Me

Joe is a geek at heart, but that geekery extends beyond just the normal "Linux" and the FSF. He prefers making things over coding things, but he has done both when necessary  He'd rather build a tool than buy one - a trait that probably came from his parents' and grandparents' relation to the great depression.

So, this is his little home. In fact, rather than purchase a web template for this site (much easier and faster), he built it. Every image on this site came from a camera (Canon Rebel XT DSLR), skills at Gimp, and 3D modelling and rendering. (Joe claims that he prefers POVray, just as an FYI.) All images, the layout, and the content itself is all owned (copyright © as well).

He loves firearms, security systems (even building one from scratch, see Project Homebrew Security System to learn what goes into one), and tying things together. He enjoys designing and implementing security infrastructures.

However, Joes' geekery goes much deeper. He's been working on an "eternal" project (since 1997), and it is finally nearing completion, a 1977 Corvette. He's rebuilt so many parts, we're all starting to think he needs a full fabrication shop. Once again, though, he'd be too cheap, and he's already starting to look into constructing his own machinery (David Gingery books look like a great way to do it).

There are a few other sides to Joe most people don't know about.  First, he began a career in the fine arts.  Later, he then moved on to computers (he always said that a fine arts education would qualify him to ask "do you want fries with that?").  At the same time, he began a project that resulted directly from an experience about a Corvette, and the cheapest one he could afford as a young college student needed a lot of work.  That lead to his quest to do his own auto work.

Fine Arts

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The good thing is that it is often the case with him. This website is designed around his art, as a simple showcase of his capabilities.

Joe started out in his senior year in High School. Prior to that his most in-depth drawings were sketches in the margins of his math homework, or in the free space of his spelling quizzes. But, in his senior year, his last semester of High School, he took an art class. It was an interesting art class. It wasn't even at the start of the course that his skills apexed. No, it happened when Joe was given a semester art project, part way through the second term. He had decided to draw a portrait - in pencil, in dots.

The course instructor (who, incidently, retired that year) stated that he needed to find another project. First, he couldn't draw. Second, he couldn't draw well. Third, stipple (dots) and pencil did not work well together. Anyone that knows Joe well enough may know the reaction, and the resulting end of the story, without him ever telling it. He's a stubborn fool that enjoys proving people wrong. The rest is history.

The resulting project stunned not only the instructor, but the entire art department, students and faculty alike. Out of a possible 600 points, the project received 675 (Joe couldn't figure that math out). It hung in a display case for the remainder of the year, even while other student masterpieces were replaced. His just hung there. But the drawings continued. And Joe found in himself a talent. He was an artist.

Additional talents have been discovered since then. Photography has also become a hobby. He's done some good work with both the pen and the pentax. Enjoy some of his work! It's not much, but he hopes it will bring a smile to your face.

Computers

His computer affinity began way before the art stuff, and slowly rolled into a career.  It began in the late 80's with a Commodore 64, and later a Tandy computer system.  He started out with his usual games (while most people were playing console games, Sega, etc, he was on the Commodore).  Before long, he started dabbling in Basic programming, and evolved into a little machine code.

Once he realized the Commodore wouldn't suffice for him, he started to dabble in the Intel world a little more.  Starting collegiate course work in Biomedical Engineering, he was required to take a PASCAL programming course - something that would change his entire future.  After a two year sabatical in Canada, he found himself applying for collegiate studies in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering.  (That course work led to a new degree that others could pursue - Computer Engineering Tech.)  Upon graduating, he has spent numerous hours at a computer console, programming and coding, developing, scripting, and watching the networks.  His skills have gone from Electrical Engineering to pure CompSci, and then the dabbling started again : Arduino, Raspberry Pi, ELM327 (uh-oh - now he's mixing Electrical Engineering, CompSci, and auto mechanics).

Other Stuff

He and his wife are adopting - if you know of anyone, please let them know!  They'd love to be involved in the tough decisions about adoptions.  Their profile :

https://itsaboutlove.org/ial/profiles/28499924/ourMessage.jsf

You can also find him building shop tools, and other things.  It appears that his is not a quest for things, but understanding.  He's always learning something new.

Hopefully, you will find this blog useful!