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Technology

This site uses many different technologies to acheive this look. Besides the typical HTML structure and CSS design, there is heavy use of JavaScript, XML, jQuery, PHP, and a MySQL database back-end. The MySQL database contains all the "dynamic" content, such as journals, galleries, etc. This allows easy and efficient access to it all. The access is accomplished with a PHP script that queries the database for specific information and returns this information in XML format. All of this is initiated by a JavaScript or jQuery call for the information, so this XML data is then processed into HTML formatting to be displayed on this page.
Besides this basic "query, format, output" formula, there are other scripts running to improve the user interface. The main navigation "Accordion" menu is built using HTML, CSS, jQuery, and the Interface plugin for jQuery. There are also PHP scripts in place that allow me to update (add, delete, and soon, edit) all the data contained in the MySQL database. Thus, I can add new entries or pictures/galleries from anywhere.
The entire site was coded using nano and NotePad. Testing and debugging was done in Firefox using Firebug. If it doesn't work properly in anything else, I honestly don't care (but it should work in Opera and Konqueror just fine; Safari has problems with my image gallery for some reason).

Work & Academics

About Me

Music

Undergraduate: Illinois Wesleyan University

I obtained a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Illinois Wesleyan after attending from 2002-2006. While I was there, I participated in the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and performed undergraduate research. This research was nothing groundbreaking, but still involved a lot of work and study of graduate-level material and more. It culminated in a short thesis entitled "Limits of Diagonalization and the Polynomial Hierarchy" which I presented at the John Wesley Powell conference and earned Honors for. During this time, I was also an intern/administrator for a computer lab on campus that served the language faculty.

Graduate: University of Iowa

I have obtained a Master of Computer Science from the University of Iowa. While there I engaged in security research and accepted an internship at Leepfrog Technologies, where I continue to work today.

Future:

I plan to continue working at Leepfrog for a number of years once I graduate. I may eventually return to UIowa to obtain my PhD, but that decision is still far on the horizon. The ultimate plan is to eventually find a way to live comfortably in Boulder, Colorado.

Stole this from Dan's site.

Name: Kyle B.
Age: Born in 1984.
Hometown: Champaign
Croutons or Bacon Bits: You order the salad, I'll eat the croutons.
Favorite Salad Dressing: Uhh, ranch?
Have you ever gone skinny dipping? Nope.
Do you make fun of people: Of course! What comes around, goes around. I am just a vehicle for karma, you dorks.
Have you ever been convicted of a crime?: No, but I've helped others be convicted!
One pillow or two?: 3; one for the legs, two for the head.
Pets: I need cats.
Favorite Type of Music: Industrial, metal, and trance.
Hobbies: Guitar, Bicycling, terrible webpages.
Dream Car: One that runs on love! If not that, then bitterness. Both are in great supply.
Type of Car you drive now: Toyota Camry Hybrid. (mainly powered by bitterness)
Words or Phrases you overuse: "Thif haberdafhery doth not suit mine needf, you cur!"
Toothpaste: Polident. God, I'm old.
Favorite Food: Biscuits & Gravy! (not fat)
Tattoos?: I need tattoos.
Piercings?: 6.
Do you get along with your parents: Absolutely! They've always been there for me no matter what hell I put them through. I love them.
Favorite town to chill in: Uhhh...
Favorite Ice Cream: Birthday Cake Remix from Cold Stone.
Favorite Soft Drink: I don't drink this much anymore.
What's your bed time: 10pm. (old)
Adidas, Nike, or Reebok: Magnum boots.
Favorite Perfume/Cologne: Creed. Summer: Imperial Millesime. Winter: Tabarome Millesime.
Favorite Song at the moment: Numb - Desire.
Favorite Website: EaBoD
Least Favorite Subject in School: P.E.
Favorite Sport to Watch: Hockey!
Most humiliating moment: Filling out this survey. (Edgey metahumor, whoa!)
Loudest person you know: That one dude with the megaphone. God, those are cool.
Favorite Holiday: Halloween.
What do you look for in the opposite sex?: My keys. I swear I left them here somewhere...
Say one nice thing about the person who sent this to you: Dan is both smarter than an AI written in BASIC and prettier than a bag of smashed assholes.
Things I've learned from life: "Bollocks" is fun to say.
Favorite number: 2600.
Favorite color: Red.
Greatest experience in your lifetime: Nerdy: High school in the middle of UIUC campus during the height of the dot-com boom. Music nerdy: Getting to see Crossbreed, Godhead, and Rammstein during their peak of awesome, all in one concert. Sentimental: All the adventures in WDW with the family.
Why are you here on earth?: WHERE IS SARAH CONNOR?!

My main love in music is industrial. Sadly, the genre isn't what it was once. There's still some good stuff coming out every now and then, but it's nothing like old-school Skinny Puppy, Numb, Frontline Assembly, Velvet Acid Christ, etc. I'm not that big a fan of EBM or futurepop, either, so I'm kind of screwed. I do like metal and trance, though, and there's plenty of good metal coming out now, as well as trance (though it's late-90s raving heyday is long past). I've also gotten into noise in the past few years. I enjoy mainly rhythmic, power, and ambient noise. What follows is (great for taking up space and) a very short list of good bands you should listen to if you haven't already.

Industrial:
16volt, C-Drone Defect, Crossbreed, Dismantled, Frontline Assembly, Funker Vogt, Gravity Kills, HIV+, KMFDM, Numb, Skinny Pupp, Stabbing Westward, Velvet Acid Christ.

Noise:
5f_55, Ashtorath, Communication Zero, Enduser, Genetic Selection, Iszoloscope, MS Gentur, Xotox. RazorGrrl has some great radio streamcasts in this area, as well.

Metal:
Darkane, Darkest Hour (pre-Undoing Ruin is the best), Dark Tranquility, Lamb Of God, Machine Head, On Broken Wings.