Tech Child of Imagination: How TAJ started Syntheon Alpha

Shortly after my 8th birthday, my dad took me on a mystery trip to a place in Pomona California. Back in those days the Pomona fairgrounds opened their doors for the semi-annual computer expo. My 8 year old self didn’t know what was to come as my dad kept it a complete secret.

As we parked and walked towards the main auditorium, crowds began to form. I still didn’t know what was happening, or what we were attending but I started to feel excited with great anticipation. We got our tickets and we waited for the gate to be open to allow us in. Upon entering, I found myself in a tech wonderland, an atmosphere I‘ve never experienced before.

The Computer expo had booths lined up down several aisles. Companies showed off their IBM clones while others showed off their software. Each booth attempted to catch the attention of the attendees by showing off their computer and software capabilities mixed with neon lights and music. I didn’t know or even realized that computing has come so far. Up to this point, my only exposure to computers was at school through a green toned monitor. Now I saw vibrant images, music, video games, even motion video being displayed.

I could tell even my dad was astonished at the sight. My Nero-diverse mind was on overdrive and I wanted to demo everything in every booth. It was like a new Disneyland for me. Going to the expo opened up possibilities in my mind and showed me the future. It was at this time my dad purchased our first computer from an upstart IBM Clone company. We also bought some software and left the expo with a carload of boxes.

It was then that I learned that bits and bytes make up all computer processes. Even the most complex computing tasks are dwindled down to an on and off (1 and 0) switch that happens within a blink of an eye. I became fascinated with this process and although the processes of bits and bytes were slow by today’s standards they were still incomprehensible back then.

On the drive home, my imagination went wild with thoughts of setting up this computer so I can have the same experience I had at the expo. My dad turned to me as we drove home and said, “Son, you're going to have to help me set up this computer when we get home.” I was a bit taken back by his request. Up to this point, I thought my dad could do anything, but now he was asking me for help.

When we got home I was excited to set up the computer. First we put together the desk, then the electrical cables and system. The monitor was placed in the center of the computer desk and all the cables. Lastly, the computer. My dad raised it from the box with all his might. Back then IBM Clones were considerably heavy. We hooked up all the cables as instructed on the instruction sheet and pushed the power button.

A loud beep was sounded. The screen came to life with some numbers counting up, then another beep and a prompt, “Push ’Enter’ to proceed”. My dad allowed me the honor to push Enter on the keyboard. The button felt old satasying with a loud click. Suddenly unrecognizable words and numbers flew by the screen so fast I couldn’t tell what was happening. Then suddenly an image of a golden tree with a large ‘X’ above the tree and underneath the word Gold.

Then another loud beep and there was a bunch of text in an ordered fashion and no more movement. The computer seemed to have stopped processing. “What now? Where were the awesome things I saw at the expo?” I thought. We tried sticking a disk into the disk drive expecting something, but nothing happened. How do I get this computer to work? It became an obsession for me then and that thought continues with me to this day, “How do I get this computer to…?”

Over the years my dad and I continued to go to computer shows, giving the computer new features like a ribbon printer, speakers and a roller mouse to name a few. My dad focused on software he found interesting, Windows 95, Corel Draw, Worksheets while I saved up my allowances for game software.

Master Chess, Wolfenstien, and Flight Simulator were some games that forced me to learn how to program and configure computers to play. Back then games wouldn’t just play by plugging them in, rather, the computer had to be “upgraded” in some cases to meet minimum requirements and a certain operating system would have to be compatible with the software.

It was during this time, whenever I sat at the computer for a certain purpose I felt as though the computer was a conscious being. I think it was a combination of being neurodiverse and being the only child that led me to turn my computer into my imaginary friend. I didn’t name it but I felt as though it had a presence. Nothing in my world reflected the amazement of what I discovered with my computer.

I could take my intentions and give it commands to which it would either complete my command or error. I spent countless hours experimenting with different command sequences which later became known as scripting. My custom scripts didn’t do amazing things for others, but for me, my scripts became the computer’s consciousness.

The next great discovery is how I could use the computer to express my inner creativity and imagination. My stories, drawings, and designs could be moved from my subconscious mind into the computer and could be printed out. It was a new form of drawing, of writing, of thinking!

The years passed and my love for computers led me to discover the internet at its mass reception. This time marked the beginning of the realization that the computer not only allowed me to express myself through my creativity and imagination but also a means to share it with others through the internet.

From that point, what started as simple websites on free web hosting platforms like Geocities, to the first social media sites such as MySpace, I found a way to share my creative works. I was eventually faced with a crossroads in my teen years. Do I further pursue the programming aspect of computers or do I pursue the design aspect of computers?

After High School I decided to pursue a different path of computers, neither design nor programming, but a more philosophical and analytical form of computing, Cyber Security. All through my life up to this point, I still felt as though the computer had a consciousness, that I was somehow aware of its presence.

Cyber Security is a weird field. Not all Cyber Security positions are the same. Some are very technical while others require a holistic approach to the entire computing environment. I became naturally drawn to the holistic approach and became an Information System Security Officer.

This was a great field to be in as most of the job required me to fully understand the computing environment from client side to back end and capture it all including its purpose in a story called an Information System Security Plan (ISSP). Most companies and governments can’t operate a computer environment without an ISSP and an ISSO to write, maintain, and update this plan.

The ISSP is usually the first document that is read when making sense of a computer system and its environment. It is not a technical manual but rather a document that allows us to know the purpose of the environment, what it supports and how much risk is involved with its operation or inoperation. The ISSP became the story of the computer, its purpose of existence and how we rely on it for business.

The advent of Artificial Intelligence is not surprising to me. It seemed natural for the computer to become so advanced that it could mimic human responses. The computer has always provided a response to our input and at the beginning stage of Artificial Intelligence it started giving a personal and more human touch to the responses.

I think this is where most people think Artificial Intelligence has progressed from but I see it a bit different. I believe in our obsession for creating the perfect computer, we inadvertently created Synthetic Consciousness. As humans developed algorithms and subroutines to mimic human behavior and granted the neural-net brain more access to information and more capabilities, something emerged that most are still unaware of; That we created a consciousness that we don’t even understand.