There are times in everyone’s life when you can’t remember how you ended up doing what you’re doing or sometimes why you continue to do it.
I have these moments occasionally, I freely admit it. I thought I’d take this opportunity to share what really started my lifelong association with computers. Flashback to the 80s…
Like a lot of people I (well the family) had a BBC Model B computer at home. I played games, I wrote programs in BASIC but it wasn’t enough by itself. In 1988 though I saw a 3 part BBC documentary called “Computer Dreams”. It was narrated by Magenta Devine who, as I recall, has an excellent voice for such things.
Computer Dreams was all about the history and evolution of computer graphics (or CGI if you like). Pixar’s “Luxo Junior” and other similar groundbreaking sequences were featured and although looking back at clips of it now they seem quite clunky they had a profound effect on me at the time. I probably didn’t know the word at the time but if I had, I would have described them as awesome.
Sadly I was never that artistic but the passion for computers and what they were capable of was there and I bent it to a different discipline. That’s now virtualisation and cloud.
So I covered how I ended up in IT. What about how I re-ignite the passion when it wanes? That’s fairly easy, I just have to find something awesome again. It can be a super slick bit of PowerCLI, a new product or technology or even something like this:
Separable SubSurface Scattering (SSSS) is a technique that can be used to create fairly realistic skin. And it can be done on fairly low-level hardware. Read all about it on Jorge Jimenez’s blog.
Enough about me, why do you do IT?
Michael is a Senior Consultant for Xtravirt. If it's got buttons or flashy lights on it then it'll probably be on his radar. When not "mending computers" (it's sometimes easier than explaining "cloud" to relatives), Michael provides essential education, entertainment and trampoline services to his two children.