User:Merbst

Hi everyone, my name is Matt Erbst. I have been a software developer my entire life, a believer in the power of mass-collaboration & the WikiWay since 1997, an avid reader of Wikipedia content since its beta in 2000, and an author of OpenSource PHP web applications since 2000.

As an individual having exceptionally high levels of curiosity, idealism, passion, and hubris in the face of pragmatism, I have spent large amounts of my time over the last decade studying pure math & philosophy, an evolution of my previous interests: software engineering, web development, taking trivia seriously, and interpersonal infatuations. These personal idiosyncrasies, combined with a lifelong struggle to achieve my optimum environment to productively master my limitations of attentional focus balanced against the steeply varying levels of drive reflecting the relationship of my labors to my passions, have spawned many lifetimes of ambitious project ideas. My sole focus at this stage of my life is to bring into existence as many of my ambitions as I can achieve. Luckily my true ambitions are highly altruistic, and my own ideals are very congruent with the Wikimedia Movement, giving hope that within this movement I will find many altruists with whom I can work synergistically to achieve mutually beneficial alliances.

I was born in Southern California in 1981, where I continue to live, specifically in the city of Laguna Niguel, CA. I enjoy sharing the unique atmosphere of my tourism-friendly area with visitors, especially playing guide & offering my perspectives on what guests will find most worthwhile. Beginning this year, I will be experimenting with organizing workshops, meetups, hackathons for Open Source projects intending to introduce previously overlooked audiences to tools they could find valuable uses of, and encourage developer cross-pollination among complementary projects.