Me? I'm just zees guy, you know? But actually...
I'm a life-long nerd, maybe considered a guru, but my expertise is pretty broad rather than focused.
My main superpower is learning new technical things very quickly. I know everyone says they can do that, but I mean it.
I speak fluent Techlish, and love to teach. I'm sad that every household needs to have limited systems administrator knowledge in it these days.
I know PC hardware extremely well, having built my own systems for the last, probably, 35 years.
I like Linux overall, but game too much for it to be my Number One OS. I typically dual boot between a Linux distro and Windows 10.
I was pretty excited to run OS/2 and Windows after years of DOS. I wish BeOS had survived and evolved.
I've deployed, administered, and repaired multiple email systems on various platforms, LAMP configurations, desktop systems, servers, printers, LANs, firewalls, routers, Active Directory domains, monitoring systems, phone systems, and more.
I ran my own dial-up and Internet-connected BBS called The Place of Magic for about 10 years in different forms.
I wrote and released a BBS door in QuickBASIC.
I ran a PC store with one other guy for several years as primary sales and support.
I've been a gamer for about 4 decades. I was working in Activision's external support team when Quake 3 Arena was released. Classic roleplaying games for about the same amount of time. I like me some tabletop games, too.
I've got an interest in input devices, partly because the RSI possibility started looming for me a couple of decades ago, partly because I like gadgets and finding more efficient ways to do things, and partly because my hands are starting to get shaky as I continue to "season". Thanks, genetics.
So I use a Kinesis Advantage 2 QD keyboard switched to the Dvorak key layout to save my hands and fingers.
In vim vs emacs, I'm firmly in the vim camp. I haven't really tried emacs, and find vi on pretty much every *ix installation, so that's the main reason for that.
I really like disc golf, though I haven't played in entirely too long due to some hernia surgery.
I like contact juggling and cardistry though I'm not good at either.
I like literature and what I'll broadly state as humanities. I like stories, how they're told, and unpacking their usually-multiple messages. Science fiction and fantasy are my favorite overall genres.
I lean liberal, but consider it more of an understanding that in order for individuals to succeed, humans as a whole have to succeed. I realize that not all humans have other humans' best interests in mind, though. Conservatives tend to go more for a competitive fending for yourself, or an us-vs-them outlook that's also unfortunately frequently valid, but feels antagonistic and self-centered to me most of the time. I try not to be closed off to listening to other viewpoints, because new or different isn't always wrong or bad. Sometimes people are just way off base, though.
I like science more than religion.
I strongly respect non-threatening belief systems.
I like a lot of different kinds of music. A lot. Right now, I'm listening to "Alibi" by Vandenberg. 80's Euro-hair metal, yep. Next up is a George Strait song. I'm not kidding.
Of course there's more, but that's way more than enough for now.
Be safe and well out there.
I'm a life-long nerd, maybe considered a guru, but my expertise is pretty broad rather than focused.
My main superpower is learning new technical things very quickly. I know everyone says they can do that, but I mean it.
I speak fluent Techlish, and love to teach. I'm sad that every household needs to have limited systems administrator knowledge in it these days.
I know PC hardware extremely well, having built my own systems for the last, probably, 35 years.
I like Linux overall, but game too much for it to be my Number One OS. I typically dual boot between a Linux distro and Windows 10.
I was pretty excited to run OS/2 and Windows after years of DOS. I wish BeOS had survived and evolved.
I've deployed, administered, and repaired multiple email systems on various platforms, LAMP configurations, desktop systems, servers, printers, LANs, firewalls, routers, Active Directory domains, monitoring systems, phone systems, and more.
I ran my own dial-up and Internet-connected BBS called The Place of Magic for about 10 years in different forms.
I wrote and released a BBS door in QuickBASIC.
I ran a PC store with one other guy for several years as primary sales and support.
I've been a gamer for about 4 decades. I was working in Activision's external support team when Quake 3 Arena was released. Classic roleplaying games for about the same amount of time. I like me some tabletop games, too.
I've got an interest in input devices, partly because the RSI possibility started looming for me a couple of decades ago, partly because I like gadgets and finding more efficient ways to do things, and partly because my hands are starting to get shaky as I continue to "season". Thanks, genetics.
So I use a Kinesis Advantage 2 QD keyboard switched to the Dvorak key layout to save my hands and fingers.
In vim vs emacs, I'm firmly in the vim camp. I haven't really tried emacs, and find vi on pretty much every *ix installation, so that's the main reason for that.
I really like disc golf, though I haven't played in entirely too long due to some hernia surgery.
I like contact juggling and cardistry though I'm not good at either.
I like literature and what I'll broadly state as humanities. I like stories, how they're told, and unpacking their usually-multiple messages. Science fiction and fantasy are my favorite overall genres.
I lean liberal, but consider it more of an understanding that in order for individuals to succeed, humans as a whole have to succeed. I realize that not all humans have other humans' best interests in mind, though. Conservatives tend to go more for a competitive fending for yourself, or an us-vs-them outlook that's also unfortunately frequently valid, but feels antagonistic and self-centered to me most of the time. I try not to be closed off to listening to other viewpoints, because new or different isn't always wrong or bad. Sometimes people are just way off base, though.
I like science more than religion.
I strongly respect non-threatening belief systems.
I like a lot of different kinds of music. A lot. Right now, I'm listening to "Alibi" by Vandenberg. 80's Euro-hair metal, yep. Next up is a George Strait song. I'm not kidding.
Of course there's more, but that's way more than enough for now.
Be safe and well out there.