geek confessions
I often wonder what I did with my life before computers first entered it. From the first moment I sat down in front of a keyboard, I was hooked - and they've been a big part of my life ever since.
My Journey Into The World of Computers
My first contact with computers actually came in the early 80s and the family's Atari 800. I played lots of Frogger and Dig-Dug, and fancied myself the Mrs. Pac-man and Donkey Kong champ. My Dad, always a computer buff himself, had a book with little programs in it - and I was constantly typing them in and doing amazing things (in my mind, anyway) such as turning the computer into a colorful keyboard. I was only around 7 or 8 at the time, but I can still remember my parents logging hours of time on Ultima II after we kids went to bed.
After the Atari bit the dust, aside from some toying around on the old Apple's at school, I didn't become reaccquainted with the pc until the summer of 1997. I was living with friends in Cali and they set me up with my own AOL screen name on their account. I was Mayv (imagine trying to get a simple name like that without 7 numbers behind it these days). I went into the chatrooms - finding a tats/piercing one particularly interesting. Within 10 minutes of my first time ever being online, some guy had sent me a picture of his pierced dick. This was cool.
I spent the prerequisite first few months of my online life in chatrooms and instant messages whilst surfing the 'net. That quickly got boring - and in my nightly surfing, I decided I wanted a website of my own. So, I sat down and looked up everything I could on HTML and after 12 hours of learning and doing, had my very first website. (Don't laugh) I did all of my HTML work from scratch - until I found purchased my first copy of Macromedia's Dreamweaver; quite possibly the best purchase I've ever made in my life.
I continued to play, and learn, on the computer. I started my own web design business after a few years and, after a rough spot in my life, got a decent job with the state. Okay, it wasn't a decent job - it was crap. I was a data entry clerk making $222 every two weeks. But it wasn't long before they realized I knew a bit about computers - and soon I was spending more time building databases and trouble-shooting than entering data. After a year, I was made an I.T. tech. I love my job - and I've learned a great deal more in my three years as a tech; with more than a few headaches and laughs along the way.
Today I spend my online time working on websites (my own and others), designing graphics, and playing games (any other Everquest or Sims fans out there??). I spend all day at work on the computer, and come home and get right back on. I'm a self-proclaimed computer geek! Though I do have a life outside of my computer (quite an active one, I might add), I'll be the first to admit that I spend *a lot* of time online. This page is my little nod to a large chunk of my life - the world of computers.
On Web Design
I've been designing websites for over nine years now, and have learned a lot along the way. I love it, and have about 30 personal and business sites under my belt. I do most of my own graphics using Adobe Photoshop 7.0, and all of my HTML and CSS is done from scratch. For my javascripts, I use Dynamic Drive religiously. Another essential site when I'm designing is Two4U's Color Page; the big color database with samples is the shiznet. I enjoy surfing the web for interesting websites. I get great ideas by looking at others' designs and layouts, and I've also learned a lot about what not to do.
Here are some things I've seen on websites that makes my skin crawl:
- A black background with magenta or neon green text - it looks god-awful and extremely unprofessional
- Websites using a funky, unreadable font - why wouldn't you want people to be able to read your content?
- When a webmaster massacres the English language - d0OdZ is not a word
- Music - I can't stand music on a webpage; makes it difficult for those of us that secretly surf at work!
- 'Under Construction' signs - a good website is always under construction
- Pages that take forever to load - I don't usually wait (I could practice what I preach on this one, I know)
These are by no means the rules of web design; just a few personal pet peeves. The wonderful thing about a website is the ability it gives to express yourself.
If you'd like to see what other sites I cherish when in a designing snafu, check out my Web Designer Must Bookmark Sites.
To see some of my work, check out my web design site, Scorpion Ink Web Design.
This Geek's PC
My personal computer is custom-built & put together mostly by my boyfriend (another computer geek) with my help. I name all of my pc's after Pagan gods. Computers in the past have been:
- Odin: My first pc; a re-built model given to me by my parents after they upgraded
- Jupiter: My first self-bought pc; a Compaq 5000
- Oghma: My custom-built pc built by my equally-geeky boyfriend
Currently I work on a custom-built desktop computer with a 2gh AMD Athlon™ XP Processor, 2g RAM, and a NVIDIA GeForce™ 6600 (256mb DDR RAM) with two hard drives; 80g & 120g. His name is Mimir. I work, often simultaneously, on my laptop, Hermes, an Acer™ TravelMate 8100.
Geek AND Girl Gamer
As you might have noticed from other parts of this site, I'm also a devoted gamer. I come from a long line of gamers - my entire family has always gamed, and still does. In fact, it isn't odd for my mother or sister to call me up and ask me to help them out on World of Warcraft.
In fact, gaming has always been a part of the family - from board to console and computer games. Our Christmas presents were usually 70% board games that we played together for the rest of the year.
I've gamed since I was young on the family's old Atari 800. I remember hours of Donkey Kong, Dig Dug, Pac-Man and Mrs. Pac-Man, Frogger and Ultima III-Exodus.
I remember my parents staying up for hours playing Ultima together after putting us kids to bed; much like my boyfriend and I log massive hours playing Everquest and World of Warcraft together now.
Over the years I've played on, and owned or shared, a Nintendo, a Nintendo 64, a Playstation, and a PS2. These gaming consoles, and the games I played on them, are times I'll always cherish; any gamer remembers their old console days fondly. Parasite Eve was the first game I ever played on the PS2, and it's still a favorite. My boyfriend remembers the cheat code to enter at the beginning of Nintendo's Contra, for example. Great games; great times.
Though I still enjoy my PS2, most of our gaming time is on the pc. I'm a huge fan of Everquest (playing since 2001), The Sims (playing since 2000) and World of Warcraft. I also enjoy Neverwinter Nights, SimCity 4, and Age of Empires. I'm sure there would be many more, but EQ, Sims and WoW take more than enough of my time.
If you'd like to contact me in-game:
Note: These are just my mains.
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
- Arthur C. Clarke.
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