What up, everybody? My name is Chris, 24 years old, born in the suburbs of Chicago, but a majority of the "raised" part took place in the Carbondale area of Southern IL, which is where I still reside.
I don't have near as rewarding of a career path as these dudes above me yet, I work at a place that is basically the same as Chuck'E'Cheese, but it's pirate themed, and we have laser tag. It takes up a majority of my time, but when I'm not working, I'm messing around with my phone, playing the XBox, or spending time with my friends. No boy / husband to speak of (yes, I'm gay), no kids, but I spend a lot of time with my 4 month old (as of this writing) baby "nephew", who I'm not actually blood related to, but my best friend is my "brother", so his kid is my nephew, and I'm definitely loving it.
I have a dog, he is half Chihuahua, half Dachsund. His name is Moose. Yes, his ears are that big. (Image clickable for full-size.)
I got a cellphone during some intense family times, to keep in touch with everybody. It was some old silver Kyocera thing on Verizon. Moved up to another Samsung dumbphone that couldn't really do anything, but I had fun just opening up the "secret menus" and pushing buttons to see what would happen. When I went to college, I bought a Motorola RAZR and I was in love. That was a sexy phone. I had a lot of fun flashing various versions of it's software available to remove carrier branding, change the look, etc..., I went through quite a few of those, and I would purposely buy one that was not intended for Verizon, just so I could flash the software. I also remember spending time doing other semi-related nerdy things, like putting Linux on my iPod Video, buying Windows XP the day it came out, etc... technology has always been a part of my life.
That being said, I purchased an Android phone, basically on a whim. I had a passing interest in a smartphone, but never was actively seeking one. Walked into Best Buy, saw the sale on Virgin Mobile phones. Went home, checked coverage, checked my bank, went back, bought the Samsung Intercept. Spent about 30 minutes with it, and took it back. That thing was painful. Exchanged for the Optimus V, and I was in love. I honestly don't remember how I came about Android Central, I seem to recall it was from some YouTube video on how to flash CM7, and instantly became attached to the Optimus community here. Everyone was always extremely helpful, willing to take actual time out of their days to solve problems, or to walk you through something, it really made me feel welcome, and I have grown to have an emotional attachment to the community in general. I care about this place, and when some forum drama went down in the OV section, that is when I became a moderator. I was honored to have the opportunity to finally do something for the community, as I have yet to grasp the knowledge of a developer, those guys / gals are crazy smart.
Now, I spend a majority of my time as a moderator reading every post in the Optimus section, and just trying to give back to the community that has done so much for me, to make my first smartphone experience the best that it can possibly be.
Big shout-out to Cory for allowing me to be a part of it all, and the rest of the guys for walking me through it as I go. I'm having a blast. See you all around!