hello from a GISer,

[maphew]

Hi Folks,

The forum title is Introductions, so allow me to introduce myself: my real name is Matt Wilkie. I've been a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Technician for a decade and change, so that is where I've accumulated the most knowledge (from an alternate viewpoint we could call that scar tissue). Along the way I've picked up a few skill kernels revolving around software like Pamap, MapInfo, ArcView/Info/Map and the GDAL Utilities.

When I'm not doing my day job I compulsively follow wiki development and try my hand at Cascading Style Sheets. I've always been fascinated with electronic communications - I ran a SearchLight BBS system for a few years before internet came to town - which lately has been focussed on the wiki phenomenon. TWiki is the flavour I'm most familiar with.

I'm quite taken with Open Source and use it when and where I can an even though I run Windows at work and home (hey, inertia is a powerful force!) I can find my way about a linux computer with a moderate level of ease (especially if it's debian based).

I don't know that I'll have the time to ever become a real contributing mentor here, and normally I would refrain from registering and making any sort of public comment until I'd spent a lot of time checking the place out. However I am strongly struck by the tone and aspirations of expertsrt.com and wish to support *that* to the full! :thumbup:

May you all be well & happy,
and informed !

[nicholassolutions]

Yay another Matt,  Welcome :D I think you'll find ERT *is* quite a bit different than other help sites, and that we're all serious about creating a colaborative learning environment here. It's great to have another member on board who values those things too!

-Matt

[Huntress]

Welcome aboard Matt!  You can subsribe to any of the forum topics from the watch link at the bottom and if you have any input don't be shy.  If you have any problems just let me know and I'll handle it or direct you to the right place.  Enjoy your stay!   :D

[COBOLdinosaur]

Well another Canadian.  You are really in the North.  This time of year you can probably time the daylight with a stopwatch.  I don't think we have a GIS expert on the site.  They probably all went to work for Google.  

If you are playing with CSS you will find some top-folks in that skill available on the site.  Most Web Development skills are well represented.  We are also one of the few sites around with an open source forum. The site is pretty much open source oriented.  

php, mySql, Apache, and linux(yes debian) are the backend and the browser stats during development showed about 45% Firefox. So this is a good spot for knowledgeable discussions of open source.

Don't worry about how much time you have, there are no ratings as such, contributions are not measured in pounds, but in quality.  

One good comment that helps a dozen people understand something that was not working for them is worth a thousand comments that lay on the floor and take up space.  The idea is to find real solutions through exploration of ideas; it does not really matter how long it takes to complete the exploration.  It is the journey, not the destination that makes learning and teaching fun.

[keneso]

I have no title to welcome you, but I'll do it anyway ;)

[Huntress]

You're a Site Builder keneso and this is everyone's site now.   :wink:

[maphew]

thanks for the warm welcome everyone. (^_^)

[Bartender_1]

Oh sure Matt, walk in and announce that you are a GISer, and don't even let me know that you're doing so. (For everyone else, I am a good friend of Matts, and may have been somewhat instrumental in him finding the site.)
~grins~
Welcome aboard.

 :D

Bartender_1

[maphew]

Heheee, thanks for sending me this way Bartender_1. :) I didn't say anything to you 'cause other than saying hello I haven't actually DONE anything yet!