Batronyx™

We all have problems. Big problems, little problems, hard problems, easy problems. I want to help you solve your problems by providing tips, tricks, strategies and solutions to use in your problem solving efforts.

Who am I?

Who am I to help you solve your problems? My name is Barrett L. Bowen but most people just call me ‘Barry’. Online, I frequently use the name ‘Batronyx’. I am a Software Developer, and a former Systems Engineer. I’ve been paid to solve problems professionally for over 10 years. Feel free to have a look at my resumé on Google Docs.

I am also a hobbyist 3D artist, and own a variety of render engines, modelling, animation, and graphic tools from the free to low-end hobby market. ( POV, Wings3D, Poser, Bryce, Hexagon, PaintShopPro, etc. ) and enjoy the challenges of creating art with technology. And when it comes to graphics, I’m a tutorial-aholic!. I’ve learned how to adapt tutorials from high-end software to create solutions for myself in low-end software.

Sometimes I play games. When I do — online or off — I prefer those with a puzzle aspect to them like many of these great games from Simon Tatham’s Portable Puzzle Collection ( Yes, the creator of that awesome ssh/telnet client PuTTY). So you can see, problem solving is just what I do, for pay, and for fun.

Why this Blog?

One reason is I just think it is time to give back to the community. I’ve been on the internet since 1994 or so. I’ve had this domain name for over 10 yrs. It briefly had life as a general links page a few years ago. That page is still alive here at GeoCities. More recently, it has been a sorely neglected TypePad blog, while I explored this whole blogging medium. During that time, I’ve read countless tutorials, educated myself in various aspects of my profession, and downloaded tons of free content and software, with little more than a ‘Thank You’ ( and most of the time, not even that ). So, here I hope to return the favor, or rather pay it forward.

Another reason: I’ve been following blog sites like ProBlogger, CopyBlogger, and several internet marketers like Joe Vitale and Pat O’Bryan. Some people make earning money online sound hard. Some make it sound easy. I won’t know either way until I try, so, I also hope to make a little money as I go. I share this in the interest of transparency. So don’t be surprised if I develop a product or few and promote them some, or have some of my outbound links tied to affiliate programs.

The Really Big Reason: Somehow I’ve gone my whole life without encountering the formal fields of Visual Thinking, Visual Learning, and Visual Problem Solving. But I’ve been operating in, and by, the principles in these fields the whole time. I want to explore this more, and share what I learn, and hopefully learn from you as we go.

Let me leave you with a little secret: I wrote the first post about Moiré, which is a visual metaphor for creative problem solving, before I knew the whole area of Visual Problem Solving existed as a formal discipline! I had kind of sorta already settled on doing a blog about something along the lines of problem solving. I was about ready to change my mind and take off in another direction. In researching this other ‘thing’, I found about visual thinking and problem solving strategies. Somehow, subconsciously, I was already on the right track. It blew me away!

I hope you enjoy the ride with me.

Thank you.

Barrett L. Bowen, a.k.a. Batronyx, or, just “Barry”