January 2026 Update
by Bobby Smith - Written on February 17, 2026
Happy February everyone!
I hope your year is still going well. January has been a very good month for me. This month I've done some updates to the site, uploaded my record number of five posts this month, worked on a few projects, and even released one to the public.
Website Thoughts and Updates
The website has seen some massive new additions with the advent of the new side bar, theme selection, and Webtoys section of the site.
Sidebar
The first thing I wanted to have added to my website this month was a sidebar. I wanted a sidebar that would showcase the most recently created posts and anything else I might want seen from anywhere within the site. This I created with the help if Github Copilot to quickly onboard me to a few things that would make implementation smoother. I will definitely be making changes to it, but I'm happy with it as it stands right now.
Theme Selection
Something that I wanted to have for a while, but didn't feel like it was a necessity of my time at the moment, was the ability to select themes. This I implemented along with the sidebar as a test of AI assisted programming. The article explaining this and the sidebar above is found here: Website Update: Sidebar And Themes
A screenshot of the new sidebar and theme switcher features on the website.
Webtoys
I've always liked it when there are projects, games, and toys that are easily accessible through the web browser. So I decided to create my own section on my site, Webtoys. I also created a little game to add to it. This was its own page found at the top of the screen on creation, but I've decided to move it into the "Projects" page to help clean up the header. To learn more check out the following blog post: Webtoys And The 1-Week Wargame.
A screenshot of the Webtoys page. Taken on January 29, 2026.
Blog Posts of the Month
This month was a very good month for posts. I wrote up a record breaking five of them for this site on a variety of programming themed topics. I haven't written up as many WNRA's as I would have liked, but that is okay.
Blog Posts From January
- January 8 - WNRA 3 ~ First WNR Project...
- January 9 - Website Update: Sidebar and Themes
- January 13 - December Update and Reflections on 2025
- January 29 - Webtoys and the 1 Week Wargame
- January 30 - Python-Playground and "Knights Vs Orcs"
Current Projects
1 Week Wargame
The main project for this month was my 1 Week Wargame. It was a quick game I wanted to make to teach others the basic idea of wargames, while also creating something quickly, and having something to test adding a game to my website. You can find out more at the following blog post: Webtoys And The 1-Week Wargame. If you want to go straight to playing it click the following link: 1 Week Wargame
A screenshot of the 1 Week Wargame. Taken on January 29, 2026.
Small Combat
Small Combat has been slowly moving forward. I tried utilizing Claude Sonnet 4.5 to create a menu for selecting the units that will be used within the game. I felt like I was disconnected from the actual design of that one. So I've pulled back from having it design and implement it to my own creation, and using AI as an autofill and bug finder for me. I'm in the process of recreating that menu with my own design.
Python-Playground
I started uploading some small projects and programs to my Github to have more things on there. I've bundled them into "Playgrounds" of whatever program they were written in. I started with Python-Playground and added a simple D&D like simulation called "Knights Vs Orcs". You can find out more at this blog post: Python-Playground And Knights Vs Orcs
Screenshot of the Python-Playground repository. Taken on January 30, 2026.
What I've Been Reading
My main read for this month was "The Worlds I See" by Dr. Fei-Fei Li. Its a autobiographical memoir about one of the leading scientists of computer vision and her perspective on the world of AI as it rapidly made growth in the 2010s to 2020s. Its been a great adventure so far and I'm on track for finishing it next month.
The Worlds I See by Dr. Fei-Fei Li
My learning read for the month was "Ray Tracing in One Weekend" by Peter Shirley. This is a great quick start on raytracing for anyone who is wanting to learn the ideas behind ray tracing quickly. I've read this one before, but its been a while since I've worked with raytracing, so thought it would be nice to get a refresh. He also has several others in the series that build upon what you create with this book that are also much worth the read and I'd like to go through those again at some point.
Ray Tracing in One Weekend by Peter Shirley
What I've Been Playing
This month I played mostly new games this month and managed to finish 2 of them. I didn't play as much as I have in previous months. but that is okay. It's been a busy month.
The hour total was 15.3 hours in total split over a total of 5 games.
- 198X - 1.5 Hours - Completed
- Half-Life 2: Episode One - 3 Hours + 2 Hours (Developers Commentary) - Completed
- Fallout - 1.2 Hours
- Final Fantasy X - 6 Hours
- Battlefield 6 - 1.6 Hours
Life
Life has been going well this past month. I took a trip to Redwood City, CA to join up with a Bay Area Technical networking event hosted by Claremont McKenna College. I got to meet some wonderful people from the college and industry there and look forward to doing it again in the future. It was also very nice to have an excuse to go to Redwood City. I've never been there and to have the time to wander around and see what I could see is always a joy.
Photo of Redwood City, CA taken from hotel on January 17, 2026
Photo of Bair Island, Redwood City, CA taken on January 17, 2026
Looking Ahead to February
February is looking to be a busy month as well, but I'm looking forward to what might be created, learned, or discovered over the course of the month. I'm hoping to work on Small Combat some more and hopefully get my rss feed up and running. And keep learning new methods and techniques along the way.
Thank you for reading and see you next time!