Maria and Charles
Hello, I’m Charles McColm and the wonderful woman to my right (your left) is my wife Maria. Thanks for checking out our web log. As you may have guessed from the title of the web log I’m passionate about computers.
My beautiful wife is from Colombia (note the spelling, it’s not Columbia which is the state capital of South Carolina). Last year we travelled to Colombia. I spent time in 5 provinces and 20 cities. It’s an amazing country with wonderful scenery, great food, and beautiful people.
If you ever get the chance to go to Colombia with a friend or family I highly recommend it. (Don’t believe everything you see on T.V.)
For the past 6 1/2 years I’ve been the project manager of The Working Centre’s Computer Recycling project. At the project we refurbish computers. Systems which qualify get Microsoft Windows through Microsoft’s generous MRR program (these are only available to low income individuals and not-for-profit organizations).
We also build great Ubuntu Linux systems (available to anyone). Not only do we build the systems, but we service them too. Don’t understand something about Ubuntu Linux – come in and chat. Systems we’re building currently range from Pentium 4 1.8GHz to Pentium 4 3.4GHz.
Like many of my generation my exposure to personal computers really started with the jingle “I adore my 64, my Commodore 64.” It was the C64 that was responsible for me getting bit by the computing bug. I learned a little assembly language on the C64, but programming was never very interesting to me (I guess because I spent too many hours entering code from Compute’s Gazette only to have to wait until the next issue for the bug fix). In school and through friends I also had access to the Commodore PET and Vic 20 systems.
About a year into my current occupation I was asked if I could write the A+ Certification exam. I wrote both exams and was certified shortly after.
- A+ Certified Technician
I’ve been a fan of Linux and open source software since the summer of 1997. My interest in Linux was sparked by my brother who brought home a Slackware CD to show me all the cool bulletin board software. I’ve used many distributions over the years including Slackware, Red Hat Linux (before it was Fedora), Mandrake Linux, Debian GNU/Linux, SuSE 9.2, and Ubuntu Linux to name a few. I have no favourite distribution and use whichever one seems to suit the purpose of the system I’m working on. For example, I used MythDora, a Fedora-based distribution, for the Myth TV box I had set up. Currently both my wife and I run Ubuntu Linux.
A simple screenshot from Ubuntu 11.04 (minus Unity)
I currently run 4 servers at home, two web sites, a game server, and a desktop that shares part of the file system by NFS (file server). Two of the servers are publicly accessible, see http://www.auldsbel.org/ for the game server and http://www.rebuild-it.com/ for my computer refurbishing web site (in current development).
My wife is actively looking for work in a Laboratory. She has over 22 years experience as a Bacteriologist. Maria has worked in the emergency department of a hospital for over 12 years, and run her own laboratory in for over 10 years. World Education Services (WES) has recognized Maria’s degree and numerous certifications.
We have one grown up son and no pets.
