading this, thank you for helping me be responsible!
Acknowledgments
I take a lot of inspiration from the website of Jon Guerber. His site showed me I didn’t have to take this so seriously.
I also take inspiration from my close friend Icosahunter. His creativity and joy in tinkering frequently motivates me to pick up side projects (for better or worse). Plus he has a few websites, and working with him on those has taught me a lot.