- Russell (Ground Control):
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- My Idea
- About Me
- Judge's Comments
Russell Heistuman
I’m a graphic dinosaur in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho (no, not Iowa). For the record, we don’t have potatoes up here, just lots of pretty lakes and ex-Californians. What most people don’t realize, is that Cd’A is actually a ‘burb of Spokane, WA (just 35 mi. west). What most people also don’t realize, is that Spokane is not a ‘burb of Seattle–it’s three hundred miles to the east, on the Idaho border.
We (myself, my wife and two daughters), escaped from Orange County, CA in 2000 only to find ourselves now in OC Northwest (think: CSI Miami) just six short years later. We got yer Costco, Walmart, Target, Olive Garden and soon, a Sonic Burger Drive-In — all the trappings of civilized living and the traffic to go with it. Unfortunately that statement just scared off all the right people and intrigued most of the wrong ones. But we still don’t have a Trader Joe’s or an In-n-Out Burger (there, that’ll keep them away).
I’ve been using Macs since 1987-ish. Full-time, since 1990 when I told an art director that I had Mac and Pagemaker experience. I didn’t tell her it was only about four hours worth spread out over three years (she didn’t ask how much). I bought a book on Pagemaker that weekend and came in Monday looking like a pro. I’ve tried to stay on the bleeding edge of Macdom ever since (remember the Quadra 950 and PowerTower 225?) up until I had to give up my dual 2.7 G5 at my last job to pursue my own gig (www.wdwerks.com) clunking along on a 1.0 GHz (upgraded) G4. So, I’m really looking forward to at least winning one of the MacMinis (he said, presumptuously)!
I’m basically a designer who has enough of the left-side of my brain to be dangerous. It helps me relate to programmers but not actually speak the language. I typically think of things in terms of FileMaker Pro or web solutions but secretly wish I had the chops to learn Objective C and do some real damage. I’m so glad the organizers of MDA were able to put this together to spare the world of this type of damage. I’m not much of a gamer, so I gravitate towards productivity apps as my Dream App. I’m the type who is always looking for the faster, more intuitive approach to a common problem, hence, when I heard about My Dream App, I just started thinking about, what if I had a team of the best Mac programmers money could buy, what would my dream app be? What would I need to be more productive? What are the things that slow me down? Out came iBaseStation, which is now, Ground Control.
