#0 - Introduction Blog Assignment

Welcome to my official CHI blog. I hope to create a number of posts which you may find useful concerning the topic of Human/Computer interactions.

Brian Meyer

Email Address: bmeyer@darksagestudios.com

Class Standing: Senior (4th year)

I am taking this class to gain a deeper understanding of the methodology and potential means by which humans interact with computers and electronic systems. I have a particular interest in UI design and implementation. This course is one I hope will help to expand my knowledge and experience in this area.

I am starting this class having had many jobs in the technology industry over the years. I started right out of high school back in 1992 at a software company owned by my friend's father. While there, I worked doing QA testing of the software products, customer service and technical support, and design and development of new products using the common code developed for it. In the spring of 1996, I left there and took a job for the game publisher and developer Interplay Productions (later called Interplay Entertainment) in the technical support division. I was there for just over two years and then transferred to the company's OEM division, where I focused on QA testing of software/hardware bundles being prepared for deals, such as the Descent: Freespace 10-level demo with the Thrustmaster joystick.

Since then, I have worked for Verizon Superpages.com creating and modifying client ads, a bank called First Command migrating records from distributed databases into a centralized Citrix environment, and as a PC technician at a computer repair shop. My most recent job has been with Capsher Technology here in College Station for the past three years as a software developer.

Over the years, I have had the opportunity to develop software using Pascal, C#, C++, Java, PERL, HTML, CSS, Javascript, VBscript, PHP, and SQL. I am currently most proficient in C#, Java, and C++. I have experience working with ASP.NET and AJAX.

Ten years from now, I plan to be working for my own start-up company, Dark Sage Studios. Over the last several months, I have been slowly working on getting the basic infrastructure in place for this to happen. I would like to be developing video games, audio drama podcasts, web comics, and returning to independent film making. I have had assistance producing possibly the most epic "Coming Soon" web site ever at http://www.darksagestudios.com/.

I think that one of the next big advancements in computer science will be the proliferation of mobile computing devices. Being a democratic society, we enjoy our freedom of movement. We travel with our cell phones and our iPads or similar tablet computers. We have GPS units in our cars to help us not to get lost, at least most of the time. We have laptop computers we take to class just to take notes, or ignore the professor and play Plants vs. Zombies. As such, mobile computing devices are set to expand at an ever increasing rate.

If I had the capability to travel back in time, I think I would like to meet myself and let myself know a few things not to do. Outside of myself, I think I would like to meet Jimi Hendrix or Stevie Ray Vaughn and see if there was any way I could get into a deep jam session with them. Humorously, I would like to visit Doc Brown and Marty McFly to warn them of the perils of time travel.

When it comes to mustache style, I tend to be a Burt Reynolds aficionado. If you analyze what he was able to do to promote mustache advocacy in the 1970s alone, you will see that he was one of the most prolific contributors to this ever expanding field of study. Plus, as a celebrity, he chose to present many definitive variations over the intervening years. A close competitor to him is Tom Selick. Look it up, kids!

I have studied Japanese here at A&M for 2 years, but still feel that I am not completely as fluent as I could be. Yet, I would still love to become fluent in Chinese, German, French, and Italian as well. At the very least, it would be nice to achieve a conversational level in each of these languages. If I were more of a geek, I think I would have had to say Klingon.

I grew up watching Star Trek and Monty Python, which is why my mind is so warped. I am more of a creative force than a technical one, but I can wade in both pools. Love is a gift love to give as well as receive, and I think most people procrastinate on this more than they should. Don't stress and enjoy the moments you have. As a wise man once noted, life is what happens when you are busy making other plans. Thanks, John. You are terribly missed.