Hi!

My name is James Keane, I am a father of 3, loving husband, an experienced software developer and manager from Toronto, Canada.

In 1994, I got a GameGenie for my Nintendo Entertainment System. The GameGenie used a ‘patch code’ that told the genie to load a value at a certain memory address. This enabled all sorts of cheats, such as invisibility, invulnerability, noclip, etc. I was probably 5 or 6 years old and completely fascinated by these seemingly random codes. Trying to understand how they worked was impossible at that age, but it didn’t stop me from trying. This experience sparked an intense curiosity for anything computer related that has lasted into adulthood.

it didn’t stop me from trying

In 2001, I was 12 years old when I recieved a Dreamcast. The Dreamcast was the very first console system to have support for online gaming. My family never had a computer powerful enough to play games online, so the dreamcast was my first exposure to online gaming. My favourite games were Unreal Tournament, 4x4 Evo, and Phantasy Star Online. Playing Phantasy Start Online with people from all over the world, including Japan was the moment that solidified my obsession with all things internet. The internet was already quickly emerging as a revolutionary technology at that time, but for me at 12 years old, this is when I knew that the future was going to be different and I was going to be part of it.

I had a pretty troubled childhood, partly due to undiagnosed ADHD that caused me to stay up fiddling around with my computer until passing out at 5 or 6am. This habit caused me extreme difficulties at school; missing months of school at a time. Luckily, I was also a gifted child and had no trouble catching up to my peers so that I was never held back. This continued until the summer before grade 12.

With my experience in easily catching up, I had developed an attitude of ‘nothing except grade 12 matters’… and I was determined to go to university. While my peers only had to focus on 4 credits in their final year, I needed 10. I did night school, online correspondence, every course I could take during the day; and some ‘make-up’ independent study assignments. I also joined the football team, started exercising everyday, and started dating an amazing girl who later became my wife.

I don’t want to say I ‘peaked in highschool’, but that year was certainly a top 5 and the reason I was unknowingly treating my ADHD with a fat burner (ephedrine).

I was unknowingly treating my ADHD

I was a completely different person and despite the almost insurmountable challenge, I got into one of the top universities in Canada and eventually graduated with a prestigious honours degree in Computer Science with distinction from The University of Toronto. It was also very “easy” and I sometimes struggle with knowing that I probably could’ve gone to a more prestigious university, or ‘achieved’ more.

With this blog, I hope to contribute to the zeitgeist even though I know that I’m probably just talking to the wind. If you’ve read this far, thanks for listening, send me a note or connect on linkedin if you want.