<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?><feed xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" ><generator uri="https://jekyllrb.com/" version="4.3.4">Jekyll</generator><link href="https://itshalfempty.com/feed.xml" rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" /><link href="https://itshalfempty.com/" rel="alternate" type="text/html" /><updated>2026-03-30T21:31:26-04:00</updated><id>https://itshalfempty.com/feed.xml</id><title type="html">itshalfempty</title><subtitle>Alex Whitney&apos;s personal website and blog.
</subtitle><entry><title type="html">My Deep Dive Into AI</title><link href="https://itshalfempty.com/2026/03/30/my-deep-dive-into-ai.html" rel="alternate" type="text/html" title="My Deep Dive Into AI" /><published>2026-03-30T20:38:00-04:00</published><updated>2026-03-30T20:38:00-04:00</updated><id>https://itshalfempty.com/2026/03/30/my-deep-dive-into-ai</id><author><name></name></author><summary type="html"><![CDATA[My recent journey with AI tools has been a journey from skepticism to cautious openness. After trying ChatGPT briefly and canceling due to privacy concerns, I remained skeptical despite experimenting with local LLMs on my own hardware for a year and a half. Despite occasional utility for simple scripting, I consistently struggled to find day-to-day value in most AI tools. Things changed dramatically in just the past week after trying out Claude Code and OpenCode - agent-based AI tools. Surprisingly effective with minimal configuration, these tools have actually produced useful code within minutes. Though still cautious and focused on learning efficient context management and complex workflows, I now see compelling potential value for developers working with these capabilities.]]></summary></entry><entry><title type="html">2025 Book Review</title><link href="https://itshalfempty.com/2025/12/31/book-review.html" rel="alternate" type="text/html" title="2025 Book Review" /><published>2025-12-31T10:45:00-05:00</published><updated>2025-12-31T10:45:00-05:00</updated><id>https://itshalfempty.com/2025/12/31/book-review</id><author><name></name></author><summary type="html"><![CDATA[2025 is the first year, probably ever, that I consistently read books throughout the year (18 in total). While I did read a lot while traveling, the big change this year was just being a lot more intentional about reading before going to sleep. 30 minutes (or sometimes an hour) every night now helps me clear my mind and get "sleep ready". And at that pace, most books can be finished well within a month. Since we're at the end of the year, I wanted to take a few moments to list the books I've read this year. I'll share some brief thoughts, but mostly I hope this serves as a good reminder to myself about healthy habits as I get ready to get back into the workforce.]]></summary></entry><entry><title type="html">Japan Trip</title><link href="https://itshalfempty.com/2025/12/22/japan.html" rel="alternate" type="text/html" title="Japan Trip" /><published>2025-12-22T21:03:00-05:00</published><updated>2025-12-22T21:03:00-05:00</updated><id>https://itshalfempty.com/2025/12/22/japan</id><author><name></name></author><summary type="html"><![CDATA[Japan was pretty high on my bucket list. It was an easy inclusion for both of us into our travel plans for the year, though much harder was deciding on what our itinerary would be. There are a ton of things to do in Japan, much of which is pretty different from what we're used to experiencing in the West, and two weeks is not a ton of time. We settled on visiting Tokyo, Nikko, and Kyoto. In this post, I share some of the photos I took.]]></summary></entry><entry><title type="html">New York City &amp;amp; Paris Trip</title><link href="https://itshalfempty.com/2025/11/02/nyc-paris.html" rel="alternate" type="text/html" title="New York City &amp;amp; Paris Trip" /><published>2025-11-02T08:02:00-05:00</published><updated>2025-11-02T08:02:00-05:00</updated><id>https://itshalfempty.com/2025/11/02/nyc-paris</id><author><name></name></author><summary type="html"><![CDATA[10 years ago, my wife and I got married on a random rock in Central Park, then honeymooned in Paris. We decided to spend our 10 year anniversary the same way. Our plan was to spend a few days in New York enjoying the city, then enjoy a picnic lunch at our wedding spot on our anniversary, followed by a nice dinner that evening. Afterwards, we'd relax and enjoy Paris for a week.]]></summary></entry><entry><title type="html">Basic Inland Search &amp;amp; Rescue Course</title><link href="https://itshalfempty.com/2025/09/09/bisc.html" rel="alternate" type="text/html" title="Basic Inland Search &amp;amp; Rescue Course" /><published>2025-09-09T11:12:00-04:00</published><updated>2025-09-09T11:12:00-04:00</updated><id>https://itshalfempty.com/2025/09/09/bisc</id><author><name></name></author><summary type="html"><![CDATA[Last month I attended the Basic Inland Search & Rescue Course (BISC). It's a free 3-day course offered by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center (AFRCC) that shares what the AFRCC is, what they do, and how they fit into Search and Rescue in the US; introduces the basics of search theory; and introduces some basic concepts around incident management. There isn't too much about the course online, so I wanted to document and share a few things I learned that I thought were interesting.]]></summary></entry><entry><title type="html">Scandinavia Trip</title><link href="https://itshalfempty.com/2025/07/23/scandinavia-trip.html" rel="alternate" type="text/html" title="Scandinavia Trip" /><published>2025-07-23T10:50:00-04:00</published><updated>2025-07-23T10:50:00-04:00</updated><id>https://itshalfempty.com/2025/07/23/scandinavia-trip</id><author><name></name></author><summary type="html"><![CDATA[Last month my wife and I spend two weeks in Sweden, Denmark, and Norway. We originally were going to road trip across Sweden and Norway, but decided to skip the car and instead get around on trains, planes, and boats. In hindsight, it was probably a good switch, as we spent a lot of time traveling between destinations on this trip.]]></summary></entry><entry><title type="html">Puckaneers Photos</title><link href="https://itshalfempty.com/2025/07/07/puckaneers-photos.html" rel="alternate" type="text/html" title="Puckaneers Photos" /><published>2025-07-07T11:10:00-04:00</published><updated>2025-07-07T11:10:00-04:00</updated><id>https://itshalfempty.com/2025/07/07/puckaneers-photos</id><author><name></name></author><summary type="html"><![CDATA[Last night I hung out with my old hockey team and took some photos of their game. I guess it's been over a year now since I last played hockey, and watching the game really made me miss playing!]]></summary></entry><entry><title type="html">Mindful Consumption</title><link href="https://itshalfempty.com/2025/07/01/mindful-consumption.html" rel="alternate" type="text/html" title="Mindful Consumption" /><published>2025-07-01T15:45:00-04:00</published><updated>2025-07-01T15:45:00-04:00</updated><id>https://itshalfempty.com/2025/07/01/mindful-consumption</id><author><name></name></author><summary type="html"><![CDATA[What does it mean to be a mindful consumer in a world dominated by mega-corporations, fast fashion, and disposable goods? In this post, I share how I'm reevaluating my spending habits—not just for cost and quality, but for long-term social and environmental impact. From supporting local businesses and buying secondhand to avoiding products with high environmental footprints, I’m developing new criteria to make more responsible, sustainable choices. This isn’t about perfection—it’s about progress, trade-offs, and aligning my purchases with my values.]]></summary></entry><entry><title type="html">Eastern Road Trip</title><link href="https://itshalfempty.com/2025/06/07/eastern-road-trip.html" rel="alternate" type="text/html" title="Eastern Road Trip" /><published>2025-06-07T08:29:00-04:00</published><updated>2025-06-07T08:29:00-04:00</updated><id>https://itshalfempty.com/2025/06/07/eastern-road-trip</id><author><name></name></author><summary type="html"><![CDATA[Last week we finished a two week trip across the Eastern US. The main features of the trip for me were a couple nights car camping in Acadia and The Great Smoky Mountains. In order to get my wife on board, I had to plan a few city days in between. In this post, I share some details and photos of our trip.]]></summary></entry><entry><title type="html">Ireland &amp;amp; Scotland</title><link href="https://itshalfempty.com/2025/05/02/ireland-scotland.html" rel="alternate" type="text/html" title="Ireland &amp;amp; Scotland" /><published>2025-05-02T16:52:00-04:00</published><updated>2025-05-02T16:52:00-04:00</updated><id>https://itshalfempty.com/2025/05/02/ireland-scotland</id><author><name></name></author><summary type="html"><![CDATA[A recap with photos of a two-week trip my wife and I took to visit Ireland and Scotland. It was a whirlwind driving tour, with time spent in Belfast, Dublin, the Isle of Skye, and Edinburgh, among other destinations.]]></summary></entry></feed>