 Nickname:
"pcunix"
Real Name: Tony
Age: 57, but always 19 in my head
Resides: Southeastern MA mostly; we have a summer weekend place in Western MA and we take 4 and 5 day weekends from May to October.
Occupation: Consultant. Web site owner. I can't work for anyone but myself because I'm too hard to get along with. I want it "my way".
Favourite websites: Stumbleupon
Favourite application, game, and program of all time: vi. How could I exist without it?
What are you playing and working on right now: It's summer. I try to do as little as possible. I am working on a new test series for my site but I can't talk about that because it's a big secret. Sshh.. you didn't hear it from me.
But in general: I don't "work at". I don't take big projects. I do little things. This week I did a thing for a headhunter so that he could type in jobs and generate a web page and an rss feed automagically. That kind of thing and general support pretty much makes up my day.
The toughest question for me is always "What do you do?". I don't know what I do. I do computer stuff. I solve problems, I write scripts, but I don't do any particular thing enough to say that's what I do.
What is your current Wallpaper/Screensaver: Always random. I couldn't stand to see the same thing every day. Except my wife. I like seeing her every day.
What's so special about your computer room: Special? It's a freaking mess. I've got boxes of isa network cards and even some coax stuff here. There's a TRS-80 Model III on the shelf. Most of the working machines have their covers off and there are cables dripping from the ceiling. Any space not occupied by computer hardware is filled with computer books.
How many computers do you have: I don't know. Working, maybe four or five. Mac, Windows, Linux, whatever. It changes all the time. My main computer right now is an underpowered iBook. I bought it just to review it for my website and fell in love with it.
What was your first computer: TRS-80 Model I.
Do you remember the first program you ran on it: Sure. Other then PRINT "Hello" learning Basic on the TRS-80, I bought the thing because I was selling heat exchangers and needed to calculate payback for my potential customers. So I wrote a BASIC program that could figure out how much money the folks could save by sticking a heat exchanger in their boiler stacks. That's what got me into this business: I realized I understood things other people didn't.
Geekiest moment of your life: I keep telling you, I'm not a geek. Yeah, I've built Heath kits, and used to subscribe to Scientific American and if I could get news.google.com to put all that uninteresting political stuff at the bottom I'd like it better, but I'm not a geek.
Probably the geekiest thing I ever did was write a floating point translator. I wrote about that at http://aplawrence.com/Basics/floatingpoint.html
When did you first realize you were a geek: I am not a geek. I first realized that most people are crazy when I was seven.
If I was a program I'd be: A very bad sorting algorithm. Because I often have to do the same thing over and over again before I "get it"
What is your favourite quote: "There are no problems, only income opportunities" - me
What do you do when you're not at your computer(s): Yeah, like that happens very often. I go for a walk. I mow the lawn.
What is the funniest/most bizarre computer/Internet experience you have ever had: The funniest was the nuns and their backups. I wrote that up at http://aplawrence.com/Lighter/nuns.html
You have a time machine that can only be used once. If you use it you will not come back. What date would you set it to, and what ONE thing would you take with you (not a computer):
I'm happy where I am, thanks. If you are going to point a gun at me, I'll set it for yesterday and tell myself to avoid you at all costs.
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The Truth Behind The Geek (*creative liberties taken for the benefit of the reading audience)
If Tony has a claim to fame at all, it is his website: http://aplawrence.com. He started it to help remind him of things, and it just grew. It's humongous, very Unixy, and it grows larger every single day. Some of it is pretty good, some of it isn't. It's a bit like his office: old stuff, new stuff, cables everywhere.. something for everyone.
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