Welcome to a new series of posts directly “from the horse’s mouth” where the team here at Mendeley tells you a bit more about themselves.

As English author, poet and artist John Ruskin once said: “Tell me what you like and I’ll tell you what you are,” so we thought it would be nice to share with our community not only what life as a Mendeleyan is like, but also what makes them tick, their likes, dislikes and aspirations.

For our very first post, meet systems administrator James Rasell (also known as Tatooed James), who’s been with Mendeley for 4 months now and aspires to owning a black and white cat (“what’s not to like about them?”)

So, James, what’s the best thing about coming to work at Mendeley?
Free breakfast and the ability think freely!

Who would be invited to your perfect dinner party?
Jimi Hendrix, Gandhi, Gautama Buddah, David Attenborough, David Bowie, Tony Stark, Brian Cox

What is the one website you can’t live without?
sourceforge.net (source for finding, creating and publishing open source software for free)

When you were growing up, what did you want to be?
Astronaut or as it was known as a child…Space Man!

What was the first record you ever bought?
Offspring – Smash

Favourite food/drink?
dolsot bibimbap (a Korean Hot Stone Bowl with mixed rice, vegetables, meat and egg)

Favourite film?
Impossible to pick, but forced on the spot – The Matrix.

Favourite place in the world?
Koh Tao, Thailand…30m underwater scuba diving.

What book are you reading at the moment and why?
World War Z as I want to read it before seeing the film.

Favourite video game/hobby?
Listening to and playing music

If you could acquire one extra skill or talent, what would that be?
Teleportation or fluency in languages

If you could give unlimited funding and resources to one area of research, what would it be and why?
Astrophysics – As an earth and planetary science graduate it is something close to my heart and a subject which can have great resonance. It is said Christianity put science back by 500-1000 years; imagine what the world would be like if that was not the case (ignoring obviously the lack of renaissance art and so forth). I also believe a greater understanding of the universe and its working would aid most others subject fields and lead to a better world.