"2001 - 2005 Wagex S.A. , Panama. CEO / Systems Architect / Programmer Started Panama based business selling use of web application software of my own design and construction, running on Python / Zope platform on Linux Servers. Application feel was achieved in web browser with no return HTML Post and AJAX Javascript techniques, and full functionality for multiple browsers was realized, including FireFox, IE, and IE for Mac." Well, that cleared everything up!

I think my first exposure to the idea was in Robert Heinlein's "The Door into Summer", which I first read when I was 8 years old. I remember because it was in third grade that I discovered science fiction and how to use a library. Interestingly, I had only been reading for about a year at that point, unlike most of my class mates who had learned to read in first grade. I hated first grade, and spent most of my time trying to escape, or doing things that disrupted the class. I remember that my teacher was named Mrs.Wooden, and that she decided I was retarded, and wanted to put me in special education.

My parents took me to a doctor who gave me an IQ test and told them that I was the smartest child he had ever tested. Later they decided that the problem was that I was mostly deaf, and needed some surgery done on my ears to hear properly, but I think I just didn't like Mrs. Wooden. A few years later when I read Wilson and Shea's "Illuminatus Trilogy" there was part where they explain that everyone hates their first grade teacher because she is in charge of teaching them to ignore the fnords.

It was really the only part of those books that I found at all plausible, even at age 9. So I taught myself to read over the summer between first and second grade because my mother told me that they would make me spend another year with Mrs. Wooden if I couldn't read by end of the summer, and then by 3rd grade I was reading on a 10th grade level according to tests, and by 4th on a college reading level. The tests don't go any higher than that, apparently, but if that progression has continued, and assuming it is only linear rather than geometric, then I am currently reading on the level of a boy in his 240th year of continuous education. But I digress...

The first time I realized that their were people actually doing this, rather than just something that showed up in science fiction from time to time, was probably in like 1996. My best friend mentioned that he had met someone else who, like myself, believed that immortality might be an achievable goal. I ended up getting in touch with this guy my email, and he made me aware that there was a whole online community of people who had similar ideas, and I started participating on the Extropians mailing list.

I have never had anyone react negatively to the idea. Some are amused, and some interested. I seem to have a pretty good rate of convincing people that it is a viable possibility. Probably because I do not ever claim to be entirely convinced. I usually say something like "I think it is a long shot, but even so, it is certainly worth trying."

I just managed to get signed up this year, despite being someone who would have signed up 30 years ago if I knew about it, and has had the financial means for 20 years. The barrier to entry is still way to high. If my best friend, who is also a member of CI, had not done it first, and helped me with the paperwork, I might never have gotten it done. I have toyed with the idea of setting up an insurance business that specializes in cryonics and helps with both sets of paperwork; at least that way there would be one stop shopping.

Yes. My wife Jo and myself visited several years ago, and had lunch with Robert Ettinger.

I can't imagine anything that I would like to do in the future that does not require me to be alive.

Go to http://www.seastead.org/ and read everything on the site. Settling this new frontier requires structures designed specifically for the marine environment. We think the best design is the "birds and fish" approach.

Nothing lives on the surface of the water because its too unstable. Sea creatures either live below the waves (fish), or fly above them (birds). Our seastead design is based on these two safe areas.

Electricity comes from a combination of solar, wind, wave, and diesel generators. Water is provided by captured rainwater, solar distillation, and reverse osmosis. Food consists of hydroponically grown fruits and vegetables, aquaponic fish and algae, and high density gardens. Self-sufficiency will be closely related to how far the seastead expects to be from land, progressing from initial Baysteads and Coaststeads to eventual Deepseasteads.

Currently, we are completing our basic background research. Then we will finish designing the first habitable version, called Baystead, with about ten thousand square feet of area (preliminary work has been done). Using this design, we'll build a tub-sized model, then a pool-sized model, and finally the full-sized structure, which we plan to locate in the sheltered waters of the San Francisco Bay. This will let us test the technology and become familiar with it, as well as serving as a demonstration and publicity piece. Interested people can take tours to learn more about our project and technologies.

Once Baystead is built and occupied, we'll begin planning and designing the first sovereign seastead. It'll be big enough for around a hundred residents. While a few enthusiasts will sign up to live there full time, we expect most participants to buy timeshares enabling them to spend a few weeks a year on board. This will give us a much broader base of people to draw from.

The ideas there are an evolved collection of thoughts from various people, myself included, on the very real possibility of living on the surface of the ocean, and the very interesting effect this technology might have on the rest of the world. One of my back burner projects is taking these ideas and moving forward with them by creating a business that constructs, sells, and manages these floating structures. I have been slowly acquiring contacts with the right expertise and people interested in funding such a company.

Anyone interested in getting involved can contact us at http://www.nfdev.com/. The previous company I started "HavenCo.com" was an only partially successful attempt to do something similar with a Datahaven as the core initial business, however, this time, I think a floating resort hotel and casino would be a better starting core business.