I have been programming in "C" for the last 10 years, using mainly "Turbo-C" to write DOS-based utilites, databases and data communications applications. Examples of my work are: a membership database for a club, an AX25/IP packet router, a bulletin board, a comms terminal/off-line mail-reader, a list server, and a host of minor comms tools. My next move is to port most of these applications to Linux. I haven't yet written any applications specifically for Microsoft Windows because I don't use it, but I will inevitably have to begin doing so.
I have programmed at all levels from direct hardware interface to the user interface, and although I like designing user-friendy interfaces, I am really at home in the unseen parts of the program where some programmers fear to tread. For instance, I wrote my own windows routines and TCP/IP stack rather than use other people's.
Back To Skills ListYou might not believe this, but at University I was a real dunce when it came to computers. We had to write our programs in Fortran and hand them in on punched paper tape for running. I really couldn't get to grips with them.
The turning point was when I got my first "home comuter", a Sinclair ZX81 with a whopping 1K of memory! I soon learned to program in BASIC, and I was hooked...
Very soon, I wanted to do more than BASIC would allow, so I learned to program in Z80 machine code, which opened up amazing possibilities. Eventually I "graduated" to Commodore VIC20 and C64, so I learned 6502 assembly language too. Some "reverse engineering" of a major company's product led me to learn 8051 machine language also.
When PC's came along, I dabbled with MS-BASIC and GW-BASIC, but I always needed to do more than the language would allow, so I ended up adding 80x86 machine code to my repertoire. I regularly use it, and still do a fair bit of Z80 too, although no longer on the ZX81!
The speed, power and elegance of assembly language appeals to me, and although I choose to develop applications using "C", I always check the resulting machine code, and either optimise by hand, or convert to machine code when the prototyping is complete.
Back To Skills ListI have done a Java programming course at college, and have written a few of my own Java applets, such as chat server and client. I like Java's object-oriented structure, which fits in nicely with the way I have learned to use "C". I haven't yet done anything with JavaScript.
What I'm not too keen on with Java is the fact that most of the design tools are Windows-based, and use huge amounts of computing power. For someone who's used to getting the most out of 640k and 4.77MHz, a minimum requirement of 64Mb and 133MHz for a Java development system just seems crazy!
Back To Skills ListI can't claim to be an accomplished web designer, as this is my first attempt, but I am doing everything I can to learn as fast as possible, and it is my intention to take up web design as a career. At least I wrote the raw HTML for these pages myself, using nothing more than a text editor - I didn't "assemble" it using a "drag & drop" program.....
Back To Skills ListI have been a licensed Radio Amateur for many years, but my sphere of interest lies far from that portrayed in the Tony Hancock "Radio Ham" sketch. I used to talk to people using a microphone in the old days, but nowadays I prefer to link computers up to radios ("Packet Radio"), and communicate using the written word.
We have a worldwide network of computers linked by radio, over which we can pass messages, have live chats, exchange data and programs etc. As part of that network I run a bulletin board to store and forward messages, and a "packet switch" with 12 radio links to packet switches in other areas. I interfaced all the radios myself and wrote all the software used by the system. It also interfaces with the telephone system and the Internet
Back To Skills ListI have been playing guitar for many years, but I'm no expert. I can play most chords, and have enough knowledge of music theory to be able to play the ones I'm not familiar with, but "lead" guitar just doesn't light my fire - I'm strictly rhythm. My repertoire is mostly rock, pop, and folk, ranging from the Beatles, Seekers, and Kinks in the sixties, the usual 70's and 80's rock classics such as Springsteen, Dire Straits, Chris Rea, and Kate Bush, through to Oasis, Portishead, Madonna and Garbage in the 90's.
Just playing chords on one's own is boring, so I like to sing along when I can manage it, although my "pop" voice is not particularly good. I've become interested in MIDI sequencing so I can create my own backing tracks, but nothing can beat getting together and playing music with others. Unfortunately, I've not yet found anyone to play with.
Back To Skills ListAlthough I'm not a full time choir member, I sing alto with a local church choir for special events, such as Christmas, Easter, and Remembrance, when we usually put on a varied program of choral works. We have occasionally performed large works, such as Bach's St. Matthew Passion, Handel's Messiah and Judas Maccabeus, and requiems by Brahms and Faure, to name but a few. We do several carol singing sessions at non-church venues in the Christmas season. My favourite pieces are usually from the 16th and 17th century period
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