ABSTRACT
Computational scientist Mike Lees, a self-described, slightly obsessed computer kid from Manchester got his own computer at five and was one of the first people to spend time on the internet in the UK. Later, when he was twelve, he started working several delivery jobs to pay for his own modem, but mostly to take care of the massive phone bills he racked up while being online. At fourteen, after having developed his own website about programming languages, he was casually offered a job in San Francisco. The offer was clearly made without any knowledge of his age, and in any event he had to turn it down, as he had to finish school first. He talks about the details of his computer childhood in an understated, slightly aloof manner. But the more he talks about what he loves, the brighter his passion for learning new things about the world via computers shines through.
