Hey there, my name’s Zach!
I’m currently studying Computer Science and Sociology at the University of Maryland, and serve as the Editor-in-Chief of the satire magazine The Hare. I occasionally write about my experiences and projects here on this site.
My personal projects are hosted on GitHub, and my work experience is listed on LinkedIn. I’m also able to be reached via email.
Latest Posts
- | Slop Definitions Were My Final Straw with Google Search
I’m no stranger to trying out different search engines, and I’m quite fond of switching out the technology I use for new ones to see what sticks. In the past, every time I’ve tried switching to DuckDuckGo, the inevitable would happen. One too many times, I wouldn’t be able to find what I was really looking for, so I’d search the same thing on Google and be more satisfied with the results. I’d eventually switch back to Google Search yet again, with somewhat broken hope but somewhat better search results. I’ve stuck with Google Search for at least all of my
- | Designing Products without Databases
Most major software projects require some sort of database to persist data for users to access. At least that’s how we usually think. The problem is that databases introduce a lot of complexity to our software and infrastructure which is often unnecessary. Put in other terms, they also just cost a lot of money to run compared to just using compute. So when designing certain products for the web, it’s useful to consider other possibilities besides spinning up a new instance of your favorite database[^1]. Persisting State on the Client The web platform has progressed light-years beyond the simple HTML that
- | Private Cloud Gaming with Wake on LAN and Parsec
When Cities: Skylines II was released last October, I was thrilled to be able to play the successor to one of my favorite games of all time. But looking at the platforms that this sequel was available on, I was less thrilled to find that I could only play it on Windows. As I've talked about before, switching over to using a MacBook as my primary computer has actually been a pretty seamless process for me -- with this being the notable exception. I wasn't going to let something as trivial as the operating system stand in the way of
- | Why I Love the Tiny Internet
After recently recreating my personal website from the ground up, I've been reflecting a bit more on blogs and the internet more broadly. As someone born after 2000, I never really got to experience the internet in the same way that many talk about what "used to be". I never experienced AOL chat rooms, IRC channels, or when forums used to dominate the internet. The internet that I came to know was one of centralized platforms: Google, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, you name it. As much as these companies have come to control the modern internet, it's refreshing to interact with
- | I Didn’t Think Spotlight Search Could Get Any Better
I have been using Windows as my main operating system for just about my entire life. From a laptop running Windows 7 to a Surface Tablet running Windows 8 (gross, I know) to a few other devices running Windows 10, I’ve been through all of the recent iterations of Microsoft’s core product. After recently buying a MacBook Pro, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I didn’t love Windows, but I didn’t mind it either — so switching to an entirely new operating system was mildly intimidating. Despite all of this, I can’t look back now. To my surprise, it only
- | Simple Steps to Improve Your Online Security
As more of our lives move into the digital world, we must keep our online accounts secure. Weak security will inevitably lead to real-world consequences. Almost all banks have some form of online banking, and an insecure password could allow thousands of your dollars to be in a hacker’s hands. Even impersonation could be a threat, with a hacker being able to extort your friends on email and social media under the guise of a friendly gesture. In the physical world, criminals were limited by geography: you only needed to worry about someone in your neighborhood picking the lock on your
View all posts here.
Featured Projects
- (ongoing) | HareWare
A collection of various software tools for use by the satire publication The Hare, including an article post creator for Instagram and an article exporter for Adobe InDesign. Continually updated and maintained since its release in late 2024.
- | Terpsicle
A smart 4-year planner and schedule builder for computer science students at UMD, completed at the 2025 Bitcamp hackathon. Personally worked on the schedule builder page, and greatly enhanced the page following the hackathon.
- | MuseScore PDF Generator
A tool that allows you to convert any public MuseScore link into a printable PDF document. Uses a web scraper to load the page and collect the score’s images into the document, and requires the user to run the tool themselves.
- | Concepts in Curvature
An interactive tutorial of how to calculate the curvature of parametric equations. Originally created as the final project for my high school calculus class.
View all projects here.