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About me

Hello,
I'm just some young nerdy dude with an appreciation for older and open source technologies. I've been a computer programmer since before I could properly tie my shoelaces, and I've always been interested in computer programming and in video games. I also have a pechant for math and science, and I'm currently attending college to study for a Physics degree with a minor in Computer Science. I'm also learning how to make my own video games as a side hobby, including 3D modeling, texturing, animation, and more. When I get some things done, I'll promote them here on the site.
I started writing this web site because I realized over time that I enjoy writing. It's satisfying to me to take my thoughts and opinions and to impart them descriptively and expressively for anyone to read. I also like to inform people and write about my knowledge of computer hardware and software and programming, so expect more articles about those sorts of things.

I really like free and open source software, since these kinds of software are made with only good intentions in mind and aren't used to mine data or to pawn it off to advertisers. I also like knowing that the software is very transparent in how it works and what it does, and I also like that most pieces of free software are very small and effecient. These are all the reasons I use Linux as my main OS on all of my computers, with Windows only installed as a backup OS on my gaming computer for when my older brother wants to play Arma with me. I first moved to Linux when I was 13 because I was infuriated with Windows running so slow on the laptop my dad had bought me even though it was a fairly new and nice laptop. I saw a Linux Mint Cinnamon disk lying around my dad's coffee table one day, and I asked about it, and we had it installed alongside Windows 7 on my laptop before the end of the day. The speed of this new OS blew me away, as well as the slick new appearance, and it felt like I was using a shiny new computer. What's more, I could program in Lua on this thing just like on Windows, and I could install Minecraft and Garry's Mod and Team Fortress 2 on it, and I could basically do almost everything I did on Windows with it at the time. I kept Windows around a little while for a few games and the like, but I eventually went full Linux in 2017 or so because I had an even newer laptop with a Core i7 processor and 16 GB of Ram, yet the Windows 8 installation that came with it was still slow as molasses, and I had had enough of it.
I play plenty of video games, but I'm not into super new or mainstream stuff. I've been a PC gamer since I was very young thanks to Roblox, but Garry's Mod was the game that really got me more interested in PC gaming than ever before. I tend to gravitate to older games like Doom and Quake, indie games like Dusk, Devil Daggers, and Not a Hero, and open source games like OpenRA, OpenTTD, Assault Cube, Liero, and Ace of Spades, along all sorts of other games and everything in between. I don't spend $60 on brand new multiplayer titles only to spend even more than that on the DLC, I don't bother with consoles since they're too locked down and don't run any of the games that I'm really interested in, and I don't care too much for games with the latest and greatest graphics since they're usually the games that also spend the most on marketing and that come jam packed with expensive DLC and that aren't always all that much fun. There are exceptions to every rule, though, and I do enjoy a few bigger games like Killing Floor 2, Doom Eternal, Arma 3, and Space Engineers on occasion. Expect my game reviews to focus on more obscure stuff, though. There's a lot of open source and indie stuff out there that I feel really deserves a mention and some love, and the big games usually get tons of attention elsewhere.
A lot of people seem to think that you always need the very latest and greatest hardware to be a PC gamer, and that the main attraction for PC gaming is to treat your PC like a status symbol of the latest and greatest graphics and how much money you have. While I do own a fairly powerful and recent computer, it infuriates me that PC gaming is seen as such an elitist and closed off endeavor with the graphics being the only plus. My philosophy is that PC gaming will always be special to me for the freedom an open platform affords developers and gamers. Many of my favorite games would never be possible on console, and many of my favorite ways to play games wouldn't be possible on a console. None of this has anything to do with cranking up the graphics settings of all my games to the max, and yet it's my main appeal for playing games on PC instead of consoles, and I feel that there's a lot of people missing out on games and gaming experiences they may otherwise enjoy because they write off PC gaming as a rich person hobby for graphics snobs even though it's so much more than that.

Aside from all that, here's a few of my other interests:

Music. I've been playing in my school's orchestra ever since Middle School, and I already play in my college's orchestra, too. I also hope to learn how to compose my own music, mainly for use in my games. I'm a huge soundtrack junkie when it comes to games, and I love a game with a great soundtrack that extra bit more, and I feel that a great soundtrack is one of the most important parts of immersion in a game, even including things like sound effects and sound design.
Exploration. Every time I'm in a new place, I go out and explore it on my own when I have the time. Lots of other freshmen on my college campus got lost on their first day, meanwhile I knew my way around campus because I payed attention to my surroundings instead of blindly following a map on my phone. I used a paper map instead of Google maps because it meant I had to figure out where I was on my own, and it gave me a better perception of my surroundings, and I had a lot of fun exploring my campus. I also like walking around nature, cities, and I like going on long hikes. I remember I walked nearly an hour from my dorm to a local Goodwill just to buy an old 4:3 computer monitor for $10, only to walk back. It wasn't all about the monitor, it was about the journey.
I love thrift shopping and thrifting in general. I like the idea that, if I know what I'm looking for, I can find a product or item to meet my needs for an absurdly low price compared to what other people pay for something that's sometimes inferior, or something that's sometimes overkill. My main college laptop isn't a fancy Macbook or a flashy Gaming laptop or a sleek ultrabook, but instead a humble old business laptop. It's a 2012 Thinkpad X230 I bought for $125, and that I spent an extra $100 adding storage and a battery to, bringing the price up to $225. It's not the newest, thinnest, or flashiest laptop around, but it's got a dated but competent Core i5 with 2 cores and 4 threads, and 4 GB of Ram, and since my needs out of a laptop are actually pretty modest, this laptop is more than enough to get by. Meanwhile, lots of people I know need even less out of a laptop than me, yet they'll pick up a $1500 Macbook or Lenovo or whatever is cool these days to get the job done. Or, other people looking for a $200 laptop will go to walmart and walk out with a flimsy plastic netbook with a Celeron processor and a terrible build quality, all while a good Thinkpad was waiting for them on eBay for the same price. I suppose my laptop isn't quite right for everyone, but I like that I know how to find a good deal for what I need.
I love keeping a positive attitude, striving to improve myself, trying to handle my problems as challenges, and working to become the best version of myself that I can be.

Thanks for reading my about page!