Timothy Gass

A little bit about me, I have a deep appreciation for other cultures, because I grew up in Wulumuqi, or Urumqi, China. I spent eight years of my life growing up there, from ages five to thirteen. I have been all over the world and many parts of Asia. This has given me a love of adventures and a love to be exposed to different experiences across the globe.

I can still speak some Mandarin, though it's pretty rusty, but the experience of living in a foreign country has definitely left a lasting impact on my mind. Being able to innovate and consider other ways of approaching scenarios is a fundamental part of programming, and I find that seeing an entirely different culture, with entirely different technology promotes an understanding of many cultural or technological assumptions that many people do not even realize exist. I think this is also is a large part of what got me into programming. I remember even from a young age going to the smoke-filled internet cafes and playing Starcraft and Command and Conquer with other kids from my neighborhood. To me, there's a special uniting power in technology that transcends many linguistic and cultural boundaries.

I loved the fact that my friends and I could bond over not only technology, but also video games without ever having to speak the same language, though we did that for sure too. To me, the significance of programming is not only the function that it performs in and of itself, but also the elegance of a design that supersedes human forms of language. It is, in my opinion, one of the best ways to write pure thoughts, outside of social context or connotation, so it's impact is that much stronger in international communities. Programming is not just a tool or method to accomplish a task, but a new form of communication, one that can communicate across many lines that previously would not have been possible. It amazes me that I can not only write a program that is usable and appreciated in multiple cultures, languages, countries, and demographics, but also that its code too is itself universal. Programming is not only a great technology, but a vital instrument in our social development, as we continue to approach globalization. As a result, the mission of my work is to strive to create code written with both an elegance and a simplicity that transcends all borders and inspires all people.