Essence of Geek

High school was at best, the worst.  However, there were a few classes that I did enjoy such as Computer Science.  It was 1989 and learning how to write my own programs was all the rage, that and acid wash jeans.  Creating algorithms that bring your computer screen to life was pretty cool stuff as far as I was concerned.  Being the overachiever, I created a program that would slowly bring the Apple logo piece by piece to the screen, and with its many colors of course.   Fortunately for me, our school didn’t have the greatest budget for this program, so we were using the same outdated Apple IIe I had at home. By this time, I logged many hours on my adventure games; but more importantly, I could type with greater speed and navigate through the operating system. 

Being the science that it is, I experimented my many theories using a computer language that would not only provide color, but shape of the apple.  According to Donald Knuth, Computer Scientist at Stanford University:

"The programmer must translate the algorithm into a language

that the simulator/computer/computor can effectively execute."

I painstakingly worked out each algorithm with the trial and error method. Meaning, after creating each equation and recording it into the computer, I would RUN the program hoping for the desired effect. In this process, I essentially gained a better understanding of how to manipulate the computer's dialect.  Needless to say, I was successful in my quest and received an 'A' for the assignment.  I must say, I would be super excited to have the disk that I recorded my program on, however I would be hard pressed to find a computer to accomodate a 5 1/4 inch floppy disk.