Bret McGowen sitting on a camel in front of an Egyptian Pyramid
A camel friend and I pose in front of the Pyramid of Khafre in Giza, Egypt

Random musings and thoughts

Reading

I'm trying to get back into reading (aren't we all?) so here's what I've read recently (courtesy of my Goodreads):

I was a big Star Wars expanded universe fan, and still am obsessed with Grand Admiral Thrawn. I'm looking forward to the new Ahsoka show on Disney+.

I'm always learning

I'm always learning new technologies and refreshing my skills. Follow along with me on my

  1. Bret McGowen's Coursera profile
  2. Bret's freeCodeCamp profile
  3. Microsoft Learn

Looking to hire me? Check out Sceva

Need coding or consulting done for your custom software apps? I'm available for hire via my tech consuling business Sceva. Sceva specializes in C#, .NET, Node.js and Google Cloud projects.

I'm also available on Bluesky.

Campus life

I went to Texas A&M University and consider myself a pretty diehard Aggie. When I was a student I was quoted in the campus newspaper when Aggie Bonfire was canceled: "Bret McGowen, a junior computer science major, said Bowen's decision is hard to stomach."

Bret McGowen quoted in the Battalion TAMU student newspaper

Name twins

My mysterious doppleganger (last name spelled -an) from Vicon industries.

Bret McGowen, MD - if only. As we all can agree, doctor is the best job. Is (software) engineer number two?

I have an identical name double ("Bret McGowen") in Michigan who sadly recently lost his son South Bend Tribute obituary and a second obituary. My heart goes out to you.

There's an almost name twin in New York who also recently passed, here is one of his obits at Farone & Son.

Public speaking

I've given dozens of talks to audience sizes from 15 to 2,000+. Here's one of my very first talks from way back in 2015. Don't worry, I've gotten better!

The truth prevails: false accusations in 2020

In 2020 some false accusations were made against me by a former girlfriend. They were proven untrue and everything was ultimately dropped and all false posts were removed for being defamatory. Unfortunately, before the process could work itself out, I lost my job at Google. It's a surreal experience to have your character questioned so publicly, and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.

I will be forever grateful to the many friends and colleagues who supported me and believed in me, an who believed in learning the truth before casting judgement or jumping to conclusions.

This experience has taught me a lot about resilience, the power of therapy (at one point I had 3 therapists!), the influence of a strong support system, and the fundamental importance of due process. While the scars of the past few years will undoubtedly remain, I'm grateful to be able to close this chapter and look ahead with clarity and a renewed sense of purpose. My name is clear, and for that, I am incredibly thankful.

Twitter/X

I have an alternate Twitter/X account at @BretMcGowen but also feel free to message me on Twitter at @BretMcG.