Name: Tyler
Occupation: Full-time student
Age: 19
IDE: Visual Studio 2008 Team Suite (C++/C#); Eclipse (PHP/Java/Perl)
OS: Windows XP/Vista, OpenSolaris, Ubuntu Linux
Phone: AT&T Tilt
Desktop: Custom, C2D based
Laptop: hp dv9000 series
Social: Facebook, Last.FM

About: I’m a nerd, pretty much a given.  I do a lot of hacking (mostly white-hat but sometimes gray-hat depending on the situation) or at least what I like to think of it.  Mostly pertaining to embedded devices, most recently my Tilt.  I also do a sufficient bit of programming and reverse engineering, which is a decent bit of fun in my mind.  I’m a full-time student obviously and I love my major (computer engineering).  Outside of computers, I like cars somewhat.  That’s kind of fading now that I see how much of an expense they are.  I still like doing customs and such like building a GPS antenna for my car but that’s more electrical engineering than anything else.  I also like other engineering projects and building things, such as a trebuchet.  I do not play video games very much.  Other then that, ask.

Anti-Apple: I get asked a lot why I dislike Apple.  I used to like Apple a lot, back in the days of Woz and the PowerPC processors.  However, due to the success of the iPod and otherwise, Apple has turned into something.  They’ve turned from high performance workstations and graphic designers into a fashion statement.  Apple anymore represents an overpriced commodity item that I can purchase cheaper elsewhere.  Furthermore, Apple intentionally restricts the functionality and extensibility of their devices while taking malicious action against all who perform these actions.  Their attitude of trying to protect users from themselves does not suit me at all.  Normally I’d be on indifferent relations with the company because of this, but their advertising campaigns cause people to believe solely on their devices and try to force them down everyone else’s throats without giving so much as a listening ear to a contrary argument.  I exist at the extreme to balance the equation of so-called “Mac Addicts”  See more Apple criticism