About Me:

This is going to be a fairly long post. Unlike most people who slap a few sentences together on their “About Me” pages, giving you a very vague idea of who they are….. I have more than just a few sentences to say about myself. If you actually read all of this, you will learn a bit about me.

So get a drink and kick back for a minute cuz this may take a little while.

First, let me say that I’m a fairly blunt person and I don’t always censor myself (in fact, I usually don’t). So if you are one of those types of people that are offended easily, my sites and newsletter(s) probably are not for you. That said, the following isn’t profane or anything like that. It’s just a bit of information about me. Ok, now that that’s out of the way.

Lets start with the fact that I’ve had a love of computers most of my life. My family got our first computer (A Tandy 64K) when I was in the 4th grade. When my Dad plugged it in and it didn’t work, he was ready to take it back to Radio Shack for a refund.

It came with a book about as thick as a telephone book. My parents did NOT have the patience to read it and figure out how the thing worked. But I begged them to let me keep it and I would figure it out. No one believed I could/would actually do it. But they gave me 30 days (to still be within the refund policy, most likely).

So I read the book day & night & learned how to code the operating system myself. It took me a little over 2 weeks. It was awesome. Everyone was so proud of me when I finally made it work. I even learned how to make crude games with crude “music”. It was really cool. I loved it.

Unfortunately, I eventually outgrew the capabilities of that machine (although, I’m pretty sure I still have it to this day up in the attic) and I never could convice my parents to get a new one. They really couldn’t see the benefit of it at the time. No matter how hard I
tried to convince them how great it would be to have a decent computer, they weren’t buying it.

It was somewhate annoying cuz I knew that both of my parents could REALLY benefit from have a computer since they both ran their own businesses.

Using them in school, I could see that it would be a good way for them to keep track of their business records. But they couldn’t “see” it since they were never around them and didn’t understand them.

So we were stuck with the old Tandy 64K. So I had to figure out how to extend it and add more memory. While pondering it one night while I was typing away, making some new “game” or “animation” or “tune” (or combination of the 3) it just came to me. Problem was, I knew I couldn’t save all the code. I had run out of space. But I had I seen there was a place to plug something into the back of the keyboard.

I remembered an old tape recorder we had that came with wires. So I dug it out, hooked the wires to the recorder and then to the computer and was able to save data to the tapes. I was
awesome!

But still way too limited in the long run and I eventually grew bored with it. I didn’t have another computer until sometime in 1995.

However, I did take Computer Programming at a VoTech School my Jr. and Sr. year of high school from 1990 – 1992. I started the 2 year course 2 weeks into the 2nd semester of my Jr. year. I was told the only way I could sign up is if I agreed to make up all of the first semesters’ course in order for me to get credit for the class. I took on the challenge. Within 2 weeks, I was caught up with the rest of the class and awaiting a new assignment.

But that was long ago and now I’m currently in the process of getting all of my Software back on my newest computer (which I purchased at the pawn shop). My old hard drive crashed and I lost a lot of information. However, I was able to extract some of the data and just haven’t put everything back together yet.

Most of my web editing tools and graphics editors aren’t currently installed. But I’m getting there, slowly but surely. And now that I’m laid off from my landscaping job (just for the winter), I will have more time to focus on my online endeavors.

I guess I should also mention that I’m a website & software developer and have dabbled in XML, CSS, AJAX, JavaScript, PHP, HTML, DHTML, vbScript, cgi, python, etc. I may not be an expert in programming, but I do have a very good understanding of how it all works and am
constantly learning more each day. I’m also planning on reading up on Assembly, which is like machine code. So apps made in Assembly are usually smaller in size, consuming less resources, running a lot Faster. I would also like to learn C#, C++, Visual Basic and well, a few other programming languages. It’s hard to keep up with everything I would LIKE to do.

Doing TONS of script installations and customizations is basically how and why I got started learning the various different web development languages. You see, when trying to make a custom website, no single script does everything you (or your client) will want it to do. So you end up needing to hire someone to add stuff for you, purchase other scripts and try to make them work together, or learn how to do it yourself. I’ve used a combination of the three. And my favorite way, is to simply learn how to do the stuff myself. Notice, I did NOT say the EASIEST way. LOL

It hasn’t always been easy, but as I learn more the easier it becomes. Over the years more and more scripting languages have been popping up. This means learning more and for me, led to wanting to learn how to make Desktop Software. Which is why I want to learn C#, C++, Visual Basic, Delphi, Python and/or Assembly.

But that’s not all, I’m also interested in graphics, animation, flash, 3D modeling, gaming
and well, most things that have to do with imaging/graphic arts. My newest goal is to learn how to create flash games and eventually 3D games. Stay tuned for more on this. I’ve already found some great FREEWARE to get me started.

Over the years, I’ve also run and/or helped run dedicated servers, semi-dedicated servers and a couple of web hosting companies. It can be fun and it’s definately educational. But it can also be stressful and very difficult.

Believe it or not, I’ve even helped some of the Internet Marketing Gurus in one way or another over the years. I’ve bartered my products and services in exchange for their products or services in the form of Diamond Level memberships, exclusive access to certain products or services, Source Code Rights, Resale Rights, Software, etc. You may be surprised at how much stuff I’ve gotten for free over the years that others are paying good money for, simply by offering a helping hand. Be nice to people and they will usually be nice back.

I’ve also done a good bit of internet marketing and website design consulting over the years.
However, I never really tried to make a business out of it. I simply enjoy helping people.
I’ve run and/or helped to run several viral marketing sites and freegiveaway sites. Have been a moderator for several forums and have offered customer support services for other people’s products and services.

All in all, I’ve done quite a bit over the years and have enjoyed the vast majority of it.

However, there were a few times through the years where I was pulled away from the internet to focus on my own personal, familial and spiritual needs. I stayed offline for almost 2 full years. Lost about a dozen domain names and most of the content on them. I felt devestated at first, but then I saw the beauty in it all. A Fresh Start. A New Focus.

Now, I can start fresh w/o all of the clutter that had been stacking up and cluttering my hard drive and servers over the last 10 years or so. A clean slate so-to-speak.

Time to move forward instead of being stuck in a rut. Well, with all that said, I think I’ll go ahead and post this now. Hopefully, this helps you get a pretty good idea of who I am.

Peace & Proseprity,
Love & Light,
Matt Fulger