About MaxGCoding.com

MaxGCoding.com is my personal website and blog. The site itself is hosted and rendered by CodeBlahger, which you can read more about on the Projects Page. I use it to post on different topics related to software development and computer science that I find interesting. I try to take an approach that leaves the material approachable for those readers who may not have the deepest (or any!) background in computer science. I remember what it was like to be a budding programmer trying to make sense of all the jargon and details. It is with this in mind that I strive to keep such language to a minimum while maintaining the integrity of the subject being presented.

What do the binary numbers signify?

The binary numbers at the top of the page, which update once every second is the binary representation of the number of milliseconds left until January 19th, 2038. On this date at 3:14am UTC, time stamps stored as 32bit integers will overflow

A Bit About Me

I'm Max, the Max G. in MaxGCoding.com. Born and raised in New York, I attended the State University of New York College at Plattsburgh, where I earned my Bachelors degree in Environmental Science. I currently live and work in Boston, MA where I ply my trade as a backend software engineer.

Through my many hobbies and interests over the years, my number one passion has always been computer programming. I first started programming with QBasic and then Visual Basic while still a student in elementary school. After some time and gaining more experience, I moved on to learning Perl and then C/C++. I first started using various Unix dialects through "shell service providers" until I was finally able to convince my parents to allow me to install Linux on our old computer that was given to me sometime in the late 90s. With my very own Linux machine my appetite for programming exploded at that point, and has continued to grow with there being no indications of it slowing down.

Along-side the many technical aspects of computing, I also enjoy the rich history of computing. I find it facinating, not only the evolution of the hardware technology, but also the way programming and programming languages have been influenced and grown along with it. And of course that touch of humanity that comes from the many tales of luminaries in the field that have evolved into heroes for many of us. My interest in historical computing extends to retro computing, and I have had the fortune to amass a small collection of old Unix workstations: a Sun IPC and a Sun SPARC station 10 as well as a few others. I’ve always wanted to own my own mainframe - one day i will own one (don't ask me what on earth for - blinkenlights mostly).

Not all of my hobbies are computer related, and I make sure to take time and unplug to connect with nature and be outside as much as possible. Ok, "as much as possible" is an exaggeration but i do enjoy being outdoors and I can often be found hiking, snowboarding, or sailing on the Charles river. My other great passion in life is music, both playing guitar and attending concerts. Having recently relocated to Boston, I’ve been busy exploring while taking in all the history, sights, and everything else my new home has to offer!