have browser, will travel

Since this site is new, you'll probably like to know what I'm interested in. This will probably help you get a feel for where I'll be travelling.

Designing web sites. Especially complex dynamic sites and applications. I'm more adept at the back-end design and information architecture than the front-end (graphic) design. I am a self-employed web developer -- my company's name is Roepcke Computing Solutions. If you are looking for a WebObjects developer, let me know.

Hockey. I'm Canadian, where liking hockey isn't weird at all. ;-) To be more specific, my favourite team is the Edmonton Oilers. I was born in Edmonton, where liking the Oilers isn't weird at all.

Right now it's the off-season, so (lucky you!) there won't be much hockey-talk for a few months. Even then, I don't know how much I'll talk about it here.

Operating Systems: I really like operating systems. I used to have a computer that could boot OS/2 Warp, Windows NT, Windows 95, Linux or OpenStep. (I don't use OS/2 Warp or Windows 95 anymore) At that same time I also had a MacOS box.

I've slowed down, but you can add BeOS, Mac OS X, Mac OS X Server and Windows 2000 to the list of OS' (worth mentioning) that I've used at home.

Since I've installed and actually used basically every mainstream OS for Macs and Windows boxes, I consider myself qualified to have a strong opinion about them. And I do. <grin>

The computer industry in general: I find the computer industry a very interesting one to follow. I think it's my soap-opera. :-)

QuickTime VR: I lap QTVR movies up like a cat to milk I recently bought a camera rig so that I can make my own panoramas. It's much more difficult than I thought it would be. Luckily I've got some learning materials to get me started. Believe me, once I've created my first pano, you'll hear about it here.

Software Engineering: I'm not a bonafide expert, but few really are. I like to study Software Engineering and Object Oriented Design, and apply my learnings at work, to the chagrin of my colleagues ;-) Honestly though, no-one's complaining, and it's definitely helping us.

and of course...

Surfing the web: There's a (slowly) growing list of sites that I like to visit on a daily basis. Each satisfies a particular information need of mine. Yeah, I go on tangents and find weird stuff from time to time, but I have to admit, most of the tangents I go on start at one of those daily sites - I rarely wander around the 'net looking for the weird stuff.

Favourite movies: #1: The Matrix. #2: Unbreakable. #3: Fight Club.

Favourite TV shows: Red Dwarf, Black Adder

Favourite pop: That goldish cream soda A&W used to make but then sadly discontinued. (Is this stuff called "A&W Sparkling Vanilla Cream Soda"?) On an unrelated note, I stopped drinking pop in October of 1998.

Favourite books: I admit I haven't read very many novels. I've read lots of non-fictional, mostly technical books. I'd have to say the book that brings back the best memories of me reading it is Neuromancer by William Gibson. Oh, and of course, Have Spacesuit, Will Travel.

So why this site? I like to read sites like CamWorld, Flutterby and Hack the Planet, and thought it would be an interesting experiment to maintain a similar kind of site.

If I can inject anywhere near as much class, emotion, honesty and personality into this site as Cameron, Dan and Wes have put in their sites, I'll be very proud.