Hi there, I’m Danny Silverman, just a normal guy living in abnormal times. Pundits would classify me as a millennial and ascribe all sorts of labels and biases. Some might do the same based on where I was born and grew up (Southern California) or where I live now (Massachusetts’ South Shore), or my race (White), or religious affiliation (None) or political beliefs (eh, hard to categorize).
I’m interested in technology, culture, media, and ways to bring people together as we work ever harder to push ourselves apart. I try to be an optimist whenever possible. I’m an introvert and that’s ok.
I’m married as of September 2013. In 2011 my now-wife and I bought a turn-of-the-century house and ever since I have been discovering DIY, learning about woodworking, planning and overseeing renovations, and dealing with problems as they arise.
In high school I took stand against internet censorship and got in some hot water. People had lots of opinions about what I had done and many called me a troublemaker. I continued to make trouble in college, first in student government and then by co-founding an alternative student newspaper. I graduated from Brandeis University in 2005 with a degree in, of all things, American Studies. I minored in a few things including something cutting-edge at the time called “Internet Studies” that Brandeis is now too embarrassed to officially list on their web site.
I thought I was bound for a career in law and policy, but all the book work wasn’t really my jam, so I ended up falling into a career path that is a natural fit — working with technology and humans, and helping them work better together. I want my work to be meaningful, and I gravitate towards mission-driven organizations. Back when the digital divide was a thing, I worked at a small non-profit creating software and curricula for teaching at-risk students how to read and learn and use the internet. During college I interned at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, doing research on China’s “Great Firewall.” After college I joined Berkman as a systems administrator and web developer.
Since then I’ve worked mostly in systems and what is now called “DevOps” in a few different parts of Harvard University as well as at EnerNOC and (briefly) Knome. I focus on making software development more efficient and services more reliable. I occasionally publish software and scripts I’ve written on GitHub.
I enjoy exploring the outdoors — hiking, kayaking, running, and downhill skiing are my favorite things to do when the weather is nice. I like thought-provoking books and visual media with strong characters, and prefer plot-driven single-player video games over shooters. I also enjoy board games, both of the “Ameritrash” and “Eurogame” varieties, but tending towards the latter.
