i'm liam rust! (he/she/they)
i'm a 23 year old graduate computer science student at Stevens Institute of Technology.
i'm passionate about a lot of things. in no particular order, here's a few:
software
software is my profession after all, so i'd better like it at least a little bit. lucky for me, i love software! i love writing it, tinkering with it, playing around with it, contributing to it, learning about it, and everything in between. i think it's one of the most powerful, yet accessible things. (when wielded correctly…)
i first started programming in high school, after being glued to my computer since i was a kid. like many people, i got my start with modding games like minecraft and kerbal space program. i still do a lot of minecraft — the server this website is running on has a few minecraft servers on it as well!
something i have discovered as i've learned and done more programming is i love to do software Right™. i'm not one to do hacky workarounds unless it's the last resort. and even then, i keep my eyes peeled for the true fix. coincidentally, my last name is Rust, and i enjoy the programming language Rust. (no, this site is not written in Rust)
i find myself doing a lot of different kinds of software work, such as web development (see: this website), lower-level systems programming, systems administration / DevOps things like containerization and configuration, and user interface design work. i'm sure i'll do even more as time goes on — i'm a bit of a jack of all trades!
open source software
in particular, i am passionate about open source software. i use linux (fedora workstation) on all of my devices, and prefer to use open source software when it is possible. i find it beautiful just how much is shared to the world for free for the sole purpose of helping others. i hope to be able to contribute to that as much as i can.
this website is licensed under the AGPLv3!
music
i'm a singer! i've been singing since longer than i can remember. i'm a very musical person, almost always with a song stuck in my head.
current favorite artists include jamie paige, flavor foley, and good kid, the last of which i just saw on tour as of writing this! current favorite songs from each of those artists respectively are clouddrop, human, and cicada.
weirdly, i only really started actively listening to music in the past couple of years. so i'm sure more will be added as time goes on!
urban design & transit
as someone with a disability who can't drive a car, i've come to appreciate well-designed cities, and particularly cities that allow you to get around car-free. as you might be able to see in the photo of me above, i'm right by new york city at the moment! despite the not-uncommon issues i may have with its transit accessibility, living in an area where i can get around on my own has been so empowering. not to mention all of the fascinating history and communities of the region!
design in general
i find design fascinating. all of the little details that you barely think about that subtly influence your experiences. i got into software partially because of design, and it's still a big part of what i like about software (when i'm working on things that the user can see, at least). this website is one of my bigger projects in terms of design, so i hope you like it!
more…
it's so hard to condense everything about myself to this about section. more will probably be added as time goes on! and i'm sure more will also be on my blog!
what is this website?
this website is a reflection of me! at the moment, it's my personal space on the internet, where i can write things and people can see who i am and what i do. (hello, people!)
hopefully, there will be more shenanigans here soon. thanks for visiting!