I've been into computers ever since I was in the 2nd grade. At the time my grandfather was was sick and he was at home with us for a while. He was very generous to our family but in particular to my sister and I. Regardless if my mom said "don't buy them anything," when he'd take us out he would still get us something. In the 2nd grade they bought me my first computer; my dad wanted the Laser 386. I don't think a single person knows what that is but it's what my dad's work used at the time.
We had this computer for a long time, it didn't have a hard drive at all, but it did have a 4 color monitor. Over the years I really learned how to use it fast, to the point that when I was in the 4th grade my teachers would ask for me to help them figure out how to fix certain things that were going wrong.
Computers have been my life for a very long time and I expect that they will be for a lot longer. But I've been going through many changes in the past few months beginning from retiring from World of Warcraft. I want to spend more time with my family and less time with my computer which is why I had to give up WOW. I do have to say that I am enjoying every bit of not being addicted anymore. Filling the void that addictive computer gaming filled, now lies a number of smaller projects and a couple of computer related items. First, I'm playing a new game but I am far from addicted. I've gotten back into baseball after a 3 year hiatus, and with being into baseball again I am playing a MLB 2K7. I also still use the computer for Internet related items, like doing research on my fish tank, or reading email, or talking to friends. I've also gotten back into my anarchist punk self a bit more that was hiding as I was addicted to MMORPGs which I liked and still like because it was a more educated self. I've gotten back into reading more political things and gotten into some political debates. A couple of guys at work who where in the debate with me told other co-workers that I'm like one of those pests that you take a shot at but they still keep coming back harder then before. I take that both as a compliment and an insult to be completely honest.
But how does this political anarchy really fit in with computers? I'm all about things being free and against Corporate America ruling the roost. 90% of my computers at home are fueled by software utilities that are completely freeware. I hold high standards when anyone does something that gets paid for including when I do something for someone else. My motto is, "if you are going to do something, you do it right the first time!" With that said I hate Microsoft, I hate Myspace, I hate Dell and Gateway, and I hate each and every other software/hardware company out there that try and make a buck because they don't want to put the necessary time in to fix a problem that they created.
Why is it that I have to buy added software to protect my PC and home network because Microsoft couldn't close the holes they created in the first place? It's because they want to slap a big sticker on the next software version saying "Now with added security software," and charge $200-300 more for that "feature." We should all be referring to these $200 "features" as "bugs!" I think I've had enough of this BS, can anyone reading this tell me how many computer viruses, worms, and types of spyware that can infect Windows right now at this moment? Can anyone tell me how many viruses, worms, and types of spyware that can infect a given Linux distribution? I can, 3. All three of them were developed as "test" viruses to prove that Linux is safe and reliable. Linux doesn't have spyware software or anti-virus software.
Linux is to a salad bar as Windows is to an all you can eat buffet. If there is something for Windows to eat, it's going to pile it high and pour chocolate sauce on it and shove it in it's fat face. Linux takes the healthier route in that it will see all the delights that lay in front of it and take what it needs and leaves the rest for everyone else to have.
I've been trying to find out what I truly wanted to do, stay with Windows and feel trapped like a mime in an invisible box, or move to Linux and smash that box into a million pieces. After much reflecting a few things really are driving me towards the change. Linux is open-source (depending on the distribution you get), so I don't have to feel trapped with no hope of something getting fixed. I had to ween myself off of World of Warcraft and it seems that I'll be weening myself off of Windows as well. I don't expect it to be hard, the only thing holding me back is the games run on Windows and not Linux, but with WINE I could get them to run fairly well. I think the learning curve is going to be hard to get over at first but I'm sure I'll be fine. My plan is to run a dual booting computer until I no longer use Windows anymore. I'm not sure yet how I'm going to partition my hard drive, but I'll probably have a Linux partition, windows partition, and maybe one or two more partitions.
Comments, questions, and suggestions are welcome, even if you tell me to jump off a bridge. :)
