mike-arbelaez.com
Contents
mike-arbelaez.com¶
Welcome to my small corner-store-esque part of the internet. If you happen to stick around to buy a soda and want to crack open a conversation that is always welcome.
I’ve been doing something with computers ever since my dad brought home a x386 Packard Bell Computer. I remember vividly installing games that took multiple rectangular floppy disks. I continued to remain interested in video gaming and computers through many more upgrades. I also remember many long hours restoring my computer due to tinkering. This was a valuable lesson, you have to break a few OSes to make an omlete.
Soon I would ride a tidal wave of technology changes. The rise of the internet led me to eventually teach myself Visual Basic and the basics of the web with HTML 1.0. There were other cool things that popped up around this time like Dreamweaver, Javascript applets, and mp3s – to name a few. No one at this time knew that Javascript was about to take the internet by storm.
Today, I’m an Engineering Manager at OpenStax.org. After a long career in technology, I’ve gained a deeper appreciation for what it has ultimately offered me. It’s easy to get distracted by the technology and lose the meaning of the interactions that it creates between people. At the end of the day, technology is about people. I stand by the idea that if you take care of the people, they will take care of the technology.
Fun Fact
The same day my dad brought home the computer was the same day I learned about chess. I first watched my dad and uncle play each other in the video game Battlechess! I was blown away. I immediately had them teach me and I continued to play the AI non-stop. It was really awkward to play on a real board – when I finally did.