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Learn more about Lee

• 1) Can you tell us about your first experience using a computer?

  The first memory I have of experiencing and using computers was in the early 1980's when a Maths teacher at our school had a Research Machines 380Z computer that stored programs on a punch card. My first home computer was a Sinclair ZX81 which had a touch keyboard (no actual keys) and plugged into the TV. I found it fascinating that one could type the letters and it appeared on one's own TV screen! It had a memory of 1 kilobyte as I recall! I learnt the beginnings of programming in the BASIC language.
  
  Following this I had a Commodore VIC-20 and then the legendary Commodore 64 which revolutionised sound in the home computer market with the advent of the SID chip!

• 2) What is the technological evolution that has marked you most and what will be, in your eyes, a turning point in this field?

  The introduction of the internet (World Wide Web) in 1991 and its subsequent accessibility via browsers in the latter half of the 1990s was a complete technological and cultural shift, especially with the advent of social media beginning with MySpace and then consecutively Facebook, Twitter (pre-Musk) and Instagram. In the music sphere, software like Steinberg's Cubase and Emagic's Logic Audio revolutionised music technology and brought a relatively low-cost option which allowed the masses to be able to make music without using expensive studios. I used MIDI, software sampling and eventually software instruments to compose soundscapes and music! It was through my wish to make music that I moved over from using a PC to MACs when I bought my first Apple Mac G4 second-hand.
  
  In the future, I think AI will play an increasing role in many facets of our lives; gaming and other applications of VR will diversify, for example Metaverse and Extended reality (XR) offering even more immersive augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR) experiences. In the medical world I think biotech, body augmentation, nanotechnology and brain-computer interfaces will play a larger role in our lives.

• 3) Explain your expertise, your interest in it and, more broadly, its importance in the computer world.

  I have expertise both in music technology (MIDI, composition, mixing) and in web technologies having developed skills in HTML, CSS, Javascript and PHP programming. I have been working within the Wordpress CMS ecosystem since around 2007. I enjoy problem-solving and helping other people to realise their online ambitions whether that be a simple portfolio website or a fully-customised bespoke web application which allows complex user interactions.
  
  More broadly audio/visual mixed media plays an ever-increasing role in our lives with websites, applications and immersive experiences with rapidly evolving ways in which to engage with these media via interfaces.

• 4) Do so-called 'visionaries', such as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg inspire you or do you have other role models?

  Whilst one can't deny that these three have made an enormous contribution to the evolving world of commercial computer technology, I would say that my role models are the online educators and programmers/developers who are committed to open-source applications that enable users and creators to access and contribute towards the evolution of these particular ecosystems.

• 5) Provide a valuable anecdote related to your subject or your days at school.

  When I had my ZX81 in the early 1980's, I experimented with some programming ideas to cause random "music" to play by rapidly alternating colour patterns which would make sounds on the TV even though the ZX81 did not have any sound! I sent the program off to a computer magazine at the time and it was published! My 5 minutes of fame!

• 6) What would you say to an uncomfortable person in front of a screen who says that "IT is too complicated"?

  Let me take you by the metaphorical hand and guide you, using small easy to digest steps, so that you grow both in understanding and in confidence with this technology. As you begin to understand it implicitly, your discomfort will disappear and you will realise the many possibilities that are open to you using IT.

• 7) What are your other passions, related or non-related to computers?

  As mentioned, I love using IT to compose music when I get the time! I have a passion for good films. I also love the outdoors. As a family we love going on camping trips and we try to live as sustainably as possible including growing a lot of our own food on an allotment.

• 8) What makes you a Superprof in IT?

  I relish the opportunity to help people realise their goals through listening to what they need and providing advice and personalised lessons targeting their particular needs. I am a life-long learner myself and always keep up with new developments in my particular fields of IT.