I recently received some reader mail, from “phyzical”, that I thought would be nice to answer publicly. Phyzical writes:

hello I saw how you said you wanted to design websites ever since high school, I was just wondering how you came across working for pixelated geek? did you go to college I think its called over there. im Australian btw. its just im finishing my final exams at school and have decided I want to get a career in computing but I am going to do a computer science degree in uni, and was wondering if that would lead into the field you work in, my knowledge on computers is better than most but not to the degree of programming, I know it to a degree and know most parts of computers and what not.

phyzical

To read my answer, go past the break.

The answer below is kinda long. If you want a tl;dr version, scroll down to the end.

Hi phyzical,

Yes. I’ve always wanted to design websites since I was 13. It all started when a classmate showed me his 1 page webpage that he made using some AOL tools. The webpage was super simple. It was black text on a white background.  No graphics, no tables, nothing. All it said was “Hi, I’m Erwin. I’m 13 and my hobbies are ….. “. Mind you this was back when AOL was mailing out 3.5 floppy disks with their program on it.  Back before Geocities was born. Back before Battle.net was born. Back when 28.8kbps modems were all the rage.

Damn, I feel like an old guy now. =(

For some reason, after seeing that on my computer screen, something sparked in my mind that I too wanted to make a webpage. I started learning how to do everything on my own.  Then I’d see more and more of my friends make webpages, but with graphics, then with javascript, and then with flash. I have a competitive side in myself that made me always want to make my designs better than theirs. To tell you the truth, all the design and technical skills I know and use now have been from using the internet, asking friends, and trial and error. But, here I am now. Using those skills I’ve learned on my own and through friends and making a career out of it.

So, now on to your main question.  How did I come across working for PixelatedGeek. Well, I don’t actually work for it.  I work on it. It’s another hobby of mine, like how web design is. I started PG on November 2008. (Yes, we are 1 year old now!) I started it on a whim thinking, “damn. I want to be able to touch the newest and latest video games and gadgets first.” Also I thought, “I want to meet those people who create these games and gadgets.” After a year of working on, not for, PixelatedGeek, I’ve come to realize that one, this is tough to do. Making sure the site has good, original, or breaking news content. Two, it takes a good chunk of money, and three, I would love to switch my careers.

Instead of web designing full-time and keeping PixelatedGeek up on the side, I’d like to do the exact opposite.  Meeting new people, making new friends, going to expos/conventions, and talking about it is so much fun.

Hope I’ve answered your questions. Thanks for being a reader/fan. =)

tl;dr - I started PG in Nov. 08 because I wanted to. I learned all my skills off the nets and friends.

For everyone else, if you have a question for me, just e-mail me.