Using an old desktop I got a while back I am creating my own Security Operations Center to learn more about security standards and to familiarize myself with the technologies involved. I am using Elasticsearch + Kibana as my SIEM with the desktop endpoint using filebeat to send over it's logs.
If you are interested in reading more about this, click here.
Since my first semester at UW-Milwaukee I was a member of the Game design and Development club. As a club we worked togther to build up a game from scratch, everything from writing code to drawing sprites and composing soundtracks. We posted our finished games on itch.io here.
Through my time with GDD I learned how to work with a team to put together a large scale project. My main constributions to the games had been coding, which has given me a lot of experience learning how to use git well with many other contributors. I also contributed about half of the songs used in our first game, Clash of the Collegiate, which was a fun creative outlet.
Creating my website has helped me sharpen my skills in server-side programming as well as front-end programming and design. It also helped me become very familiar with the TCP/IP system that runs the internet. Similarly, when setting up my E-Mail server (wolf@wolfgangstrubbe.com) I gained a better understanding of the SMTP protocol and how E-Mail runs on a server. Despite the email becoming unusable (the server I use began blocking the SMTP port due to spammers) both projects allowed me to gain a better understanding of Debian Linux, which is what the host server is running, and using Bash through an ssh connection.
In late 2023 I spent some time upgrading and Librebooting a Thinkpad T400. For those unaware, Libreboot is a completely libre and open-source booting firmware that replaces the proprietary BIOS/UEFI firmware found on Intel motherboards. In order to flash libreboot onto the BIOS chip of the T400 I dissasembled the entire laptop and used a SOIC16 clip connected to my Raspberry-Pi to connect to the ROM chip and flash Libreboot onto it. The entire process was very fun and taught me so much about computer hardware and the relation booting firmware has with the rest of a computer. I now use my T400 daily as my main school laptop. I run Trisquel GNU/Linux on it for the true Stallman-approved libre experience.