This page is just starting... I'll keep filling in more as time allows. Yeah, it's ugly and boring, but I'm concentrating more on content than pretty. I should at least have some ugly mug of myself in here somewhere.
Eric Raymond's The Cathedral and the Bazaar is excellent reading if you're interested in the Open Source / free software movement. Also of interest and closely related is is the Open Source Initiative.
The Free Software movement was started by Richard Stallman; you can learn more about his Free Software Foundation.
I firmly believe that software patents are real problem for the software industry; I encourage everybody to join the movement against them.
Linux is a freely available Open Source Unix-like operating system. Linux is distributed under the GNU General Public License, which means that the source code to Linux is available to everyone.
There are many Linux distributions out there, each with advantages and disadvantages. Personally, I've been using openSuse Linux for quite a number of years now (in particular, SuSE Professional Linux).
As a Academic Staff member of the Condor Team at The University of Wisconsin, I've taken on the title of "Linux Czar", and it's my personal goal to "make the world safe for Linux", especially Condor.
For several summers in a row, I taught an "Introduction to Linux Computing" class for MATC-Watertown. In this class, I attempted to teach people who are interested in Linux how to install, use, and perform basic system administration of Linux on a x86-based PC.
Later, again at MATC-Watertown, I taught an "Intermediate Linux" class. This class centered more on the administration issues, and concentrates on setting up a Linux server for a small business or home office, including NFS, Samba, etc.
I've found that I really enjoyed teaching these classes, and really enjoy "spreading the desease" (Linux) to the masses. It's a lot of work, however. It seems unlikely that I'll do any more teaching in the near future, however.
I'm a proud member of the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union).
Technically, speaking, I'm an atheist. That is, I reject the concept and existence of a god. More to the point, I believe there to be no god. However, my belief systems are broader than that; I consider myself to be a Secular Humanist. Simply put, Secular Humanism is a way of thinking and living that aims to bring out the best in people so that all people can have the best in life. Secular humanists reject supernatural and authoritarian beliefs. They affirm that we must take responsibility for our own lives and the communities and world in which we live. Secular humanism emphasizes reason and scientific inquiry, individual freedom and responsibility, human values and compassion, and the need for tolerance and cooperation.
I'm becoming an avid amatuer astronomer. I purchased a Meade LX-90 telescope a couple of years ago, and just love watching the skys. I think that my favorites are deep space objects (galaxies, nebulas, etc), but I'm certainly not limitted to these.
I'm a member of The Planetary Society.
If I could go back in time, and meet one person, it'd certainly be Dr. Carl Sagan, one of the founding members of The Planetary Society. Back on 6/6/1990, Dr. Sagan got Voyager, then 3.7 billion miles away, to point it's camera back at home, Earth. From this vantage, our planet is little more than a Pale Blue Dot, which has inspired my drive for a sane human and environment policy.
I'm also fascinated by high energy physics, astrophysics, and cosmology. I'll talk more about this at some later point in time.
Imagine a world where technology can empower us all to share knowledge, ideas, thoughts, humor, music, words and art with friends, strangers and future generations.
That world is here and now, made possible with the electronic network -- the Internet -- with the power to connect us all. And future developments in technology will enable us to access information and communicate with others in even more powerful ways.
But governments and corporate interests worldwide are trying to prevent us from communicating freely through new technologies, just as when those in positions of power controlled the production and distribution of -- or even burned -- books they did not want people to read in the Middle Ages. But only by fighting for our rights to speak freely whatever the medium -- whether books, telephones, or computers -- can we protect and enhance the human condition.
Over the past number of years, I've become fascinated with this universe created in the mind of JMS (J. Michael Straczynski). I've managed to introduce it to Ryan and Alex, who are completely hooked. You can learn more about B5 all over the net; I personally use "The Lurker's Guide to Babylon 5" as my primary source. Unlike many other shows (Star Trek comes to mind), the producers of B5 actually encourage "non-approved" fan sites such as this.
As a boy, I played D&D a couple of times with some friends, but never got serious about it. However, a number of my friends here at UW are active roll players, and this perked my interest. So, I've been working on learning D&D myself, and teaching the boys along the way. They love it, but it sure can be a time sink.
I've enjoyed fishing as far back as I can remember. My brother and I own several boats and canoes together, but neither of us ever seem to have enough time to get out and fish much. Sigh. I try to get the kids out fishing some during the year, at least.
This year, we're planning a family fishing trip to Canada. The group going will include myself, Ryan, Alex, my brother and his family, my sister's husband and their son.
As with fishing, I'm an avid hunter with too little time. Primarily, I hunt deer and small game. My deer rifle is an old 303 British that my dad gave to me many years ago. My brother is my primary hunting parter, I guess.
Ryan started deer hunting with me a couple years ago. They had imposed a stupid "earn a buck" program (which they wisely repeal for this year), which forced us to pass up a couple of shots. The weather was particularly awful, also -- rainy, foggy, etc. The end result is that none of us bagged a deer last year.
As I discussed above, I'm also an avid astronomer, but, again, with not enough time on my hands. Some day. Sigh.
My interest in astronomy got me interested in doing some astrophotography. Last year, I bought a Canon EOS Digital Rebel partially with that in mind. I've found that I've taken little time to do star shots, but have taken somewhat of a budding interest in plain old photography. I'm probably not very good, but I think that I've taken some neat shots. Some day, I'll put them some place where people can view some of them.
For a long time, I've wanted to try my hand at some home brewing. In reality, I drink very little beer these days, but I still very much enjoy the flavor of a good beer when I try it. I started brewing a couple of years go, getting my supplies from Wine and Hop Shop in Madison. I brewed my first batch of "Badger Dark Ale" several months ago, and I'm hooked. I call my creation "DaemonCore Dark Ale" (Condor joke). Not sure exactly how many batches total I've brewed over the years now, but I'd guess around 10.
My best batch so far was, by almost unanimous results, the "HammerHead Stout" -- pretty high alcohol, but very drinkable. Warms you from the inside. ;)