I am a computer professional who likes spending a lot of time with these devices. With this knowledge I try to solve my own computer problems, help other people – and of course make the world a better place.

Computer

to com·pu·ter, v. – Doing something with computers.

I probably spend a large amount of my spare time, besides my job (and previously studies), at my computer. Well, there are sure more people in my age doing that. What differentiates me from many is that I am not at all into modern 3D action games but instead prefer writing software myself.

At times I can sit for days at a programme or a website to make it perfect or to look for that little yet persistent bug. I am especially taken with the combination of both: Web applications. Beginning of 2003 that led to my first greater public project, the Unclassified NewsBoard (initially under another name). Microsoft however created a comfortable development environment with .NET and the new Visual Studio which I often use for desktop applications. I have published several of the more useful programmes in my web laboratory, likewise source code snippets that came up along the way and more practical information for handling of computers. Moreover I have collaborated on several websites, for example our school homepage or the pages of our amateur radio local group.

For organisational reasons I registered my business in 1999 at age 17. For quite some years I also offer individual software and website services. Since 2004 I am responsible for a web server on which I offer webhosting services together with my father who mostly takes care of the economic and legal matters. Furthermore, in the last years some PC applications and internet sites for smaller regional businesses as well as larger organisations have been created by me.

Photography

It all started end of 2007 with our first digital camera, a Sony DSC-S70. In my “former life” I rarely took pictures. Afterwards I wish I had more (or even any) pictures of an event, to support my own memory… But then there was the film that took forever to be full and developed. And the costs that came with it, and the missing immediate feedback about the image quality. With digital photography (almost) everything got better.

I certainly cannot call myself a professional or even especially experienced photographer, but I am really into that topic and always try to improve my skills. My first own digital camera was a Pentax Optio S (see left image), a small 3-megapixel compact snapper of mid-2003 (with 2 cm thickness at that time the first and smallest with 3x optical zoom) that sometimes produces quite unsharp pictures and has bad light sensitivity. Later I occasionally borrowed the bigger models of my parents, when at family celebrations (Kodak DX7590, Sony DSC-H2). Their bigger lenses are catching a lot more light which at least begins to allow for the interesting available light photography. Meanwhile, I like to describe myself as ambitious amateur, as they call it.

Since end of 2007 I also call a digital SLR my own, a Canon EOS 400D (see right image), together with meanwhile several lenses from 10 to 300 mm, among them a 1.4 aperture prime lens. With an APS-C-sized image sensor (that makes about 13 times the surface of a common 1/2,5” sensor of many compact cameras), reasonable 10 megapixels, lossless RAW recording, fast autofocus and compared to compact cameras very quick image sequence, a wide range of lenses for every occasion and all sorts of configurable image parameters, one can usually expect the better results. Some of the very first photos I took after unpacking, you can marvel at here. The 8 GiB CompactFlash card has space for around 800 pictures.

But it’s not only the equipment that wants to be bought, learned and trained. To take good pictures, you also need good motifs. If you don’t know where to find them, you need at least good chances. And exactly then I often don’t have the camera at hand. It seems you get to see the most beautiful landscapes when driving in the car, where you cannot stop nearby.

I have arranged the pictures that I did accomplish and deem interesting to the public in my photo gallery.

What else?

I listen to lots of music. Sometimes even all the time. My personal collection keeps growing. But I am less interested in the charts tootling that you are served with on the radio, as the “best music mix” countrywide and that has been there before often enough. Music should come with a catchy melody and I prefer to be able to distinguish the individual instruments. There are some beautiful songs that merely consist of piano- or guitar-accompanied singing. Scream-rock or heavy metal is usually too loud to me. Finally I have to like it, and that is probably the point which is the hardest to describe. Sometimes I just need some time to get used to something new. Once that album by Tori Amos was of no use to me, and I liked it a lot as I suddenly discovered it again two years later… I can also recommend Cara Dillon, Coldplay, The Corrs, Katie Melua, Keane, Lizz Wright and diverse classic rock bands like Genesis or Duran Duran. Whereas Björk, Common, Conjure One, Julie Fowlis, Lamb, Nitin Sawhney or Zero 7 are likely not for everybody. To mention just a few.

Since 1996 I have an amateur radio license with the callsign DG‍9N‍GF and I am a member of the DARC local group Eckental (OV B33). Back then, this was the minimum age to get that license. From the following school year on, in the 9^th class, the now familiar basics of electric circuits were very helpful to me in physics. I then accompanied my parents to amateur radio meetings, fairs and other regional events and have participated in contests and other radio activities. (My father is already involved since 1983.) The preparation courses that I have co-held from the following year on, also brought my mother and some of my schoolmates to that hobby, to which I could then talk tell-free after school. (There was no such thing as telephone flatrates at that time.) Unfortunately, it all subsided a bit over the years, and with my increasing interest in the internet and mobile telephony, amateur radio moved further in the background. If nothing else, the reachable audience was far to small and the barriers to entry too high. Today I still have my license, a handset and a transceiver for the car (no longer installed), but it remains largely unused outside of the participation at the annual Youth Field Day as crew member.

Also “infected” by my father, after my national service, I joined the reservists of the Federal Defence Forces of Germany, in the comradeship Großgeschaidt. I already had great fun before at the public events like the children’s holiday programme or the families’ night hike. Since 2002 I could also participate in trainings and competitions, for which my enthusiasm is not as great however. Most important are the good community and the relaxed atmosphere.