The really short version…

  • I’m a web-based software developer with a background (mostly) in PHP and Java w/ MySQL and/or PostgreSQL on Linux/FreeBSD/Mac OS X. I’ve done some ColdFusion (yuck!) and Python programming as well. Currently messing around with various Ruby and Python web frameworks (Rails, Django, web.py, etc.) in my spare time. See my resume for more details.
  • I work at PIER Systems.
  • I live in Bellingham, WA.
  • You can read about my family and personal life over at The Life and Times of the Watters Family.

What’s this all about?

You’ll notice if you spend any amount of time poking around the site, much of what is posted here is simply quotes/links to other sites. Periodically (usually weekly) I’ll try to write something that is at least somewhat original. The rest of the stuff here is to act as a sort of “what I’m reading/thinking about”, at least with regard to the subset of topics that I cover here, which are mostly technology and software (with the occasional riff on religion and/or politics). Generally, if I quote someone here, it’s because I at least mostly agree with what they’re saying. If I disagree, I’ll note it.

Who the heck are you?

I am a 6 ft. 2 in. white male living and working in Bellingham, Washington.

I was born in Eugene, Oregon and lived there until the age of four. I spent the next seven years of my childhood in Nevada County, California. At age eleven, my family moved to Bellingham, and I’ve lived here ever since.

I repeated the first grade because I “couldn’t sit still and pay attention.” I later graduated from high school a year early, so I guess it all evened out in the end. I went on to the University of Washington with the idea that I would study computer engineering. However, I preferred MUDding over going to class, which didn’t exactly do wonders for my academic performance.

Having achieved the distinguished honor of being placed on academic probation, I decided not to waste any more of my parents hard-earned money the following fall. Instead, I bummed around for six months or so before finally getting my first “real job” in December 1997 as the MIS department “flunky” for a local barcode/data collection company. After spending the bulk of the time since then handling all of the myriad technology needs for a top-notch interactive design firm, I now work for a growing communication software company. Feel free to check out my resume for a more complete picture.

I met my wife, Betsy, at church in 1989 when I was in the fourth grade (she was in sixth). In January 1995, we became fast friends and started dating not long thereafter. We were married July 18, 1998. We have two wonderful boys, Sean and Caleb. You can read more about them at the blog we (mostly Betsy) maintains for family stuff: The Life And Times Of The Watters Family.

Check out the initial post for some background about why I started this blog.

Do you ever edit posts after you’ve posted them?

Absolutely!

I solemnly swear never to change the core meaning of a post, but if I think some of the wording is awkward or that a particular paragraph distracts from the core of the post, I reserve the right to edit it. The purpose of each post is to communicate accurately what I’m thinking. If I do a poor job of that, I’m going to fix it as often as it makes sense (to me) to do so.

Now, there are various ways in which I can “fix” it. For small tweaks, or for edits within an hour or two of posting, it’s probably best that I just edit the original post. If a post already has comments, maybe an additional post is in order. Or, another alternative may be to just redact (with a strike-through) some portion of the text. That way people can still see it, but know that I no longer intend it to be a portion of the text.

In any case, I’ll pick the one that I think is the most sense. If, for some reason, you don’t like my choice, feel free to comment about it. I generally approve all non-spam comments, and I’m happy to approve those that criticize me or the site. Comments mean people are reading, and I’d be just tickled to have people reading at all.

This blog was started in 2006. Aren’t you coming to the game a little late?

Sort of. In the strict sense, blogs are as old as the web itself, and I’ve been publishing on the web since 1994. Blogs, per se, started getting pub in mainstream media at least as far back as 1999. I started blogging in the accepted sense in 2003. So yes, in a way, I was late to the game, but not as late as it appears.