Columnize This

Interesting things happen to me. I thought you might find them interesting too, so I’m going to share them. Hi, I’m Mark Mentovai. I’m a software engineer at Google, and I work on Google Chrome, serving as the Mac version’s tech lead. Here’s a picture of me with my team. You can recognize me by my tech lead’s uniform, an all-black get-up complete with a helmet and a flag. In this picture, I’m standing on what appears to be a tank, technically leading my team to obliterate a garbage can.

As the Jackass of All Trades, I’ve got other interests. I’m not just going to be writing about Chrome, but the first few articles I’ve planned are about Chrome, and why certain things were designed the way they were. The most interesting (and enduring) aspects of these stories are the problems that my team encountered along the way and how we solved them. I’ve also got a theory that it’s possible to write for a technical and non-technical audience at the same time, and produce something that each group can take something away from without talking down to anyone or making anyone else feel like they’re in over their head. I’m going to put that idea to work in my articles as best as possible.

Finally, I don’t like the sound of “blog” or “blogger,” so I’m going to call myself a “columnist.” Affectation? Maybe, but thanks for indulging me.