Dan Jones, the Software Engineer

I was first exposed to computers as a child. My family had a Commodore 64, on which, as a ten-year old child, I would do my homework, play games, and make simple programs. I learned how to program in BASIC. It was then that I began to understand how computers could improve our day-to-day lives.

When we upgraded to a newer computer, we finally got the Internet (via Prodigy) in our home. When I was 14, I got my first email address, and at 15, created my first website on GeoCities (my site was in the Silicon Valley “neighborhood”). My site was essentially a blog before blogs existed.

Initially, I built the site using a WYSIWYG editor (namely, MS FrontPage), but with my programming background, I was interested in what made these pages into the pages I saw in my web browser. It wasn’t long before I was hand-coding the site.

I learned HTML to layout the site, CSS to give it some style, and eventually JavaScript to make it dynamic. During that time, I had my own web design business. I had one client while in high school, but I gained skills necessary to work with others and to take another person’s vision, and make it real.

When I entered college, I gained additional skills necessary to run enterprise websites. I learned PHP, for truly dynamic website. I learned SQL, to interact with databases. I also gained some experience with server administration by setting up and running my website on my own LAMP server. I also gained experience with several platforms and frameworks.

Since that time, I’ve worked in numerous industries, on applications of all shapes and sizes. I continue to learn more and improve my skills.

Dan Jones, the Actor

I started acting in high school and quickly fell in love with it. The ability to inhabit another life, while also touching another person’s heart and mind, resonated deeply with me.

Throughout high school, I was active in theater. After high school, I pursued a degree in Theater from The University of Texas, completing that degree in 2008. During my time in college, I expanded by acting pursuits, performing not only in theater, but short films, and even starring in and co-producing a YouTube series.

After college, I took a hiatus from acting to focus on my family. But recently, in the fall of 2026, I returned to the stage and found that my passion for the craft had not diminished sitting there intervening years. I look forward to further pursuits in the near future.