



My name is Charlie. I've been writing code since I was a boy. In spite of video game development motivating me to pursue programming early on I have since gained experience in many other disciplines and fields of computer science and technology. The experience and expertise that I have can be directly attributed to years spent developing software - as both a freelance and hobbyist programmer, and by way of my own natural inquisitiveness. Working professionally with my late father - an inventor, engineer, and highly skilled machinist also afforded me real-world experience with many things that I would've otherwise never explored on my own.

Being a programmer means more to me than merely possessing a trade skill with which I can earn a paycheck. Throughout my life it has always meant wielding a freedom and virtually limitless potential to directly create value in the world. Collecting wages by filling a mundane coder position at some tech company means relinquishing a life-long dream of achieving my true potential, and settling for less. For whatever reason, my life goals preclude wading through traffic and clocking-in for the privilege of giving away all of my best work to the most alluring and motivated profiteers of the world which don't really deserve it.

While I am a grateful user and huge fan of free-and-open-source-software I am also a husband and father of two children. My wife and I have our sights set on diversifying our household income through the pursuit of various self-employment pursuits. I've invested too much time and energy, and that of my family's, to give away the software that I develop completely free. I owe it to my loved ones and myself to have something to show for what my hard-earned skills enable me to create. That being said, I aim to create software whose value is greater than the compensation I ask for in return from my end-users. If I can do that, while building a viable income for my family, well, that is an ideal "win-win-win" scenario for us all.

What gives me a sense of purpose and achievement in life is not the acquisition of material possessions, fame, or fortune. Instead, I enjoy the solving of problems, pioneering new methods and means, and obviating and upsetting the established ways and means that might otherwise never evolve or change if creativity never were to intervene. I dream of making the world a better place the best way I know how: through both technological innovation and by inspiring others to pursue their own independence, original creativity, and potential to help change the world for the better for everyone, in each person's own unique way.

Ikigai!





