Growing up my family's first computer was a BBC Micro Model B - a venerable classic familiar to many kids who went to school in the UK in the 1980s. Whilst at University in the 1990s I discovered the joys of UNIX through their well stocked computer labs. Linux was a way to capture that at home.

Gradually over time I have moved from Red Hat, to Ubuntu and these days Mint Cinnamon. I logged out of Windows in July 2012 as I left Nokia's office for the last time and hasn't been part of my daily life since then. Times past, I had a high tollerance for things not quite working properly. These days I find my patience wears thin.

I do still tinker with my desktop environment though. Here are some of the toys/enhancements I use.

• Conky Configuration ( See Screenshot)
• Wallpaper Changer
• Watch for workspace switching
• Glava Launcher Glava Configuration

workspace-monitor.sh watches for the workspace changing in Cinnamon, it then calls wallpaper-change.sh which then chooses which wallpaper to show. The tool relies upon xdotool and Superpaper

My current setup is a vertical 27" 1440p display next to a 43" 2160p display, I keep the left screen wallpaper dark and contains windows I want to actively watch (email/chat) and the main screen changes based on my current task. This helps me stay focused on what is important.

Glava a fun way of visualising music - I use pretty dull VU Bars. Sadly it needs to be restarted if the sound sink changes. This script does this automatically. The configuration is pretty much default, apart from bar height and positioning - Which is the origin of all configured displays in X-Windows.

I have be writing code professionally for many years. It is a strange and challenging job. Perhaps the worst part is that most people have no idea what you actually "do".

I currently work at Fortran Traffic, the main product I work on is the Aria Traffic Management System, coordinating many of the Traffic Lights in the Durham Region and the Region of Waterloo, both in Ontario.

Before that I was working for Nokia Mobile Phones. I was hired as software developer working on the Phonebook Application. I was effectively tech-lead for the Phonebook by the time Series 40 phones came to their end of life, with the Asha 308 & 501 in 2012 and the general start of the impolsion of one-time Finnish Giant of Cellular phones.

My first job as a fresh faced graddy was working for AMS, a now defunct remnant of Marconi that was jointly owned by BAE Systems and Finnmeccanica. I was working on prototype integration of Digital Communication between Pilots and Air Traffic Controllers.