T w e n t y S i d e d

I know I promised the autoblography thing was over and I hope this post doesn’t have the awkwardness of an overlong goodbye. I thought I’d post one last photo to finish things off. If I’d been thinking, I would have put this at the end of part #39. This is a picture of the family, taken just a few weeks ago at Angela and Daniel’s wedding:

Back row, from left:

My sister Ruthie, who was born back in part 12. See? She’s no longer a baby.

Shawnee and Patrick. That’s right, the Epic Mullet is long, long gone. She seems to love him anyway, bless her.

Myself and Heather. No, I don’t know why I have Jonny Bravo hair. I think that’s actually cleverly disguised hat hair.

My daughter Rachel. She turned 13 earlier this year.

Front row, from left:

My Daughter Esther.

Mom, who you might recognize from the comments around here, under the name “Mom”.

Angela and Dan. Dan was born back in Part 18.

Stepdad Dave, who was also introduced in part 12.

My son Issac.

Okay. That’s enough about me for a long, long time. The autoblography is over and it’s time to get back to work on the ten thousand other things that popped up while I was writing this monster.

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.

Looking back on my school career, I see that the vast majority of the hours I spent in school were squandered. Most classes washed over me with no effect. I listened to the lecture, took the test, passed, and then never thought about the material again. For many classes, I have no memory of the lessons and it’s as if I never set foot in the classroom. I still retain some learning in a few subjects, although these were things that captured my interest at the time. I likely could have learned them without attending school, and perhaps bought the lessons with less pain.

The point is, I could have dropped out of school after sixth grade and it would not have impaired my abilities with regards to my career in the slightest. I suspect this is true for a lot of other people as well.

This is not to say that education is bad or that people shouldn’t get a diploma, only that getting a diploma is not for everyone, and that we should not have a narrow view on what education is and how it should work. A large portion of my grandparent’s generation dropped out long before graduation, and those folks did fine. They went on to hold down careers, start businesses, and even invent things without the benefit of a diploma. You might say, “Those were different times, and people didn’t need as much education back then.” Okay then, how do we explain my situation, where I was pretty much on the cutting edge of technology?

Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Autoblography Part 40: A Word On Education”

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.

Heather and I are engaged. We plan to marry as soon as she’s done with school. I should probably leave this virtual worlds business and find something more stable.

Rick is honest with me about how things are going, and more than once he offers me the chance to gracefully bow out. He pays me money out of his own pocket when he can. I could bail out now and look for other opportunities with no hard feelings. I realize I’m probably doubling down when I should fold, but this work is so interesting that I can’t bring myself to walk away from it. This is what I’ve always wanted. Alphaworld can run on most home computers, it can connect people from all over the world, and it allows people to collaborate and build in real time. It can do all this, and it’s not even out of beta yet. This virtual worlds stuff is a huge frontier, and there are very few people working on this sort of thing.

For good or for ill, I’m going to stick around and see how this plays out.

Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Autoblography Part 39: Activeworlds”

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.

Through a family member I’ve been introduced to Rick, a smart guy with some big plans. He’s starting a software company, and plans to bootstrap the enterprise with contract work. He’s heard about my cross-discipline skill set: My understanding of Doom (not just how to make levels, but an understanding of the engine limitations and why it works the way it does) has sold him on the idea that I’m a valuable guy to have around. I can program, I can make texture maps, and I understand a lot of 3D design. I’m a guy who can figure things out and make them work. I’m exactly the right kind of guy for a small company.

Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Autoblography Part 38: Press Release”

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.