Computing
My first substantial computing 'aha' was in 1991 reading Phil Zimmerman's introduction to PGP. I had grown increasingly interested in the science behind my 300 baud modem and acoustic coupler and the PGP user guide (read: manifesto) set my imagination on fire. Once I compiled and ran my first C program I was hooked on writing code. My combined background in literature and computer science leads me to conclude that well-written computer code has much in common with well-written poetry. Economy of effort, precision, crispness and elegance are certainly hallmarks of both. The languages in which I've taken the most active interest are java, python, scheme and C, in approximately that order. SQL is prominent in my work space (Business Intelligence) though I've always viewed it as a business tool and therefore more like work than fun.
I'm a home networking hobbyist with a number of dual boot machines which today almost exclusively run Debian and Vista. [4/30/2010: My sister alerted me to the fact that this info is outdated...I've long since shifted all my home computing to Linux Mint, far and away my all time favorite distro.] At various times I've run our computers on FreeBSD, OpenSolaris and several other well-known Linux distros but settled on the combination of Debian and Windows as most suitable for most of my family's needs most of the time.
I admire and find camaraderie with the free-wheeling nature of many technologists. I can think of no other field where so many of its best and brightest have contributed such substantial amounts of time, intellectual capital and sweat equity in developing valuable, in-demand products that they freely give away. While such altruism is counterintuitive and remarkable in itself, I find myself even more most impressed with the passion such individuals exhibit- technology as mission.
