About

I'm Sam Brooke, an earth science student, part time programmer and general misadventurer who enjoys searing hot food, beer, drawing pretty pictures and wasting time on real-time strategy games.

I currently live between Rutland and Liverpool UK.

Geoscience

As a budding geoscientist, I'm interested in computer modelling the environment and climate.

Philosophy-wise I believe that, as a race, we're going to kibosh ourselves unless we keep ahead with clever ideas and technology.

My overriding goal is to try and position myself such that I can contribute to the field.

Programming & Tech

I've always enjoyed tinkering with computers and I now make content management systems and front end websites with a local marketing firm.

Fond of making money and paying off my student loan, I'm also involved in my own little business schemes and web startup.

Aug 13, 2012

Technology

Nailing a startup

So in the next couple of years (2 to be exact) I'll have graduated from my formal education and with any luck have a degree that's worth the paper it's printed on. I'll almost be the last of my cohort to jump of the diving board into the 55+ years of full-time employment on the count of having essentially 2 gap years, bombing out of Southampton Uni and reevaluating myself and ending up as an IT temp for a few months.
At the moment I'm a programmer who works, when my geoscience academic obligations don't get in the way, on projects for other people as well as myself. I've been doing this for around 2 years and I've accrued a good amateur knowledge of many programming languages, paradyms, philosophies. Before that it was just general basic website building - design, flash (eurgh!) and PHP with some basic javascript.
For me, the web development route into programming suited me very well as it gave me the sort of instant feedback that spurred me onto more difficult and ultimately more rewarding things, eventually virtual server administration, other scripting languages and actual client-server programming, even bothering to dabble in low-level languages once in a while.
With the approaching spectre of maybe having to get a normal, suit-wearing job in a geoscience firm as a sort of dishevelled looking techie, I think it's an ample time to stop tinkering around with half-baked projects and maybe focus my attention on trying to get some real financial return. So perhaps this site / blog will act as a pseudo record of what I learn or achieve along the way in the coming months.
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