About Me

Hello! I’m Max and this here’s my website. Welcome.

Software

I’ve written software that makes many companies work, to this day, over the years. In addition to a wide portfolio of tech startups that either didn’t make it or are still not that famous, I’ve worked at a few big name companies, in one case following a company’s journey from tiny scrappy startup in a WeWork office to part of a giant and growing publicly-traded company.

From an early age, I had a passion and an aptitude for programming and electronics. Part of a gifted program at my elementary school was to teach us BASIC on primitive Apple IIe computers, I wrote my first program ever in 4th grade. In 7th grade a random used bookstore purchase, a book on game programming in Java, led to me writing a working PONG-like tennis game with AI opponents and multiplayer features.

In college, I learned several programming languages in a Comparative Programming Languages course, and immediately saw the power of being a software-language polyglot. Since then I’ve learned, used, and mastered many more technologies like Ruby, Python, Go, C/C++, Haskell, Erlang, and more. I’ve found my ability to pick up languages quickly and to choose the right one for the right job has served me quite well in my career and life.

Hardware

From playing around with ham radios in middle school to building a Theremin in high school to designing consumer electronics in the 2020s, electronics have always been a passion of mine. Since then, I have designed and built electronic musical instruments like Weird Sound Generators (WSGs), effect filters, and sequencers, whenever I have a good idea for one. I’ve always loved the music of Kraftwerk, who famously would make their own instruments, and I’m inspired quite a lot by Electronicos Fantasticos.

Farming

I’ve been a sideline beekeeper since 2018, which is to say I sell the products of my hives but not enough to quit my day job. In my backyard apiary, I have a small handful of hives from which I harvest honey, beeswax, and propolis. Near the bees are our lovely hens, Liz Lemon and Princess Margaret, who are more pets than farm animals at this point. We love them dearly and they’re quite spoiled. We also have a few raised beds for veggies, and I grow a small orchard of dwarf citrus trees in pots. I’ve also frequently written here about my experiments with hydroponics.

Getting my hands dirty

I had the good fortune of attending a high school with a vocational program. There, I learned graphic arts, specializing in photography and running offset lithography printing presses. My secondary trade was automotive mechanics, which I enjoyed even more. These two trades brought me up close and elbows-deep into some very complicated machines, and I loved that. I still work on cars, keeping a 1973 Subaru 1400GL coupe and a 1996 Honda CB750F motorcycle running.

Making things

I got into 3D printing as soon as it was possible for me to. I learned about the RepRap project and was instantly fascinated. Soon, around 2014, I constructed my own RepRap printer, a “Huxley” or Mini-Mandel. That printer is still operational today, along with three other RepRap-style printers and a single SLA-style (liquid resin) printer. I 3D-print lots of different fidget toys, available on my store website. Additionally, 3D printing has allowed me to explore a lifelong love of mechanical clocks and wristwatch movements.

I’m always coming up with new projects, new products or fun toys I can make.