About me

Hello, I'm Hayden Buscher. Welcome to my personal webpage.

I'm a second-year computer engineer at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. I've always been interested in computers, having written my first program in elementary school and designed my first processor architecture in 10th grade. Though I came into college seeing programming as a "means to an end", I've come to strongly enjoy it and would consider myself proficient in C, C++, Python, Java, Bash, and RISC-V Assembly. My specialties include systems programming, embedded development, FPGA development, programming language design, and processor design.

I'd consider myself an advocate of Linux and "free and open-source software", having been involved with both for the past few years. In addition to using Linux on a daily basis, I've helped several people transition to it and set-up their own configurations.

Throughout my life, I've kept busy with a variety of personal projects. This includes an FPGA pipelined RISC-V processor, Python macro assembler, wooden workbench, FPGA electronic Tic-Tac-Toe game, static site generator, JS Video Poker game, and (of course) this website.

Music is my favorite art form, my genres of choice being synth pop, hard rock, progressive rock, funk, classical, and baroque. Makes sense given that both my parents are in the music biz. I also enjoy hiking, camping, cycling, and woodworking.

Predicted questions (and their answers)

How did you make this site?
I'm not using anything special, just vanilla HTML/CSS/JS with a homemade static site generator. I designed the theme myself; no templates here. I'm hosting it on GitHub pages, with a GoDaddy domain.

What computer are you using?
A $50 swap meet ThinkPad P51 from 2018. You can read about it here. I've upgraded to 32GB of RAM, and installed 1.5TB of NVME storage. I use it at my desk with a dock which is connected to a 16:10 Dell UltraSharp, a USB ThinkPad keyboard, and a Kensington Orbit trackball.

What OS do you use?
Debian Linux. I tried Arch for a bit, but it broke after an update and I didn't feel like babysitting it anymore. Debian mitigates that issue by being two years out-of-date. The regular distribution doesn't get updated until the next version is fully tested, preventing infuriating sporadic breakdowns. When I need up-to-date software, I either install a flatpak, run an appimage, or compile from source. Additionally, I have a copy of Windows for software that doesn't run on Linux. Since I despise Windows 11 so much, I've gone with Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSC. Unlike other Windows 10 editions, it's supported until 2032.

What's your favorite programming language?
I previously used Python because I was lazy and didn't feel like learning anything else, but I've come to appreciate C. It's simple, easy to use, corresponds closely with machine code, and compiles to fast binaries. C++ is even better by virtue of supporting OOP, templates, and a variety of built-in data structures (though it's not a drop-in replacement for C99 onward). I also don't mind C#, though I wish it were less intertwined with Microsoft's interests.

What do you do in your free time?
Obviously I work on a lot of computer-adjacent projects, such as this website and its contents. I used to play a lot of video games, but stopped once I ceased to enjoy them and took up reading instead. I mostly consume late 1800s/early 1900s horror and sci-fi literature- whatever I can get hold of off Project Gutenberg. I also listen to a lot of music, as I mentioned earlier.

Have you considered using [insert web framework here]?
It's most likely overkill for this website; while it might net me web dev cred, I've had no trouble with vanilla html, css, and JavaScript, wrapped together by a static site generator.

Where are you from?
I lived the first 18 years of my life in Los Angeles, California. Not where I'd choose to reside, but it's not like I had any say in being born there. Everything the place had to offer was diametrically opposed to what I wanted out of life; San Luis Obispo is a definite upgrade.

What happened to _____?
It either got removed, or reworked. Sorry.

Can you add something? Can I contribute?
Sure, just drop me a line. My contact info is below.

Contact info

Email
harddsoft@gmail.com

YouTube
Techno-sorcery

GitHub
techno-sorcery