WARNING - MAKE SURE YOU CHECK THE DEADLINES ON THESE CONTESTS, THEY ARE NOT ALL THE SAME

The Prize:
Cingular HP iPaq 6920

How to win:
This is the easiest contest so far, to win... you must be a staff member. Staff members are to post a bio about themselves here in this thread. On the deadline, I will use a random number generator to select a winner from the eligible threads.

The staff members, like the members are a vital part of this community. For the efforts of these staff members, this contest is for you.

The rules:

• Staff Only

The Deadline:

• July 19th, 2007 - Midnight CST

Chris Leckness, Administrator
Microsoft MVP - Mobile Devices

       

Susan is married and currently a stay-at-home mom with four children (3 in high school, one in college at Ga Tech). She works on management consulting projects during her spare time. Susan’s other interests include needlework, gardening, and Atlanta Braves baseball. Susan recently ventured into journalism as a news editor on Mobility Site.

Susan’s first computer experience was with an IBM mainframe computer via teletype (timesharing). Susan’s father, a management consultant, enlisted her help entering text. From timesharing she moved on to programming off-line on a key punch machine which generated punch cards which were then run on the computer via batch mode processing. Susan learned to program using Cobalt, Fortran, Paschal and Basic. Susan studied mechanical engineering, computers, and business at Georgia Institute of Technology, where she received a BS in Industrial Management. Her first computer was a Commodore 64. Since that time she has had numerous desktops and other devices. Her current devices include a Dell desktop, HP laptop, Dell Axim x51v, and AT&T 8525. She received a technician class amateur radio license back when you had to learn Morse code.

     

Ikehiker is a research scientist who recently left the U.S. Department of Agriculture after 28 years. His research focus is on cell cultures to study insect diseases as alternatives to chemical pesticides. He is now starting his own consulting firm with an aim to advising researchers in the biotechnology and medical communities on similar techniques.

In his spare time, he does backpack and biking trips in wildernesses throughout North America, occasionally leading trips for the Sierra Club. He is soon relocating to Maine to get further away from rat race and closer to some of the trails he enjoys.

He put together the Aximsite WiFi Guide (http://wifi.aximsite.com/wifi_net.html) mostly based on information gleaned from the forums.

-Ike-

     

Jake is an Executive Program Manager with a large international IT company. He originally spent twenty years in the U.S. Navy as a Bombardier/Navigator in the A-6 Intruder aircraft and has 650 carrier landings in his log. After the Navy he wandered into consulting and eventually into Information Technology projects, where he remains today. His first PC was a Radio Shack TRS-80 with 16K of memory. He upgraded that machine to 64K, then installed floppy drives that held 180K of data and later added C/PM operating system and lower case letters on the screen. Those might seem trivial now, but back then it was cutting edge.

As a navigator, he took notice of GPS when it first came out, but didn't really take great interest in it until the removal of SA made it accurate enough for him to find practical. At that point he combined his Axim X5 PDA with GPS and no longer had to depend on his long suffering wife for map reading. He was member number #40 of Aximsite. When Chris went looking for a Mod and someone to answer GPS questions, he found Jake and the rest, as they say, is history.

He has two children and three grandchildren (and the aforementioned long suffering wife who is as thrilled as he about not having to read maps). He is also an amateur radio operator, callsign W1HRE.

Want to know about GPS? See GPS 101. Want to know more? See GPS 201.

We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. Hebrews 2:1 (NIV)

       

It's quite an honor to be part of the Mobilitysite team and with the addition of Aximsite, I am humbled to part of this community.

It is my hope that in some small way, I will be able to share with you how I Experience Mobility. I am happiest when I am near water and find I tend to be more inspired in my writing while at the ocean. If I am not sitting on the dock at my lake, you usually will find me enjoying the wonders of the Maine Coast.

I spent 35 years teaching mathematics, worked as a Dean of Students, and completed my career as a Principal of a suburban school just outside of Boston, Massachusetts. I enjoyed my career, I was very involved and it was there that my desire to learn as much about computers began. Soon, my "hobby" became handhelds and now dealing with mobility has become my passion.



Always the teacher, I enjoy sharing the knowledge that I have gained with our community and enjoy even more learning from all of the folks that visit here.

      

Can we copy/paste the bio from the "About us - Need everyone to get in here" thread?

 

Busy, busy, busy! It seems to be the lifestyle I lead lately. You can even Google me and I'm around there in a few links.
I earned my BA in Business Administration at De La Salle University in the
Philippines where I also met my wife.We have fraternal twin boys. One of them has OI (Osteogenesis Imperfecta aka brittle bone disorder) and a
Belgian Shepherd Malinois named 'Wolf'.
I am your friend in the digital age!

What God has brought together, let man not part. Matt 19:6

 

Steve Laser
Reviewer
Steve is your modern day renaissance man. He juggles a professional life in sales, with a hobby of drumming with the Steve Laser Experience (are you experienced?), programming VB and DBs, raising 3 kids, a lovely wife, and several pets. Add in a little golf, hockey and working out, and you have a great milkshake.

Steve's family is originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Steve es muy macho! He's had several art showings, and used to make his living as a professional artist. Now Steve enjoys using his Axim to travel the midwest, keep track of contacts, navigate, watch movies and keep entertained. But his biggest thrill comes from sharing his experiences with others on Aximsite.

Attached Images

stevencheri5.jpg (26.6 KB, 24 views)

---Steve-O

Check out Stevenator65 Weblog. It's back and worse than ever!

        

Stephen is an Automotive Technician/Instructor who has been married for 25 years and has 2 children and 3 Grandchildren. He is an absolute car and gadget nut. If he is not reading about them he is working/tweaking on them. He became a reviewer for aximsite because he wanted to give back to the community that helped him work out all the bugs on his axim. He is also interested in how upcoming technology will help the auto technician in Automotive Diagnostics in the form of PC based Scantools and Oscilliscopes.

  

Gray currently is working part time with his dad as a computer consultant for small businesses. He also is a student with a currently undecided major.

Always interested in technology, from a young age Gray had an interest in all things electronic. After seeing a few different Palm Pilots and other PDAs getting more advanced in the market he bought an Axim X5 that started him on his PDA journey. In years to follow Gray learned the ins and outs of the PPC platform and has worked to help many others on the forums, creating research guides, and even writing a beginner’s guide to PDAs. Since the Axim X5, he has moved up to an Axim X50v that is his current full time PDA.

Besides PDAs, Gray has also ventured into other hobbies such as Photography, Cars, and Traveling. In his spare time he likes to watch movies, play games, and spend time on his favorite forum...Aximsite!

    

Conrad Wheeler
Radimus
News Editor and Slacker

Conrad grew up WAY out in the boondocks of the West Coast of Florida. He was the "mid-life" baby and only boy with two much older sisters! Man was he spoiled! His mom spent all of her time doting on the boy, making sure that his every whit and whim were serviced. He spent much of his young life finding gadgets to disassemble to determine their inner workings. The rest was spent helping the family with their landscaping business.

Not being much for the outdoors and all that manual labor stuff, Conrad discovered that computers was the way to go! So, armed with his Commodore 128 and TI-99/4a, he embarked on his career. He began on the Yearbook staff of his high school year book and has ever since found technology to be fascinating. Conrad did his best to make all the trouble he could and do as very little as possible throughout high school. Despite his utter lack of concern for the classes or the teachers, he graduated! Things quickly deteriorated from there. To keep himself from getting into anymore trouble, he decided to dedicate his life to Uncle Sam for a few years. Conrad joined the Army and was placed in a Patriot Missile Unit. He spent time in Germany and in Saudi Arabia defending our country. After returning to the states from his sentence...er...patriotic duties...he landed a job in communications...he installed radios and base stations and erected antennae for a local communication firm. It was here that his networking potential was uncovered. Conrad built and configured the network for this small office. The experience this gave him, led him eventually to his auspicious job with the state government where he wisely spends all of the state taxpayer money by coming in late, taking long lunches, and leaving early, when not otherwise occupied with surfing tech sites and sleeping in his office.

Sometime during the communication stint, Conrad met, of all things, a GIRL! Who knows what she was thinking, but she dragged him out of his closet (where he spent countless hours playing Mech Warrior and Doom), and made him do things like eat with a fork, wear shoes, and have real conversations. Eventually, he grew to like her and they married. They now have 4 children together and are fast approaching their 10 year anniversary...fingers crossed!!

My Articles and My News

Software Discounts for MobilitySite members and Aximsite Store

How to Ask Questions the Smart Way and Before you Ask

        

David (aka Elrendhel) started working on computers when he was 12, tearing apart the family PC to fix a problematic hard drive. Technology has fascinated him ever since.

He went thru quite a few jobs, always doing something with computers, but never understanding what his true calling was. He spent a few years working for the Federal Government as a Draftsman Assistance, and another few years working as a computer repair guy for a computer shop, then he finally went to work for a local telephone company.

While at the telephone company, he was amazed to find out that so many people did not know how to fix their home computers, so he started donating his time to fixing them. After a while, people inquired why he didn't start his own company, or do this kind of work full-time. Because it wasn't profitable enough to make a full-time job, he kept his day job, and continued helping people where ever he could. David had finally found his true calling!

After a while, he started working in 611 Repair, where all of the happy people call in to report their telephone services are no longer working. After six years in this kind of a customer service crucible, he transferred out to Special Services, where is is now happily repairing DS0, DS1, DS3, OC12, & OC48 circuits, as well as interfacing with the State of California, and maintaining the 911 PSAP (Public Safety Access Point) network; so you have someone to talk to when you dial 911 in California from your home or your cell.

In 2001, he started volunteering his time at various websites as a moderator. In 2003, two wonderful things happened which have been life-changing. In early 2003, he bought an iPAQ H5555. This was the beginning of the end for David, who was forced at this juncture to acknowledge his addiction to technology. Shortly thereafter, David joined a website where Jack Cook was the Chief Editor, and they became good friends.

A few months later, he met and fell in love with his future wife. Late in 2005, he asked her to marry him, and she (unwisely?) agreed! David became an instant step-dad to her then 3 year-old son when they married a few months later.

During that same year, David had finally started his own consulting business, where he worked as a freelance technical writer and press writer for several websites, and continues to troubleshoot computer problems.

Then in 2006, an opportunity presented itself: David was contacted by his old friend Jack Cook, and offered a position at Mobilitysite. He readily accepted, and is now a Moderator, Product Reviewer, and News Contributor.

Elrendhel

Mobilitysite Administrator, Moderator, & Product Reviewer.

        

Rishad is currently working for Electronic Arts in Vancouver, Canada. He completed his BSc. in Computer Science from Simon Fraser University. Loves music and plays the guitar when he has free time (=almost never). He loves his gadgets and hopes that someday he'll own as many devices as Chris does!

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Born a Navy brat, Bryan moved around a lot when he was very young. San Diego, Whidbey Island, Pearl City/Honolulu and Portland were a few of the places he lived in as a tyke. Most of his formative years were spent in rural Illinois, where he developed a deep appreciation of the outdoors and quiet living, never being much of a city slicker. His first experience with PC-like devices were Atari 2600 and Atari 800s, and his family eventually got a Commodore 64 and then a 128D to spend many hours on. Years later after college he started his career in the biological/chemical sciences and eventually met his future wife, also a scientist, in an adjacent lab. Since only one other person in the research labs was reasonably PC-savvy, Bryan started helping out on the side and eventually landed a job testing software at another company, where he's remained for the last 11 years. His first mobile device was a Palm m100 that came as a freebie with an XP Pro purchase. After seeing his company VP's Axim X50v, decided he had to have an Axim and wound up with his current X51v, that he works hard to keep out of his young son's hands.

breley | Aximsite/Mobility Site Review Staff, Administrator | Judge, Smartphone & Pocket PC Best Software Awards 2008

          

Lawrence is married and works as a senior engineer at a telecommunications company. He's first exposure to the computer world was when he saw the amazing flowing graphics on the Amiga platform. He's the IT guru in the family and likes to keep on the leading edge of technology. Aside from using different GPS devices/software, telecommunications, PC networking, videogaming (PlayStation3 rules!) , and travelling; you'll find Lawrence enjoying pottering in the garage, gardening, and reading scifi/fantasy books on his free time. My current PPC devices: Axim X50v, Axim X51v, XV6600, and Blackberry. Still prefer Windows Mobile devices.

Top 5 Software items (other than GPS software):
PocketWeather
PocketBreeze
Resco File Explorer
iLauncher
Metro (nanika.net)