J. Poulakos II Blog

[Introduction]

Hello everyone! My name is Jim Poulakos, and I am a freelance web developer, freelance programmer, full-time carpenter, full-time student, and general pain in the behind. I also tutor, on occasion, in various subjects from Mathematics to Science to Technology. This blog is dedicated to my programming exploits, if you can actually call them that, and also my life and times. I post fairly random stuff in between serious posts on programming.

[Background]

I started using computers at the age of five on an old Commodore 64. I wrote my first program at the ripe old age of nine using the C64’s BASIC language. I moved on to programming the C64 in machine language before heading over to the PC and DOS. I have over 20 years experience programming, and can program in quite a few languages. My current favorite is C#, especially with Visual Studio 2008’s Intellisense help. Amazingly fast to create a prototype of just about any application. I have been developing web applications and sites since mid-2000, and have recently stopped designing sites for pay due to various things going on in my life. I can still build a web site as a freelancer if need be, but I am starting to move on to something more enjoyable and profitable (to me at any rate.)

[Family]

I come from a large Greek family and a small Korean one. If you can picture My Big Fat Greek Wedding, that is my Greek side. To a ‘T.’ I have a son who will turn four in November, his name is Xander.

[Interests]

Aside from my enjoyment of programming, I absolutely love playing video games, playing and listening to music, cooking, drawing, and learning. I am an information sponge. I have recorded my own album, I have some poetry that has been published, I have a couple of games I have written and a few more on the drawing board.

I listen to a wide variety of music from Classical to Rock to Alternative to Electronic to Jazz, and just about everything in between. My favorite band is the Counting Crows, and my favorite solo artist is Norah Jones.

I like a couple of television shows, most recently adding Fringe to that list. I enjoy watching Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles, House M.D., and Bones on a regular basis. Battlestar Galactica is also a great show in my opinion.

I have read a lot of books, and I really enjoy science fiction and fantasy fiction. Piers Anthony, Terry Goodkind, and Isaac Asimov are a few of my favorite authors. There are far too may to list here.

I am currently playing Lord of the Rings Online. It is a fine game with a lot of backstory to it that is brought up in various quests. If you’d like to speak to me there, I am on the Landroval server and my main character’s name is Ileria.