Get to know: The Techie Talk folks

[PapaZeb]

So here's the crazy thing....you come onto this strange and fearsome messageboard. You post up a question about how this that and the other is broken...and out of the flurry of thousands of members, a few break free from the rest to give some truly good gems of information on fixing that broken thing of yours. But then again, you don't really know us, or know the depth of folks knowledge around here.

So I'm gonna toss up a bit of my background, and suggest the other regulars do the same...if nothing else, it might stop some of us getting wierd PMs from folks when another regular might be better served to ask 'em. (okay, I'm also making this thread because I'm kinda curious what the other geeks on here are doing with their lives and how they got suckered into it)

Background:
I got my start working on tech support helpdesk phone lines in call centres. Fast-tracked through that and taken off the phones and onto the level2 calls (aka, "well, I can't fix this so I'm going to give you to a better tech")

From there I moved on to a telecommunications company building IVR (Integrated Voice Response) 1-800 and 1-900 numbers and programs for Mtv, SquareSoft, Konami, Capcom, etc. Got a very thorough grounding in physical phone systems, switch programming, and a lot of the capabilities of AT&T's phone systems.

Afterwards, I flittered around from job to job mainly doing office help desk work - where there's a small team of folks who run around fixing every little problem that crops up. I've got a pretty good head when it comes to enterprise login scripts in either KIXTart or VBS / WSH, and I tend to build internal pages to ease any repetitive tasks - using PHP/MySQL for the most part and dabbling with ASP.net

Now:
Now I'm the Application Developer for a 400 person company (we'll probably double in size this year) dealing primarily with building and rolling out programs in Visual Studio 2k5 (J2E ftw!). Thanks to the boss I've got a really good grounding in physically cabling buildings with Cat-3 and Cat-5 (phone and networks), from the data or phone block where everything comes into the building, to punching it all down and cutting holes in the walls to stick my own data ports.
My other duties still include general help desk, keeps me nice n sharp on "hey, my PC ain't working right"

On AN:
I'm a general know it all - and if I don't know the answer to your question, I'll generally throw you at the best person for it. My main focus is the spyware (friggin spyware!), and general Windows issues.

[¡Punk!]

Can I do Wilson's for him?

[nevali]

Uh. Hm.

Background: I'm a dropout, started working full-time at 17 as a DBMS developer (as in, developing a DBMS, not building databases), and got my first introduction to free-form text indexing (what you'd call a search engine nowadays). Since then, I've worked on mid-size embedded systems (set-top boxes for Internet TV, thin clients, that sort of thing) under Windows CE, Linux and the BSDs; IP telephony, instant messaging, directory services and large-scale (ccTLD) DNS management. In other words, I've done plenty of low-level systems engineering, along with a fair bit of database and web-based stuff. For systems work, I write in C (which I've now been writing software in for longer than some AN members have been alive).

Nowadays I've stopped doing systems work as much and concentrate on the web, as it's more fun and less stressful. I'm a standards nazi, and am lucky enough to work in a team consisting of equivalent standards nazis and decent designers.

On AN, I do low-level stuff. I know how stuff works. If you're stuck with your C++ assignment, I'm probably your man. If your PHP isn't working right, then I'll be able to fix it. I won't necessarily be able to explain how I fixed it in terms anybody will understand, though

I know how networks function underneath all that horrible consumer-level stuff. I know UNIX. I write operating systems when I get bored. I am your typical geek, only without the God complex

[Timmy]

if i didnt have a c++ assignment to be handed in in 2 hours id be pestering u

[Largest of Als]

my background is a closely guarded state secret, but I am a self confessed gadget freak and have a reasonably general knowledge of a wide selection of techie things....


Thats about it really...


Al

[poprock]

If anybody’s Mac breaks, either me, ZeroSignal or Nevali can usually help you out. Macs break a lot less often than PCs though, so we don’t have much to do on that score.

That’s enough info, right?

[GoddamnElectric]

Past: I graduated with an upper second-class honours in Computer Science with Law at Strathclyde last year after having spent some time tutoring and instructing in lab sessions during my final year. My language of choice was Java, although I did some C also, as well as some basic Z and other structural maths languages (my honours project was rooted in automatic computations using Z as a template language for user interaction). I have worked with two high level law firms in their technology departments this year where I was exposed to a variety of legal issues in computing and trained in their correct handling.

Present: I'm in the final year of a law degree (for anyone who spots the maths not adding up there, I scored roughly 3/4 of a law degree during my first one) specialising in technology issues. I have a traineeship offer (that's basically an internship, the first rung of the ladder) with a major firm in Glasgow who have a mighty tech devision, so I aim to take my specialist knowledge into a career in IP/IT areas. I have experience in drafting technology service agreements, patent applications and licencing agreements, as well as some system building in my spare time.

On AN: I helped draft a few of the legal disclaimers around here (in particular for one area of the site which is not yet available to the masses - I'm not saying anything more about that ), so if you have a legal question about software use, piracy, copying etc I'm your geezer. I dont have a high horse to get on, I'll just explain the facts of the matter. I also tend to chip in with hardware questions (believe me, I've seen everything go wrong with new and old hardware) and advice. My appointment as mod in here was less to do with technical knowledge and more to do with a certain political tact that other techie mods are somewhat lacking in

[Bobzilla]

I break things way to much and as such have a nack for finding where your things go wrong.

I was banned from using my schools network because I broke it with great regularity. My uni labs security was supposedly top notch but we managed to break the mac's enough that we got web access without even trying to hack it. My college didnt like me near the PC's un supervised because every second one I would touch whould break in a way their techs couldnt fathom. My nightschool classes were very similar but rather than ban me from fixing them they actively encouraged me and I finally found a tutor that didnt have a seizure when he walked into a class only to see me take a soldering iron to the motherboard of a PC I'd broken less than 10 mins previously.

In short I've failed every computing thoery type class I've went through but all the hardware ones I've either passed or the tutor got me fixing things they couldnt rather than teaching me and giving me exams. I doubt I'm ever able to help anyone on here but put me in front of a fried PC and I can usually tell you how it fried and what you need to do to fix it

[TheFallenAngel]

Hence why my pc is locked from now ..
*points*

[GreatKingRat]

Originally Posted by Punk

Can I do Wilson's for him?

Go on.

[¡Punk!]

I'll do it tonight. Send me some actual "real" things you might want put in handsome.

[Shannow]

I can make photoshop work sometimes?

[Goat]

I got an HND from what is now the Met college in Information and Media Technology.
I worked as a Land RegistRar for around 6 years. Left there this summer and am studying Internet and network technology with a side class in Forensic photography. (I need the credit). second year student here.

So networking problems (tcp/ip for networking and CSS for HTML) I can help with. If I dont know then one of my many many books on my bookshelf will be able to help!

** also anyone stuck with UML or Object primer I can help with! Yes I'm a geek and a full trained DMX lighting person

[DoNotResus]

Umm, don't know if I count as a regular, but i've helped a couple forumers with C++ programs in the past..

Background - Been programming since i was wee, on hundreds of different platforms, settled with Linux and C++, but now having to use Windows and VC++ due to course restraints. I mainly program scientific applications for number crunching and fourier analysis. Oh yeah, got A's for first year CS at Glasgow and an A in 4th year Data Interfacing and C Programming for physics. Also got an honours degree in physics and now studying biomedical engineering

Current - Currently working on a portable non-invasive blood glucose measurement system, but in the past month haven written force analysis and DNA analysis software

On An - Meh, nothin much, just tried to answer questions when and if i can.

basically, i can probably help if its programming or C\C++ related problems

[poprock]

Y’know, at first glance I expected this to be another of Jeff’s ‘everybody come drinking with me’ threads …