 Nickname: Freddy
Real Name: Frederik
Age: 0x13
Resides: South Germany
Occupation: Student
Favourite websites: Google - Search before asking (and wasting time).
Favourite application, game, and program of all time: ssh and vi - needed all the time - open all the time!
What are you working on right now: PHP and MySQL Based Log Parsing.
What is your current Wallpaper/Screensaver: Lake District Wallpaper, some kind of screensaver I configured at install time (some time ago :-))
What does your mousepad look like: Using a Notebook with Touchpad
What's so special about your computer room: My cellar is my computer room - all kind of computers which are not too small (no PCs) are standing there, all ready for operation and connected in a huge shelf.
How many computers do you have: At home I have probably about 40 computers - all are ready for operation and functional
9 Computers standing there as Operator-Computers (with graphical Console)
- these are DEC Alphas, VAX, SGI, Apple, HP 9000.
6 Computers standing on the floor (because of their size), DEC VAX and PDP11, Data Gerneral Aviion
15 Computers standing in the shelf (HP 9000, DEC VAX, IBM RS/6000, DEC Alpha, Motorola PowerStack)
2 Computers acting as servers (Intel (Linux and OpenBSD) based)
1 Computer standing in my working room (Sun Blade 100)
3 Notebooks (2 Intel Notebooks not in use anymore and a PowerBook G4)
4 Main Switches (Ethernet, FDDI)
Some other computers (DEC Pro350, ...) standing in the Storage rum, currntly not connected but, of course, functional, additionally spare-modules and documentation.
What was your first computer: MSX Basic
Do you remember the first program you ran on it: Can of Worms (hey, I was about 5 (?) years old and wanted to play - but I could LOAD myself :-))
Geekiest moment of your life: When I was driving in the train towards Cray-Cyber.org (where I spend much of my free time) about 2 years ago someone turned to me and said: ''Aren't you Freddy Meerwaldt - the guy from 'sysinfo'?''.
When did you first realize you were a geek: I think I didn't realize I was a geek at the age of 4, but I was VERY impressed by all the large machines, lights, the sound and the athmosphere when I was first taken into a server room (with mainly big DEC VAX gear).
If I was a program I'd be: I am not - so could we leave out that question?!
Favourite quote: "Memory is like an orgasm. It's a lot better if you don't have to fake it." (Comment on Virtual Memory by Seymour Cray (1925-1996) - probably the pioneer of supercomputing)
What do you do when you're not at your computer(s): Enjoying life with my girlfriend, volunteering my time for the german civil-protection, meeting with friends, enjoying good food.
You have a time machine that can only be used once. If you use it you won't come back. What date would you set it to, and what ONE thing would you take with you (not a computer): I'm happy with the world I live in and with the things I have. I wouldn't want to live in another time.
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The Truth Behind The Geek (*creative liberties taken for the benefit of the reading audience)
Freddy, who was standing in a tape silo in his GOTD picture, would like us to mention cray-cyber.org, a free interactive access to historical supercomputers (a super-computer zoo), the Annual Vintage Computer Festival in California, and VCFE, the European counterpart that take place every year in Munich, Germany, for which Freddy wrote a tape-robot demonstration and controlling software for a PDP-11 in PDP-11 Assembler.
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