NAVARR: ^IfMine Profile

Title: Developer

Website: Navarr.me

Social: Twitter – Google+

Bio: I’m a 21 year old student developer at Bowling Green State University. I started learning HTML and JavaScript ten years ago (while the Web was still young). With the support of Dr. Chao, I’ve become a proficient application developer for both Android and the Web.

^IfMine Project Highlight: Politish.org – An open political platform that allows anyone to run and promotes interaction with constituents and specifying solid reasoning for political positions.

When did you get your first computer? When I was in grade school, I spent a lot of time with my grandparents. As far back as I can remember, they had at least two computers: one running Windows 3.5 and another running Windows 95 (and then later Windows 98). So I was familiar and comfortable with computers early on in my life. As for when I got my first personal computer – I was in high school. I had essentially begged my mother for a laptop for Christmas and she got me a Dell Inspiron E1705 running Windows Vista (it’s arrival was hilariously on Valentine’s Day), a computer I continued to use up until December of 2011.

Describe your early experiences with the Internet: As I was a child at the time, my first experiences with the Internet were email and Neopets. My grandfather had Juno dial-up at first, so I spent little to no time on the Internet.

What do you do when you’re not using tech? This is a difficult question – I’m almost always using Tech! Those few times I’m not though, it’s because I’m actively participating in our school’s Japanese program, such as last year’s Ohanami Celebration, or BGSU’s Taiko Ensemble.

Also Meet: Our Team, Danielle & Anthony.

Have you signed up for the ^IfMine Beta? Click here, enter your email and we’ll contact you when it’s time to register.

ANTHONY: ^IfMine Profile

Title: Lead Designer

Website: Anthony Fontana

Social: Twitter – Facebook

Bio: Geek, Artist, Educator, Learning Technologist, App Designer, Graphic Novelist, Zen Buddhist and Father. Anthony Fontana is a Learning Technologist and an Instructor of Art at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. Read more at: anthonyfontana.com/bio

When did you get your first computer? I’ve had a computer almost my whole life. My dad worked in computers, so we had an IBM. I learned basic, wrote a few things, and decided right then and there that I didn’t have patience to write code. One of my favorite games was SpaceQuest. It felt like you could do anything in that game. The truth was, you could type anything in to the command line… but most of it would hardly ever work. That taught me something about imagination as an element in gameplay.

Describe your early experiences with the Internet: My early experiences with the Internet involved playing an X-Men/Marvel Universe turn-based role-playing game in Prodigy forums online. Or hanging out with my friends huddled around a computer harassing people in local IRC rooms. I remember that… and the sound of dial-up.

What do you do when you’re not using tech? I like to sit and do nothing. Seriously. Sometimes it’s good to remember that we are human beings and not human doings. I love the quote, “Don’t just do something. Sit there.”

Also See: Meet Our Team & Meet The Team: Danielle

Have you signed up for the ^IfMine Beta? Click here, enter your email and we’ll contact you when it’s time to register. Easy peasy!