Looking Back on 2024
2024 was a year in which many things happened. January 1 began with the Noto earthquake, and I remember that it did not feel like a calm New Year at all. During that time, after organizing my own situation over the winter break, I started a site called "Yori Hiroi Frontend" on January 24.
Yori Hiroi Frontend Started
It somehow feels like I have been doing this for much longer, but I started it this year. The number of articles I wrote this year was 99. Including this entry, that makes exactly 100 articles. Of course, that includes smaller pieces too. Since my goal was to keep producing output continuously, even if each piece was small, I think this can be called a success.
By the way, the New Year's resolution I wrote on the previous version of the Kansock.Industries site during the New Year was something like this.
> As for my New Year's resolution, I think I will let myself follow the flow that began last year for a while. > > What I am doing now includes UI design and development for internal corporate web applications using Next.js, React, Angular, and sometimes legacy jQuery, as well as website design and coding for companies. > > I do not work in a style where I take on a specific project, bring it back, and deliver it. Instead, my style is closer to entering companies and supporting various projects from within. > > So UI design and UI development are my main work, but for example, I also solve complex and difficult frontend problems, serve as a sounding board for project managers, and sometimes get involved in hiring. > > Since last year, implementation for websites that require accessibility and research into accessibility for XR and WebXR have been added, leading to where I am now. > > There are many possible meanings for a "broad" frontend. When a word is created from a deep reason, it starts with a clear meaning. But in this case, the word came first, and I am now going to look for what it means. So I need to think about the meaning myself. For now, I will list what "broad" might mean. > > - Appealing to broad fields and industries, or beyond the web > - A broad layer, meaning frontend that considers everything from the expression layer to application development and infrastructure > - A broad area, meaning not being limited to Japan > - A broad range of technologies, comprehensively including surrounding specifications such as WebXR > - Providing information to a broad range, including accessibility and various metadata-related work > - Reaching broad peers, meaning development support, hiring support, and relationship-building for people who lack frontend strength > - And so on > > Hmm. Once I start writing, I tend to include things I may not be able to do. Or maybe "broad" means something different entirely, so we will compare answers at the end of 2024. In any case, 2024 has begun. I will keep doing what I can in front of me and continue exploring.
Now that the end of the year has arrived, I will compare the answer.
When Vision Pro was released in the United States in February and then in Japan in June, the direction of this year became decisive. In April, I joined a hackathon to build an app using Vision Pro, and in June I bought the Japanese version as soon as it went on sale.
"Yori Hiroi Frontend" meant working not only on the "web frontend," but also on the "XR frontend."
Buying Vision Pro
Before and after buying Vision Pro, my computing environment was renewed. My main machine went from a Windows machine to a Mac mini, and eventually to a MacBook Air. In other words, I moved from Windows to Mac. It had truly been about five years since I last used a Mac as my main environment, so setting it up took quite a bit of effort.
I took Vision Pro to hackathons and coworking study sessions, and I held workshops with it. For a while, I was walking around with a suitcase so that I could carry a Mac mini, Vision Pro, and an LCD display.
I was also able to do several events and talks about Vision Pro. I cannot deny that I sometimes think I could have done more, but other work was also busy, so I think it could not be helped.
Buying Vision Pro triggered my interest in Swift, and I also began learning about server-side Swift. I do not know what will happen with this from here, but I have become very interested in it. I will probably renew my company site using server-side Swift.
Becoming the Neighborhood Association Chair
This is sudden, but in May of this year I became the neighborhood association chair. It is not a very large association, but I ended up attending various local festivals and board meetings, and I gained completely new connections. I hosted events across many genres, from children's association style events to senior citizens' association style events. One benefit was gaining event management experience with a different scale and atmosphere from running web study groups.
Another major benefit was getting a taste of the kind of busyness and human relationships that will probably exist after retirement. Most people around me are already retired, so I feel like it was a little too early for me to become chair. Since I was able to experience part of life after my sixties ahead of time, I want to think carefully about what to do until then.
Of course, there were also disadvantages. Because I had to get involved in many things, I spent a considerable amount of time on neighborhood association work. This probably overlaps with the broader problem that other neighborhood associations and local community groups cannot find people willing to become leaders.
Taking the Japanese Language Teacher Exam
I belong to my local international exchange association and have been running a Japanese language class as a volunteer for almost two years. In this second year, the Japanese language teacher exam started as a national examination. I took it to test my ability, but I failed. Some media reported that the pass rate was over 60%, but that referred to people exempt from the basic exam. For people who took the basic exam, the pass rate was in the 8% range. It was quite tough.
When people talk about internationalization, they often tend to think about going overseas and things like that. But there are foreigners in your local area too, and some of them are struggling. By getting involved with those people, you can have international exchange without going overseas. People who feel rushed might want to turn their eyes toward their local area.
Teaching Japanese is something I am thinking about over the long term, so I plan to continue studying. I consider this year a success because I challenged myself.
Toward Next Year
I am thinking of writing next year's resolution after the year begins, but next year will probably be less about challenging myself with new things and more about working harder on what I am already doing and producing results. This year, I feel like I challenged myself with a few too many new things.
That is my retrospective for this year.
Have a happy New Year, everyone.