Hey, I'm Michael! Welcome to my brand new blog. I hope to use this space to keep track of tested solutions to problems, document tech-recipes, provide useful tutorials, and share my thoughts on whatever tech I'm currently learning.
Who am I?
I am a self-taught developer.
Ehrm, sort of.
After leaving school and realizing I didn't know what to do with my education, I decided to do what so many other young adults are doing these days: I learned to code. And it was hard. Very hard. And I loved every second of it, even when I was yanking tufts of hair out of my head and cursing my computer in frustration. But because I didn't have any sort of background in IT, computer science or engineering, I was spending a lot of time yanking tufts of hair and cursing, and less time getting apps built and deployed.
Getting my code to work as intended was rarely the real problem. Of course, making your code do what you want can be a real challenge, but I found that in most cases, taking a break and coming back to it allowed me to gain a fresh perspective and find the solution. The real problems that posed serious barriers were administrative tasks. Things like getting the correct version of a package I needed, getting a database server to work, deploying an app without it breaking, and understanding all the cryptic error messages I would get in my terminal when I tried to accomplish something. These problems would throw me for a loop, make me feel completely inadequate, and fascinate me all simultaneously. I knew I had to get a better grip on information technology.
Fast-forwarding a bit, I decided to go back to school for IT and to dedicate my professional life to understanding software and making it do what we want it to do. My interests have since moved away from software development a little, and I now focus on understanding the cloud, systems administration, networking, and how to communicate dry, technical, boring or just plain old difficult information and concepts for the non-technically inclined.
So who am I? I'm a guy who loves to tinker with software and talk about it to whoever wants to listen. I also love horror movies, reading, long contemplative walks and the occasional night out at the pub.
What do I do?
Er, I guess this was already answered. But in case it isn't clear, I mess with computers and I talk about it with people. I am currently a post-graduate student studying IT. In the new year, I will be a peer tutor, and in the first term of my program, I was a student union representative. I am currently studying for the Microsoft Certified Azure Administrator and CompTIA Linux+ certifications, so I'll be sure to keep this blog posted with tidbits on Linuxy and Azurey stuff.
Who is this blog for?
To be perfectly honest, the intended audience is me. I want this blog to mainly serve as an external storage unit for my brain, where I can keep tutorials, tech recipes, solutions, and thoughts on things that I'm likely to forget. But that doesn't mean this blog isn't for you, too. If you're new to tech, a self-taught developer trying to fill in some knowledge gaps, or just interested in learning something new, then you're more than welcome here! The audience most likely to benefit from this blog is inexperienced tech newbies learning to code, learning the cloud, or learning to use open-source software.
I think that'll do it for now. Time to get started!