# Jason Giroux

> Personal Blog, Portfolio, and Projects of a Software Engineer


## Posts

- [Building WhoisThere: A Lightweight Go MCP Server for Domain Availability Checking](https://jasongiroux.com/2025/11/21/building-whoisthere-a-lightweight-go-mcp-server-for-domain-availability-checking/): I recently released a small but powerful open-source tool named WhoisThere There were three main motivations behind building WhoisThere: What Is WhoisThere? WhoisThere is an MCP-server (HTTP) written in Go that exposes two “tools”: These tools let clients (for example, LLM agents) programmatically query domain availability in a structured way. Rather than relying on informal prompts, LLMs can call your MCP server, ask “Is example.com available?”, and get a concrete boolean or list response. Technical Architecture Here are some of the key technical decisions and implementations that made WhoisThere work: Because WHOIS lookups are done concurrently (in Go routines), the […]
- [Building SMQ: A Lightweight Scheduled Message Queue in Go](https://jasongiroux.com/2025/11/11/building-smq-a-lightweight-scheduled-message-queue-in-go/): Before this project, my experience with Go was pretty limited. I’d written a few small Lambda functions and image utilities, but nothing that really tested Go’s concurrency model or scalability. Lately I’ve been dipping my toes into the message queue ecosystem using RabbitMQ, BullMQ and SQS. I’ve always loved RabbitMQ. It’s been reliable, battle-tested, and I’ve used it in multiple projects — including Drivnbye — where it powers webhook handling, image processing, billing, and email/push notifications. It’s great for most async workloads, but it doesn’t natively support scheduled messages that might need to sit idle for hours or even weeks […]
- [DrivnBye - We launched! ](https://jasongiroux.com/2025/01/31/drivnbye-social-media/): On January 2025, we hit a significant milestone with the launch of Drivnbye, a social media platform built for automotive enthusiasts. 
- [Replacing GitHub Copilot with Ollama: A Local and Free Alternative](https://jasongiroux.com/2024/12/11/local-copilot/): Looking for a powerful, free, and private alternative to GitHub Copilot? Ollama offers local AI coding capabilities without telemetry, using models like llama3.1:8b for chat and qwen2.5-coder:1.5b for autocompletion. Learn how to set up Ollama on a Windows PC with an NVIDIA 4060TI and integrate it with Cursor IDE on a MacBook Pro for cross-network development. Enhance your coding experience with high performance, privacy, and zero cost.
- [Mac Mini EAS Build Github Actions Runner](https://jasongiroux.com/2024/07/23/mac-mini-eas-build-github-actions-runner/): While getting ready to roll out DrivnBye into private beta I spent some time working on some pipelines to automate a lot of our release work. I originally implemented the recommended way of utilizing Expo cloud to build our app binaries for android and iOS within a github action however it took less than 3 days to hit the free tier threshold for cloud builds leaving me in a pickle; do I wait a month to try building this pipeline again or do I pay $2 per build per platform? At this rate I was looking at $10-20 a day […]
- [DIY Racing Sim LED Flag Box](https://jasongiroux.com/2024/05/22/diy-racing-sim-led-flag-box/): After years of being on the fence with buying a racing sim I finally decided “it’s now or never” and I pulled the trigger. After a couple weeks of settling in I realized there is a lot to be desired in terms of realism; I also wanted an excuse to break out the 3D printer and soldering iron. Parts Printing the files All the files Are able to be printed in a single print without any supports at 15% infill. Assembly Inserting the brass bushings Using a soldering iron set to 300°C insert to brass fittings to the top and […]
- [React Native - Watermark Photos when sharing with Expo](https://jasongiroux.com/2024/02/09/react-native-watermark-photos-when-sharing-with-expo/): Recently I came across a need to add a watermark to photos in my React native + expo app when photos are shared outside of my app. My goal was to make watermarks customizable, reusable and most importantly it needs to play nice with expo & EAS. There are a couple options on npm that allow you to add a watermark to a photo however however when trying to use these pre-existing libraries I noticed the documentation is quite outdated or don’t work with expo go (instead you have to pre-build the app and use metro). This solution is going […]
- [Production Ready Prebuilt Websocket Server - Centrifugo](https://jasongiroux.com/2024/01/30/production-ready-prebuilt-websocket-server-centrifugo/): Social media applications requires live data if you want a good User experience but creating your own websocket server is tedious. Entering Centrifugo a prebuilt production ready websocket server ready to scale with you. 
- [Geospacial SQL Queries Using Geohashing](https://jasongiroux.com/2024/01/22/geospacial-sql-queries-using-geohashing/): Lately I have been spending my free time working on a mobile application for car enthusiasts - DrivnBye. This application has forced me out of my comfort zone with every feature I work on. We're a couple months from release on the iOS and Android app store and we decided to start stress testing our backend, an express server utilizing graphQL and a postgres database and it looks like our geospatial queries are quite slow; almost half a second slow. 
- [Modspotlight - link in your bio for Auto enthusiasts](https://jasongiroux.com/2023/10/26/modspotlight-link-in-your-bio-for-auto-enthusiasts/): Recently I joined a community of auto enthusiasts I found through social media. I've found a common greivence amongst these enthusiasts, they love talking about their cars or bikes but every time someone asks about a modification or part they installed, they have to search google and try and find the part to share.
- [Kofien - Embed Beautiful Components](https://jasongiroux.com/2023/10/12/kofien-embed-beautiful-components/): Create and embed beautiful charts into your website, Notion pages and more. Using Kofien you can connect your notion account and start visualizing your data.
- [Create & Connect Notion OAuth to Next.js application](https://jasongiroux.com/2023/08/24/create-and-connect-a-notion-integration-to-next-js/): I have been working with Notion’s API lately along with learning and regularly using Next.js. I wanted to start using Notion to track personal tasks along with tracking some metrics at work. But, I am a visual learner and need graphs to understand these databases I’m creating in Notion. This is where I needed to learn how to add Oauth to a project.
- [Run LLMs Locally on Your Own Machine](https://jasongiroux.com/2023/07/22/local-llm/): In the realm of artificial intelligence and natural language processing, there are these extraordinary tools known as large language models (LLMs). They possess an almost magical ability to understand context, nuances, and generate remarkably human-like text. The exciting news is that now you have the opportunity to fully utilize LLMs by running them on your own gaming desktop.
- [Maximizing React Performance with useMemo](https://jasongiroux.com/2023/07/18/maximizing-react-performance-with-usememo/): Today, we’re diving into the powerful world of React hooks and exploring one of its unsung heroes: useMemo. If you’ve ever wondered how to optimize your React components and make them lightning-fast, then this hook is your new best friend. In this article, we’ll explain the differences, why useMemo is crucial, and provide you with some real-world examples to help you wield its magic like a pro. So, let’s get started!
- [useReducer - A hidden Gem of react](https://jasongiroux.com/2023/07/18/usereducer-a-hidden-gem-of-react/): Let's dive into the wonderful world of React hooks and explore one of its hidden gems: useReducer. If you're looking to take your React skills to the next level and create dynamic and interactive applications, then you're in the right place.
- [Must Have Docker Containers For Your Home Network](https://jasongiroux.com/2023/07/18/home-networks-i-have-one-and-you-should-too/): I remember my very first home server in college, an old Dell PowerEdge rack mounted server I found on facebook marketplace paired with some Hard drives I found also on facebook marketplace. This server opened my eyes to the benefits of self hosting.
- [Starting a DIY Project - The Visual Way](https://jasongiroux.com/2023/07/18/starting-a-diy-project-the-visual-way/): I am a very visual person. If you tell me I should paint my wall blue, I won't agree to disagree until I've photoshopped a picture of the entire room with that wall blue. 
- [3D Printed DIY Raspberry Pi Macro-Pad](https://jasongiroux.com/2023/07/16/macro-pad/): Turn your Raspberry pi Pico or ESP32 into a 9-key macro-pad for your Mac or Windows machine. You can add your own custom macros, modifier keys, hotkeys and more with this macro-pad!
- [Notion Blocks - A NPM Package](https://jasongiroux.com/2023/07/16/notion-blocks/): Notion has a pretty awesome API but no React package to render the output of this API! Notion-Blocks gives you the ability to render everything in a single component and provide a helper function to fetch all nested blocks for each page.
- [Document GPT](https://jasongiroux.com/2023/07/16/document-gpt/): Document-GPT is an integration of cutting-edge technologies, including OpenAI’s ChatGPT API, Tesseract.js, and the Next.js framework. This powerful combination can be used to revolutionize the landscape of document analysis capabilities while keeping the integration simple, easy to follow and even easier to build on-top of.
- [Getting The Most Out Of Github Copilot](https://jasongiroux.com/2023/07/04/getting-the-most-out-of-github-copilot/): GitHub Copilot is an AI-powered coding assistant developed by GitHub and OpenAI, designed to enhance the coding experience by suggesting code snippets in real-time. We will explore how to leverage GitHub Copilot effectively to boost productivity and improve code quality. We will focus on utilizing powerful comments, writing readable code, and making the most of Copilot-enabled extensions. What does it boil down to? Comments and prompts.

## Pages

- [Projects](https://jasongiroux.com/projects/): My Projects Welcome! Welcome to my Projects Showcase, a realm of endless fascination where web development, machine learning, and integrated circuits (And More) converge. With a passion for learning new technologies, I invite you to explore these creations and build upon the boundless possibilities they offer.
- [Blog](https://jasongiroux.com/blog/): Blog Let’s Learn Together Let’s embark on a journey of discovery and learning together, exploring a diverse range of topics. From technology and web development to machine learning, integrated circuits, and even the captivating world of photography and home renovation, there’s something for everyone.
- [Contact](https://jasongiroux.com/contact-2/): Let’s Chat Don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions, collaboration opportunities, or just want to say hello. I’m here and eager to connect with you! Email me at Jason@girouxs.com
- [About](https://jasongiroux.com/about/): My name is Jason Giroux, and I’m thrilled to share a little bit about myself as a software engineer and as a person! It’s been an exciting journey to reach where I am today, and it all started during my time as a high schooler at a computer summer camp. Background In high school I had the opportunity to teach graphic design, photoshop, and video game design classes at a computer themed summer camp to classes of about 30 students ranging in age from elementary school to high school. Initially, I thought I might pursue a college degree in either […]

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