About the Author

I am very odd. One day, I hope to one-up myself and get even.

Thanks for taking the time to learn a little about me.

Overview

I’m currently self-employed at my own web development firm Representation Design (Ironically, I don’t have a web site up for that because I’ve been swamped with other projects). I know C++, Java, PHP, JavaScript, CSS, & XHTML. I’m currently learning Python, Ruby, and Scala. I’ve been given an account for Google’s AppEngine (world watch out!). I’m also looking into building applications that run in the cloud. I am thinking about diversifying my services beyond web development.

I have experience in Information Technology and am currently freelancing. I also specialize in removing malware and optimizing system performance (lots of windows registry hacks).

I have been Lead Audio Engineer for the Oregon State University Grassroots Learning Project. I have edited and mastered several high profile podcasts, including podcasts with: Jeff Howe (yet to be released), an editor for Wired Magazine; Peter Diamandis, founder of the X-Prize Foundation; and Carl Weiman, 2001 Nobel Laureate in physics (Condensed matter physics, he and two other physicists created the first Bose-Einstein condensate).
You can find these podcasts and more on iTunes U at OSU.

I ran the PA over at FireWorks Restaurant & Bar. I’ve since freed myself from that. I’m am still open to running sound for any event or special occasion.

I tried to be self-employed doing music education. But It was really a flop. The population isn’t large enough in Corvallis, OR to achieve a critical mass. I did, however, learn a lot through that.

At the moment I am looking at preliminary research for a two possible ventures: a point of sale system and a new way of looking at books (think interactive media). I am really liking the idea of making tools to manage creativity in the business process.

Bio

A little over two decades ago, I was born in Sacramento, California (I guess I gave away my age). I lived there until McClellan Air Force Base was going to be privatized starting circa 1997. My father, being a civilian federal employee, was given the option of retiring or relocating. He found a job in the States at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City, OK. I only stayed with them for two years. I left home at 15.8 years of age to go to a boarding high school in the small town of Shelton, NE for four years. After I graduated, I attended college in Lincoln, NE. I eventually moved to Corvallis, Oregon. That’s my life in a nutshell.

My mother is from Veracruz, Mexico and my father is from Oakland, CA. Which could easily make me full blooded Mexican, but I’m only half. To make it seem like I have a less Mexican heritage, my DNA recombined in a way that makes my mother’s Mestizo genes merge with my father’s Cherokee and Choctaw genes, and then I retain the hints of French, Spanish, Irish, Sottish, English, Austrian, and whatever else there may be in my genes. Other notable family history would be that my great-grandfather W.W. Terry, a sheriff in Nebraska, was friends with William F. Cody and Red Cloud. Also, I am a fifth generation decendant of Agustín Lara.

Travels

Throughout my stay in Nebraska I was able to tour the Midwestern States with the music groups I was involved in. I have been to every state in the Midwest, except Wisconsin, for at least a day. I have also been to all the Western States and Texas. I have travelled to Mexico to visit my maternal relatives. I have been to Victoria, B.C., Canada on a family trip. I have also been to Nassau in the Bahamas for a tour that combined the college’s vocal octet (that included me) and gymnastics team (we had separate engagements).

Interests

My favourite things deal with music, mathematics, computers, electronics, crafts, and people. They also spread out into any related field. Sometimes I find myself thinking about sociology when I started thinking about physics. The fields that interest me the most are mathematics (any and all kinds, recently it has been representation theory), neural networks, and robotics. I also like to poke my head into education every now and again, I might actually get a degree in that field.

Education and Life Goals

While I was attending college in Nebraska, I studied Music Education. The next year, I studied Computer Science. And for my final year there, I studied Theology. Then I went on hiatus. When the timing is right I will probably attend Oregon State University and finish my degree in education with a minor in CS. Then I will study Mathematics in graduate school. I’ll throw in a little physics, sociology, neurology, and business. Then I’ll run for mayor of Corvallis. Perhaps I’ll run for the President of the United States afterwards (I’ll finally be old enough then). Actually, I really want to affect people to make a great effect on society. I have the energy and determination to try to change the world to make it a better place.

Trivia

Languages I know a lot of grammar for:

English, Classical and Koine Greek

Languages I know a little grammar for:

Latin, Spanish, Italian

Languages I have no business putting here except that I can pronounce their written form and possibly understand a little(I can always look up a table to parse the words):

German & Hebrew

Some books that interest me are:

The Art of the Start, Consumed, The Rest Is Noise, Why Education Is Useless, Guns Germs & Steel, The Tipping Point, The Trouble with Physics, The New Humanists, Doctor Euler’s Fabulous Formula, God Created the Integers, The Mind In the Net, The Mindful Brain, Synaptic Self, On Intelligence, How To Build a Mind, Wider than the Sky, The New Brain, Gödel Escher & Bach, Collapse, God Laughs & Plays

Some music groups and musicians that stroke my muse (in no order whatsoever) are (and this is an incomplete list!):

Chanticleer, Muse, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Dave Mathews, BR6, Augustin Lara(my great, great, great, great, grandfather), Frou Frou, Imogen Heap, Josh Groban, Tally Hall, Dave Koz, The Killers, Gotan Project, Afro Celt Sound System, Kronos Quartet, Jack Johnson, Bobby McFerrin, Five for Fighting, Anuna, Cake, Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, The Postal Service, Keane, Pink Martini, Sigur Ros, Simon and Garfunkel, The Tallis Scholars, Mates of State, The Sixteen, Kraftwerk, Continuous Mode, Massive in Mensch, Milton Nascimento, Single Cell Orchestra, John Serrie, Dictaphone, Jason Mraz, Broker Dealer, Phish, Duran Duran, Evanescence, Beta Band, Amberlin, Metallica, Eagle Seagull, Shades of Amber, Nightwish, Dave Matthews, Vast, Goo Goo Dolls, Vertical Horizon, Feist, The Fray, The Magnetic Fields, Further Seems Forever, Eels, Emmy Rossum, Bob Marley, Silver Tones, Dave Brubeck Quartet, Stile Antico, Emerson String Quartet, Vocal Essence Ensemble Singers, Tangerine Dream, Dale Warland Singers, Death Cab for Cutie, The Concordia College Choir, St. Olaf Choir, The Album Leaf, Interpol, Franz Ferdinand, Cirque du Soleil, Pinback, The Beatles, T.A.T.U., Crystal Method, Smashmouth, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Pink Floyd, Nasciemento, Maroon 5, Metallica, Manhattan Transfer, Mannheim Steamroller, Linkin Park, Lifehouse, Led Zeppelin, John Mayer, John Denver, Frank Sinatra, Evanescence, Gabriel Anandas, Enya, Eagles, Coldplay, Bobby McFerrin, ATB, J.S. Bach, Bjork, Osvaldo Golijov