About Me
If you even notice the lucky guy on the left, thats me. The beautiful face on the right is my fiancée wife, as you may have guessed. There I am, software engineer, and student of foreign language - perhaps it helps to put a face with the name.
I’m currently working for ICS, as senior web developer, (I am now a freelance contractor) while I pursue my MBA work towards JLPT and BJT certifications. Yep, that’s right - a student twice over… I’ve been avidly fighting ignorance since ‘82 and have no plans of stopping soon.
To keep up the good fight I read a lot, and love to try things myself. My favorite books include Agile and Iterative Development -A manager’s guide, Design Patterns, Differentiate or Die, and The Pragmatic Programmer… just to name a few. I firmly believe that the software field is an engineering discipline - a mixture of art and craftsmanship. As such, I am still an apprentice, but I have big dreams.
My recent accomplishments include: graduating Magna Cum Laude with my BBA in 2005, winning the PHP i5 Innovation Contest (see link on right “i innovate”), becoming a PHP5 Zend Certified Engineer, and completing my MBA with high concentrations in international business.
I’m now at an interesting crossroads in my life here in Japan. Culture and language barriers are challenging me in new ways - and I look forward to learning many new things. Daniel J Boorstin penned one of my most favorite quotes when he wrote the excellent book “The Seekers” - and it is so true to my life today: “The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance, but the illusion of knowledge“.
Well, enough about me, it’s not as interesting as the many topics I hope to cover on this site.
-Charles Abbott
*although a few faces are missing above, this is one of the best photos of our group
