Wishing you a happy Christmas, from SciFiEmpire.net

Finally, its Christmas. With the COVID-19 pandemic spiking these last few weeks it felt like an eternity. Since the autumn I have been working from home again for the cybersecurity gig that I have. I must say I am not enjoying this second period. The prospect that COVID-19 will remain with us until at least the summer of 2021 is hard. No cinema, cafes, vacations abroad and no dating. For the latter you can use Tinder but without hooking up it is becoming a bore. So, despite finally being free from work and avoiding both COVID-19 and a burn out the question becomes. What can I do? Below is a little rant on what my plans are for the Christmas to New Year period. I hope you don’t mind too much.

Christmas, this is when the fun begins

As I cannot go on vacation, I have a lot of free time on my hands until January 4th. I don’t like doing nothing with my time, so I have made plans. Yes, I am the guy who writes down what he intends to do during the coming month. That must be why I became an author and software engineer. First things first. Tomorrow will see the digital release of Wonder Woman 1984 by director Patty Jenkins. The reviews are great and I cannot wait to see Gal Gadot lassoing onto my computer screen. So, expect a review of Wonder Woman 1984 on Friday. On the same day you will also get a review of Star Trek Discovery. I have yet to cover any of season 3, but it is currently running. During the last two weeks I have been binge watching the ten or so episodes now available.

So far, this show has improved considerable. The first episode of the season was its worst but I found the Michael Burnham character less irritating than before. With three more episodes to go until January 7th I know what I will be watching. Finally, during the long days between Christmas and the New Year I will be writing articles on what movies, series, games and novels I am looking forward to in 2021. So, while I have my writing schedule for SciFiEmpire.net mapped out there is still the question of what I will do with my free time. Recently I received the first three novels in the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan as a gift. Next year an adaptation is set for release on Amazon Prime. So I better start reading. Meanwhile I still have to play through the final stretch of the Cyberpunk 2077 campaign.

Professional development

That said I will also be using my time to expand my professional knowledge. Currently I am developing a face recognition API in Java that I really want to finish. In 2021 I hope to leverage it to find a job in the field of Deep Learning. Meanwhile there are some smaller projects such as a Pentesting app, a Java programming game and Deep Learning model building app that I am working on. This year I have had plenty of time develop each and for 2021 and want to finish them. For the pentesting app I next intend to develop the modules regarding Wi-Fi hacking and worms + viruses. So for the Christmas holiday I have my work cut out.

On top of that the Berlin based hacker collective Chaos Computer Club is holding an online conference on cybersecurity from December 27th to 30th. English subtitles are being worked on so I might watch a few of the live proceedings. I am sure I won’t be bored during holiday season. I hope you won’t be either. So, let me end this post by wishing every reader a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!