Me Me Me and Me
Lets start with a thousand words.. no, wait, a picture. I dont think you need a thousand words to convey the information in this photo, maybe I should get a more interesting one.. but there are many more pics in my photo album, if you really want to see me in a wetsuit or cabling datacenters or in my natural environment full of Linux machines and routers.
Mugshot:
The quick introduction is next. Lets just assume for a second the world is divided into two groups, one that knows what Reverse Polish Notation is and how to use an RPN calculator and those who dont. Those who like Woody Allen and those who dont. Well after reading these I am pretty sure you could place me in any number of your very own subjective groups and sub-cultures... or maybe, just maybe its not that easy and you will have to continue reading.
Misc Facts about me
Name: Johannes Lodewicus Botha (Johann)Birthday: Monday 4th of July 1977, 18:05
Age: 31 years, 07 weeks and 6 days
Sex: Male - heterosexual
Zodiac Sign: Cancer (Sun in Cancer, Moon in Pisces)
Born in: Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa, Earth
Siblings: none
Living in: Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa, Earth
Citizenship: Republic of South Afirca
Languages: Afrikaans/English
Marital Status: Single
Vegetarian: Nope, I eat meat, but I'm allergic to Prawns.
Blood Type: O+
Favourite Beer: Cobra
Favourite Wine: Middelvlei Shiraz - 97,98,99
Favourite Wine Farm: Rustenberg
Favourite Cheese: Emmentaler Cheese
Favourite Whisky: Talisker
Favourite Gin: Bombay Sapphire and maybe Tanqueray no. Ten
Favourite Cocktail: Gin Martini, Dry, Shaken
Favourite Movie: Aliens
..runners up: Blade Runner, As Good As It Gets, When Harry Met Sally, The Royal Tenenbaums, Garden State, The Life Aquatic
...more movies
ex-Favourite Music Album: The Cure - Disintegration, Robert Smith is a genius
Favourite Music Album: Statues, by Moloko
Favourite Music Single: Mr Jones, Counting Crows - August and Everything After, or The Time Is Now - Moloko
...more music
Favourite Book: Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
...more books
Favourite Composer: Rachmaninoff
Favourite Instrument: Trumpet
Favourite DJ: Dave Seaman
Favourite Jazz Artist: Miles Davis
Favourite Movie Artist: Woody Allen
Favourite Food: Fish, Seared Tuna Steak
Favourite Drink: H2O (water)
Favourite Spring Water: Valpre - Still
Favourite Tea: Pitco Decaffeinated, Twinings Lady Grey, Twinings Vanilla Tea.
Favourite Meal: Brunch
Favourite Brunch Food: Omelet or Eggs Benedict
Favourite Sport: Swimming
Favourite Colour: Blue
Favourite Fruit: Cherries, but I dont get that all year so Apples (Golden Delicious) take the first place.. Avocados third
Favourite Veg: Artichoke
Favourite Muffin Flavor: Banana
Favourite Font: Helvetica
Favourite Fragrance: L'Eau D'Issey Pour Homme
Favourite Chocolate: Dark, Cote d'Or
Favourite Dessert: Pecan Nut Pie
Preferred Measurement System: Metric
Preferred Calculator Notation: RPN
Preferred Wristwatch: Digital
Preferred Pet: Dog, Doberman Pinscher
Preferred Shirt: French Cuff (41/16)
Minimalist or Clutterer: Minimalist
Cooking or Washing Up : Cooking
Tea MIF/MIL : Milk in first.
Tea and Coffee
I drink milk in my tea, but no sugar.
I dont drink coffee. (not since 2003-01-01)
TV
I dont like watching television. The last time I had a TV was in 1997. Why ?.. I guess it's a big waste of time, or maybe it's because I discovered free software in 1997.
My favourite sin
My favourite sin must be fanaticism. Most geeks over-focus, get too involved, get too passionate about their principles. I can identify. To be honest there are a few things I am (maybe) a bit fanatic about. The freedom and liberty of software, open standards, my operating system, my email client, my keyboard layout, my editor, what I use to produce documents, standards for communication and netiquette.. the list goes on, but you get the idea.
I am..
I am a Jack Of All Trades and a master of some. I like to spend 20% of the time learning 80% of the game, rarely do I spend 80% learning the last 20%. I am a Completer not an Attempter. (*g*) What type of man am I ? I am a business man. I am a capitalist. I am an Introvert or an Extrovert, still making up my mind. I am uncompromising, well I like to think so. I am very Zen, I like simplicity, clutter bugs me.
I love..
Technology. The power of Linux. The elegance of good design. The mood of good music. The peace in swimming. The challenge of running. The emotion and suspension of disbelief found in movies. The rebelious instict when people say it cant be done (better). The joy of humor. The clarity of logic. My freedom of choice. A new and unique idea. The summertime. Stellenbosch, in a way I cant describe ..and I love sleeping.
Goals and Objectives
Tough one. I thought the most interesting people dont really know what they want to do. I dont think so any more. The weird thing is that I have known what I what to do for a very long time, I think. Problem is.. on a long timeline it gets hard to put your finger on it. So, lets not make the list too narrow just yet.
Easy, right ?, in broad strokes..
The Endless Summer,
Fame, Fortune, Fun, Friends, good Food
and to change the world. Simple.
A bit less abstract. I have an interest in business. Brands and their cultures. I would like to build a successful company with a widely know brand, cool culture and a bit of legend and heritage. A company driven by innovative ideas, making great products, with a fun working environment and cool people.
Build a system/software/framework/technology that is widely accepted in the free software world. Something with a network value effect. Something cool and useful.
I want to write a book. Well more than one, we will have to see how it goes. A really cool cult contemporary novel, something like Generation X. Some technical books, I still have to pick topics for.
More to the point, I would like to see Frogfoot (the ISP) grow to be a big robust first-tier network, built on solid technology and elegant network design. Yet continue to be driven by relationships with the people we call customers and keeping the philosophy of being a 'big network with small ISP ideals'.
Do I have ideas and plans for doing these things.. you bet, and I am going to have fun doing them. Thats the plan, anyway.
and behind the last door..
I figure if you read this far you must be some form of Geek or you cant sleep. And your reward for reading this far.. well you get to find a link to the really geeky things you dont see on the main menu.