What made you get into Computer Science/Computers?

[x BlueRobot]

I thought this would a good topic to discuss,what made you interested in Computer Science (as a broad term), and why did you wish to pursue it?

I'll start, my original aspiration was to become a Games Designer, I've always had this idea of combing GTA (Grand Theft Auto) and Sims into one game. I would it would a great idea to be able to design and build your own home, and actually build upon the some of the lifestyle concepts introduced in San Andreas. These are quite diluted in GTA: IV and GTA: V. For example, you can no longer do weight lifting or have a reason to go the fast food restaurants.

That's how my interest in computers started, and we're talking about maybe when I was 7 or 8? My interest in more advanced areas of computers, like Programming and Debugging started when I was at school (Sixth Form to be specific), I never did any computer related subjects at school since they didn't teach me the things I wanted to learn. The I.T. lessons were pretty much just about Word and Access, and using the very basics of Photoshop.

I found a book about programming in the school library, and started reading that, I have a interest in Maths and other sciences too, so I guess I liked the problem solving aspect and syntax of programming languages. Programming then lead to Debugging and then that lead to where I am now.

As a side note with Maths, I really liked Algebra but didn't really like the other parts like Geometry and Statistics.

What's your story? :dsmile:

 

[Laxer]

Down the rabbit hole we go.... :lolg:

From a young age I have always excelled at math. Was doing 5th grade math tables in 1st grade and won the 24 math competition in 4th. College Algebra in 6th. (Then got screwed by the system and had to take it again despite the fact I got A's..)

Somewhere in the mists of this I started taking things apart, fascinated by the ways they worked I took apart just about everything I touched. This continued until 4th or 5th grade where I was finally able to start repairing/building things I had taken apart. It wasn't long until I had my hands on a computer but, this time instead of being interested in the hardware I was amazed by the World Wide Web. The biggest point of interest for me came while playing Neopets with friends where you were able to create your own customized store fronts and guilds. It wasn't long until I had found the "View Source" button and began taking everything apart. Soon I was creating my own images and building my own designs from scratch. This continued on until middle school or so where I got into my next two addictions: Myspace and Runescape. I was rapidly creating new designs for myspace for myself, friends and for sharing online. I was also actively writing macro scripts for Runescape. (Yes, I am a big cheater) I didn't take my first real computer class until my 8th grade year which was an intro to photoshop class. Come freshman year in highschool I was taking computers I which was basically a typing class. At that time, thanks to my frequent computer gaming I was typing 120+ WPM and obviously didn't belong in the class. The teach approached me one day and asked if I would like to jump into their computer III class which was intermediate Office and web development. A few weeks into this class I was then approached by a different teacher asking if I would like to join the Web Team. (First Freshman ever offered the position). Of course I accepted and continued the rest of my freshman year on the web team.

At this point I was fluent in CSS and HTML as well as Java and a few other macro languages and looking for more to do. I decided to start developing my own client for Runescape with a few other highschoolers from around the US in C# based off of color recognition which hadn't yet been done. (Current gen bots attached to the actual game and read values off that which was highly detectable and often resulted in a ban. We wanted to create something that was more like a human and could adjust on the fly.) I actively developed this for 6 months or so and had a rather dedicated community built up before we were hit with a Cease and Desist letter from Jagex ltd. We complied and shut down the site. From that point on I just developed scripts every now and then for other clients.

School came around Sophomore year and I was once again on the Web Team but, also taking programming classes in C and Java. Seeing as I already had a basic understanding of both I decided to pick up a new language on the web side. PHP was my choice and it lead me down a bunch of interesting paths. Fast forward a year or so and I had completely redone the schools website using PHP versus the existing iframes, built and implemented an email system for the whole school and was a hardware tech at TSF. Senior year was a lot of the same thing, I got bored with Runescape and Myspace so was just mostly writing PHP. I had something like 6 aiding classes for web support and was actively working for some 10 businesses as a web developer. It was around that time that I worked my way up the latter at TSF and was promoted to Design Team Manager. Roughly around this time was when I got tangled up with John & John as a developer for the driver reference table. I developed most of the table as it is today in my down time at school. It was then that John and I had a fallout with TSF and decided to start up Sysnative as a Forum. The site continued to grow as I finished up Highschool and went off to start my CS courses at the local community college. Most of the classes I found pretty easy and as I already had taken Calculus I picked up as many extra computer classes as I could to fill in the gap. I took everything from Unix to Web Application Development as well as the core curriculum.

I then transferred to Portland State University where I currently am a junior in their CS program.

The interesting thing about me is I don't really want to be a programmer, in all honesty I want to go into an IT position and manage Infrastructure(databases, users and computers). I just believe that a CS degree + a business degree will carry far more weight than a IT degree as it opens more doors.

Yup, that's my boring back story... :lolg:

 

[x BlueRobot]

Interesting story, I remember Runescape, I managed to get 99 Firemaking. My education isn't so successful compared to yours though, I dropped Sixth Form and then dropped my Apprenticeship. I have my reasons for both, and I think they're valid. My teachers at Sixth Form were absolutely horrendous and the school was facing the threat of being placed on special measures. I then dropped out of my Apprenticeship, since they lied about me about having a job and it was just a government scheme to reduce the unemployment figures.


I'm currently going to college to study Business (I'm not sure why) and have a part-time job in Retail.

 

[Patrick]

I am actually way different than most that started a living and career in computers. I didn't get my first computer until I was around 13 years old as opposed to most who got theirs when they were very young. It was a very old Dell that was plagued with malware from using P2P programs like Kazaa and Bearshare (I didn't know any better and I was young!). Since I couldn't really use my computer (at the time I had no idea what 'reformatting' was, or anything at all really in regards to computers), I used my close friend's computer whenever I got the chance. In my mind, at the time, I thought my computer was actually dying as opposed to simply being overwhelmed with malware. I could have very easily gotten it fixed had I known then what I know now, but I digress.

My friend played Diablo 2 and Diablo 2 Lord of Destruction a lot, and I fell MORE than in love with that game. We would switch positions on the computer every 30 minutes so we could both play a lot throughout the day. When he was playing, I'd watch TV and be eager the entire time because I knew I was about to play more Diablo 2. Well, about a year or so later, my wonderful mother bought me a newer Dell, and I was FINALLY able to play Diablo 2 not only by myself, but with my friend. Because of this, I was always on the computer after school. I learned to type because of the game, I learned all of the internet jargon that we all know and love today, I learned how Windows XP as an OS worked, etc. I was learning all of the pure basics and then some. Well, my love for Diablo 2 continued for YEARS, right up until Windows Vista launched. When Vista launched, Diablo 2 wasn't initially compatible until Blizzard released a few patches. Well, I could not live without my Diablo 2, so I installed an XP VM and played Diablo 2 on it. From then on, my addiction to computers only continued throughout my life up until now.

I didn't take an interest in blue screens and the internals of Windows up until about the early summer of 2012. I had extensive knowledge in Windows, but not its internals, etc. I remember I built my 2nd desktop PC and it was a mess. I was getting VIDEO_TDR_ERROR bug checks ALL THE TIME. This drove me to learn how to analyze dump files, and here I am.

 

[x BlueRobot]

Thanks for your story Patrick, I remember my first computer was a Packard Bell running Windows 98. No Internet Access at the time, I just played games from CD-ROMs.

 

[GZ]

I like working with my hands. I like making stuff, building, creating. My interest and skill in the computer sciences is hardware. It began when I was just a wee lad... (about 15)

Long story short.. My uncle had an older i386 that stopped working and gave me the task of fixing it... It was trial and error at that time as my resources were limited, but I, eventually, found the issue, fixed it and managed to get Windows 95 running on it. Since then I was my family's go-to computer guy...

As for my first computer... It was an Apple IIe that my Stepfather and Mother bought back in '82/'83 I used it until my stepdad stripped it for it's "gold" in the early '90s... My first PC was a Pentium Pro that I received as a used gift shortly after my son was born in 1999.

 

[writhziden]

My dad worked for IBM when I was growing up. I had computer parts around me all the time; took apart a keyboard when I was 5, I think. Didn't build my first computer until I was a junior in college; I always remembered that I never could put that keyboard back together when I was 5 and have always been better at disassembly than assembly.

I got into the software side by accident. I had a college course (the same year I built my first computer and that was my primary reason for the upgrade) that required us to learn how to program in MATLAB. I found I had an aptitude for programming and enjoyed the puzzle solving process. Been hooked on computer hardware and software development since that time.