Look ma, a bio entry...

[matgb]

Look, I put in a bio. And I put in a lot of interests. Then I got confused. BTW, blacktone? You can't spell 'Ministry'.

I was born in Paignton 30 years ago. I now work in Paignton. Between then, I've travelled, lived all over the place, ran a shop, got a degree, slept with a few women, met some people, and played a few games.

People tend to give me credit for work they did, which is weird. I go to Italy, get met at the airport, driven to the hotel my friends there had booked for me, have a great weekend, and they thank me for coming. Barry, Rox and Mike set up a clubnight and save a society, I'm the Honorary President. Go figure. I guess I must be good at 'leadership' and 'teambuilding'. As long as the team can handle being insulted constantly because I'm bored.

I like real music, played by real musicians, preferably with talent. I'm not a genre purist, I like good stuff if it's good, and dislike crap stuff even if the lead singer is a gorgeous goth girl. I've been known to get out of bed in the afternoon on my day off, but that's unusual.

If I'm supposed to be meeting you somewhere, ring me in advance to make sure I'm on my way, I'll probably forget, be late, or otherwise be annoying.

I'm good at 'verbal reasoning'. I mean, really good. Analysis is my thing. Shame I can barely change lightbulbs, the oil in my car, etc. If it's anything remotely practical, don't ask me.

Oh yeah, I love the net, but can't see the point in spending money on stuff. This is typed on an AMD Athlon 650. Yes, that's right, not even 1Gb of processing speed. 64Mb RAM. Dial up internet connection. It's all I need.

Please stop telling me to get broadband, I live in a crappy flat and plan to move soon. Broadband contracts are for a year minimum, and, well, you read the specs of my PC, right?

I browse using Mozilla. I get annoyed with people who whinge about pop-ups, get infected with viruses and send large filesize emails. I'm not a fan of corporate culture, but find a lot of activists on 'the left' to be woefully misinformed or misguidedly confident. Lots of things to complain against, no long term solution.

I'd rather fix the world the long way.

Oh yeah, I work in an office in an underpaid job that causes me much stress 3 months a year and much time off the rest. My boss is both great and awful, I wish we could work together without shouting, but it seems we can't.

That's me. Arrogant bastard aren't I?

Comments

[tispity.livejournal.com]

I'm with you on this Mat, in fact, you've fixed on one of my pet hates. We're only on dial-up at home, mainly for financial reasons: money is a bit tight and we don't do enough large downloads or anything to really justify the extra cost of broadband.

It's incredibly annoying when people tell us to get broadband or get off the net. I enjoy being online, but we're not all rich! Grrr!

[shadow-exe.livejournal.com]

The only people who say that are spoiled little rich cunts with nothing better to spend their trust fund on. Any sensible net-user recognises that for light use, broadband is an unnecessary frivolity.

[tispity.livejournal.com]

That's a bit extreme and unneccesary. As broadband becomes far more the norm, and far more companies and stuff rely on it - releasing more and more stuff online etc, it's a view point that seems to be becoming reasonably widespread actually.

That doesn't make it right though. There are still parts of the country (like where my parents live) that have been told that unless there is a massive building and population boom, broadband will never be installed there!

[iamseph.livejournal.com]

Or possibly, people who have a few quid left over at the end of the week since broadband really isn't that expensive, and of the things in the world they want that cost a few quid (possible alternatives being a bottle of alchohol, pot, porn, whatever) they decide broadband is the most useful.

[matgb]

I have no problem with the idea that broadband may be useful, and if it's good for you, fine. It wouldn't cost me much more than dial up as I pay for unlimited time.

But I don't need it. The annoyance isn't broadband users. It's broadband users who keep on at me for not also having broadband.

WTF do I use it for? I can look at porn with dial up, but most of what I do is text based.

[iamseph.livejournal.com]

Yes, I know this, and I agree on the militant broadband purists problem, my point was that "spoiled little rich cunts" is just a tad over the top.

[matgb]

Seph, it's Barry. Accusing him of being OTT is like accusing me of being arrogant or you of being obsessed with guns.

And Mark?
It's incredibly annoying when people tell us to get broadband or get off the net.
That's what Barry was responding to. I hope.

[shadow-exe.livejournal.com]

Mat, as usual, has read my intention far better than anyone else. I was, however, also directing bile at one of my incredibly annoying students (to whom I'd love to say "Stay off the internet until you've passed this course", but technically can't make that sort of comment while at work.

I've no idea why Mark decided to delete his post. If I've hit a nerve, please tell me how or why.

[iamseph.livejournal.com]

So you've basically just posted the same thing anyone could access at any time if they actually wanted to know...

[nadriel.livejournal.com]

He's allowed to. A lot of people don't bother with reading userinfo's, and it's entertaining reading at least.

[johnwordsworth.livejournal.com]

Hey Mat! Just a quick hello to acknowledge the fact you're now on my friends list. :) I like the bio - very interesting, and now I can say just how much older than me you are instead of just saying "ha - you're old" ;)

Anyhow - one last thing to say... Get Broadband! (Just kidding - I'm equally - if you don't need it, why waste the money on it)