[Brandon Martus]

Congratulations, Joe.

I'm not sure if Joe realizes it or not, but I wouldn't know nearly as much as I do about Internet-based programming and websites if it weren't for some of his e-mails back in the late 1990s. I had just started working on this website, and was teaching myself Perl, better HTML, and programming in general. Joe would send these massive 3-4 page e-mails with suggestions and improvements to the things I was building. The image gallery. The white papers area. The polls (anybody remember that old hunk of junk? hah). The Ventures system. He always had praise to give, but would never hesitate to throw out a crazy idea and additions he would like to see. Nine times out of ten I would look at this e-mail and think 'What in the world? Thats impossible.' But, after thinking about it, I would somehow find a way to implement what he wanted; I learned so much from all of the ideas he had.

I didn't get anything too challenging from my college professors, but Dr Joe always had something to keep me busy. I'm grateful for this. Anybody who likes how this website works, all of the features, its popularity, or anything .. you all owe Joe a big thank you. It wouldn't be anything without his direct (and indirect) influence.

Thank you Joe, and good luck with everything you're working on.