Meet the Bionic Cat crew:
Stephen
Spooky
Napoleon
In the great debate of nature versus nurture,
Stephen firmly believes a geek is born, not reared.
From his digital Star Wars
watch as a five-year-old to his latest
MacBook, Stephen's always been a gadget addict.
Thanks to his liberal-arts education at
Colby College, Stephen was spared the life of
a one-trick nerd, as he was required to study
literature, languages and economics.
Stephen honed his geek skills at Northwestern University, where he studied television and film and was introduced to the world of computer-based video editing (on Macs, of course!). Producers quickly found Stephen more valuable as the guy to fix their Macs at the agency than as one to fetch coffee and doughnuts. And so started Stephen's career as a Mac-geek freelancer.
Moving back to Indianapolis in 1995,
Stephen entered the family
real-estate development business for a
brief stint. He excelled in modernizing the
company's computer technology and created a
FileMaker database to track all aspects of
the business, but he never really made waves
as a developer of strip malls. Moving on,
Stephen went to work in the IT department of
the Indianapolis
Star, where he quickly became the lead
Macintosh geek. In his near-decade-long
tenure at the Star, Stephen rose to the rank
of Principal Systems Analyst and as such was
responsible for various aspects of more than
1200 computers, including 200 Macs.
Accomplishments and responsibilities
included:
All the while, Stephen's longtime side-consulting business continued to grow as he took on more small-business and individual clients. Faced with an ever-growing client base and feeling the need to evangelize the Mac, Stephen decided to leave the Star and start Bionic Cat in January 2007. With Apple's official certification for both server and desktop OSes, liberal-arts-honed troubleshooting skills and catlike reflexes under his belt, Stephen, aka Bionic Cat, is ready for your challenge.
Stephen lives in Indianapolis (in the heart of Broad Ripple), with his wife Andrea (herself an entreprenuer) and two four-legged children, Spooky and Napoleon. He loves sushi, dark chocolate, Pinotage (and anything else red and dry), and sparkling water; currently he can't stop listening to the new Ben Folds album, legally acquired from client LUNA Music.
Stephen honed his geek skills at Northwestern University, where he studied television and film and was introduced to the world of computer-based video editing (on Macs, of course!). Producers quickly found Stephen more valuable as the guy to fix their Macs at the agency than as one to fetch coffee and doughnuts. And so started Stephen's career as a Mac-geek freelancer.
- Standardizing Macintosh images by department
- Cutting IT costs by creating software to properly track all software-licensing information
- Developing a tech FAQ database to share knowledge across the IT department
- Creating an automated system for quickly imaging Macs across a network
- Implementing and maintaining several OS X and FileMaker servers
- Troubleshooting and resolving the most vexing computer issues
- Serving as primary tech support for members of the Star's executive committee
-
Acting as primary Gannett-Apple liaison for the midwest
newspaper division
- Entertaining employees and fellow nerds alike as the de facto court jester and minstrel singer
All the while, Stephen's longtime side-consulting business continued to grow as he took on more small-business and individual clients. Faced with an ever-growing client base and feeling the need to evangelize the Mac, Stephen decided to leave the Star and start Bionic Cat in January 2007. With Apple's official certification for both server and desktop OSes, liberal-arts-honed troubleshooting skills and catlike reflexes under his belt, Stephen, aka Bionic Cat, is ready for your challenge.
Stephen lives in Indianapolis (in the heart of Broad Ripple), with his wife Andrea (herself an entreprenuer) and two four-legged children, Spooky and Napoleon. He loves sushi, dark chocolate, Pinotage (and anything else red and dry), and sparkling water; currently he can't stop listening to the new Ben Folds album, legally acquired from client LUNA Music.
Spooky is
second in command at Bionic Cat and is
primarily responsible for company morale and
container inspection. Shipments from far and
wide arrive at Bionic Cat world headquarters
on a
near-daily basis, and Spooky investigates
each thoroughly. A connoisseur of lactose-free
"cat milk," Spooky is happy to work for his
favorite brand, Whiskas.
Spooky joined Bionic Cat three years ago, quickly leaving behind his former life
as a street-savvy alley cat. Never a cat to
allow adversity to get in his way, he quickly
recovered from the loss of his manhood and front
claws and grew to love his role as an indoor cat.
Finding an entry-level position in the mailroom,
Spooky found it easy to excel. His quick wit,
affable nature and speedy reflexes enabled him to
rise to his position as chief package inspector
and second in command.
When he's not working, Spooky enjoys
preening, playing with his coworker and brother
Napoleon, gymnastics, shopping online, and
reading back issues of MacWorld. Like all cats,
he also values his sleep, but not that of his
owner and boss. When he's feeling frisky, he also
likes to sneak out on the front porch, eat toilet
paper and knock pictures off the wall (generally
in an effort to wake Stephen at 6 a.m. regardless
of the day of the week).
Spooky joined Bionic Cat three years ago, quickly leaving behind his former life
Napoleon
joined Bionic Cat two years ago after he was
discovered at a Humane Society fund-raiser.
With his über-calm demeanor, Napoleon
seemed a natural fit for the high-stress world of
technology consulting. Unfortunately, Napoleon
has been on a performance-improvement program
since the onset of his career. With neutering, he
seemed to also lose what little motivation
he previously exhibited. He finds comfort
in food and slumbering and both eats and sleeps
with unparalleled aplomb.
Recently, Napoleon has taken up the acoustic guitar and enjoys playing at odd hours of the night. Curiously, the only time he doesn't seem to sleep is whenever everyone else is sleeping.
Nevertheless, Napoleon is a welcome addition to the Bionic Cat team as he gets on famously with Spooky and willingly accepts his role as the beta cat.
Napoleon naturally fell into the role of
court jester at Bionic Cat with his
happy-go-lucky outlook on life and his pudgy
figure. He also serves as an excellent pillow
warmer.
Recently, Napoleon has taken up the acoustic guitar and enjoys playing at odd hours of the night. Curiously, the only time he doesn't seem to sleep is whenever everyone else is sleeping.
Nevertheless, Napoleon is a welcome addition to the Bionic Cat team as he gets on famously with Spooky and willingly accepts his role as the beta cat.
