https://ezrichards.github.io/Recent content on Ethan RichardsHugoen-usFri, 24 Oct 2025 13:41:57 -0600https://ezrichards.github.io/posts/were-in-the-wrong-moment/Fri, 24 Oct 2025 13:41:57 -0600https://ezrichards.github.io/posts/were-in-the-wrong-moment/August 20th, 2011: Marc Andreessen proclaims ‘Software is eating the world.’ That was over ten years ago. Today, software is still eating the world, but this is no longer a groundbreaking proclamation nor a surprise to anyone. In the years that followed, software would become integral to our daily lives, business, and attention. My Story As I learned and continue to learn more about computer science through my degrees, I am constantly reminded of times gone by. I had professors who had lived through the rise of computer science; who invented network systems ground up, pioneered research in their fields and had advisors from the previous generation who invented modern systems that we know today. I am reminded of a golden age of CS and software engineering, where founders and academics would bump into each other in the Bay Area and create the next big thing seemingly on a whim.https://ezrichards.github.io/posts/state-of-the-metaverse/Sun, 27 Jul 2025 10:10:10 -0600https://ezrichards.github.io/posts/state-of-the-metaverse/“The metaverse is a concept describing a persistent, shared, 3D virtual world, often accessed through virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR) technologies. It’s envisioned as an evolution of the internet, where users can interact with each other, digital environments, and virtual objects in a more immersive and embodied way than current online platforms allow.” - Google’s AI Overview The History of the Metaverse The Metaverse has been a concept for awhile, but really begun to gain traction when Mark Zuckerberg renamed Facebook to Meta in 2021 and declared his vision for the future of the Internet and the so-called Metaverse.https://ezrichards.github.io/posts/future-of-development/Tue, 22 Jul 2025 17:19:54 -0600https://ezrichards.github.io/posts/future-of-development/I thought it would be fun to make some predictions about the future of development in 2025, and look back in a few years’ time, especially with all of the AI things going on. This is probably naive and wrong! It’s okay, for now At the companies I’ve interned for, they usually don’t care much about AI at all, or disallow the use of it. Companies implement rules that disallow AI use for proprietary reasons. I’ve heard of other companies that don’t have as much of an issue with AI, and it seems like in academia, just about everyone uses it to some capacity.https://ezrichards.github.io/posts/death-of-the-classroom/Mon, 16 Jun 2025 18:47:11 -0600https://ezrichards.github.io/posts/death-of-the-classroom/Classrooms aren’t what they once were. ..obviously, if you’ve been in a classroom recently. In my last semester as a teaching assistant for introductory computer science at Mines, I found myself saddened when I looked up. I was even more saddened when it continued and became normalized. What I noticed wasn’t just from freshmen. I saw it throughout my undergraduate degree, at all levels, and perhaps sometimes even moreso in my graduate degree.https://ezrichards.github.io/posts/on-stressculture/Sun, 29 Dec 2024 18:55:50 +0000https://ezrichards.github.io/posts/on-stressculture/The most stressful time of my life was the Spring 2024 semester. I was taking 6 classes (18 credits). I was a lead TA for a class and was co-managing the (now-defunct) OreCart project. I was the Mines ACM President and HSPC Chair. Additionally, for a little while during the start of spring, I was preparing to present my research at SIGCSE. I also played intramural soccer a little later in the spring.https://ezrichards.github.io/resume/Sun, 01 Jan 2023 08:00:00 -0700https://ezrichards.github.io/resume/