About Me


I have spawned in May of 2000 and spent my time doing human stuff ever since. My earliest memories consist of Nintendo 64 gameplay and dial-up modem noises - at least that's my explanation why I became such a nostalgician... nostalgialist... nostalgicist... or something like that.

Let's just say I have a strong passion for programming, old computers, pre-Y2K aesthetics and edgy humor.


Programming
The first programming language I got my hands on was NXC for the Lego Mindstorms NXT. As programming a tiny robot with my very own code was the coolest thing since sliced bread to 12-year-old me, I consider it to be my gateway drug into programming. Later on, my second language of choice turned out to be C# which allowed me to create my very first Windows applications. Trying to go down the low-level rabbit hole at age 14, I started to learn a bit of assembly language. My environment of choice was Borland TASM running inside a DOSBox. But to be fair, that DOSBox was mostly used for gaming.

Since my mid-teenage years, my focus of interest shifted more towards web development, especially PHP and JavaScript. I've also managed to realize some of my projects using C++, Processing, Java and Python, though I didn't really manage to enjoy the last two languages yet. In the near future, I want to expand my knowledge of common web frameworks such as Laravel and Angular. Oh, and I really need to learn Git. It turns out that burying countless revisions of my code at random locations of my hard drive can be quite counterproductive.


Retrocomputing
At the age of five, I was given an off-brand Pentium machine running Windows 98. Unfortunately, I didn't know about the differences between AT power switches and modern ATX power switches that would initiate a clean shutdown when being pressed down. Also not being aware of the "Shutdown" button in my Start menu, I managed to render my computer unbootable in a few weeks. Having learned my lesson the hard way, I somehow managed to get an Athlon-based system with Windows XP later on.

Thanks to my father and his tendency to preserve old electronics, I was also able to play around with a Commodore 64 and improve my typing skills on an Atari ST. When I got a Nintendo Wii for my ninth birthday, he also encouraged me to get myself a copy of "The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess" shortly after. This particular game was picked for a reason, obviously. Having a softmodded Wii with a variety of emulators allowed me to explore two entire decades of gaming history.

To put it in a nutshell, I have always been surrounded by retrocomputing one way or another. A few years ago, I started to collect old stuff myself, especially x86-based hardware from the mid-/late 90s.


Aesthetics
I'm a huge fan of amateurish CGI, checkerboard patterns, wavy piano tiles, roman pillars and ultra-generic serif fonts. In my spare time, I like to watch old content that is making use of such motifs and try to recreate some of it. As you might see, this particular website is heavily influenced by my preferred art styles. Feel free to take a look at my playlist that is being expanded occasionally.


About This Site
Due to the restrictive nature of most social media sites, I decided to put up this website. The entire site was built from ground-up using Notepad++ and makes use of a few third-party resources:
  • Prism - a JavaScript-based code highlighter
  • Redaction - a bitmappy-looking font that is free for personal use
  • Code page 437 - the iconic character set of the original IBM PC
Throughout the entire design process, I have received quite a lot of help from my girlfriend wife. Without her, I wouldn't have been able to come up with a suitable layout in such a short time. Thank you, Michelle! ❤