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[Rusty Guy]

I've a pretty mixed a background: credit collection, nurse, shipper/receiver, janitor, marine and small equipment mechanic, vocational counsellor, teacher, researcher, newspaper advertising sales, graphic design. Right now I teach the occasional basic computer course, do low level computer maintenance and office admin for a non-profit. On the side I do some editing, computer or small business related consulting and do boatbuilding on the side. I got interested in Linux via a friend who started the local Linux group. Our organization sometimes gets later model computers without operating systems and I've been looking at Linux for these machines. Vector's ability to work on these oldies first attracted me. Been very happy so far but I'm still a newbie.

[M0E-lnx]

Licensed Electrician, now working as a purchasing office for an electrical contractor corporation

Dont use vl at work, but on a private basis.

[MikeCindi]

Medical doctor and missionary (AIDS work and helped establish a church in South Africa); as for computing well, my youngest used to call me (when she was only 3-4 years old) a "pitter head" (baby talk for computer geek).

[Lyn]

Currently a call centre drone, dealing with billing issues, in bound calls..... not very exciting.

[nightflier]

Airline Pilot. Priority air freight, mainly overnight shipping.

[fuzzybud]

Late 1964 I got a job on a research ship that worked in Antarctic waters. I worked in the engine room as a wiper, the lowest position. I liked that job so well I looked for another ship after that first year. Thirty three years later I retired with a first engineer's license. In December of '79 I worked on a tanker and the chief engineer had a Radio Shack Model One computer. Soon after I got off that ship I bought one just like it. I followed the instructions to set it up and then said, Now what? I lost count of the number of computers I've owned over the years, more than fifty. It has been a great hobby. I haven't programmed since those first years when most computer users learned basic and some of us learned assembly language, Forth, Tiny C, and a little Pascal. It was a great adventure between ships.

[nubcnubdo]

Long on education, short on employment.  Four-year degree in liberal arts, three AAS technology degrees (two years each): Chemical Technology, Electronics Engr Technology, Mechanical Engr Technology. Trained in assembly programming on Apple II (Motorola 6800/6809) in early 80s. Mowed lawns and landscaped for a decade and didnt get interested in computers again until Windows 95 and the Internet. Today, I refurbish computers and televisions, sell them locally.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPAgfRRH7LI

[wcs]

Doing a PhD in Psycholinguistics, which should be finished soon...  I hope at least.
After that, who knows, but I plan to keep doing research and perhaps teaching.

[tomh38]

I'm a porn star ... my screen name is Buck Naked. 

Here are the jobs I've had, in order:  newsboy, lawn mowing, snow shoveling, grounds keeper, assistant librarian, proofreader at a newspaper, PR rep in a communications firm, fund raising, high school teacher.  My undergrad degree is in philosophy, with a minor in Greek.  Right now I teach the philosophy of science to high school freshmen and sophomores, mostly focusing the examples on physics because that's what I'm most interested in.  The idea of teaching the philosophy of science to high schoolers is that if you don't know anything about the scientific method and how it was developed, then the sciences you study will just seem like a jumble of data and theories.  In the school district where I teach this was introduced because many parents were pushing for Intelligent Design to be taught along side Darwin's theory of the origin of species by natural selection, and the school board and other educators were worried that if we didn't teach people how to think scientifically, they wouldn't be able to distinguish between unscientific ideas (Intelligent Design, palm reading, homeopathy) and real science.  We're only two years in now, but I think it's going well.  At the end of the year most of the kids realize that the earth is about 4.5 billion years old, men don't have one fewer rib than women, and that Noah couldn't possibly have fit dinosaurs on his Ark.

In our spare time my girlfriend and I sell antiques on eBay.  I also work on my computer and those of friends and family members, most of whom are slowly coming around to Linux (because most of the work I do for them is removing viruses and other malware).  No complaints yet about VL.  I really can't afford to donate to Vector, but everyone who gets Vector from me asks how much it costs.  I tell them it's free of charge, and then they think I bootlegged it.  Once I convince them it's actually free of charge, I suggest they go to the web site and make a donation.  I don't know if they have, but I hope so.

[metvas]

Started out delivering goods after the high school experience passed. Loved those years as I played Rugby and we won the Black Shield a few years in a row. We had a student exchange one year I was from the sweat hogs, they from an upper middle class area. They were shocked that most of us wore the same clothes more than one day in a row. That stuck with me and still does today. So it was back to College trained in Steel Design and Detail. After that went into steel sales during the family growing years that was the focus. Then back for more training as a Structural Engineer. That combined with my knowledge of steel brought me to a place were I could consult building planners on ground densification. That would be the piers you see holding up a bridge or the base of a building. This is so we do not have to many Leaning Towers of Pizza. Although there are a few, well hidden and never discussed. Then more training in industrial lubrication. Now I consult on contract. Work for maybe a week straight then a week off or so. Started with computers late about when I met Robert 1988-89. Never looked back. My extended family adores my computer skills. Why? It is FREE labour and parts, can’t beat that.
Favourite saying, “Don’t go near the lions cage”, it was built by the low bidder!
Regards
Darrell

[lagagnon]

... In the school district where I teach this was introduced because many parents were pushing for Intelligent Design to be taught along side Darwin's theory of the origin of species by natural selection, and the school board and other educators were worried that if we didn't teach people how to think scientifically, they wouldn't be able to distinguish between unscientific ideas (Intelligent Design, palm reading, homeopathy) and real science

I am relieved to hear your school board actually think rather than believe! Also, it is fantastic to hear of the teaching you are doing there - well done!

[dawnsboy]

I spent a lot of years at sea on the North Atlantic in my first life.  Then I re-invented myself and entered the healthcare professions.

I am a Respiratory Therapist.  Respiratoy Therapy is a life saving and life sustaining profession that includes airway disease state management, emergency response to emergency room and code blue patients, operation and management of mechanical ventilators (respirators) in the ICU and long term care settings.  We are able to assess patient status, make recommendations for treatment, deliver treatment once prescribed and evaluate patient response to therapy.  We are an adjunct to the nursing profession.  Nurses are the backbone of the health system here in the United States and I believe there would be no point in having doctors, respiratory therapists or any other allied health team member without nursing.

So as you can see I must have picked the right job for me because I'm just so darned pleased to talk about it  .

I was dragged into use of computers kicking and screaming.  I had a strong distrust of these new and awesome technologies.  My first computer was a Commodore 64.  I acquired it in 1998.  No that is not a typo.  It was demonstrated by an older gentleman who still used them.  He sold me one, made home delivery, setup, training and software sales (cheap). I figured out how to get it online with a 1200 baud modem using the services of a modern internet provider.  After that I bought a 486 with windows 3.1. 

I started tearing down computers I found in garage sales and good will stores.  Then I began to sell bits and pieces on the internet.   I discovered linux in 1999 after my wife gave me p1 200 MHz windows 98 computer.   I tried Red Hat 5.2 but found it to difficult to use without benefit of more linux knowledge.  I migrated to Mandrake 7.1.  By that time I kept two different computers, one with windows to use and one with linux to learn on.  Eventually I tumbled to VL around the time of version 3.2 and I began to use Vector Linux as my everyday OS.  It was then that I was able to really begin to properly learn and use linux.  I always had an affinity for command line functions due to my ongoing interest in Commodore computers (I still have two of those.  One is used, the other is brand new in the box).  I do not personally own a windows box.  I have compiled the  most recent version of WINE on VL 5.8 for the occasional use of a windows program or two.

I hope to do something professionally with computers in the future as my ability to run up and down the stairwells and hallways of healthcare facilities begins to wane with age.  Especially since Linux is so much fun to work with.  I would be pleased to see more enterprise systems make the switch to Linux.

[tomh38]

Thanks lagagnon!  Personally I'm a lifelong practicing Catholic, but I'm also a fervent believer that a teacher's personal religious beliefs have no place in a public-funded classroom.  Also, my parents taught me a respect for science and the discoveries of science along with raising me in the Roman Catholic Church.  Furthermore, here in Missouri there are a lot of fundamentalists, so if we let them push the thin edge of the wedge into the classroom on one thing, before you know it all science and sex education would be gone, and they would be burning books that they don't like.  Also, there would be school prayer, and it would be Protestant prayer, which would not be to the liking of us Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Atheists, Agnostics, and so on.  And so the school board thinks it's best to keep the religion out completely.  I'm in full agreement with them.  Also, whenever one of my students asks me about my religious beliefs, I tell them that's not relevant to the subject matter we're studying, and if someone else has a question which is relevant, please ask.  So I've been under suspicion of atheism from the parents for some time now.  Fortunately I'm still protected by the "free expression of religion" clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America, so they can't do a damn thing about it.

[MikeCindi]

Personally I'm a lifelong practicing Catholic, but I'm also a fervent believer that a teacher's personal religious beliefs have no place in a public-funded classroom.

This seems to be somewhat of a contradiction. I suspect the tenets of your Catholic faith would have you "practice" differently. Perhaps I am wrong though as I not a Catholic scholar.

Furthermore, here in Missouri there are a lot of fundamentalists, so if we let them push the thin edge of the wedge into the classroom on one thing, before you know it all science and sex education would be gone, and they would be burning books that they don't like.

This seems odd on a Linux forum where people seem to complain about FUD as it is just that. What science are you referring to? To say that the theory of evolution is fact is another contradiction. It is not fact and is no better supported by science than Intelligent Design. Both have holes in them. Which do you choose to believe (oops there's that faith subject again).
If you are also suggesting that lifelong, monogamous sex is bad education then you don't know the facts about sex. Just because people don't like to acknowledge consequences resultant from promiscuity doesn't mean that removing restraint is the best choice. People make choices and leaving out part of the information is not good education. Ignoring part of the information would include them in the same "backward thinking" that you seem to have put those fundamentalists.

Also, there would be school prayer, and it would be Protestant prayer, which would not be to the liking of us Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Atheists, Agnostics, and so on.

Perhaps the "fundamentalists" you speak of would want prayer to fit their belief system but considering that the majority of the public population in these United States calls themselves Christian (not Catholic, Jew, Muslim, Atheist, Agnostic, and so on) I think it's interesting that you would be opposed to what the public wants who fund the school you work at. But again because these United States are a Republic and not a Democracy you get the voice of a minority (Atheists) removing any opportunity for anyone's prayer to be school sponsored.

And so the school board thinks it's best to keep the religion out completely.  I'm in full agreement with them.

Perhaps you could ask them why, in the interests of education. The likely answer would not be something most would accept in any other aspect of their life. They (the school board) don't want religion (Protestant in particular) because someone would alert the ACLU or other such group and the school board would be sued and probably lose a great deal of money. But consider something a bit less obtrusive to life such as computers. The minority group Microsoft has the power to control the market. They have done so to the disdain of some. Many on this forum and other's like it don't particularly appreciate it and would like others more influentual then they are to stand up to what they feel the majority of computer users really want (interpreted as NOT Microsoft). Thus MS "keeps" other OSes from getting significant market share; a misinterpretation of Thomas Jefferson keeps prayer out of schools.
What you have said is that you are a lifelong, practicing Catholic...except at your school.

Fortunately I'm still protected by the "free expression of religion" clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America, so they can't do a damn thing about it.

So you would use what you disagree with to support your opinion? The constitution was penned by men who were willing to die for the right to be Protestant. They were lifelong, practicing Protestants and their Biblical beliefs invaded every part of their life including the documents that we in the USA hold very dear.

While this forum (even in the lounge) may not be the best place for this discussion what you believe is your choice and your choice to voice those beliefs are fine too but you have to know that those beliefs are based in faith of something. To say that Christianity denies science is erroneous and to say that science disproves Christianity is foolish. For the "scientific" mind to discount something based on current knowledge and theory is arrogant as science had never been very good at predicting the future. And lastly, to ignore spiritual issues in the name of science will doom society as history has revealed often (what was the last war over scientific beliefs...)

Of course who am I to question a teacher?

FWIW,
Mike

[GrannyGeek]

Them's fightin' words, mikecindi.<g>

To say that the theory of evolution is fact is another contradiction. It is not fact and is no better supported by science than Intelligent Design. Both have holes in them. Which do you choose to believe (oops there's that faith subject again).

I'm not an anthropologist and will leave that argument to those who have the necessary scientific background. But in NO WAY is Intelligent Design science and therefore it does not belong in a science curriculum. Intelligent Design is yet another manifestation of "The God of the Gaps." If someone thinks he/she cannot explain something by scientific evidence, he/she says "it must be God's doing." The Gaps are an ever-narrowing set. We no longer think thunder is God and the angels bowling in heaven. We no longer think there is a drought because we didn't offer the proper sacrifices. We no longer think we're sick because our mother cursed God. We now have verifiable scientific explanations for these phenomena. But because we don't understand precisely how life developed, some are very quick to say "it's too complicated; it must be God's doing." Why not simply say "we don't yet know"? Those who want to believe it's God's doing are certainly free to believe that, but many of the rest of us are content to wait for explanations that do not rely on supernaturalism.

Perhaps the "fundamentalists" you speak of would want prayer to fit their belief system but considering that the majority of the public population in these United States calls themselves Christian (not Catholic, Jew, Muslim, Atheist, Agnostic, and so on) I think it's interesting that you would be opposed to what the public wants who fund the school you work at.

This is called the tyranny of the majority and is what the Bill of Rights and US Constitution are designed to protect against. The US is a secular society according to our Constitution and a long history of jurisprudence. Freedom of religion also means freedom *from* religion. There is no such thing as a Universal Prayer. Such a prayer would have no content whatever and thus would be an empty gesture. And yes, those who do NOT believe in God are just as much a part of society as those who do. Numbers don't matter, freedom of/from religion does. Public prayer in a school implies that the government endorses being religious. This is not a decision government can make. People are free to say their own private prayers at any time they want, but those prayers should not be endorsed by a public body like a school.

Perhaps you could ask them why, in the interests of education. The likely answer would not be something most would accept in any other aspect of their life. They (the school board) don't want religion (Protestant in particular) because someone would alert the ACLU or other such group and the school board would be sued and probably lose a great deal of money.

And thank goodness for that! Otherwise we'd be on our way to the Christian Talibanization of American society. Actually, we'd be already there. Anyone for Salem witch trials again? This time we could burn the gays, too.

What you have said is that you are a lifelong, practicing Catholic...except at your school.

If being a "practicing anything" means you have to promote and even impose your beliefs in every sphere of life, what do you do when those who believe something else become the majority? How would you feel about living under Shariah law? Freedom of religion/freedom from religion does not rely on head counts.

The constitution was penned by men who were willing to die for the right to be Protestant. They were lifelong, practicing Protestants and their Biblical beliefs invaded every part of their life including the documents that we in the USA hold very dear.

God is not mentioned in the US Constitution. Many of the founding fathers were Deists.

to say that science disproves Christianity is foolish

But reasoning does. Example: Because of the sin of one couple, all humans ever to be born were doomed to enmity with God. Now, what kind of God would do such a thing? Would you inflict eternal damnation on your grandchildren and all descendents because your son offended you?

Why did God create humans in the first place? If it was to share eternal life with them, why not create them directly in heaven? Why have them on earth at all? Why put them to a test first--a test many will fail? And why unleash a devil on them, making it even harder for them to act the way God presumably wants humans to act? And since this devil will ultimately be vanquished by God, why not vanquish the devil now? Why not 3000 years ago? Why continue this cruel game?

And why would you demand that Jesus your son be tortured to death in order to restore humans to friendship with God and the possibility of salvation? Why kind of monster would have such a plan?

If God is in charge of life and death, why did God allow fiends like Hitler, Stalin, or Pol Pot to live long enough to torture and murder millions of innocent people? Why didn't God send a heart attack to the 9/11 hijackers, or at least have them stopped for a traffic ticket on their way to the airport so that they missed the planes?

I could go on for days. I'm sorry for offending people who hold these beliefs dear, but please, think about it. Give up the comfort and think about the total screwiness of the beliefs. The only logical conclusion from such beliefs is that God is a monster or a trickster.
--GrannyGeek