User:JRCharney

From ArchWiki

User:JRCharney is a hardware hacker!

Last edited: April 3, 2022.

OK, I'm going to be honest. I just can't write about myself in the third person. It's just so narcissistic. So let me write this the right way in the first person to introduce myself.

For several years I ran a hacktop using various Raspberry Pis and Odroids using a Motorola Atrix Lapdock. My last iteration of the hacktop used Arch Linux ARM (ALARM) until the Raspberry Pi Zero was no longer supported. I really wanted to get a Raspberry Pi Zero 2W to pick up where I left off, but with the price of Raspberry Pis post-pandemic, even those fun little robots on Amazon that are powered with them aren't worth picking up right now if the brain cost more than the robot.

I have built several computers over the past couple of decades. My most recent computers were built this summer. Two of them run SteamOS 3.x (holoiso) on two of his machines and a third computer runs Arch Linux on a portable GPD MicroPC which fits nicely into my back pocket.

Interests

I have interests in programming, web development, Software Defined Radio (SDR), meteorology, seismology, gardening, engineering, bicycling (if I can lose 50 pounds), art, music, and of course hardware hacking.

Why finding a job is so damn hard!

Sadly, none of these skills seem to pay any of my bills considering how stupidly difficult it is to get a job when employers don't read resumes like they should then bellyache about how they were ghosted at the job interview because job applicants aren't mind readers and won't show up if you never tell them where to meet for the interview of if they ever got the frigging job in the first place!

Also, there's never any talk about wages and benefits. Just some NDA or Non-Compete to cover their butt if you get a papercut at work. (Would it kill any of you "job creators" to show up with a W-2 form so that it can be filled out quarterly so we don't have to be confused as to how to report our wages for taxes, Social Security, and medical benefits. I mean, come on! It's not rocket science!)

I'd say more about this, but I kept finding myself wandering into some kind of political rant which is just too much for this wiki profile.

Programming Languages

For the most part, I've got plenty of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript under my belt, but not as much Node.js or Agile stuff that employers want. You can see some of my HTML/CSS/JS work on My Codepen website.

I'm currently trying to revamp my skills with Python, Java, and C++. Python and Java have ways of developing programs with GUIs, but I'd like to find something that makes C++ do that too.

Coding Tools: VIM FTW

Despite VS Code being the king of Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) at the moment, I'm still a hardcore Vim geek, even with Neovim starting to take over. I am currently trying to learn Lua so I can configure NeoVim.

I like that I can use Vim (and NeoVim) just about anywhere. It's even better if you can use tmux with it in case your SSH connection goes down, you can use tmux attach to jump back in where you left off.

Network and Security

I attempted to get a CCNA in the late 2010s, but the lack of time to practice all those Networking skills lead me to stumble a lot in the security course and in the last course. I'm thinking of getting into GNS3 anyway since almost every place I worked at had server hardware but none of it was Cisco stuff.

Also, I miss going to those business conferences in downtown St. Louis, like the time Dell EMC came to visit. I wish they hadn't moved their offices out of St. Louis. As if these big tech companies think I'm going to move to a larger, more expensive city on the coast. Come back to the Midwest! #SiliconPrairieForLife!

Business Tools

I grew up an Excel nerd. My dad used Microsoft Office, I use Microsoft Office (at least on the one computer that I have that uses Windows...I'm still trying to figure out how to get dual boot set up. Microsoft should NEVER be the dominant operating system! I will go through the hell of getting Linux in the driver seat before I let Microsoft be top dog on any of my machines if I can.)

Could you believe there is a competition for Excel? I know everyone has their opinion about Microsoft especially if they are a Linux user, but if there are two programs I do like the Microsoft makes it is Word and Excel. I might get into this sort of competition in 2023. Not this year, definitely next year.

I thought about doing Salesforce Trailhead again. But a lot of it seems oversimplified. Also, it sucks having to learn some proprietary HTML-like language that changes like the wind. (*cough*APEX*cough*).

Links

I might post some links to other stuff here later.

Some Final Notes

ArchWiki is not the SteamOSWiki

If you came here to ask questions about SteamOS, the ArchWiki is NOT the place for that. Sorry to burst your bubble, but I do encourage SteamOS users to organize a wiki for that and look forward to being part of that community.