About me

General info

I enjoy writing Open Source software, watching movies, reading, listening to music, and I also like to go tramping. I have a full-time job at CJN Technologies, designing and developing software in Delphi.

I like all kinds of music, but my favourite music ranges from Jean-Michel Jarre to R.E.M., to Genesis / Phil Collins. Most of the time, though, I like to listen to MP3s, MODs, and MIDIs, especially music from PC games.

One of my other hobbies is electronics. I've also designed, built and installed security systems.

Weird fact

In my last year at school I received a mock award for "Most likely to be remembered for hacking into FBI files just to see if he could, and then having an X-Files episode based on the occurrence with special guest star William Shatner."

Projects

Things I am working on right now (warning, geeky stuff ahead!):

• Opie environment for handheld devices
• Getting Opie supported in the Angstrom Linux distribution

Stuff I have worked on in the past:

• eBox - my first stab at an entertainment PC. Replaced by a Shuttle ST62K.
• Linux on the Shuttle ST62K - collection of info about getting Linux working on the Shuttle ST62K. Not really needed anymore since everything should now work out of the box on that machine.
• eboxy - I gave up on this because I didn't have time to compete with the likes of MythTV. Still, I learnt a lot working on it.
• Stuff for handhelds.org

Favourite movies

I watch quite a lot of movies, and have a growing DVD collection. Here are my favourites though:

• The Shawshank Redemption
• Equilibrium
• Snatch
• Sneakers
• Back to the Future 1-3
• Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
• Ghostbusters
• Fight Club
• Groundhog Day
• Terminator 2
• Heat
• The Public Eye (why isn't this out on DVD?)
• plus others...

Favourite Games

My top 4 favourite (PC) games of all time are:

• Star Control II
• System Shock
• System Shock 2
• Half-Life

Favourite books

I'm mainly into fiction books (sci-fi, fantasy, action-adventure). I also read a lot of non-fiction, especially biographies/autobiographies, and books about intelligence and spying. Some of my favourite fiction books and authors are:

• the Elenium and Tamuli trilogies by David Eddings
• the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett
• the Xanth series and the Split Infinity trilogy by Piers Anthony (who has also written some other great books).
• Without Remorse by Tom Clancy (others of his are good too... they tend to be a bit long and drawn out for some though)
• Red Dwarf: Infinity welcomes careful drivers and Better than life by Rob Grant & Doug Naylor
• plus many others too numerous to mention...

Contacting me

There are several ways to get in touch with me if you want to - and don't hesitate to do so if you've got something to say! Perhaps we share some common interests... or maybe you're someone I know who I haven't talked to for ages.

E-mail

You can email me using the address bluelightning at bluelightning.org.

IRC

I often hang out on irc.freenode.net in #opie, #handhelds.org, and #lugradio as well as other channels from time to time.

ICQ

I also occasionally use ICQ, and my UIN is 917620. If you've got ICQ you can chat me (if you try to add me to your contact list, please tell me who you are when you request authorisation, and that you've been to my page or something like that. Thanks!).

Guestbook

Ye olde guestbook is here.