Chris Patterson
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| How did you personally get into using the Macintosh family of computers? |
My first job out of college was with a small contract programming firm in Fort Wayne, IN, which happened to have one Mac SE in the office. I stayed late after work to play with HyperCard and got hooked. Soon I was the administrator of a network of Macs in the office and wanted to start writing software, which led to the job in Schaumburg. | |
| Status: | Big time geek! | |
First Mac:
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That first employer bought me an SE/30 to keep at home, but the first Mac I sank my own money into was the original Mac LC. Still have it! | |
Current Mac:
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PowerCenter 120 upgraded with a 240MHz G3 card. | |
| When did you get your first modem? | Oh man -- long before my first Mac! It was a 300 baud Radio Shack modem I used with my CoCo 2! Must have been in 1985 or so? | |
| Who did you call first? | Probably the old Delphi online service -- they had a good CoCo forum. | |
| Present Occupation: | NetCloak Product Manager and programmer for Maxum Development Corp. | |
| Claim to Fame: | Author of shareware app called "Stapler" in 1991, and wrote a WebSTAR imagemap plug-in called "SmartMap" for Digital Prairie in 1997. Other than that, this is as "famous" as I get! | |
| Dream Job: | Working with a great team of Macintosh developers located here in my family's home town of Indianapolis. (Yeah, as if *that's* gonna happen!) |
| Not So Random Thoughts... | |||
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| Was there ever a time in your life that you had to "Think Different?" What was the situation and what did you do? | |||
| When I left Fort Wayne, I turned down a permanent position from my client which was almost *double* my then-current salary, and moved to a new city where I knew absolutely no one, so that I could pursue a career in Mac software development. | |||
| How has using the Macintosh computer changed your life? | |||
| Oh man, I can't even imagine what my life would be like had I not sat down and played with Hypercard back in '87. It would be *totally* different! I suppose I would have some *other* professional burning passion, but I'll be durned if I know what it would be... | |||
| What is the weirdest thing in your office right now? | |||
| I'll let you decide: - a StarNine miniature rubber brain - a Tiger Electronics Darth Vader voice modulator - a Mattel Electronics Hockey game (circa 1978) |
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| My Passions are: | |||
| The Macintosh, Star Trek (did I mention I was a geek?), Rush (the rock group), and good movies. | |||
| If you could have dinner with one person dead or alive who would that person be and what would you ask them? | |||
| Neil Peart (drummer for Rush) -- I suppose I'd ask for drum lessons! Robert Heinlein -- So, what did you think of the "Starship Troopers" movie? |
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| Do you play a musical instrument and/or are you in a band? | |||
| *ANswer | |||
| When I grow up I want to be: | |||
| A wealthy old coot that flirts with his nurses! | |||
| The question never asked: | |||
| Why don't they just put a battery into all @%*#! VCRs so NO ONE needs to learn how to reset the clock?? |
| Just The Facts, Please... | ||||
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| Biographical Tidbits: | First word : "Batman" First pet : Muff, a dog First album : Kansas, "Leftoverture" First girlfriend: Lori Gary First concert : Styx, "Paradise Theater" First car : '72 Dodge Dart First computer : Tandy Color Computer 2 First job : Busboy at Mac's Steakhouse |
Education: | BSEE '87 Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, MBA '96 Northwestern University |
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| Location at Birth: | Greenfield, IN | Current Location: | Indianapolis, IN | |
| Where you've been in between: |
Have lived in Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, Terre Haute (IN), San Antonio (TX), Colorado Springs (CO), and Palatine (IL). Have traveled as far west as Honolulu, and as far east as London. | Astrological Sign: | Taurus | |
| Available? | Married | Chat Nick: | Don't chat -- I just don't see the attraction. | |
| Favorite Books: | Star Trek novels or just about anything by Heinlein, Asimov, or Orson Scott Card. | Favorite Music or Band: | Hard rock. Rush, in particular -- can't listen to "Natural Science" without breaking a sweat! | |
| Favorite Food: | Pizza, lasagna, and Ben & Jerry's "Chubby Hubby". Mmmmmmmmmmm. | Cat or Dog Person: | Definitely a cat person. Can't stand dogs. When I want a pet's attention, I'll ask for it. Otherwise, stay the hell out of my way. Cats think the same thing about us, so we get along well. Unfortunately, my wife just developed an allergy to them. | |
| Chris' Personal Web Site | |
| Chris' Professional Web Site (Maxum) | |
| Favorite Web Site: | MacSurfer |
| "Tao?" "Nah, I prefer to drip-dry." | |
Created Tuesday, August 25, 1998, 7:00 AM; Edited: 11/18/98