dperny's comments

Hi, all. My name is Drew Erny. I'll be graduating in May of 2016 from the University of Alabama with a degree in Computer Science. My last job was interning at Red Hat and working on identity management software, which has given me a solid base in security and cryptography. I also have a decent amount of experience working in Ruby on Rails.

I'm very early in my career and right now I'm looking for a close-knit team with a mostly in-person office. I have a lot to learn and I think the best way to learn it will be working elbow to elbow with the experienced developers at your company.

If I sound like your kind of developer, or you know someone else who would be interested, shoot me an email.

    Location: Tuscaloosa, AL
    Remote: No (generally, but would consider remote)
    Willing to relocate: Yes, please relocate me.
    Technologies: Mostly web, security, and cryptography
    Resume/CV: https://github.com/dperny/resume-1/raw/master/DrewErnyResume.pdf
    Email: [email protected]
    Website: www.dperny.net

"feminist shilling"

no, those aren't my legitimate opinions. i'm a brainwashed shill. you've got me.

Diesel isn't a fuel type, it's an engine type. What we call "diesel fuel" is really just fuel better suited for burning in a diesel engine than gasoline. We also have techniques for refining some hydrocarbon chains into different ones, which means we can focus production on one fuel type.

$2000 to $3000 a month is supposed to be... affordable? Jesus, New York is even more expensive than I thought.

I've known the answer to the Monty Hall problem for a long time, but this particular explanation just so happens to be the first one that's brought me closer to grokking the answer. I dunno what's different about this one, but it makes sense to me. Congrats.

I mean, this is server hardware. One of the major differences between server hardware and desktop hardware is build quality. I've got a ten-year-old 1/2U rack server sitting in a closet that I bought for pennies at a surplus auction that still runs great.

Where do you find these places? I've been blasting job apps since November. I think I've applied at like 15 places. No bites so far.

Yeah, but you have to be very, very good to get one of those internships. I'm a mid-top tier programmer (better than most of my cohort) from a modest state university. I've been applying everywhere, and there's no way in hell I'll make close to $20k. I'm pretty good at what I do, but there's a gulf between what you get if you're good and what you get if you really good.

This argument is as terrible as it is old. Feminists have been fighting for the right to work in coal mines, and fight on battlefields, and everything else.

From what I gathered, the idea was supposed to be that when fighting broke out, the hostages would know that the fighting was a rescue mission and be able to act accordingly. Imagine if there was just suddenly fighting, with no context; hostages would /know/ the FARC was on edge and would be extra careful not to try anything stupid and get killed. However, with this message, they would know that the fighting is a sign of a rescue mission and try to escape.

This is really, really clever. I mean, I guess it could be obvious to some people, but I tend to over-think things quite a lot and probably would have never come up with such novel uses for radio-buttons and check-boxes.

Definitely going to be keeping this in mind next time I'm working on a web application.

Wait, I just looked it up. I can vote with a University ID card.

I'm gonna go vote now.

Tuscaloosa, AL. I live in Alabama full time because I go to school here and work here during the summers, and have for two years. Technically, though, I'm a resident of Louisiana.

I registered to vote in Tuscaloosa in the last presidential election, because I was told I could. Since then, Alabama has passed voter ID laws, and because I don't possess an Alabama photo ID (my driver's license is from Louisiana), I can't vote in Alabama.

I can't vote in Louisiana because I'm not registered there, and even if I was, I don't know anything about the candidates or have any stake in the election there.

I find this frustrating, because it reminds me just how un-clever I am. Other commenters are progressing quite far, but I've gotten stuck already at level 5. Puzzle games cause me to call into question my entire sense of being.

Reminds me of ctOS from Watch_Dogs.

In the game, the fictional Blume Industries sets up a massive, city-wide network, connecting almost everything to the central ctOS supercomputer. One of the ways they build public support for this system is by first providing free wifi to the public in and around Chicago.

I know this isn't perfectly analogous, but wifi networks popping up for ostensibly benevolent purposes and then being used to track people seems close enough to warrant a mention.

Ebola has a startlingly high fatality rate, but most cases of it are in developing nations. Does anybody know what fatality rate you could expect from advanced medicine and techniques in a developed nation?

I'm a student in the Deep South, and getting out to the Bay Area is a dream of mine. Here's to hoping the price comes down in the next couple of years.

Oh, man, this book. This book is literally the reason I am studying computers. I read out for the first time not long after it came out. I was in the eighth grade at the time, and it rocked my world. I took up programming and began exploring hacker culture shortly after. I can't even express how important this book was to me.

Yeah, it's not a mature fiction novel. The characters are a bit hollow and the story wasn't outstanding; all that criticism is justified. It did what it was meant to do though. It got me and who knows how many others to explore the world of technology.