adamjspooner

Greetings and Salutations

August 5, 2007
4:04 PM

Hi, I'm Adam. I could bore you with pointless information about who I am, what I enjoy doing on the weekends, my drink of choice, etc., but that's what about pages are for. So, let's dive right in...

Why Are You Here?

First off, I don't want to sound completely selfish, but this site is for me. Yup, 100% for me. I decided it was time to join the Interwebs, the oh-so-great digital world of storage, and try to learn a thing or two (read: teach myself, stumbling along the way). This is the place where I'll ask you to chip in and help. I'm, what you might call, a learner - one who seeks wisdom and knowledge (or something else heroic sounding). I love to learn, to absorb as much from those who have gone before me and battled the Great Beast called Understanding. I'll often times refer to people by name in seeking their counsel on the subject at hand. So, fear not if you've stumbled upon this little corner of the internet by gazing at your referrer's list in Mint or some other analytics program, for I have sent out a plea for your help. I'll refer to you as a Grand Master. Note: these lists are subject to change... or grow enormously.

May I Have Your Attention Please

Now that my selfishness is blatantly exposed for the world to see, I'd like to present you with a list of goals I've set for myself and the people I'll be calling on for help. This is the "heads up" guys.

Programming Languages

Django - This site is powered by Django. I've been studying it for quite some time now (read: nearly a year), but I must admit I'm no expert. A lot of the questions I'll have will revolve around Python, I'm sure, but it's the fine line between where Python ends and Django begins that I have trouble with. The Grand Masters, in no particular order, shall be: James Bennett, Jeff Croft, Nathan Borror, Jacob Kaplan-Moss, and Adrian Holovaty.

Rails - I'll be frank (cue the pun, you know what I'm talking about...), I don't know much about Rails. What I do know makes me want to know more. I also don't know many Grand Masters. Those I shall emplore: 37signals crew, namely DHH, also Nathan Borror, and Scott Stevenson. Edit: I can't believe I forgot one of the greats, Dan Benjamin.

Cocoa and Objective-C - My background (read: schooling, the few years I've finished) is in C++. I get it. I understand it. I can wrap my head around it. I want to program on the most glorious operating system known to man. Along the way I'll beseech the following Grand Masters: Scott Stevenson, Wil Shipley, Daniel Jalkut, and Gus Mueller.

Design Know-How

First and foremost I'm a programmer. I think analytically, oftentimes a little too much (ask my wife). But I adore the arts, George Costanza anyone? I love, and try to do, sketching, photography, and web design. I'm not, what one might say, good at any of them. I read all that I can on the subjects - namely web/graphic design - and often need advice (read: constructive criticism). The Grand Masters I shall call on are: John Peele, Jeff Croft, Nathan Borror, Jason Santa Maria, Rob Weychert, Khoi Vinh, Mark Boulton, and Joshua Blankenship.

Thanks In Advance

It would be a great stretch of the imagination for me to say that any of these well-known programmers and/or designers would waste their precious time coming to this site and paying two cents. So, we'll call this an experiment of sorts.

Nonetheless, I say thank you in advance for any help or encouragement you offer.