My name is Steve Streza. I’m 18 years old, and a current student at Rochester Institute of Technology in Henrietta, NY. I’m studying Computer Science and Software Engineering, which I hope to graduate from in 2010.

I was born and raised in Strongsville, OH. Over the years, I’ve learned several awesome skills - I’ve played piano for 12 years and have a first degree black belt. I’ve done some off-the-wall things, such as learned to play violin.

During middle school and part of high school, I was very active in the school newspaper. I would frequently write such gripping tales as video game reviews. I also used to be a writer on the Mac GUI mod site MacThemes.net. The experience I got writing for so long is probably what incensed me to start this blog, which has been around in various incarnations since 2003.

My path as a software developer is a very twisted one. I began my journey towards becoming a programmer started a long time ago, and the first tool that let me realize my dreams was Al Stafferi’s GameMaker. That consumed my life for a few years, on and off, until about 2001. It was at that point that I discovered making actual applications, through the use of a program called REALbasic. It started teaching me about higher, more advanced computer science concepts such as object-oriented programming. It quickly became evident to me that I needed something better if I wanted to make the kick-ass apps I wanted to make.

In late 2003, I started toying with Objective-C, Cocoa, and Xcode, all developer tools from Apple. I started becoming very proficient at it, forming my own software company, Twisted Ninja Software, in early 2005. My main application right now is SnapShooter, a neat little utility that is great for making quick little snapshots of your computer and posting them online. I’ve got some awesome ideas in the pipeline, and hopefully some of them will see the light of day.

In 2005, I was accepted to RIT for Software Engineering. I’m not totally convinced that that is my calling, and instead may switch over to a more general computer science major. I’m a first-year member of RIT’s Computer Science House, a 30-year old organization that prides itself on having kick-ass hardware and software, and the people who know how to make it jump through hoops. Finally, I’m the vice president of MacRIT, the RIT Mac Users Group.