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This is the introduction version used in Spring 2004. It was replaced by version 0.01 for Summer 2004. The latest version is always found at the main page for this Erudizione note.
Hello, my name is Dennis Hamilton and this is my
sixth module in the M.Sc program: MSC-CS, MSC-SE, MSC-JV, MSC-WA, MSC-DB, and
now MSC-CC. This is the photo on my
Student ID card.
I am 65 (since January).
I live in Seattle, Washington (on Pacific Standard Time, gmt-0800, until
April 4), with my wife Victoria and our 3 cats.
Vicki is a master potter and teacher (<http://millennia-antica.com>).
We have 3 sons, all grown and unmarried.
The youngest, Yogi Japendranatha, is at the Hindu
monastery on Kauai, Hawaii, where he is the web master, among other duties.
The oldest lives in Portland, Oregon where he is a rock musician and in a
recovery program. The middle son is
a professional stage manager for local theatrical productions in Seattle. We have 3 sisters. The
middle one, my youngest sister, Carol, works in special education in St. Cloud,
Minnesota.
I wrote my first computer program (in Fortran) in May of 1958
while I was working as an engineering aide at Boeing in Renton, Washington,
after dropping out of college the year before.
I had already been interested in computers, and I have worked in
practically all aspects of software in the time since.
Some of my experiences as a young, and then not-so-young developer are
described in an on-line article, at <http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/python/2001/04/04/se4e.html>.
By 1995 I had completed my undergraduate education with a Bachelor
of Arts degree in an external
degree program. (I had earned
credits in computer science by taking the Graduate Record Examination in CS and
challenging the major. I then
focused on philosophy, economics, and anthropology in a variety of classroom
courses over the years.)
My last corporate employment was at Xerox Corporation, where I
worked as a software scientist and system architect of document-management
systems. I retired at the end of
1998 and I have occasional consulting projects in my semi-retirement.
The most rewarding of these include travel to Japan, where I have several
colleagues.
I am in this program for a serious tune up of my skills and to
equip myself to teach at this level. My
desire is to pursue computer science as a scholar and as a teacher.
My intention is to excel in my participation here, and in the future
beyond.
The E. in my signature is for Eugene, the "orcmid"
in my e-mail signature is an on-line "handle" that I have used since
1979. Compagno is the name of my
lap-top computer, where I am set up for the course while I tear down my desktop
system ("Centro") for upgrade to Windows XP Pro sometime during this
module. I said that in the last
three modules. I really have to do
it now. I promise to actually put it in my calendar and have it be
completed before the completion of MSC-CC, the Computer Communications module.
You are navigating Orcmid's Lair |
created 2004-02-05-17:27 -0800 (pst) by orcmid |