My early interest in programming

My name is Leonel. I was raised in a little town in Mexico close to the border with the United States. In the early 90’s computers were a sensation in that town. Back in 1993, I was attending middle school and the school got about 20 new computers, they were probably 286’s. They had no operating system. You would turn on the computer and you would see a pixelated black and white drawing of a diskette. We would insert a diskette with MS-DOS into the computer and use EDIT to create text files. We were taught about MS-DOS basic commands, such as how to navigate through the file system, copying, renaming and deleting files and folders, etc.

In 1995/1996 I took a computer class at a preparatoria in Mexico (could be the equivalent of a high school in the US). I learned very basic procedural programming using QBasic. Around that time, my dad bought a computer with Windows 95. We had no internet back then but I used the computer to experiment with QBasic, I would just sit down and play around with QBasic.

In 1997 we moved to the United States and I improved my English.

How I got into Web development

In 1999 I enrolled in a two-year computer electronics program at the local college. We were supposed to learn how to fix computers and setup networks. Back then, there were no MSN Spaces, no Fotolog, no Multiply, no Facebook, no MySpace; or at least, I didn’t know about them. I had friends in other cities and I wanted to communicate with them through a Website. So I went to the college’s library and borrowed HTML books. I made very simple Websites and uploaded them to webhosts like Homestead and Geocities.

In 2001 I got a job at the local school district as a computer technician and I kept on playing with HTML and Photoshop on my free time. In 2002, I got a job as a Webmaster Technician (weird title, right?) in the same district. I wanted to get new skills and improve my existing ones, so I started stuying more about HTML, CSS, Javascript, Apache, Flash, ActionScript, Photoshop, PHP, MySQL, XML and other subjects through books and online tutorials.

I also started creating Websites for local businesses in 2004. Since then, I have been planning the day I will quit my full-time job and work 4 days a week as a freelancer. That day will come, that day will come…

Other details about me

• I really enjoy Web development, it’s fun – Apache, HTML, JavaScript, CSS, PHP, MySQL, XML. It feels like solving a puzzle.
• I always blink when a photo is taken, I really can’t help it. Sometimes I even have my eyes closed before the photo is taken.
• I have very mild Obsessive Compulsive Disorder about repeatedly checking things, like locking a door or turning off an iron.
• I’m very critical of movies. It’s hard for me to like a movie. Movies I’ve liked: The Prestige, The Aviator, Fracture, A Beautiful Mind
• I have never seen Titanic (somebody told me what happened in the ending, so don’t give me the “how could you” lecture)
• I’m a fan of Law & Order SVU and The Office, I’m buying the DVD’s to watch the episodes in order