About Mulad / Michael Hicks  

Oh, some say I'm the mythical nice guy, though others get a different impression (sorry folks, I get a bit jaded because of my single-ness). I'm a computer geek and do software testing for these guys at the moment, though I may move on to programming in the future.

I attended the University of Minnesota from 1997 to 2002, and officially moved to Minneapolis in 2000 (I'd lived in the dorms for previous years). I just moved to the Como Park area of St. Paul in May 2006.



I've had an interest in photography for a long time, though I never had the patience to figure out how to make good photos with film cameras. Like most kids my age, I started off with 110 film cameras in the early 1980s. I think my first camera was something that looked like a toy bear head on front. Shortly thereafter, my brother and I each got simple Kodak Ektralite 10 cameras, still using 110 film. I also recall that our family once got a toy spy camera from Burger King which used 110, but I don't recall if we ever actually took any pictures with it.

My next camera was a 35mm point-n-shoot with zoom capability. I can't recall the brand now, but I seem to remember it had three buttons other than the shutter. One to rewind film, another to disable the flash, and the third—which should be on all point-n-shoots—an infinity focus button, so the camera doesn't focus on the window glass right in front of you if you're taking shots from a car or something.

My next camera was an APS format one. Actually, it should be floating around my apartment, so I'll have to dig it up someday. I probably got it as a gift somewhere around 1997.

My foray into digital began when I got a FujiFilm FinePix A303 for Christmas in 2002. It had a nice 3 megapixel size, but only an ISO 100 equivalent sensor, so I didn't get as many good photos out of it as I could have.

After finally getting a decent job again, I purchased a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT in spring 2006 just before I moved to St. Paul. I started off with the kit 18–55mm lens, though that's was replaced in January 2007 with an EF-S 17–55mm IS USM lens. On a buying spree of sorts, I also got the cheap 50mm f/1.8 lens so I can play with depth of field a bit more. I got a cameraphone in January 2008, a Sony-Ericsson K850i (high resolution, but the color's a bit off). In January 2009, I ordered an 75-200mm f/2.8 L USM lens for my Canon, which should be nice.

I actually consider my photos to be public domain, but the license knob on Flickr only goes down to an attribution license. Well, heck, getting my name out there is nice anyway.

Oh, and I hate to do this, since it will probably be about as successful as when I post my resumé online (which is to say completely unsuccessful), but here goes: Ladies, my OkCupid profile is here. If you're single, why not sign up, answer a few dozen (or a few hundred) questions, and see how we match. Sorry about that, but I'm just sick of being by myself. If MySpace is more your thing, here's my profile.