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I am a product of technology.
From what I have been told I am a product of reproductive technology. I guess you could say I first came into existence in a petri dish. -
First plane trip
I was too young to remember any details, but my family took a trip to visit my grandparents in florida. This would be my first exposure to the airplane and the technologies of the airport such as the baggage check, etc. -
Played bricks on an original mac
My family had one of the original macs in the kitchen, but nobody ever used it because they had other, more recent macs or PCs. Occasionally I would play bricks on the old mac. I was only 4 so I was far from an expert. -
Watched disney movies on VHS almost every day
I'm pretty sure that I watched VHS tapes so much that I learned how to control the VCR: how to rewind, fast forward, stop, play, etc. I considered the video player one of my toys. -
Used computers in kindergarten class
We used older mac computers to play games with in computer class. The games were unfamiliar to me, but computers were not at this point. -
First experience with playing video games on Super Nintendo
Being that this was a new experience for me, I did not understand that you solely had to press buttons to make the car turn on Mario Kart. I used to tilt my body and turn the controller as I would push the buttons. -
Learned how to type
I may have actually first learned prior to this time, but I used a Mario "Learn to Type" program on a Gateway computer. We also used Mavis Beacon in computer class at school. I remember it being difficult because my fingers were small. -
First experience with non-land line phone
My family had a DC powered car phone (in my Dad's car). I remember it being cumbersome and unreliable. In fact, I do not think my brother or I had the number for it because it wasn't that functional (it often did not get reception on car trips). My dad would use it to call home if he had been traveling, but I remember playing with it without the phone being on. -
Began to dislike having photos taken of myself
After a family reunion event, I refused to have photos or videos taken of myself. I liked being behind the technology, but not the object of it. When my parents would take photos I would beg for them to allow me to take a picture. However, I found it strange to have a record of myself at various points in time. My family members sure liked to take A LOT of photos. -
Received my first e-mail address
At about this time I believe I signed up for my first e-mail address, which was hosted at a website about Ty stuffed animals. I wrote to family members in addition to receiving random spam and undesired emails about beanie babies. I had to ask permission to get the email address, but my parents did not monitor the account. -
First experience with a digital camera
The camera was a bulky, Sony camera. I remember liking that I could see the photos on the display screen after I took them. My mom would not let me play around with the camera too much so I only used the basic functions and took pictures of things like my cat and our house. -
First digital watch
It was one of those programmable Baby-G watches. I remember it being big for my wrist and always having difficulty adjusting the time, the stopwatch, or the alarm. -
Visited art museums in London and Paris
Including the musee d'orsay and the lourve. We may have gone to Tate in London, but it might have been a different museum. I remember various paintings and scultpures "looking cool" but drew little from the experience. I could only recognize famous pieces of work and names like the Mona Lisa and Picasso. -
Visited Czech art museums
I remember not enjoying the art museums in Prague as much as in London or France. Specifically, I remember going to a Jewish Art museum. I could not recognize any of the artists or works there, and felt like I was being forced into learning about my ancestors. -
First experience with a mobile phone
My cousin's nokia phone did not have a color LCD and was very brick-like. She taught me to play Snake on the phone and I remember exploring the other features as well. -
Started to teach myself HTML
Using internet resources, I taught myself HTML. I found it hard to remember at first. I often referenced online sources instead of recalling from memory. My interest was spurred by my brother creating a website with his friend (stuph4u.com). Even though he was 6 years older and in high school, I wanted to be able to create my own website, too. -
Created my first website
Using HTML that I taught myself I made a primitive website. I used it to display pictures of my cat. -
First experience with photoshop
Photoshop 5 (or 6?) existed on my family's Dell computer, so I opened it one day and found myself completely baffled as to how to use it. I only made a basic drawing with it. -
Established understanding of CSS in relation to HTML
Prior to this I only used HTML attributes to change my code. Around this point in time I taught myself CSS to change the appearance of the HTML code I was producing. CSS was challenging and I often followed online models. -
First laptop: my father's old laptop
Everyone else in the family had a computer to use and my brother usually refused to share the "family" computer. Thus, my father cleaned out one of his old laptops from work and gave it to me. I used it for the internet, gaming, storing photos, and communicating with friends and family. I was a big fan of exploring Yahoo! and its various sections at the time. -
First graphing calculator experience
It was definitely confusing to use a graphing calculator for the first time. There were far more buttons than I was used to, but in math class we learned to use them. It made life a lot easier to havea graphing calculator than to draw graphs by hand and calculate x-values. -
First experience with an iPod
I was a huge fan of the actual spinning wheel of one of the original generation iPods, but remember being frusterated that the system froze all the time. Primarily I listened to mix CDs that had been given to me as gifts, but I soon learned to download songs from Kazaa. Downloading music lead to my interest in rock music since I would download rock songs that were mentioned on the internet. -
First experience with a digital video camera
Sony digicam used in school to make videos with iMovie. Specifically , for my Language Arts class we made our own commercial for a hair dryer. The movie had a lot of slow-motion and special effects (kids love those cheesy iMovie effects). "September" played in the background. -
First cell-phone
The phone was a basic Samsung model. It had a color screen, which was a recent development at the time. It did not have a camera. I received the phone prior to my parents divorce to communicate with them about things such as why they were an hour late for picking me up from school, or if they could come home when I forgot my key. At this point in time I did not text message much, but I found the phone to be a necessity to get in touch with my parents. -
My first mac computer, received as a birthday present
This was one of the macs with the rotating screen that was attached to a bubble-like base. I seldom used it because it was not portable, and I considered myself a PC person at the time (I was simply unfamiliar with how to use Macs). -
Received my first iPod
This was my first experience with a non-wheel based iPod. I loved the touch buttons of the iPod and the fairly continuous scrolling that the circular navigation provided. -
Created a sports action video project
Using a digital video camera, iMovie and iDVD my neighbors and I created a short film about her little brother rollerblading. -
First SLR camera/sparked interest in photography
A hand-me-down Minolta SLR got me started in photography. I did not know much about aperture, shutter speed, ISO, etc. at the time, but learned quickly using online resources (got to love the Internet!) I liked the feel of physically adjusting the zoom compared to the zoom on digital cameras. Using the film SLR felt more natural. I tried to be creative with different angles when I took photos of flowers. Lots of photos with flowers. -
Started to use online message boards
One of the great things about the world wide web is the ability to communicate with others that have the same interest but are from different areas of the globe. Specifically I joined a snowboarding messageboard. The person who taught me to snowboard was an excellent teacher and so I thought I could help others who were beginning while simultaneously getting advice on how to improve. Since then I've made a lot of contacts in the snow sports industry, but do not use message boards often anymore. -
Took a screen printing class
Created several pieces of art using screen printing techniques taught at high school. Each print had its own character since it was difficult to perfectly reproduce the design each time. -
Programmed my graphing calculator to draw a pirate ship
As part of a linear programming project in math, I used solely mathematical functions and the caveats of the graphing calculator to create a pirate ship drawing when the program ran. I became obsessed with drawing things on the calculator and creating calculator programs that typed sentences on the screen. -
Created first website for Shred Betties e-magazine
My first time using dreamweaver for a commercial website. I taught myself how to use the program. -
Took a desktop publishing class
In the class we learned to use Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop to create various projects. Unlike most people in my class, I liked illustrator for its vector-based drawing. The smooth lines appealed to me and I eventually used a Wacom tablet to play with lines in Illustrator. -
First smartphone/smartphone experience
Using the Blackberry Platform. Difficult to get accustomed to, but I found it necessary to receive email on my phone. By this point I was a more active text messager, but my parents did not know how to text. Instead, they would send me emails all throughout the day. Also, I felt I would need to be able to receive email throughout the day when I was at school to stay connected/in-the-know. I hated coming home to a ton of unread emails in high school. -
First exposure to lomography
I came across lomography on the internet and fell in love with the style of the photos people were producing - the saturated colors and fading that were reminiscent of older photographs. I often explored a lot of the photos people were putting out there, but unfortunately never bought my own camera for the task. There were a lot of unique ways people were dabbling in this photography style. -
Created website for a book on marketing principles at my summer job
Using the Adobe suite I created the book's first website. -
First mac laptop: a MacBook Pro
I had been mainly a PC user prior to this point so it took some time to become accustomed to the Mac interface and system. I chose a MacBook Pro to better run the Adobe Suite of programs. -
Finished my first interactive flash animation
As part of an independent project in high school I taught myself flash and made a small animation of a snowboarder with clickable buttons, etc. -
Created my first HDR image
Using a camera and photoshop at high school I created my first high dynamic range image. This was in my spare time since I could not get into a photography class at school. The photo was not perfect but I liked the way HDR images captured all the minute details of a scene. Once again, I used an online tutorial to teach me how to go about creating HDR images. -
Worked with a CMS for the first time in creating Shred Betties' second website
Used ExpressionEngine. It was more intuitive than drupal, another CMS that I had tried to figure out. I liked the blog format of it better than other content systems. I even suggested the CMS for a co-workers side venture and did some freelance work for him on ExpressionEngine. -
Experienced and photographed Wellington, New Zealand's art on the waterfront
The harbour of Wellington is lined with statues and designed spaces. It was the first time that I remember being cognizant of art incorporated into a public space. Much of the art was related to the city of Wellington itself and the waterfront. Overall, it drew me into the space, leading me along the water. In fact, that art is one of the main reasons I feel nostalgia for my time spent there. -
Took Art in the City class
Following my experience with art in public spaces in New Zealand, I took this class to find out more about city forms and public art. It was really interesting to see how urban planning itself can be a form of art and controls the urban experience through axes and statues, etc. -
Learned how to throw pottery for the first time
My roommate taught me how to throw pottery on the wheel. I found it to be a lot harder than it looks but have since made a lot of progress. I like the earthy and very tangible feel of doing pottery. It takes patience and caution and what I create cannot solely be done with the click of a button. Each piece is unique. -
Lego Robotics class
Programmed robots that could perform different functions such as following a line, following lights, collecting ping pong balls, shooting ping pong balls, and steering. I took the class partly because I am interested in prosthetics and robotic appendages. It's fascinating how far technology has come that people can control robotic hands with their thoughts.