The reflector of the flashlight is built so light coming from a very small source (like the filament of an incandescent bulb) is directed forward in a focused beam.

I agree, but I also think that using a modern LED with a single source of forward-facing light is fine. However the emitter would need to be properly positioned in the light.

Here’s a very similar host (from one of the best low-cost flashlight makers) showing a properly aligned LED and reflector:

Product link: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256801849471618.html

I found a few references to this exact model on candlepowerforums.com which I believe has more folks who own(ed) incandescent lights. Not that has been such a long time, but LED technology advanced very quickly. Not sure if that will help your search.

There’s also a few people over on !flashlight@lemmy.world !

@Spicy3d@lemmy.world check out this diffuser!

Cool project and post! There’s also !flashlight@lemmy.world if you’d like to cross post.

gets hot enough to burn you if you leave it on for too long

That Fenix looks like a reliable light and is designed with temperature regulation but the limit might be pretty high and of course it is being used in an enclosure.

I am learning Python, R, and SQL

SQL is an excellent skill to invest in. Even though your current role doesn’t allow you to use it, there’s no substitute when pulling data from a relational db.

It sounds like you’re currently focused on data quality. Automatic data quality checks are common features of (good) data workflows so this could be spun as relevant experience if you end up seeking a role writing data transformation code.

Good point and an interesting take. As you said this could be a good signal, when taken in context with the other limited information we get as employment candidates, about internal development practices.

Devops is not a position in itself. It’s supposed to be a software development and operations philosophy

This is the definition I know but unfortunately the term seems to have become a modern synonym for system admin/engineer.

Such a role might still provide valuable experience for a backend dev if there’s an opportunity to write production code for internal tools as well.

Developers at my company need to have a deep understanding of the environments they deploy onto (microservices, scheduled workflows, etc.) which can include configuring canary testing, rolling deployments, status probes, setting up and using monitoring, and very occasionally intervening to restart or redeploy running software. But these are secondary skills compared to writing code.