Well, I thought I'd put my two cents in:
1976 - Dad worked for Coast Guard and would bring home a printing portable
terminal. Played 'Star Trek' games on the CG's Convergent Technologies
machine.
1977/78 - Hands-on C3 machine at Coast Guard district in Michigan while
waiting for dad to take me home after school. Played lots of 'Rats' on
this machine. Learn how to IPL the machine.... Get bitched out by MIS
because they use that machine too....
1978 - One of Coasties who lived just down the street had an Apple I.
Played Flight sim and played with voice output on this little machine. Got
the bug, worked all summer and bought myself a Kim I kit - and a BB
gun....
1980 - got an Intellivision Computer add-on. Started programming in
Basic. Worst keyboard I've ever used.
1981/82 - a family friend GAVE me his Atari 1200xl computer and tape deck.
Enter lots of programs from magazines. Things really start going for me.
Got very good in Basic and 6502 machine language, got a drive.
1983 - June 12th, my 13th birthday. I got a MPP 300 baud modem for my
1200xl. Went crazy with BBS'ing. Started phreaking to support my habit.
Phreaking led to hacking. First Unix experience. First electronics
project - a scanner using a pen plotter, fiber optic cable and detector on
joystick port, basic program. Lived on a boat from 83 to 85'. FBI
confiscates then returns system. No charges filed. I guess they couln't
figure out how to get incriminating info off of custom formatted floppies
with encription.
1985 - 1988 - Continued hacking and phreaking. Dropped out of school due
to family troubles. Got job, moved in with computer buddy. First hard disk
in 87'. Started doing component-level modifications of my 130xe, more
Atari stuff. Ran own bbs from 85' until joining the Navy. CP/M and MP/M
exposure. Bit by feds in 87' and stopped doing things that might get me
jailed.
1988-1991 - Navy, did some repairs on our tactical computers but didn't
have my own machine with me as we were highly mobile infantry and an Atari
setup does not fit in a Seabag.... Read 'Soul of a New Machine' in
Okinawa, Japan.
1991 - Got out of the Nav, broke my leg and was bedridden for several
months. Atari 800 with tape deck and a Spartados X cart. Wrote
'Worleyword' word processor (line editor) to keep in touch with Russian
Penpal I aquired in Saudi Arabia via shortwave Radio Moscow program.
Output is to a 40 - column, four color pen plotter. Got back most of my
Atari stuff and start BBS'ing again. Tried to draw a circle on screen
first by using PI as a base. Circle looks wierd. Teach self trig to
support graphics coding. Circles now look right....
1992 - First job as computer tech. First exposure to GUI - Win3x then
OS/2 2.0. BBS goes back online as Cheez Daddy's
1993 - OS/2 2.11 comes out. I'm sold and never look back. My BBS - Cheez
Daddy's House of Funk goes online. Worked on networking modules for
Carina Net and several other BBS-related coding projects. Figured out how
to write a word wrap - kick self for writing WorleyWord as a line editor.
1995/96 - First Linux experience. Don't like it much. Very immature and
intimidatingy different. Warp Connect comes out, first Internet Exposure,
first TCP/IP exposure. This is COOL.BBS goes down for good in March 96'.
Not much demand left because of Internet.
1997 - Realize I've got more money than I can spend as a bachelor. Tried
real hard to drink it all but have some left over. Started collecting
computers at thrift stores etcetera. Realize Windows NT is not going away.
Get good at it in self-defense. Get good at repairing Laser printers in
self-defense.
1998 - Linux is getting better and so am I at it. Doesn't replace OS/2 as
my main OS but gives me confidence enough to begin exploring Unix
seriously. Get Solaris for X86 and twiddle with that for a while. Get SCO
from a customer and work with that.
1999 - first major aquisition. Data General MV4000dc mini. Repair,
refurb, os install first AOS/VS exposure. First 9track drive. Got it on
the internet via ethernet and tcp/ip. It was a gift from a customer.
Digging Suse Linux on X86.
2000 - Second major aquisition, Sparcstation. First unix on non-x86
platform. Repaired and got it on internet via ethernet and tcp/ip. Third
aquisition Micro PDP11. Fourth aquisition, Vaxstation. First VMS
exposure, first Vax exposure. Got OS installed, on internet via ethernet
and TCP/IP. Fifth aquisition IBM system 36 - not up yet. Amiga 4000 in the
works. This years OS exposure is great, Redhat, Solaris sparc/x86, VMS
vax, AOS/VS II, RT11, SCO, X on OS/2, Netbsd and FreeBSD on Sparc. Realize
working a regular job sucks. Start my own company. Try not to starve.
Marry a beautiful and very understanding woman. Try not to starve......
Regards,
Jeff
--
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Jeffrey S. Worley
President
Complete Computer Services, Inc.
30 Greenwood Rd.
Asheville, NC 28803
828-277-5959
Visit our website at HTTP://www.Real-Techs.com
THETechnoid_at_home.com
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Received on Fri Nov 17 2000 - 12:24:28 GMT