About me

I'm a Christian! This is a fundamental part of who I am, and the hope that I have for the future.

I'm the lucky husband of Meredith (Berg) as of October 15, 2005. What a great day! We recently moved into our first home in the Laurelwood area of Waterloo.

I'm a fairly mathematical person. I enjoy plugging away at things that require a certain amount of mathematical intuition.

In 2008, out of the blue, I got really interested in natural language processing -- the field of computer science that endeavors to endow computers with the ability to read, understand, and express ideas using human language. In 2009 I was hired by Wolfram Research to work on http://www.wolframalpha.com.

In 2012 my understanding of money changed quite drastically -- I read a great book called "Radical: Taking Your Faith Back From the American Dream" that helped me understand the insane disparity between rich and poor in this world. What does it mean to love others as self when almost 20,000 kids die every day to what are largely preventable causes? Mind blowing. I'm still trying to figure out the implications of this.

I've always found myself interested in physiology. Aside from enjoying memorization, I am intrigued by how the human body functions.

When I was in high school I discovered the joy of a good RTS, or real-time-strategy game. Playing these games online makes for hours of fun. My favorites were Warcraft II and Starcraft. Starcraft II has been a good source of enjoyment in the last few years.

In 2006 I decided I'd create a list of 99 things I'd like to do. (I have heard many people say that this is a worthwhile thing to do) Here's my list, which I enjoyed creating and working away at, although it has been quite a few years since I last dabbled in this area. I suppose starting a family reduces the time one has for this kind of adventure. In 2012, my sensibilities for spending money changed significantly as well in terms of the great disparity in the world, so I'd be unlikely to pursue many of these items now.

During my life I've enjoyed music -- listening and creating. In high school I learned to play the flute, which is a great instrument, but I tend to play the piano more as my creative outlet. Since 2014, however, my emotional health seemed to take a nose dive, and with it, my affection for music. It's fairly rare that I listen to music now, and I don't seem to have any desire to create music.