Matthew Nitti
That’s me, screaming my lungs out in joy on one of my favorite rides, Viper at Six Flags Magic Mountain. I used to be terrified of roller coasters when I was young, but then I started to learn about them. How they worked, how they were designed, what made them safe and the layout of the track of the rides. It wasn’t long before I was over my fear, because ultimately it was a fear of the unknown, I didn’t know what was going to happen next on the ride, be it a sudden drop, a left turn, or a loop… Closing my eyes certainly didn’t help matters one bit. But once I knew what to expect and where, even if not perfectly, I was able to understand and enjoy the ride rather cower and cringe as I hung on for dear life through the twists and turns.
Beyond a roller coaster fan, I’m also a self taught graphic design and web programmer. Starting in elementary school and on through college and beyond I was very interested in computers, and learned how to do things through trial and error. Eventually I taught myself html, javascript, php and basic graphic design. Before I took classes on them all in school where I learned photoshop, fireworks, flash and director. I’ve of course had several different sites online off and on over the years, being the sort of person that moves from one project to the next.
One of my more recent projects was in Second Life where I created a community known as Artificial Isle that covered over 300,000 square meters of space within the heart of a larger community known as the United Sailing Sims. Here I provided homes and entertainment for the avatars of people who “lived and worked” there. It was a grand experiment with activities such as iron clad battles, theater conventions, fashion shows, races, sports competitions and more. The grounds offered many avenues for professional and casual use, including an amphitheater, stages, docks, swamp land, an airport etc, and it was all highly automated. Sadly it eventually became unsustainable due to complications in life and I had to give it up. I have a much more subtle presence in this virtual world but I will always cherish the memories I gained over that 5 year stretch, it was really quite a ride…
Still life marches onward and if anything I now have the free time I’ve long wanted to work on other projects of mine. Now I can further explore my talents in graphic design and writing, and thus this new blog was born out of the ashes of the old. So that I might continue to commune online and express myself to friends, family and the public at large, to share my ideas and seek input, to continue to grow intellectually as a person. We all make mistakes and we all have regrets, but we can only hope to improve ourselves and not repeat those same mistakes again.
So you’ll find me writing a myriad of stories each week here at ZATZAi.COM, covering a wide breadth of topics ranging from technology to politics, to what’s showing in theaters. I’ll continue to work on side projects, be it writings, products in Second Life or apps for mobile phones like Palm’s WebOS. However unlike the prior blog at this domain which had a decided professional style to it, this new format will allow me to be much freer in what I can talk about and how I can say it.
I hope you join me on this journey, and enjoy what you find here along the way, your feedback is always welcome.
