Just remembered that a text file description of myself was requested from the disk. Hmmm, where to begin... Stats first- Name: Skipper Smith Employer: Motorola SPS, Inc. for 3.5 years Computer: Amiga 2000, GVP G-Force 40 MHz '030, 9 MB RAM, 300+ MB HD space, Supra 2400zi modem (the next thing to be upgraded). Primary use for the computer is telecommunications. Should be writing, but my boss makes sure I don't have enough time to do that. If I ever get a more stable home base, a BBS will probably pop into existance at my house. "I'm a ramblin' man, made a lot of stops...," or at least that is how things have gone so far. Born in New Orleans (Metairie, actually), I lived there until I moved to Garland, TX (just NE of Dallas) where I spent the majority of my boring childhood. Cut my teeth in computers on a TI-99/4 and moved up to a TI-99/4A when my next door neigbor got one (neat voice simulation, I thought :-). Moved from there to the PET when I got to high school, played with a Vic 20 when my best friend got one (his father worked in QC for TI and REFUSED to buy a 99-4A for his son. Don't know why, though, because the things were built practically like tanks), and then borrowed his Datasette to record my programs on my C-64 after I finally convinced my parents that I was worthy of one. I managed to write an AD&D character generator, time keeper, and random monster generator that fit into the 38 KB BASIC left available. Unfortunately, I was in the process of saving the latest generation to tape when my best friend turned on my old Balley pinball machine. For those people who don't know how pinball machines work, they are filled with powerful solenoids which generate extremely strong magnetic fields with apparently sufficient oersteds to erase not only computer RAMs but magnetic tape, as well. That was the last major program I wrote until I finally got a disk drive and moved my computer away from the pinball machine. Back to New Orleans for college at Tulane U. where I immediately went for computer science when I realized I didn't have to take Physics or Circuits and got more electives then I could shake a stick at :-). Not that I didn't like physics- physics is pretty neat, actually, but I knew from having lived in New Orleans previously that I didn't want to spend the next four years doing nothing but homework. I did assembly language on PDP-11 RX01's (so old that DEC wouldn't service them. We had to repair them by scavenging parts from previously failed computers)- 8" disks and all (the C-64 and even the 1541 disk drive were faster), Pascal, Fortran, C, Lisp, etc... on a single processor Vax 11/780, Cobol on an IBM 370, more Pascal on Macs (where I first learned to dislike the Mac) and PC's, took some hardware classes where we got to perform surgery on Apple IIs (that was FUN!), and did all the other usual software packages that were common at the time. At the same time, I paid for school by working for amateur and professional theater (the actors were the amateurs, the set construction people were paid OR ELSE!), selling computers for ComputerLand, and working for the Office of Environmental Safety (I got to do health inspections at the university cafeteria. The bad part was that I had to eat there, too). Because I was working so hard, it was not uncommon to be a little late turning in projects. To alleviate the penalties for late assignments, we quickly discovered that by overloading the VAXen (get 30 people logged on, have them spawn a couple of tasks each compiling C, ADA, Pascal, and Fortran programs, and using the stupid, polling editor) would result in the thing literally thrashing itself to death. When it achieved a level of thrashing in excess of 85% (performing useful work less than 15% of the time), it would orderly shut itself down. A call to the system administrator would have him confirm that the computer was down and everyone got an automatic one day extension. Took the faculty three years to figure out what we were doing (apparently the orderly shutdown did not include updating the security log :-). It was also during this time that I realized that I didn't like computers and that I didn't want to be a programmer- I kept with it because it was easy and because I think technology is neat, but I still really don't like it and occasionally consider chucking it all and going back to the theater. I do like the money, however: My sister graduated Magna Cum Laude from SMU's Meadow's School for the Arts and has yet to be able to get a job that utilized a whit of what she learned in school. Right before graduation in 1988, I managed to convince someone at Commodore to hire me- I really wanted to work for CATS and was willing to work as a programmer if it meant I got to work with the Amiga. The paperwork wasn't to be signed until after I got back from a post-graduation rafting trip down the Grand Canyon (talk about a trip that can remind you of how insignificant you are in the world) but, when I got back and called Commodore, all I got was,"Skipper who?" So much for working for Commodore. Through a long-winded series of events, however, I got an interview at Motorola in Phoenix and was working as a Technical Training Instructor the next week. I have gained an in-depth knowledge of the 68000 family (and, to a lesser extent, the 88000 family, 68300 family, and the 68HC11), I have traveled all over North America with my job, taught more students than I can remember (with about one student out of every one or two classes either owning or using an Amiga), and generally lived a hectic but happy life. If I have to work with computers, this is definately one of the best ways I never thought of doing it while I was in college :-). It has also meant that I have been able to keep close contact with the Amiga community in general since my job has me travelling to many of the cities where people I have known electronically live. Like I said, computers are neat and I enjoy playing with technology, but I would probably be doing art in some form (probably sculpture or theater set design/construction- maybe custom furniture) if I thought I could make survive. I love the outdoors, working with my hands, reading, listening to music, and meeting people from all cultures and backgrounds. As long as I stay with computers, I hope that I can get my job to take me outside the U.S., probably to Asia/Pac, so I have spent time trying to learn Mandarin Chinese (along with a smattering of Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, etc...). This goes right along with the martial arts that I study (and have studied- started long before I had any interest in Asia) such as Tai Chi Chuan (verbal permission to teach Yang short and long forms as well as sword), Go Ju Ryu (Okinawan Karate), Judo, Jujitsu, White Crane Gung Fu, Cuong Nhu, and the list goes on- I definately consider myself a jack-of-all-trades; just as in my martial arts, I tend to gain a broad knowledge in as many areas as I can but I don't always go very deep. Oh yeah, and, if the picture doesn't scan well and you can't tell, I REALLY like black 5.0L Mustangs!!!