With 2023 now very well underway, I finally set some time aside to write about the remaining weeks of 2022. Aside from work and getting myself back into shape, I’ve been mostly focused on my Machine Learning Engineering training intensive and dug myself into a rabbit hole of video games. Coding work for my intensive almost broke my spirit, though I thought it was time very well spent. I can confidently say that I’m a better data science practitioner and applying my newfound skills on-the-job. Playing Pokemon and League of Legends have really kept me mentally engaged, physically cozied under a blanket and emotionally protected from the outside cold. It’s worth mentioning that I’ve dedicated time to watching all of Game of Thrones for the first time. Although, I was hesitant at first, it turns out I absolutely loved it! #teamtyrion
The colder days don’t always mean I’m cooped up. In fact, it’s been a very mild Winter thus far according to New York locals yet you still wouldn’t find me outside. It’s usually this time of year where I get into an entertainment-bingey kind of mood. Despite having every form of technology within arms reach, I’ve always kept this blog in the back of my mind and felt I just needed to feel a tad motivated to share what’s been going on. I realized with all the activities and events I started to schedule/book for 2023 which looks to be another epic year, it’s time to keep my story going. So without further ado, here’s what I did for last few weeks of 2022!
Ate at the newly opened Urban Hawker, a Southeast Asian inspired eatery
On 50th Ave, between 6th and 7th, this super convenient location has become a super popular place for some quick eats. One of the stalls had chicken laksa and I just needed to try it!
Watched Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on Broadway! What would you do if you could turn back time?
Obsessed over the newly released Pokemon Scarlet and Violet!
Note to self: remember all those beautiful screenshots you took playing this game? Make another blog post about it later 🙂
Dined at Piccola Cucina Estiatorio in Lower Manhattan for highly satisfying authentic Italian food
Graduated from the 4-month intensive Machine Learning Engineering program at FourthBrain!
The long nights and efforts into this program were all worth the while. During the program, students are required to complete a capstone project that involves building an AI/ML integrated web UI tool that solves a real-world problem. At the end of the program, students present their capstone to a panel of judges whom of which are comprised of real-world tech leaders and executives. My group worked on a project from the medical space, specifically in oncology and pathology. We built an AI/ML tool that automatically counts mitotic regions in breast cancer cells and using this information to automatically identify whole slide images as breast cancer or not. In addition, our tool used AI to automatically produce visual heatmaps depicting cancerous regions and textual reasons of why they are cancerous. You can find all of our written work and code at our Github repo, here.
Celebrated a year of hard work and determination with colleagues over a fancy Christmas dinner
The CEO took us out to his private dinner club and you bet I was on my best behavior. Except when I took those few tequila shots and fired up the dancefloor when Bruno Mars came on.
Joined the crowds of tourists and locals around the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center
The way midtown is decked out in Christmas lights is just so pretty. Walking around midtown to see all of the Christmas lights is probably going to be a new favorite thing of mine to do.
Visited the hometown for the holidays and kicked it off with drinks and s’mores at Stackt with the best of friends
I also finally got the chance to meet my besties’ daughter for the first time! To make the most of our time together, we also bought more snacks, went skating and had a late dinner together.
Finger-clapped in support of personalized spoken word haiku poems as a special touch for the Rimando family gift exchange
And with another year behind us, we share our smiles for better giving days ahead
If you told me to count my blessings, I’d tell you that I can count at least 32. #familyisforever
The next blog post will be a special recollection of the last week of 2022 where I take my family to Montreal.
Artemio Rimando 