This is my web page, and has various information you might find interesting. My hobbies include radio controlled models, flight simulators, various computer stuff, and mountain bikes. If none of these things interest you, I don't know why you're here. Updates will be posted on the news page as I make them. Note: No penguins were harmed during the making of this web page.

I am 25 (as of May, 2005) and grew up in Lyons, Colorado. It is a very small town, still more or less undisturbed by the sprawl of the Denver Metro area. Lyons has two schools, the elementary school and the middle/senior high, which were the only schools I attended until enrolling in college. Some of the kids will say that there's nothing to do in Lyons. Quite to the contrary, I've always found plenty to do between the hobbies contained in this site.

I have been told numerous times that there are too few (read: none) pictures of myself on this website. In order to appease the countless masses who long to see my face, I have added a photos page. Note that the link is small, and you really won't find anything there, but I now realize that a photos page is a pre-requisite for any content starved personal webpage. Sorry for those who I may have offended in the past.

I am a recent graduate of the University of Colorado, Boulder, majoring in mechanical engineering. I have no doubt that engineering is my passion. I have since secured a position in the mechanical design team at LASP, and am working on both the SDC and AIM projects.

On April 17th, 1997, I was diagnosed with leukemia. Since then, I have taken more poisons than I ever wanted, but have finished treatment with no long term side-effects. Treatment ended early August of 2000, and it is in full remission, with no indication of a relapse (ie. I'm cured). My current plan is to get my routine back to normal and do my best to keep up with my hobbies (and work, if there's time). Things are looking up. You may notice that, aside from this paragraph, none of this page is dedicated to Leukemia. I choose not to let it take up any more of my life than absolutely necessary. I try to be as normal as possible under the circumstances, as difficult as it may be at times.

Firstly, I would like to thank my parents and family for simply being cool. The condo far exceeds the dorms in terms of livability. I would like to thank my Mom for letting me set up (and use) her web server. It has been a lot of fun, and has given me a lot of experience in linux. Due to the small load of this machine compared to the campus servers, it is also usually more responsive. It also allows me to do things never possible on the campus servers due to access limitations, such as DNS hosting, FTP servers, and virtual hosting. I would also like to thank all the members of irc.JMack.net #SkyFighters. Whether they know it or not, they have helped me through a real tough time in my life.

Well, enough background, I think its time to get into the stuff I'm interested in.

Since I was about 12 years old, my dad and I have been playing with radio controlled models. While on a job one day, my dad saw a kid flying an R/C plane off a residential street, convincing him that he would have to do it himself. A few years later, we got our first trainer, a Sig Kadet Mark 2. We didn't quite get the instruction we needed, and decided we could better do it on our own. So, we took the landing gear off and tossed it up, trying to fly it around. It went around for a while, but eventually I lost control and it plowed itself into a tree stump. Only the wing survived. Next, we tried a Duraplane, which has to be one of the worst flying trainer planes on the market. It stayed up for a bit, but when it came down we didn't care to fly it again. That put our R/C endeavors on a 3 or 4 year hiatus.

I started up again with a gas R/C car, and had a lot of fun with it despite the horrid amount of fiddling and maintenance. Since then, I have experimented with various R/C models, including boats, cars, planes, gliders, and helicopters. For more information, check out my R/C models page.

Since I first got my Mac Plus, I have been playing flight simulators. I used to sell tickets to my parents and 'fly' them around in MSFS 1.0. Then I got 'P-51 Mustang' by Donald A. Hill, which still has to be the best flight simulator for the old black and white Macs.

Once I discovered the internet, sims got better and better. I could now play online against people who could actually challenge me, unlike the computer. I couldn't find a loophole to beat the human enemy, I have to be constantly devising tactics and strategies. It is vastly more entertaining, and I have a hard time flying offline anymore.

Unfortunately, due to college, time for hobbies has waned, and I've been unable to fly much. I've been forced to give it up to make time for my other hobbies. Sims were most enjoyable when I was sick at home and unable to do much other than sit at a computer, but now that I'm stronger, they don't hold the same appeal.

I have always enjoyed riding my bike around. I would pedal my BMX bikes back and forth, up and down the hills around my house, over jumps, anywhere I could. One summer, my parents enrolled me in a YMCA bike riding summer camp with a bike we had recently restored. I had a lot of fun, and got a new bike the next year. It was my first mountain bike, a Bridgestone MB-6, and I did a lot of riding on it. The year after that, I sold it to my mom and bought a Bridgestone MB-S, which had front suspension. The steel frame and aggressive, well tuned geometry made it a joy to ride. I cannot part with this bike, even after getting my new one, so it stays around as my get-around-town bike.

After being diagnosed with cancer, I got an Ibis Szazbo dual suspension to help in my recovery. Nothing could be more perfect than dual suspension when you don't feel like riding. Simply the thought of that nifty, squishy bike makes you want to hop on and go for a jaunt. Once you get on, you float above obstacles and trail noise, rarely having to get off the seat so you don't get your back compressed. I now realize that dual suspension benefits the average overweight, middle-aged recreational rider as much as a pro racer.

After saving my pennies for years, I bought myself a Trek 5200 road bike to supplant my mountain bikes. Despite being a mountain biker at heart, I still enjoy the convenience and speed of a good road spin. Instead of having to find a riding companion and take time to drive to a trail, I can step out my front door and ride wherever the mood takes me. Basically, if I'm on a bike, any bike, I'm happier than I am doing almost anything else.

I don't have too much else to say about bikes, but if you care to go to my cycling page, you might find some more. Find out for yourself.

This web page was made on a Macintosh by James Mack. All graphics were custom designed by James Mack. Thanks to Eszter for putting up with my incessant nagging to critique these pages. These pages were designed to display on all browsers, but prefer a graphical browser with tables support and a machine with 16bit color or better. Extensively tested for compatibility with Netscape 4, Internet Explorer 4, and greater.