https://blog.thundersizzle.tech/Blog by Thunder https://blog.thundersizzle.tech/2026-08-03-journey-to-local-llm/https://blog.thundersizzle.tech/2026-08-03-journey-to-local-llm/My first real exposure to LLMs was through work — I was chosen for the GitHub Copilot pilot group. Around the same time, my existing JetBrains All Products Pack subscription happened to include AI usage that basically felt unlimited. At that point, LLMs weren't really doing tool calling — it was just a "smart" chat bot. I found the limitations on both sides quickly: only useful in very specific, well-documented scenarios with limited context windows. In other words, only useful for very small paMon, 03 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://blog.thundersizzle.tech/2022-12-21-commandline-mvc/https://blog.thundersizzle.tech/2022-12-21-commandline-mvc/Aside from basic school work, most of my programming life has been centered around GUIs, most typically websites. I'm use to GUIs, and overall, I love the combination of HTML/CSS as a formatting and styling language. With the introduction of Flex in CSS, it's amazing the different type of themes that can be created with the same HTML page in today's browsers. However, I've been learning much more about the command line and text-based UIs. This yearning probably comes from the annoyances I have wWed, 21 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://blog.thundersizzle.tech/2022-10-25-the-sad-state-of-old-notes/https://blog.thundersizzle.tech/2022-10-25-the-sad-state-of-old-notes/Back in the good old days, back when I was naive, I used OneNote for some notes. I actually used OneNote for the great deal of my college notes, always thinking it'd be easily accessible. However, in my journey away from the Microsoft-centric world to owning my data, I discovered I can't open all of my notes anymore. Back in the not-to-distant past, I was watching the news around Windows 11 and started to grow concerned over the not-to-distant future. Windows 11 is a dragon sleeping that would bTue, 25 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://blog.thundersizzle.tech/2022-10-25-lesser-of-two-evils-google-v-mozilla/https://blog.thundersizzle.tech/2022-10-25-lesser-of-two-evils-google-v-mozilla/Many companies are learning the hard way of what is meant by "Go Woke, Go Broke". There's quite a few layers hidden underneath those four basic words. Regardless if we're talking about a person, family, company, or nation, leaving reality behind to chase fantasies will always eventually end in some form of disaster. A common example can be the gender studies graduate. What is a gender studies major to do when you graduate and realize you have no business value? You went down the woke major, and Tue, 25 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://blog.thundersizzle.tech/2022-10-01-working-with-webwindow-to-use-kestrel-or-to-not-use-kestrel/https://blog.thundersizzle.tech/2022-10-01-working-with-webwindow-to-use-kestrel-or-to-not-use-kestrel/ **Simpler is better? What is simpler? In the wise words of every teenager — It’s Complicated. Previously, I decided I wanted to write a better money app, but I wanted to use web technology, since I’m much more comfortable with it and tend to prefer it over Windows Forms or WPF. Plus, the web tends to be more portable. However, I wanted the security of a local desktop application for my finances. I’m tired of Plaid selling my data just so I can view my accounts in Money in Excel. It’s not like ESat, 01 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://blog.thundersizzle.tech/2022-10-01-we-dont-feel-represented/https://blog.thundersizzle.tech/2022-10-01-we-dont-feel-represented/ When this country was originally founded, the House of Representatives was the People's hold on the government. The People are exclusively represented through the House, not the Senate and not the President. In fact, the Senate and President were originally decided by the States, typically through each State's legislature sending delegates (in the case of the President). It's actually why we still have the electoral college. Many people think this should just be removed - it's an outdated systeSat, 01 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://blog.thundersizzle.tech/2022-10-01-thunder-banking-cli/https://blog.thundersizzle.tech/2022-10-01-thunder-banking-cli/ I've been working on *Thunder.Money - an app that let's you control your financial data without giving it away your safety, security, or privacy to places like Mint, YNAB, etc. During my journey of writing, I let scope creep get the better of me. I have a vision of what I want this program to be. I want it to be the best. But you don't get to the best by getting distracted, procrastinating, or being stubborn. You need to be dedicated, industrious, timely, and flexible to work through it and impSat, 01 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://blog.thundersizzle.tech/2022-10-01-fluent-assertions-extensions/https://blog.thundersizzle.tech/2022-10-01-fluent-assertions-extensions/ I started to get into Test Driven Development this past year seriously. I've always intended to try testing, and I have for the past 5 years, but I would try writing tests only after I've already know the code I have is working. On top of that, I couldn't get past the several dependencies every object had in the website I was working on for Smart Furniture, which was a fork of nopCommerce from roughly 2009. I recall one of the services having a constructor that took nearly 27 dependencies - trySat, 01 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://blog.thundersizzle.tech/2022-10-01-building-yet-another-money-app-bringing-the-web-to-the-desktop/https://blog.thundersizzle.tech/2022-10-01-building-yet-another-money-app-bringing-the-web-to-the-desktop/ I actually had a project in mind — I want to write a better tool for my personal finances. I’m tired of logging into each bank, copying certain data points, plugging them into other programs, such as Excel, and trying to coerce it all to work. I envision a single interface where I can see all of my accounts, easily transfer money between them, manage my expenses, and handle, at least partly, my taxes. Almost everything we do today is geared around money in some way. Everything has a price tag Sat, 01 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000