Ryan Kinal
100 E. St. Clair St.
Warren, PA 16365
716.581.1000
ryan.kinal@gmail.com
Ryan Kinal is a programmer and web developer, specializing in JavaScript, HTML, and CSS,
with experience in PHP, SQL, ASP.NET, and graphic design. But beyond being technologically inclined, he is also artistically motivated, through music, lindy hop, and drawing in various media. Combining these interests and talents, he is a skilled developer with an eye for aesthetic design.
A Variety...
Monday, August 24th 2:53 pm
I have a few things to talk about this week. I've suddenly found myself with a good amount of work on the docket. I'm designing and building a website for the small corporation a friend works for - R.K. Hite & Co., Inc. (I'd link the website, but hey - I'm still designing it). I have a fairly large data set to sort through, the subject of the data being colleges and educational institutions around the country. I potentially have a large project coming up with InternU, and I have an application in for a full time position at the University of Rochester.
This is a fair amount to worry about while still maintaining some semblance of normalcy and hobbies. I continue to go to Lindy Jam every week. I'm attempting to learn to play Gypsy Jazz. And, of course, I'm playing games with friends, both online and in person.
So, a few things.
Connections
For the position at University of Rochester, I'm going through a recruiter, who was referred to me by a friend of mine (who just started a media blog). I got to thinking this morning, and realized that this is basically two referrals. Mike referred the recruiter to me, which shows that he thinks I'm worthy of the work, and the recruiter sent my resume to U of R, which shows that he was at the very least confident in my resume. I had never thought about it that way, but going through a recruiter could be a way to inspire confidence in your prospective employer.
Security
SQL Injections, XSS, JavaScript Hijacking - these are all very real dangers in the Web 2.0 world. I'm no expert, but I know the basics of preventing at least SQL Injection attacks. It's easy, right? Just put your inputs through mysql_real_escape_string() and htmlspecialchars(), and you have the basics of preventing injection and XSS attacks propagated through user-generated content (like the fairly recent Twitter and MySpace worms).
I still need to do a lot of reading on the subject of security, but I can't help feeling that in such a hostile environment as the web, there will be new and better attacks which will circumvent even the best efforts a developer can put forth.
Publicity and Search Results
I was recently mentioned as one of three locals that are actively using the web to promote themselves, in an article by Troy Smith (Twitter) of the Insider. The article gives my Twitter username, my website URL, and notes that I'm on Facebook as well. Actually, before I saw the article, a friend of mine from college IM'd me about it. So people are seeing it. Maybe that will drum up some more business.
The article also mentions Google search results, and how my efforts must be working because my Twitter and Facebook pages are the top two results for a search on my name. But my website is nowhere to be found. I wonder if it's because I'm terrible at SEO, or whether it's because I use free hosting, and my name is just a subdomain. Maybe I need to read up on current SEO techniques as well.
There's a lot of stuff happening, which keeps me busy, but I do wonder if it will all catch up with me, and I'll end up behind. And perhaps behind the 8-ball.
I should play some pool...
Anyway, Tim's company eh? Cool. *grins*