Bithday: Septmeber 24, 1973

Major(s):Computer Science/Mathematics

Minor(s):Pre-engineering

HTML(9.5); Pascal(9); Javascript(9); Fortran(7); Assembler(5); CGI programming(3); Java(3); LISP(3); VRML(2)

I plan to learn fully learn both Java and C++ (similar to Pascal) as soon as the time presents itself.

Photoshop 3.0/4.0 (9); Hahtsite Internet Application Builder (6); Kai's Power Tools (4); Netscape Navigator Gold (9.5)

To be quite honest, I prefer using nothing but Photoshop and a simple text editor to produce web pages. That way you have complete control over the tags and are making each page as 'lean' as possible. Internet web-building 'tools' are a nice way to let non-programmers make some cute little basic pages, but anything at all complicated must, IMHO, be done by hand.

It is my firm belief that a poorly thought out web page can be as detrimental to your business as well designed one can help it. What does a well thought out site consist of??? Here are a few of my ideas

• It must be fun. The days of silent text are all but over. The technology is there waiting to be used.
• It must be interactive. This can mean everythings from buttons that glow when you move your mouse over them to full shopping cart programs with secure credit card transfers.
• It must NOT take more that a few seconds to load. I imagine all people on the Internet as a bell-curve. At the front of the curve are the T3 connected users with 266 Dual Pentium machines. At the back are the 286's with 1200 baud modems. It is absolutely impossible to create a page that will be EXPERIENCED the same by everyone. My strategy is to determine the average 'client viewpoint' a certain page is trying to attract. I also believe in designing different pages for different browsers. It can be done properly.

Past:

I was born and raised in Webster City, Iowa. (pop. 8000) It was in that small laid-back community I learned how to be a nice person. It was not until I had left the area that I realized how lucky I was to have been raised there. My parents taught my younger sister and I how to work and play with others. That seems like a trite statement, but I SWEAR that kids today are not being taught how to deal with other people. The technological age is great, but children have GOT to know what it is like to play outside with other kids. It is a pre-amble for later, necessary, face-to-face cooperative dealings with people.

In 1992 I enrolled at Wartburg College in Waverly, IA. During the next four years I studied mathematics, computer science, engineering, art and human nature. It was hard for me to relate to either the pure analytical or artistic thinker, I felt like some strange combonation of the two. I tried to meet as diverse a group of people as humanly possible in my short four years there. I met lifelong friends, set lifelong goals and lived through several tragic episodes that will be with me forever. Graduation day came with a sense of relief coupled with sadness. The relief was knowing that a journey that had started on the first day of kindergarten over a decade before had been completed very successfully. The sadness was knowing I may very well be seeing some of my dearest friends for the last time in this lifetime. It was time for me to go.

I took a position at Real3D in Orlando, FL. A Lockheed-Martin subsiderary, Real3D makes medium to high-end graphics acceleration products for the Windows platform. After a few weeks of feeling out work and making the adjustment to Florida living, I suggested that the company re-think their web strategy. At the time I was no more than a casual web-surfer, but they liked my ideas and gave me the freedom to put together the companies Intranet. From that day to the present I have enveloped myself in the world of HTML, Javascript, frames, tables and CGI programs. As the journey progressed, it became apparent that web design takes a combonation of analytical and artistic thought, AH-HA!!!

"Here is way to combine my existing programming talents with my constantly improving artistic abilities.," I thought to myself.

It is a cold, brisk morning in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. The sun is perfect, the stream is perfect and the sky is....well, you can imagine. As I continue to walk the trail, a rustling noise to my left brings my attention to the seven foot tall antelope standing about 50 yards off. I take very careful aim. The digital camera grabs the antelopes image without a noise. After a short staredown, the antelope runs off to find a more interesting companion. I casually walk back down the trail to the RV. I open the door, give my girlfriend a kiss good-morning, and hook the digital camera into the back of my computer system. Ten minutes later I have created a very nice looking page with a picture of the antelope, a brief description of the encounter, and an updated map of my travels across the cosmos. I spend the rest of the day working on various projects I have gotten myself into over the past few weeks. I leave the door of the RV wide open.