Sarah K Tyler

I am a PhD Candidate at the University of California, Santa Cruz, hoping to graduate in the next few years. I study personalized search and information retrieval, with a focus on large scale data characteristics. I’ve been on the net tinkering with JavaScript and HTML since early ’96, but didn’t really get into computing until ’99. I prefer theory to systems, and like to write code that writes code. I’m an applications kind of gal, with a mathematical and statistics background who codes on the weekends for fun.

I live about 90 minutes from campus (I know I’m crazy!) with my husband and our cat Lily. She’s a cross between a chatter box and love bug, and has us well trained despite our best efforts. Lily was adopted from a no-kill cat rescue group (TVAR) in August 2005 at the age of two and a half months. Before she was cared for by the rescue group, she was dropped off at a local shelter too young to know how to eat on her own. Since then she’s made up for lost time.

I love to save money. I used to be the kind of person who would buy the absolute cheapest of what ever I needed. Since I’ve met my husband, I’ve mellowed a little. He’s shown me that quality is sometimes worth paying for. (After all, if I’m replacing something every year, I’m not really saving money, am I?) These days I’m more of a bargain hunter, I love the thrill of the hunt for a good deal. I’m a clearance rank fiend. I still never pay retail if I can avoid it.

I think of myself as an experienced crafter. I like the personalization that comes from the do-it-yourself approach, and have worked on many projects from our wedding to our home. I wouldn’t call myself an expert in any specific craft, though. Unlike both my mom, the counter cross stitcher, or my mother-in-law, the knitter, I don’t have a particular hobby I prefer. I try out new crafts until I get good or finish my project and then move on to the next craft to try.

I tend to think I’m fairly easy going, and friendly. Sometimes I’m a bit silly, and absent minded despite my best efforts. I’ve been known to lose my glasses on my forehead, and my keys in my hand. I like to think of myself as the eccentric scientist in training. Wasn’t Albert Einstein forgetful too? My ultimate blonde moment, though, was locking myself out on the patio of my old third floor apartment, in my pjs with the shower running. True story. Being part engineer, I popped out the screen door and solved that problem.