By way of introduction...

Hi all. Dan Fellini here to introduce myself as one of TUAW's newest team members. Glad and honored to be here.

I live in sunny Portland, Oregon, and work as the executive producer for an online video network. I love my job, love my city and love technology, social media, the outdoors and, of course, my Macs and my iPhone. In previous lives I've been a reporter, editor, sysadmin, programmer and, way back, I was an EMT. Lights and sirens baby!

The first time I touched an Apple computer was back in elementary school, when I programmed Logo to act like Joshua from Wargames. Oh yes. My 6th grade teacher freaked. We were supposed to be making cute designs with the turtle, and there I was bringing our classroom to the brink of global thermonuclear war. How about a nice game of chess? Not so much.

Now, as an adult, I spend 8, 12, sometimes 16 hours a day in front of a MacBook, a MacBook Pro, or my iPhone. I'm not saying I couldn't live without Apple, but my quality of life would definitely not be as good.

And that's the point. That's why I'm here, writing about a company I don't get a paycheck from. Writing about a company that (let's be honest) charges a bit too much for their products. Writing about a company that doesn't know I exist. I'm here because Apple products contribute to my overall quality of life, in a positive way, and when a company or product does that, it's a special relationship. There are so few companies like that these days.

I'm not a fanboy. Let's get that cleared up straight away. I'm not of the 'Apple can do no wrong' mentality. What I am, though, is a big fan of products that are well designed, well built and that inspire me to do good work.

I'm thrilled to be part of this team. I've been reading TUAW for a long time, and have always considered it the blog of record for the word on Apple. To be a part of it now is something I'm quite proud of.

Now, on to more pressing issues...