Ryan Mikulovsky
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IRC nicks: |
Qubit, Kuril |
Personal web site: |
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E-mail address: |
<fumarole AT SPAMFREE gmail DOT com> |
How were you involved with TPU?
I barely participated in any project or message board. I just went to the IRC channel and spent my time there. I can't recall when I first ran into TPU but it must have been around 1997/8.
How about a capsule summary of the programming you did in your TPU years?
I contributed a bit to JavaBot with another TPUer. There was also an attempt to code software for Libraries (books!). I did a bit of Win32 programming such as a silly E-mail signature generator called "SigJr". It took some basic information and applied it to a random template resulting in a text file to be read by an E-mail application. Later on, I code up an Internet Explorer Favorites to HTML page program (templates again!) -- my first introduction to recursive functions. In another Windows program, I made an interface to http://www.adnd.com that would pull information from its database. Then Allegro became all the rage and I, with my love for simulations, tried to code a Bridge Simulator. A player would build and manage a major bridge. Would it fail? Would it succeed? We'll never know because I didn't finish it. At about that time I was also finally getting a handle on GNU/Linux (specifically Slackware) that I had been struggling with for a year or two prior. Within all that time there was a bit of MUD programming and some Eggdrop TCL work. Most of my early work is lost with exception of the Bridge Simulation. Since then I had joined the U.S. Air Force and stopped coding except when it suited my boredom. Of course, a few years later, and I became 20. I am now 24. Some of my old and recent code can be seen at http://www.distortions.net/code
What are you up to now professionally and/or academically?
As I alluded to earlier, I ended up in the U.S. Air Force. I enlisted for 6 years out of cluelessness as to what I wanted to do or be in the future. So I spent time there and grew up a terrific amount. I worked on Avionic Sensors such as the LANTIRN system for F-16s and F-15s. Well, I'm done now and going to college. What did I decide I wanted to be? A geologist, of all things. We'll see how that goes, won't we? 
What are your favorite programming languages and tools today?
Well, things theses days that I work with tend to be in python so I tend to write in python. My code directory mentioned above can shed some light on what I've (experimentally) done a little more recently. But I hate the verbosity of Python and it has some odd recursion limits (or maybe I'm just bad). Anyway, by default, python takes it much as I hate to say. I've tried Haskell, SML (half-heartedly) and Scheme. I have programmed in JAVA, PHP3, C/C++, and long looong ago, PERL.
What sorts of software are you most often developing lately?
I've been "developing" software that I personally need to get tasks done. That is my major motivation. However, sometimes those ideas end up getting left behind as I move on. Presently, I'm working on Chico Wiki. It will need some custom macros made for MoinMoin, and crazy world it is, that'll be in Python. I want to code a Google Map macro. One of my top desires is to code something to work with and help visualize my extensive collection of FLACs (Free Lossless Audio Codec) that I've generated from my physical album collection. I've looked at expanding XMMS or Amarok to use my custom metadata, but, both software packages are a horror to behold for metadata. IMHO