Meredith L. Patterson facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Meredith L. Patterson
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Meredith Patterson (2010)
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| Born | April 30, 1977 |
| Occupation | Researcher, writer |
| Known for | DIYbio, X.509 attacks |
| Spouse(s) |
Len Sassaman
(m. 2006; died 2011) |
Meredith L. Patterson (born April 30, 1977) is an American expert in technology, a science fiction writer, and a journalist. She has shared her knowledge at many important conferences. She also writes a blog and develops computer programs. Meredith is a key person in the biopunk movement, which is about doing biology experiments yourself.
Meredith grew up in Houston, Texas. She studied linguistics (the study of language) and computer science. She earned advanced degrees from the University of Iowa. Early in her career, she worked as a website designer and wrote technical guides. She also taught math and reviewed restaurants for a newspaper.
In computer science, she made important discoveries. She used language skills to improve computer security. For example, she found new ways to stop SQL injection attacks. These are special attacks that can harm computer databases. She also created tools to help computers find patterns in large amounts of data. This led to her own company, Osogato. Meredith also helped with many open-source projects. She worked with her husband, Len Sassaman, on important internet security research. As a writer, she has published science fiction stories and poems. Her blog often discusses topics like copyright reform, biohacking, and civil rights.
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Early Life and Education
Meredith Patterson lived in Houston for 24 years. Then, she moved to Iowa City, Iowa, to continue her studies. She earned a Master's degree in linguistics. Later, she received a PhD in computer science.
She went to Kingwood High School from 1990 to 1994. To support herself, she worked in many different jobs. She designed websites and wrote technical documents. She also taught math and reviewed restaurants for the Houston Press newspaper. In 1999, she was the treasurer for the Mars Society in Houston. That same year, at age 22, she traveled to the Arctic Circle. She was a reporter for NASA during a mission that simulated life on Mars.
Computer Science Work
Meredith Patterson is well-known for her work in computational linguistics. This field combines language study with computer science. She uses it to make computers more secure.
Stopping Cyber Attacks
In 2005, she showed a new way to stop SQL injection attacks. These attacks try to trick databases into giving up information. She presented her method at the Black Hat conference in Las Vegas. Her technique helps computers check if data is safe before using it.
Creating Osogato
Meredith also developed a special library for datamining. This tool helps computers find patterns in large sets of data. She built it into PostgreSQL, a popular database system. This allows database managers to easily search for specific information.
Her work was first supported by Google's Summer of Code program. Now, this data-mining technology is the basis of her company, Osogato. Osogato helps users organize their music collections. It can also suggest new music based on what a user likes. Osogato was officially launched at an event called SuperHappyDevHouse.
Open-Source Contributions
Before starting Osogato, Patterson worked for Mu Security. She also studied at the University of Iowa. She earned her first degree in linguistics from the University of Houston.
Meredith has helped with many open-source database projects. These include SciTools, Klein, and QBE. She also wrote improvements for PostgreSQL. Her "Dejector" library helps prevent SQL injection attacks. She also helped with a project called Firekeeper. Her husband, Len Sassaman, guided this project.
Internet Security Research
In 2009, Meredith worked with Dan Kaminsky and Len Sassaman. They showed serious problems with how the internet's security certificates work. Their research proved that web browsers could be tricked. They could be made to accept fake X.509 certificates. This was an important discovery for internet safety.
Writing and Blogging
Meredith Patterson is also a talented writer. She has published many science fiction short stories. These stories have appeared in magazines like Fortean Bureau and Strange Horizons. Her work is also in collections such as The Doom of Camelot. She also helped write for the game GURPS Villains.
Her poetry is often inspired by her scientific interests. For example, her poem "Leaving Devon Island" is about the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station. This station is on Devon Island in Canada.
Online Discussions
Meredith often writes about important topics on her personal blog. She discusses copyright reform, which is about changing copyright laws. She also writes about biohacking, which involves doing biology experiments at home. Other topics include civil rights and programming languages. She has also written several articles for the popular blog BoingBoing.
In 2008, she published a paper with David Chaum and Len Sassaman. They wrote about the OLPC (One Laptop per Child) computer. They pointed out that it did not pay enough attention to user privacy.
Personal Life
Meredith Patterson has presented at the CodeCon conference twice. She married Len Sassaman, who helped organize the event. He proposed to her publicly at CodeCon in 2006. Both Meredith and Len were well-known in the technology community. Their marriage was seen as an example of a "geek power couple." They were together until Len's death in 2011.
Meredith was diagnosed with autism as an adult. She has shared that her strong focus has helped her in the technology world. She feels she has a very positive relationship with the male-dominated tech community.
See also
- Information privacy
- Information security
