Born in 1966, started with 4K chicklet-keyboard PETs at the downtown public library in 1977 (none of my schools to that point could ever afford a computer). Had a friend with a Quest Elf around the same time frame, so jumped from 100% BASIC to mixed assembler/BASIC pretty early on. Saved up half the money for a PET 2001N-32K (still have it) in 1979. Got first computer job at 15, programming a prototype C-64 (s/n P00002008) for Bruce & James Software, "Wordvision 64" demo. They went on to release Wordvision for the PC before going bankrupt. Wrote kids games published by Reader's Digest Software until that company folded when Reader's Digest terminated their kids software line. Picked up a PDP-8/L at the Dayton Hamvention, in the meantime, starting a long association with DEC computers. Turned that association into a career with Software Results Corp, making HASP/3780/SNA COMBOARD protocol engines based on the MC68000, first as hardware technician, later as System Manager, finally as lead programmer. Got my first taste of UNIX there, in 1984. After a few minutes on a VAX-11/750 w/2MB of RAM and 2xRK07 (28MB) running 4.1BSD (that I now have in my quonset hut), I *knew* that UNIX had a future. I've spent the past 20 years doing UNIX and VMS administration and programming to different degrees at different places. Started dabbling in Linux with the 0.9 kernels, whenever they added native (non-patched) SCSI support. Did first Slackare install in mid-1992 Just got back from a year at the South Pole running a neutrino telescope (AMANDA) for the University of Wisconsin, that depends on two dozen Linux machines, and a dozen VME crates to collect, archive, and forward gigs of data per hour. It's been one of my favorite jobs of all time, not just because of the location, but because I got to use all of my admin and electronics skills I've been building for my entire career.