I started using my first real calculator when I was around four. My dad had a TI 92 for college (at IUP) and he let me use it. This is around the time he started exposing me to higher math. My loving father used to drive me crazy trying to teach me about rational and irrational numbers, imaginary numbers, pi, infinite loops, Gabriel's horn, black holes, finite values and the concept of infinity, and I was barely speaking in full sentences. I soon grew to love it though, and I now have the math experience of someone who went through college for math and got a bad grade. That is impressive for a ninth grader. Anyway, he let me use his calculator, and I discovered documents, geometry programs, and too many keys.

My dad taught me my first real (real=not alice, stagecast, or gamemaker) programming language when I was around six, and that was KidBasic, which is now BASIC256.

Now, since seventh grade, when I got the first real (real = Texas Instruments) calc that I owned, I have been programming TI. My Uncle, who is only 8 years older than me (we are like brothers) taught me my first lessons in TI BASIC. After a year or so, I bloomed from the Disp command into output and the graph screen.

Now I am a moderately skilled TI BASIC programmer, and I am proud of my skills.

Last year, I discovered omni when searching for games, and because it had a lot of good ones, i joined. (to download them.)

Now, last week, browsing omni again, I made my first post because I wanted to help ztrumpet in his gamepack endeavor (i am actively developing homescreen invaders now). Now I have made my 100th post (by accident) so I will now celebrate the one-hundred-and-one landmark with my level four acceptance speech.

Good times on Omnimaga. Only a week really, and I have had lots of fun.
All those times I marveled at a feat of computer engineering, all those times I got an idea that made a tough concept startlingly clear, all those times I lost the game, all those times I was on both sides of tech support. I love the sense of community in Omni.

Thank you, Omnimaga, for renewing my love for programming, not once, but twice. Thank you for raising my hopes and confidence when I thought they were down. There have been wise things said on this forum, and lots of help I received and things that were said that were funny. I want to take a minute to acknowledge some of them:

Thank you, Calc84maniac, for being a genius, and for making me interested in programming again.

Thank you ztrumpet, for the same reason.

Thank you, flyingfisch, for being supportive and enthusiastic about my projects, and being so inspired by them. I always enjoy seeing your name pop up on IRC and our funny conversations.

Thank you, Juju and DJ_O, for being good n00b helpers and helping me become a respected member of Omni.

Thank you Xeda112358, for making me think about math in even a slightly new way, as you did. Always nice to know someone with your interests.

Thank you Runer112, for your wisdom, "You can build a statue out of either 1'x1' blocks or 12'x12' blocks. The 1'x1' blocks will take a lot longer, but the final product is worth it." I will try to remember that one. It rings true for all things.

And anyone I forgot will go in on edits.

I will be giving back for my good experience, too: I am actively developing some projects, listed in my signature. Updates will be noted and/or posted within a day or two.

See you on the forums!!!