Author

Ben Garrett, author of this site

web developer and software enthusiast in Sydney, Australia

Wedged between the generations of X and Y. I grew up in an era when geekdom was just on the cusp of emerging from its uncool typecast and ridicule. But where technology was unreliable (sometimes it still is 😉), complicated and not yet cool. Online pompous terminology such as the information superhighway, the world wide web and cyberspace emphasised the future, but subversively kept out everyone except those in the know. It was a time of an institutionalised divide between the geeks and the rest.

Today we have a simpler vocabulary to describe the online experience. Net, web, social are everyday words that reveal mainstream access and show its acceptance. It’s amazing to see the embrace of the change.

Here we are in the post-Information-Age. Most people carry portable pocket computers that are always online and connected to the Internet. Video game and comic-book franchises are as well known as film. The world’s collections of literature, music, film and television are on-demand from anywhere. The traditional gatekeepers of news and entertainment have found their power bases eroded by the democratisation of content creation. Technology products and services are now household names and even verbs.

We are living Beyond 2000, and it is a brilliant time to be alive and online. To able to be a part of and witness the rapid, continuous evolution of change.

Computer work costs coffee beans.

If you’ve read my blog, The Developer's Tidbits, or used my open-source software, you’ll know that programming can be a very complicated business. Doing what I do takes patience and perception, the kind that only a hot cup of coffee can provide. It’s a labour of love, though, and one that I’m happy to share with the world. Thanks to each and every one of you for your readership and feedback over the years. Your support drives me to try new things and to share simple fixes for complicated problems.

Coffee also drives me to try new things.

So please, if you read or watch any of my content, consider filling my cup so I can keep on programming.

Tip using Ko-fi or Buy Me a Coffee.

Did you know the trees in the foreground of the website banner are on an island in the harbor of Sydney, Australia? The island is known as Me-mel to the local Cadigal peoples, which means an eye, reflecting its shape. When Queen Victoria ascended to the throne, Goat Island was used to house large stocks of gunpowder, but no one is sure of the origins of this English name.