Computer Software

My major at university and lifetime hobby has been making computer games. On the day I was born my dad bought a Sinclair ZX Spectrum computer and I’ve been given stories about when I was 3 years old I used to try to program it to make interesting things happen on the living room TV set. This of course has flourished into a career in Computer Software, working on some very cool projects along the way.

Over time I got more involved with Computer Science and now my interests lie in discovering and implementing new strategies to solve a problem. Whether it be a new programming language, how to sort a list in O(N log N) time, or learning about the Decorator pattern. There is a huge wealth of skillful craftsmanship that goes into the end-products we take for granted every day. When I’m reading about a new technique or playing with a new development environment platform and it suddenly “clicks” I am just amazed at the elegance and the power and opportunity this gives.

Languages

Growing up, I was never exposed to any serious foreign language learning. By chance however, I started studying Japanese at university. I was mesmerised. People somewhere in the world actually understood these strange pictures and noises as communication and could even reply in it. It was like a secret society and I wanted in.

What I didn’t realise at the time is the huge barrier I was about to unlock by being able to get closer to foreign people and cultures than I could possibly have done by only speaking English. The lexical and cultural flexibility of humans is truly remarkable and I love finding out about new ways of thinking or problem solving.

Q. You do 3 things? What’s the 3rd thing?

I mix things together to produce AWESOME results.

By taking a year out to study Chinese, I tailor-made my own education system that allowed me to more than triple my speed of learning a language, using technology (and developing my own) to allow me to actively learn whilst drinking coffee at a shop, walking along the street and whilst taking the train or bus. Learning is now an addiction to me!

I earned enough money in one year to live off for four years. I turned my life into a huge adventure of opportunities and new ideas to explore, yet still being able to do important things like being able to eat and buying a house and car.

By sharing my ideas and taking interest in other people’s ideas, I can make contributions that can help others with their own challenges and continually push myself to do greater things.

Q. Cute. But what do you really do?

My efforts are heading towards Native Mobile App and Web development. Take a look at my portfolio page. I’ve been primarily working on my own Web site, Apps and accompanying back-end services for over 2 years, but always looking out for new opportunities for working with people. Give me a shout and we can have a coffee or Skype and talk about what you are looking to do. Or just to catch up and lament about how people only play casual games these days!