Joe Damato
Who is Joe Damato?
I’m a half italian, half argentine immigrant child born and raised in new jersey. I’m not a programmer or a hacker i just do it sometimes because it look good.
Where and when did you start programming?
I started going kimbo slice on my keyboard back when i was 5. my pops worked at a family owned recycling joint in paterson, NJ and one day he found an apple IIe clone (basically an early hackintosh) and a book ‘BASIC programming for kids’ (picture) in the garbage. he pulled it out and brought it home. i started reading it and copying the programs out of the book. sometime after that i learned C and assembly from reading the code to slackware and a set of intel x86 books my pops found at the same recycling joint.
One man’s trash and all that.
C or Ruby? and why?
For me, C. everyone’s brain works differently and people internalize and understand things differently. pushing bits around always made sense to me. that said, it’s hard for me to use ruby for a few reasons: my brain doesnt work that way, i cant use it to work on things that i actually think are interesting (operating systems, linkers, loaders, object file formats, …), and i’ve read the code or ruby 1.8 and it is pretty horrible.
Your favorite IDE?
I used to write code using xemacs in college and back at my first job. since then I’ve switched to vim and the switch was not for any particular reason. cscope, gdb, vim/xemacs, a hard problem, and I’m unstoppable.
What does your typical day look like?
Wake up, cook, eat breakfast, and get ready for the day. i usually spend the day listening to gangster rap (right now im listening to the trap or die mixtape), writing code, reading code, reading cpu white papers, and/or thinking about how to build something. usually i hit the gym around 7pm or 8pm and lift hard. when i get home from the gym around 930 or 10 i eat dinner, cook my meals for the next day and then do some more work until i pass out around 2 or so.
What do you do in your free time?
I lift, cook, go food shopping, read, blog, talk on the phone with my friends and family on the east coast, research my family history, and chase girls.
Current favorite apps?
Probably objdump, vmware fusion, and itunes. i end up using objdump quite a bit, but it doesn’t build right on osx so i end up needing to launch my linux VM with fusion so i can objdump binaries. even though itunes eats memory like i eat meat and spawns 10s of threads i think i would go insane if i couldn’t bump the trap or die mixtape everyday.
What OS do you prefer?
Depends. osx and linux for day to day use are fine, but various pieces of the code for each of them are pretty ugly. freebsd has some beautiful code in places where others have atrocities, but it is a pain to actually use everyday. and yea, i used to use freebsd everyday.
Small picture for your Workplace?
Name something that has inspired you recently?
A constant source of inspiration for me: my parents, grandparents, brothers and my cousin and his wife. my parents and grandparents because i cant imagine giving up everything you have, know, and love to come to a country that is completely foreign to you in language and customs and make a life for yourself. my brothers because they grind
100x harder everyday than anyone i know. my cousin and his wife because they force me to be a better person today than i was yesterday.
Hope that wasn’t too real for you.
What do you prefer (and why)? Freelance work or full time employment?
Most of my life i’ve done full time employment and i like the regular schedule. I only ever did freelance for a really short period of time so maybe had i given it more of a chance i’d like that more because of the freedom.
What are your personal projects and goals for 2011?
Spend less time in front of the computer and more time with the people I love, write as little ruby as possible, and try to read more.
