Me
(Click on the above picture to view the photo album)

My favorites/accomplishments/Macs
Football TeamGreen Bay Packers
Basketball TeamMilwaukee Bucks
Baseball TeamMilwaukee Brewers
TV ShowThe Simpsons
Comic StripFox Trot
ColorGreen
FoodMom's home made lasagna
Candy BarHeath Bar
Music GenreClassic Rock
MovieStar Trek Nemesis
Highest bowling score218 on 9/13/2003
Best Semester MTU GPA4.0 (three times)
Apples I have owned My Apples
My Resumé
Sporting Events I Have Attended
Green Bay Packers4-3
Milwaukee Bucks2-4
Milwaukee Brewers13-6
Green Bay Gamblers4-5
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers2-1
UWGB Men's Basketball2-3
UWGB Women's Basketball3-0
MTU Football4-3
MTU Hockey2-2-1
MTU Men's Basketball11-3
MTU Women's Basketball2-2
Wisconsin Basketball1-0
Win%= 61.0%

Hello, my name is Mike. I'm originally from Green Bay, Wisconsin, home of the Green Bay Packers. I graduated Cum Laude (0.01 points under Magna Cum Laude, grrr) with a Computer Engineering degree (and minor in Mathematics) from Michigan Tech University in 2005. Shortly thereafter, I moved to Madison, Wisconsin to start my career as a Software Developer at Epic Systems Corporation. My current position includes designing/developing software to assist the health care industry in tracking their account receivables. I'm also highly involved with other aspects of the company such as User Interface design, Icon design, recruiting, assisting in customer support, performance workflow testing, and more.

I recently became engaged to my girlfriend Alicia. We had only been dating a little under 7 months when I nervously popped the question, but we are very much in love and both know this is the right thing to do. I cannot imagine my life without her. Of course, with a wedding coming up soon, I have been very busy helping in the planning process. As a groom-to-be, I have been very hands on with decision making and resource finding. We are well on our way, but have a lot more work to do.

Obviously I am an avid Mac user, but I'm not as much of a geek as some would think. I enjoy a wide range of outdoor activities, some of my favorites being bicycling, basketball, baseball, swimming, SCUBA diving, ATV riding, and playing with Fetch. When I'm not nerding it up or being semi-active, I absolutely love to sit in front of the TV and do nothing. Some of my all time favorite TV shows include The Simpsons, Futurama, Family Guy, M*A*S*H, Star Trek (in order of: TNG, Voyager, Enterprise, DS9, TOS), Gilligan's Island, Las Vegas, Good Eats, Myth Busters, Battlestar Galactica, and Scrubs.

When I get bored of TV, I can always turn to video games. For a long time, I was pretty much only a Mac gamer. My only three consoles growing up were an Atari 2600, Nintendo, and SuperNES. But now that I met Alicia, I have a much wider array of video games to play, including those on the N64, Game Cube, Playstation 2, and most recently, our Wii. By far, my two biggest video gaming obsessions are anything on the Wii and Guitar Hero.

Earlier, I mentioned Fetch, but kind of left you hanging.. A black lab/beagle mix, she is fully grown but only about 2 feet tall and less than 35 pounds. Fetch is very energetic, which sometimes makes it hard to get her to settle down. She is also an extremely intelligent dog. She knows a large variety of tricks and shows a wide range of emotions. Put all this together and you couldn't have a better canine friend.

About this site:

I coined the nickname 'giantmike' and started this site all in one fell swoop. I was a junior in high school at the time, and the internet was still very young. I needed a place to display my game remake Space Dungeon, let my opinions on the Mac world be known, and just be creative in an all new way.

The site originated on GeoCities in 1998, migrated to Apple's iTools/.Mac service in 2001, and finally received its own domain name and permanent home in 2005. Over the years, the website has gone through many different looks, including some very ugly designs that I don't even want to think about. Today, this site is highly respected by many in Mac community as a good resource and reputable source for Mac related information.

My Development
Site design and original content ©1998-2008 by Mike Vande Ven Jr.

Mac, the Mac logo, Mac OS, the Apple logo, and other Apple product names are trademarks of Apple, Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. The Made on a Mac Badge is a trademark of Apple, Inc., used with permission.

Additional company names, company logos, product names, and product images may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.

Arbitrary Quote - I finally came up with a punishment for the boy. First, no leaving the house, not even for school. Second, no egg nog. In fact, no nog period! And third, absolutely no stealing for three months!