Ubuntu Wiki

About Me

Hi, I'm Phill, aged 48. I was born and live in the UK.

When we did computer studies at school, we wrote out flow-charts and wrote our code onto a programming sheet to be input onto a 'mini-main-frame'. We got dot matrix print-out and a roll of punched tape. Learning Flow-Charting is a great thing, as it allows you to break tasks down into 'bite-size' chunks.

My first Computer was Atari800XL. It taught me assembly language, along with machine code - for that I'm grateful. I had a Bulletin board running on that little 8 Bit machine, and even stuffed 256KB of RAM into it.

On my Atari800XL, I was inspired to study the link between computer and humans with StephenHawkin and how he could 'speak'; I got my little machine speaking using a TrackBall using SpeachSynthiserChips - do not forget that we had, at best Assembly Language or Machine Code if we wanted anything more advanced than BASIC. With all that has happened since, I have remained interested in accessibilty with and for computers. I have been up to senior support level in a UNIX environment, but that was quite a few years ago (Think Windows 3.0); so I've forgotten a lot. Coming back to the area, especially with what Ubuntu has achieved is like coming home.

My Involvement with the Ubuntu Community

The areas that I involve myself with are listed below. If you ever have a query that you are unsure about, please do not hesitate to get in touch; I do not bite. Consider me as a friendly librarian. I may not know the answer immediately, but I can point you to where to find information (having a black belt in google-fu is helpful). I'm now a full ubuntu member.

Bugs

As a member of the bug-squad I get reports back for standard bugs and Lubuntu specific ones, my activity can be found at Bugs

Lubuntu

The baby of the family, designed for those 'older' computers that just cannot manage full on ubuntu. You can find details of it over at about lubuntu. I'm really keen on the project for what it can bring to computers that would otherwise be scrapped.

IRC

As I am a user of Lubuntu I can be found at #lubuntu. If you do not have your IRC set up then you can click LubuntuIRC

I also ensure that I am logged on to #ubuntu-beginners. If you do not have your IRC set up then you can click UbuntuBeginners

Ubuntu Forums Work

My post count should say it all. I do recall my first release day, when 9.10 came out and Grub2 was launched upon an unsuspecting audience. It was, to say the least, a busy time. I do keep active in the forum area, and do like an 'un-loved' posting that no one has replied to; it has taught me a lot (such as putting on all the software to programme up an android phone, amongst others). Signing up to Ubuntu Forum is something I would strongly recommend every one should do. When I reply to forum posts there is a very good chance that I will subscribe to the thread; this means when you answer, I get an email to let me know you have replied.

Team & Memberships

I am a member of the Lubuntu mailing list along with helping with the Wiki page and IRC. I am also a member of the accessibility mailing list and forum area along with the mailing list for the current version updates and the development ones. I am also a member of the Documentation list, which is how I have become involved with updating the various Wiki pages that people use. I am a part of the bug squad and keep an active eye out for those bugs that get logged that I feel I can contribute to (I'm not a programmer).

Current Projects & Goals

I am fortunate that I have access to a 'real web-site' that I have written and can update for tutorial mode for people to see how it handles various queries in real life.

LAMP

It has caused problems with so many different (out dated) sets of instructions for people to add LAMP to their desktop system. If you want to put LAMP onto your system for learning on, please do follow the class I gave. The notes and slides are available at Classroom Notes. I am in the process of updating the documentation for LAMP, you can see the draft of it at draft LAMP wiki.

MySQL

As a further extension to my LAMP presentation, the commercial site I have written, MGJuddLtd, also holds the ability to change into tutorial mode for those who want to learn how to efficiently search through MySQL databases. The introduction and tutorial is available at FullText this links through to the MGJuddLtd site to explain how the enquiries are built, executed and displayed.

Wiki

I update the Lubuntu help pages over at LubuntuHelp. I am now also involved with updating the beginners Wiki pages, along with helping update the general ubuntu wiki area. The re-writing of LAMP wiki is by far the biggest project I have undertaken so far. I'm also now a wiki admin person, but use that mainly for the lubuntu project.

Accessibilty

I've recently gotten a commercial site up to Level 3 accessibility (AAA); it is not too difficult (I lie), but I would recommend it to anyone who wants to write websites. The MGJuddLtd site is the one that I have taken to that level, which is in no way a small feat for a site full of engineering drawings! Again, if you are interested, please drop me a note and I would me more than happy to give guidance, my experience of getting there is at Accessibilty and the Internet.

Future Plans & Projects

As a convert to Lubuntu, it is my desire to see that project attain official adoption into the family that is Ubuntu. As the 10.10 version progresses I want to investigate accessibility within it. I also want to spread the word on making websites accessible. My thoughts, trials and progress can be found at WebCodingForAccessibility.

Web_Hosting

I am very fortunate that my Web Hoster is a registered charity and I feel lucky in life to call him a friend. Whilst the deal is $20 (USD) / year for WebHosting, if you are a student or a group from the ubuntu community, please do ask. Between myself and my web-hoster we do have areas that can be shared for no cost and will not contain advertisements like some other so called "Free" sites, so please do get in touch.

What I can do to help

If you have a domain name such as uy-forums.net Ubuntu Youth Forum and it is educational / not for profit, then I can host it for free. If you do not have a domain name, but qualify for the free hosting you have a choice of <your-name>.phillw.net or <your-name>.quiet-zone.eu I cannot have advertising on the phillw.net area, but you are permitted to have google-ads on your own domains. A personal .net domain name costs approx 15 USD / year from my domain name provider, ask me if you want me to check up any other names and you are welcome to use who ever you want to register with.

Testimonials

If you wish to describe any of my contributions to the Ubuntu Community, please feel free to do so below. Thank You.

General Testimonials

Testimonials for Beginner Team

Testimonials for Ubuntu Membership