I know I don’t think like most people do, most people think about what I don’t think about, and I think about what most people don’t.

I’m different, I’m unique, I’m a Visionary with Vision.

I’m still perfecting my skills, I’ve got things down to a science even without really being trained or taught. Right now I’m waiting for the Easy Transfer to finish copying all the data that was on about 4 hard drives (those I hooked back up to my older system that still was running Windows 7 on it) to some of my newer hard drives in the new system that just has Windows 7 on it.

When I get finished with that (that was the most important thing to me, I need to salvage my data, I’m trying to keep a digital library and archive all the information and data that is available, which is an impossible feat with a limited budget, and only one person handling all of it, that person having other duties and responsibilities as well, and daily is helping others and solving other people’s technical problems), I can finally begin to do some much needed testing and learning. I need to first install VMware Vsphere on my server, so then I can load up any operating system I want to, and create several virtual machine images, that I can then boot into on my workstation. That way, I won’t have to have a multiboot configuration on my workstation, I can just use the local virtual cloud I’m going to create. I’m about to download Visual Studio 2010 RC so I can also get back into programming. Of course I’ll install the latest versions of Ubuntu and Fedora, I might even install SuSe Linux, Solaris, and BSD. I’ll try to figure out how to get OSx86 up and running as well, so that way I can utilize the most common operating systems, and continue to master them. If I had the money to purchase a Mac, I would, but I’m struggling right now, I still need to get a few more things for my own network, such as a UPS for the server and router, another UPS for my workstation, and a decent PCI Express video card for the workstation. Since the onboard nVidia chipset offers SLI, I’ll stick with an nVidia GPU and chipset, rather than using an ATI one.

So here it is, on the hardware side of the house, we’ve got Intel and AMD competing with each other in the desktop microprocessor market, and both of them are competing with each other and IBM and Sun Microsystems (or should I say Oracle?) in the server microprocessor market. We’ve got ATI (now a subsidiary of AMD), nVidia, and Intel competing with each other in the motherboard chipset (whether North Bridge or South Bridge) and GPU market. We’ve got several companies who manufacture motherboards, but the main ones are Asus, MSI, Gigabyte, and Biostar. We’ve once again got several companies who manufacture video cards, but discrete video cards have mainly either the nVidia or ATI GPUs now. Of course several companies are manufacturing memory (whatever formfactor and technology), but the main ones are Corsair, Kingston, Crucial, Patriot, OCZ, PNY, and Ultra. The hard drive and storage market has been dominated by Western Digital and Seagate for years, with Maxtor coming in third, but along with the advancements of technology (solid state drives) comes new innovation, and new marketing opportunities, so some other companies such as Centon, Transcend, Patriot, and OCZ are making headway. Power supplies are a tricky thing, of course names like Cooler Master, Thermaltake, and Ultra top the list, but some other companies are also manufacturing good power supplies. I’ll leave some of the accessories alone, and get into the software side of the house.

Microsoft still dominates the desktop OS market, but various flavors of Linux are really starting to take hold, such as Ubuntu, and Slitaz. On the server side, you’ve got to think about the difference between proprietary code and open source code, and think about the TCO. It might be more cost effective to go ahead and migrate over to an open source platform, such as Fedora, and then hire some full time techs to handle the maintanence and administration, because keeping a Windows Server platform up and running, and updated, can get salty. Apple’s still being hard-headed and stubborn, and not offering a legit license to install OS X on a PC (since it’s basically all the same technology now, Apple can’t try to differentiate between Macs and PCs. PCs with either Intel or AMD processors in them CAN run OS X just as proficiently as Macs can.). I have no idea what Sun Microsystems (or Oracle) is planning on doing with Solaris. Will they just leave it alone, and only offer support, and focus on Oracle DB, and Java? IBM’s been a longtime advocate for Linux, and I think it’s not very wise for them to keep AIX limited. AIX is a very stable, very proficient server OS, and if I was IBM, I’d think about taking it to a whole new level, and making it compatible with the x86 architecture, not just PowerPC. Sure, I know that means alot of rewriting and recompiling of code, but I see AIX as a powerful, robust, stable, secure Unix based operating system that could indeed compete with other mainstream Unix operating systems in the enterprise, such as Solaris and BSD.

Adobe will no doubt continue to improve upon the Creative Suite series of programs (Flash, Fireworks, Dreamweaver, and a few others were only added into Adobe’s vast arsenal when they bought the intellectual property rights of the code from Macromedia), and Autodesk will no doubt continue to improve upon AutoCAD series of programs, as well as 3D Studio Max and Maya. Digidesign’s Pro Tools is still the industry standard audio recording and engineering program on the market, and that’s not because of the actual program Pro Tools, but because of the hardware aspects (96kHz sampling rates). Final Cut, Logic Pro, Digital Performer, Audition, Sound Forge, and Nuendo are viable alternatives to Pro Tools, but some of these programs only run on Macs, and some of them only run on PCs. A recording and engineering studio would have to figure out which would be more proficient to run, by comparing the costs of each platform, and the advantages and disadvantages on the technical side and user-friendliness side.

Now, don’t tell me I don’t know the industry I am in!

I read this and thought that maybe my name should have been on that list. I mean, I did really well in A.P. Computer Science as a Senior in High School, I did indeed write a program in Pascal that would figure out the derivative of a function. I breezed through C.S.S. in the Marine Corps, I easily mastered my job, I was indeed building servers and workstations, installing operating systems, preparing them for deployment, and hooking up, administrating, and monitoring secure and unsecure networks in the Marine Corps. I became very proficient with building test workstations when I was working at AMD, testing processor / motherboard chipset compatibility / reliablity.

I wonder when I’ll be taken seriously. I’m a freaking tech, I know what I’m doing, I know what I’m talking about!

Well, I’m perfecting my skills, I’m still learning, I’m not saying I know everything about everything about the I.T. industry, but I certainly know a whole heck of alot. See, I’ve got over 16 years professional, real world experience solving complex technical problems, so though I don’t have any degrees, or technical certifications, nobody can say that I don’t know what I’m doing, and don’t know what I’m talking about.

But today I’m just going to take things easy, I’ve got to finish cleaning my room, and finish up with salvaging a massive amount of data, and consolidating the library. I’m the only one doing it, but I’m still being called to help others with their technical problems. I can only do so much by myself!