JAKE

8 Years Old

This is when I first started getting acquainted with the internet and computers. We had an iMac Color at the time and I just loved playing free MacWorld game trials, the ones that were sent with the magazine subscription.

9 Years Old

Found out about Blizzard’s Starcraft and played it non stop. I would literally spend hours upon hours playing it, probably for at least 4 hours each and every day.

I would also like to state that this was the age that I found out about money. I literally would collect pennies that I find all over the house and put them in little envelopes which I hide in every nook and cranny. At this age it is set in my mind, I want to be a millionaire.

10 Years Old

My father bought Adobe ImageStyler for my older brother. I would watch my brother use it, and eventually watched carefully enough to learn how to use the program on my own. My brother also showed me the basics of HTML. Together, we made a really cool website about Dragon Ball Z that was filled with animated GIFs that we had found around the net. At the time, I thought that it was mind blowing.

11 Years Old

I start playing with HTML on my own, and create my own website using Freewebs. I completely designed it in ImageStyler, and then would upload it to my Freewebs account. It was quite a hit, and got a fair amount of page views as well as over 100 actual comments in my guestbook pertaining to how much they liked my site. I start a lemonade stand with some friends and make over $50 in one day.

12 Years Old

I get both Macromedia Flash and Dreamweaver and use them constantly each and every day. When using Dreamweaver, I learn how to use and create tables as well as what image slicing is and how it can be used. In flash, I spend many hours teaching myself how to use the program from the inside out. I then import my flash animations into the layout of my website and go nuts showing all of my friends that great accomplishment that I have made. My father also starts a savings bank account for me, and gives me $40 to start out with. I submit my large jug of coins into the CoinStar machine at my local supermarket, and cash out nearly $200 dollars.

13 Years Old

I start playing 3D video games and get hooked. I also join the notorious NewGrounds, and not only become an active member there but also start getting more interested in Flash animation. Me and a friend of mine decide that we are going to make our own Flash series which although we spend a lot of time on, eventually drop due to lack of motivation. This is the point in my life when the I really start learning about all aspects of the web. I surf and learn about as much as I can. I also get Photoshop, and start playing around with its cool capabilities. I win an art award at my towns local Art Institute, the pencil drawing is a self portrait of what I would look like under the influence. I also design both my mother and fathers websites, which I each get paid $60 to do.

1 4 Years Old

This is thus far, the most exciting year of my life. Along with some friends of mine, we contemplate and plan ideas for many projects. We start buying domain names, and launch Teacup Media(down at the moment). We create this blog and also have many ideas for the future. As someone might or might not have said, “This is where my future will become written.”

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MATT

8 Years Old

By this point, I had already been acquainted with computers a little bit - I mean, I had already broken two or three keyboards by bashing them pretending I was playing a game. As the oldest child, the only resource I had to investigate computers was my dad, and I did just that. He used to take me to his office in…oh I forget where, and he just showed me some interesting stuff (not like I understood any of it).

9 Years Old

I found out about this game, Runescape, from a friend. I made a few accounts and shared them with my friends, because I found it fun. In fact, all three of us at TalkPrice once shared an account together, but those days are in the past. I don’t play Runescape much any more, but I do still play a little, just to talk with some of the friends I made (on my new account, of course). Call me a nerd, whatever, I still find it some fun. Runescape brought me and David closer as friends than we already were.

10 Years Old

This is when I moved from my old school, a move that drastically changed my life (who knows if it was for the better or not?). I made some friends, lost contact with some of my old friends (luckily, Facebook has reconnected me with a few of them), and began spending a lot more time on the computer. By this point, my dad was so fed up with me breaking his computer that he got me my own. I became fascinated with programs like Adobe Premiere Elements and stuff like that.

11 Years Old

I guess you could say that this was the year of my first business transaction. At camp, my friend payed me 20 bucks to spray-paint somebody’s backpack this lime green color. To be honest, it was worth it (not to mention, his backpack looked a lot cooler in lime green). I began saving money, and then spending more and more of what I had saved. I don’t really have many memories about technology from this age, actually.

12 Years Old

I’d say my biggest achievement at the age of 12 was winning this prize for my score on the SAT. I had studied with my grandfather for about a year, and we decided I was ready (this was in the end of my 7th grade year). I ended up with a 760 (out of 800) on Math, a 630 in Writing, and a 560 in Reading Comp. (this was before the change of format). That gave me a cumulative 1950, which I was quite proud of, especially as a 7th grader. There was this big awards ceremony, and I got 1’st place in my age category for Math, and 3′rd place for overall score. I won a certificate to take two Summer courses at Suffolk (a 3,000 dollar value), which I hope to do this summer. I plan on taking Computer Science (I wonder why!) and an Algebra-based course.

13 Years Old

I guess you could say that I had my biggest monetary achievement at this age. As a Jewish boy, my parents really wanted me to become a Bar Mitzvah. I knew that it would be a TON of work, but the payout would be worth it. I spent about a year preparing, and on September 15th (just 2-3 weeks before I turned 14) , I read from the Torah and had a Bar Mitzvah. I won’t reveal how much money the gifts added up to, or how much of it I got to spend, but let me just say; it was quite a good amount!

14 Years Old

Well, that brings me to today. High school…lots of new responsibilities, lots of work to do, not a lot of time to do it…Sleeping? Yeah right, sleeping is now a luxury for me. I spend a lot of my free time working on this blog, but unfortunately I don’t have too much of it. I began learning HTML, as well as finding out the wonders of Google Search. I have learned a LOT of coding just through making things like the Contact Form from tutorials (I had to write a .php script for that, too). One of my favorite online programs to use is PhotoShop/Illustrator. I love to make backgrounds and other stuff from nearly nothing (just a render, or something like that). I also love to play Online Poker!