(Still a work in progress!)

Updates and the like:

I have been very, very busy this year, hence the lack of posts. But I will summarize the main tech and computer science events and accomplishments here:

  • Installed a new home button on my Iphone 6s plus
  • Attended Harvard Women in Computer Science (WiCS) virtual WiCS Workshop
  • Further DWM configs and Arch linux ricing on my thinkpad
  • Nintendo 3ds homebrew
  • Nintendo Switch tinkering and Yuzu setup
  • Formed a cybersecurity and hackathon team
  • Competed in PicoCTF 2023 - Team pwned by penguins, 118th place in the US
  • Participated in a nearby high school’s hackathon
  • Competed in Cyberstart 2022-2023 and invited to do scholarship application
  • Winning a scholarship for the SANS foundations course
  • Switched from DWM to Hyprland, editing and writing config files
  • Invited to sign up for USCC Virtual Cyber Camp 2023
  • Wrote a couple ctf writeups (I will post them later!)
  • AP CSP exam and Hackerrank
  • Yearly html/css website speedrun to brush up on front end development and web design skills
  • Applied for a biology/chemistry Women In Stem mentorship at College of Dupage
  • Participated in another hackathon hosted by the Girls Who Code club at my school - (see repo here)
  • WON beginner’s prize for said hackathon, $80 per team, 3 teammates, so roughly $26.6 for me

Not really sure if this is an accomplishment but since the seniors running the computer science club are graduating, a couple club members and I are going to continue the club next year. Hopefully this summer we can get it registered as an official club this summer.

Upcoming things:

Goals:

Well, I think that’s all for now, I might have missed something, but if I did, its probably not as important as the rest.

Cybersecurity and programming competitions

This was an exceptional year for CTFs and hackathons, and its only halfway into 2023. Because of my performance in Cyberstart, I now have a scholarship covering the SANS foundations course and an attempt at the GFACT exam. Additionally, I was invited to participate in the USCC Virtual Cyber Camp this summer, both of which I am definitely going to do over the summer.

Ricing arch linux

Thanks to all of the experience I got from ricing my arch linux setup, I am not longer afraid of config files.

My current setup: Hyprland on wayland (goodbye xorg), using keybinds inspired by the default dwm ones Status bar: Waybar with Catpuccin theme GTK theme: Catpuccin Mocha (I believe) Terminal: Kitty and XFCE terminall with pywal colors Wallpaper daemon: swww Launcher: rofi with custom theme 5

I also use:

  • ffmpeg to make gif wallpapers
  • musikcube as my music player, with the “80s baby” theme
  • cava as a music visualizer
  • vim with current terminal theme
  • code-oss with lilac theme and catpuccin icons

Tinkering with devices

After installing linux on my chromebook, I became increasingly interested in tinkering with other devices. I started researching iphone 6, ipad mini 2, and kindle paperwhite linux installations, but these were either shady or outdated. However, I did still develop a passion for working with both hardware and software. I’ve worked on:

  • HP x360 Chromebook
  • Nintendo 3ds XL
  • Someone else’s Nintendo 3ds XL
  • Nintendo switch

In the future, I want to explore:

  • My printer
  • My kindle (if there is anything new in the kindle hardware community)
  • Smart home devices (because of the whole NEST selling out thing going on) and google home stuff
  • Maybe another (non-school affiliated) chromebook so I can make a video to go along with my post But overall I’ve run out of things that either belong to me or I am allowed to mess around with, so we’ll see.

Photos of stuff I did:

Coming soon.