Welcome. I am Ken-ichi Ueda, a real person in Oakland, California. I have a website because sometimes I want to say things to the entire world, but also because I need a job to make money to pay the bills for the goods and services that allow me to live and I guess if you say that you’re a web developer you should have a site on the web that you developed. I don’t know how to hunt, forage, farm, etc, so I really need that money.

Like many 90s-vintage nerds, I’m a techno-optimist. Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, I think computers are cool and useful and help us do good things. They have helped me learn about the non-human world, make friends, and maybe even change my mind for the better. Pretty hot take in , right?

If you’ve heard of me it’s probably because I co-founded iNaturalist and then spent 17 years working on it, but did you also know that I really like Star Trek? I do. Even though I always lose at Star Trek trivia. I also like Babylon 5 but there is no regular Babylon 5 trivia night I can lose at.

I used to love social media, but then it got scary. Rarely, but on occasion, I post to Bluesky (too public), Mastodon (also too public), Goodreads (too Amazon), Flickr (do I even photo?), and yes, iNaturalist (not rarely, natural history addiction disorder, help me). I guess since, like I said, I need money, I should also say I am on Linkedin.

That’s all. I hope you like my website.