Hello Stranger

It's probably time for another post, and I thought I'd update with what I've been doing lately. Mostly I've been occupied with doing assignments for uni, but there have been a few highlights.

I went to see Darren Hanlon in concert at the Metro Theatre last Thursday. His show was great; I really enjoyed his laid-back style, and the atmosphere was fantastic. He's released a new album called Hello Stranger (hence the tour), and I will definitely be picking it up next time I'm in a record store.

We also amused ourselves before the gig by mentally removing letters from the signs spelling out "HELLO STRANGER" at the front of the hall. The best we came up with was "HELL RANGER", which was shamelessly stolen by Darren in a joke he made onstage.

Nethack, a text-based role-playing game, has kept me entertained at home over the past couple of weeks. It's quite amazing how much thought has gone into the design and gameplay, and many high-profile game designers in the industry have acknowledged ideas that have been developed by the Nethack team.

You'd be surprised how absorbing a game can be with only a single "@" representing the main character, and monsters displayed as letters; it leaves a lot to the imagination, which has a far better resolution than any 3D card on the market. :-)

As Dave J has pointed out, Gomez have released a new album entitled In Our Gun. Although it doesn't quite have the groove I liked so much in Liquid Skin, I think it's a good album. They've also revamped their website, which now has a very funky interface.

As you may have already noticed, I've added a short about me page. It has just a few interesting details, no photo yet, and hopefully will expand a bit in the future.

Portrait of Matt Ryall

About Matt

I’m a technology nerd, husband and father of four, living in beautiful Sydney, Australia.

My passion is building software products that make the world a better place. For the last 15 years, I’ve led product teams at Atlassian to create collaboration tools.

I'm also a startup advisor and investor, with an interest in advancing the Australian space industry. You can read more about my work on my LinkedIn profile.

To contact me, please send an email or reply on Twitter.