Amber Taus

Hi! My name is Amber Taus and I started working at iFixit in May of 2021. My entire experience at iFixit has been as the Global Head of Community for the English version of the site. (We support 12 languages in total. Help us grow that list by translating our content!) The TLDR of what I do is make the iFixit forum the best it can be. This happens through reading content from our amazing community, moderating our Meta forum, and planning for the future. Have anything you’d like to see (or complain about) on iFixit? Email me at community@ifixit.com. I’m all ears!

In high school (many, many years ago) I took two years of programming where I learned Visual Basic and HTML. I also had one year of ROP Computer Repair where we were basically the IT department for the campus. On the side we worked on an underwater robot and I made a small robot that drove in circles when you clapped.

My higher education is tangentially related to Community Management—I hold a BA in Child and Adolescent Development from San Jose State University and have 10 years of experience writing, running, and managing day camps and summer camps for children. You’d be surprised how similar managing folks on the internet is to large groups of children. Then again, maybe not!

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been headstrong and interested in doing everything myself. My mom's favorite story to tell about me is that my first widely used phrase was “Me do” which has now, coincidentally, turned into a career with “iFixit”. Yes, my family makes this joke a lot.

I am by no means a fixing master like some members on our site, but I am a decently confident tinkerer. My first big project was when I was 4 or 5 years old and I decided to take apart our family VCR so I could watch the tape spin inside instead of the movie it was playing. For those wondering, I did put it back together successfully.

One of my most recent fixes was replacing the right and left joysticks to my Switch’s joycons because of the dreaded Nintendo joycon Drift. Followed by the left and right joysticks in someone else's Switch (Lite). And then another friend’s Switch’s battery. Let’s just say I’m pretty familiar with the inside of the Nintendo Switch. I can also change the oil and tires on my car, but that’s pretty standard work.

I read a lot and I run the iFixit book club! I have a particular affinity for high fantasy (and also sci fi) fiction novels.

I love the movies that Studio Ghibli has produced and I could watch them over and over and not get bored—which is great because my son loves Kiki's Delivery Service, so I've seen it about 300 times.

My newest hobby is aquascaping, which is basically making a fish tank, sans-fish.

I spend a lot of time in my yard gardening with my toddler, my chickens, and my dog.

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