I'M JAMES, AND I'VE BEEN MAKING THINGS MY WHOLE LIFE.

I WAS BORN AND RAISED IN ENGLAND, IN A HOUSE THAT WAS ALWAYS FULL OF COMPUTERS — MY DAD WORKED FOR A PC MAINTENANCE COMPANY, SO THERE WAS USUALLY SOMETHING HALF-APART ON A TABLE. I GOT HOOKED EARLY: A ZX81, THEN A PARADE OF SINCLAIR SPECTRUMS AND AMSTRADS, AN ATARI ST, AND EVENTUALLY AN IBM XT RUNNING DOS 3 THAT FELT LIKE TOUCHING THE FUTURE. AT SCHOOL THERE WERE BBC MICROS, WHERE I WROTE MY FIRST CHATBOT IN BASIC BEFORE I REALLY UNDERSTOOD WHAT I WAS DOING, AND LOST HUNDREDS OF HOURS TO ELITE — A WHOLE GALAXY BUILT FROM A FEW KILOBYTES AND A CLEVER BIT OF MATH. THAT GAME QUIETLY SET MY TASTE FOR EVERYTHING SINCE: SYSTEMS THAT MAKE SOMETHING RICH OUT OF SIMPLE RULES.

BY FIFTEEN, THAT CURIOSITY HAD TURNED PRACTICAL. MY FAMILY RAN A VIDEO RENTAL STORE, AND I WROTE ITS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM MYSELF — IN QBASIC, BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT I HAD AND THE SHOP NEEDED IT. IN THE BACK ROOM I FIXED PEOPLE'S COMPUTERS AND MODDED SEGA MEGADRIVES. I DIDN'T KNOW IT YET, BUT THAT WAS THE WHOLE PATTERN OF HOW I'D WORK FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE: SOMETHING NEEDS DOING, SO I FIGURE OUT HOW TO BUILD IT. I'VE STARTED AND RUN LITTLE COMPUTER BUSINESSES ON AND OFF EVER SINCE — REPAIRS, REFURBS, THE KIND OF HANDS-ON WORK THAT KEEPS YOU HONEST ABOUT HOW MACHINES ACTUALLY BEHAVE.

I STUDIED ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING — DISCRETE LOGIC, THE CLOSE-TO-THE-METAL STUFF MOST PEOPLE NEVER SEE UNDER THE SOFTWARE — AND I'VE DONE FREELANCE HARDWARE DESIGN SINCE, INCLUDING A POSTURE-SENSING WEARABLE FOR THE MEDICAL INDUSTRY (THE DETAILS I HAVE TO KEEP TO MYSELF). THAT FOUNDATION NEVER LEFT ME. WHEN I BUILD SOFTWARE, I'M NOT GLUING LIBRARIES TOGETHER AND HOPING; I UNDERSTAND THE MACHINE FROM THE SILICON UP.

EVERYTHING I MAKE COMES BACK TO ONE IDEA: BUILT AND BELIEVABLE. CRAFT YOU CAN SEE THE SEAMS OF. HONEST ENGINEERING THAT DOES EXACTLY WHAT IT SAYS, WITH NO MORE MACHINERY THAN THE JOB NEEDS. IF IT DOESN'T NEED A FRAMEWORK, IT DOESN'T GET ONE — I'D RATHER UNDERSTAND THE JOIN THAN HIDE IT BEHIND A JIG.

FOUR COUNTRIES LATER, I'M IN TEXAS NOW, BUILDING A HANDFUL OF MY OWN PRODUCTS AND SIDE PROJECTS — A WORKOUT-TRACKING APP, A MAZE TOWER-DEFENSE GAME, THIS SITE AND ITS SIX WILDLY DIFFERENT FACES, ALL HAND-BUILT. I'M NOT ACTIVELY LOOKING FOR WORK. BUT THE RIGHT PROJECT, FOR THE RIGHT MONEY, WILL ALWAYS HAVE MY ATTENTION.