N. A. Courtney profile picture

N. A. Courtney

A Closed Mind Cannot Change.

About Me

You'd have to have a conversation with me to find out anything about me. The only way to truly get to know someone, is over time, people say and do a lot of things in their lives, and true friendship and trust are earned over time, which means if you want to know anything about me, you'll just have to be patient, which is exactly the way I will be with you.
I'm a scientist, and I do contract engineering for companies all over the world. I work with the various programming languages including Ruby, Ruby On Rails, C, C++, FORTRAN, SQL, MySQL, XML, Visual Basic, Visual C, PERL, Pascal, Python, COBOL, COBOL II, PL/1, Java, Unix, Linux, Windows OS, Tcl/Tk. I also do a lot of embedded system design working with Windows CE, Palm OS, BREW, Embedded Linux, Embedded C, C++, I started in this business over 20 years ago we did most of our embedded programming in Assembly language, and then Pascal.
I also do automated design, circuit design and layout, software and mechanical design for industrial applications such as robotic systems using real-time operating systems, and software.
I travel quite a bit for work, and I'm currently working on opening an office in Melbourne, Australia I worked there a few years ago and I liked the country, city and the people.
I use Linux as my OS of choice, I'm currently using Fedora Core 6. Fedora is an unsupported OS from Red Hat Software, so if you like open source computing and some patience you should definitely give it look. I started out using Unix and CP/M OS's so I like Linux.

My Interests

Working out everyday, Mountain Biking, Movies, Music, Art, Anything Scientific, Women: That are intelligent, self assured, confident, and sexy. Interesting people in general.

I'd like to meet:

Intelligent life, you don't have to be an engineer or scientist to be smart, common sense, and a good sense of humor , can go a long way. Open minded people.

I change my top friends periodically, they're all interesting individuals, and you should check out their profiles.

Music:

BT, Propellerheads, Bec Hollcraft, Beth Orton, Massive Attack, Manmademan, LTJ Bukem, Wolfsheim, Bauhaus, Peter Murphy, Willie Houston, Underworld, Astralasia, Dreadzone, Herbie Hancock, Earth Wind and Fire, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Banco De Gaia, Johnny Cash, Etta James, U2, The Cure, Ray Charles, Elvis, Elvis Costello, The Cure, NIN, Meat Beat Manifesto, Laura Cohn, Plug, Spacetime Continuum, Summer Rose, The Orb, Orbital, 808 State, Dreadzone, Les Rythmes Digitales, Fat Boy Slim, Bently Rhythm Ace, Eat Static, Face On Mars, Roni Size, Reprazent, Electric Skychurch, Medicine Drum, The Chemical Brothers, Atomic Babies, Derrick May, Fluke, Keoki, Prodigy, Dubtribe Sound System, The Crystal Method, Joey Jupiter, Empirion, Mark Verbos, Hawke, Fragma, Misstress Barbara, AEKT, Mateo And Murphy, Matrix, MARZ, The Electric 10, Miss Jane, Christian Mohr, Basement Jaxx, Aerosmith, Tool, Rage Against The Machine, Ministry, Hive, Rammstien, Rob Zombie, John Powell, The Hollywood Studio Symphony, Joe Satriani, Eric Johnson, Seal, Tiesto, Simply Red, The Groove Hogs, Groove Hawgs

Movies:

The Highlander, Run Lola Run, Blade Runner, Logan's Run, Cinema Paradiso, Tie Me Up Tie Me Down, La Femme Nakita, Vampire Hunter D, Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer, The Professional: Golgo 13, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Star Wars; All The Episode, Breakfast At Tiffany's, Fame, The Matrix 1, 2, and 3, Batman Returns.

Television:

X-Files, James Burke's Connections, The Story Of English, Do You Speak American, Mission: Impossible, political, financial, and news television programs. Certain Documentaries e.g. political, crime, historical.

Books:

Engineer's Handbook, Time Patrol by Poul Anderson, Brom Stoker's Dracula, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Philip Jose Farmer's Dark Abyss, The Land Ironclads by H. G. Wells, The Chronic Argonauts by H. G. Wells, Ms. Found in an Abandoned Time Machine by Robert Silverberg, The Serpent in Eden by Poul Anderson, The Serpent in Eden by Poul Anderson, Towards the Beloved City by Philip Jose Farmer.

Heroes:

I don't believe in heroes, although I thought the character Barney Collier from the original Mission: Impossible television series was cool.

The imperative to create is beyond the scope of the individual.

Every great idea builds on existing archetypes. Just as the computer did not precede the microchip, the motion detector did not precede the sensor.

For every great idea, there are millions of great individuals who saw beyond what was to see what is.

And the vision of the farsighted transforms the existing landscape, making the impossible, possible.

My Blog

The Hive Mind: Rebirth or the End of Humanity?

With knowledge no longer encapsulated in individuals, the distinction between individuals and the entirety of humanity would blur. We would perhaps become more of a hive mind - an enormous, single, i...
Posted by Napoleon on Fri, 13 Apr 2007 06:17:00 PST

Eight Main Symptoms of Group Think

Eight Main Symptoms of Group Think 1. Illusion of Invulnerability: Members ignore obvious danger, take extreme risk, and are overly optimistic.2. Collective Rationalization: Members discredit and ex...
Posted by Napoleon on Fri, 13 Apr 2007 06:11:00 PST

Change

Be the change, you wish to see in the world. - Ghandi...
Posted by Napoleon on Sat, 30 Sep 2006 09:53:00 PST

Destiny

The choices we make, and the chances we take, determine our destiny....
Posted by Napoleon on Sat, 30 Sep 2006 06:51:00 PST

Courage

Courage does not always roar, sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, " I will try again tomorrow. " - Mary Anne Radmacher...
Posted by Napoleon on Sat, 30 Sep 2006 10:02:00 PST

Objectivity

Be open to the possibilities that might drastically alter, but improve, your original plans....
Posted by Napoleon on Fri, 08 Sep 2006 10:57:00 PST

Time and space.

I know of no ideas . . . that have a better claim to be accounted simple and original than those of space and time. - Reid....
Posted by Napoleon on Fri, 18 Aug 2006 01:55:00 PST

Innovation

"Innovation is a complex process encompassing a wide range of activities. An essential ingredient is creative ideas, which originate from various sources. These represent the building blocks of the in...
Posted by Napoleon on Fri, 21 Jul 2006 10:35:00 PST

Perseverance

Seek answers where there are only questions, and accomplish what can't be done....
Posted by Napoleon on Fri, 21 Jul 2006 10:29:00 PST

Creativity

Eureka moments are sparse and far between unless you're looking for them, passing thoughts sometimes harbor the biggest breakthroughs.Tap into these transient fantasies to open up a whole new perspec...
Posted by Napoleon on Fri, 12 May 2006 02:48:00 PST