 |
Hello. My name is Dave, and I'm a programmer. (This is where you go,
"Hiiiii, Daaaave.") Sit back, relax and put on some music if you like.
In no particular order, here I am in a nutshell (where I belong): male,
married, straight, human, husband, father, programmer, electronics engineer,
thinker, tinkerer, inventor, speaker, writer, camper, comedian, magician and
Type 5
personality on the
Enneagram
(INTP if you prefer
the Keirsey temperament system). Whew!
|
|
|
|
So you're asking yourself, "Why does this guy have a web page?
Is it vanity? Maybe he's just another bit-twiddling geek. I'd better find
another web site, quick!"
Well, it's not vanity. It's self-defense. (I'm not defensive! I'm not!)
These days you've got to have a home page to be cool. But do I care? No. I'm
not cool, I'm just tired of people asking me where my web site is. And
whattaya know, here you are reading it. So this is your chance to satisfy your
curiosity about "that Goodman guy" without my even knowing.
I was born at an early age. The event was so traumatic I didn't speak for
over a year. People in Southern California during the late 50's
didn't listen to newborns anyway. I must have suffered a terrible childhood,
because I don't remember much of it. Or maybe it's just from growing up
during the 60's. At a suitable age, I attended
Chatsworth High School
and
Cal State University at Northridge, but I'm
still not enlightened.
After working in the
public library during my education, I started servicing video games, then
hard disk drives and finally entire computer systems. I had learned to
program in high school (thank you, Mrs. Joyce Domike!), and found myself
jumping back and forth between electronics design and software design.
Once I got tired of having to order parts, I realized that perhaps
software was better than hardware. Cheaper, too. I spent a number of years
writing software for industrial automation, and then in 1990 joined a company
that publishes games and educational software for the PC. I've been designing
games ever since.
I enjoy designing web pages. You can view some of the pages I've done
for friends at
Blaha's Burrow and
Diane's Home Page.
My mascot is the frog. You can tell which computer is mine by the rubber
frog sitting on the keyboard. Frogs eat bugs, and programmers hate bugs. Get
it? People mostly hold up the butterfly as the prime example of
metamorphosis, but I prefer the frog, who moves from water to land, giving up
gills and tail for lungs and feet. Frogs are cool looking. Ever see a
butterfly up close?
I read somewhere that the retina of a frog's eye has circuitry designed
to spot bugs, and directly instruct the tongue where to strike. In other words,
the frog is sitting there, maybe daydreaming of proposing pollywogs to his
partner, when a dark, moving object that's the right size shows up on his
retina. The retina says, "Bug at 2 o'clock!" and gives height and declination
ballistics to the tongue, which lashes out and snares the hapless fly without
the frog's brain having to slow down the process by even thinking about it. I
can just see a frog sitting there in his reverie, suddenly blinking as it
dawns on him, "Hey! I swallowed a fly! Cool!"
Ribit.
|
|
I now live in Northern California
with my wife, Connie, and daughter, Debbie. We have two cats and countless
computers. (We had salt-water fish, but they gave their lives saving our house
from a fire. No lie.) Our relatives live mostly in Southern California. Like
every family, we have stories we tell, over and
over.
|
|
|
Pictures? You want pictures? As if I'd open my wallet for the likes of
YOU! Anyway, consider yourself spared. I do. How'd you like to be someplace
with your family and another nerd who saw your web page points and yells "HI
DAVE!" while waving frantically? Besides, graphics take too long for those
of us with arthritic modems and overburdened providers. You'll have to make
do with this thumbnail.
|
|
My hobbies are bicycling, camping, electronics, folk dancing, genealogy,
ham radio
(I'm KD6TEE), online role-playing,
karate, magic,
palmtop computers,
programming, public speaking
(try Toastmasters), reading and science
fiction, not necessarily in that order. Did I miss anything?
Motto: "Actio sequitur esse."
Old Motto: "If your PC doesn't fit in your pocket, it's not a PERSONAL computer."
PEOPLE: I like people who are funny, who let you know what they want
but don't insist on it. I dislike people who are pushy or pushovers, and 95%
of the attorneys I've met.
FOOD: I like red meat, barbecue, fresh fruits and vegetables and
exotic foods. T-bones, artichokes, pizza, matzoh brei and noodle kugel are
high on my list. I dislike mayonnaise, liver, brussel sprouts and seafood.
OTHER: I like exotic people and places, gadgets and driving fast. I
dislike solicitors knocking on my door, junk mail, dishonesty, and most
advertising. I like simple and elegant. Clean designs. I like mystery and
challenge. I need adventure.
|
|
These are not the ten best albums, they're just MY ten favorite
albums. That means that I can listen to them more than twice, and that I
like at least 90 percent of the disc. Where possible I have links to get you
started finding other related sites on the web. For a list of some of my
favorite singles, see my Favorite Singles.
These ratings subject to change without notice. They've already changed.
Did you notice? What? You say there were more than ten? So sue me!
|
|
|
|
I've picked these as my favorite authors because they've written a lot of
books, and I like most of them. An author needs quality AND quantity to make
this list. For example, I love some of John Brunner's books, but too many of
them I didn't like. I'm a fast reader, so I give lots of points to authors
who can keep me reading.
|
|
"When I get a little money, I buy books; and if any is left, I buy food and clothes."
- Desiderius Erasmus
|
|
Yes, I watch television. I admit it. A lot of the time I just put it on to
have some noise in the background while I read, write or program. Please don't
hate me.
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
| Movie | Favorite Stars |
|
| 2001: A Space Odyssey | Keir Dullea, Douglas Rain & HAL 9000. |
| 48 Hours | Eddie Murphy, Nick Nolte and Annette O'Toole. |
| Addicted to Love | Meg Ryan (oh, baby!) and Matthew Broderick. |
| Being There | Peter Sellers, Shirley MacLaine and Melvyn Douglas. |
| Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid | Robert Redford, Paul Newman and Katherine Ross. |
| Harold and Maude | Ruth Gordon and Bud Cort. |
| Independence Day | Will Smith, Jeff Goldbloom, Judd Hirsch and Robin Givens. |
| Raiders of the Lost Ark | Harrison Ford, Karen Allen and John Rhys-Davies. |
| Men in Black | Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones. |
| Real Genius | Val Kilmer. |
| Silverado | Kevin Costner, Brian Dennehy, Danny Glover, Linda Hunt and Jeff Goldbloom. |
| Star Wars | Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Alec McGuiness and Carrie Fisher. |
| Terminator | Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton. |
| The Stunt Man | Peter O'Toole, Barbara Hershey, Steve Railsback. |
| Top Gun | Tom Cruise, Kelly McGillis, Val Kilmer, Anthony Edwards and Meg Ryan. |
| True Lies | Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Arnold and Charleton Heston. |
|
|
|
Okay, I can't be sure these are my 10 favorites, but they're close. Let's
see YOUR list! And yes, there are 10 listings. It's in hexadecimal. So there!
I sometimes use The Internet Movie DataBase to
find out about a specific film.
|
Biography of Dave Goodman
