A piece of my family's history

Back in the 14th century, one of my ancestors saved a king from certain death by rescuing him from the clutches of a group of 'Saracen warriors', as the grant of arms says. The king must have been very grateful, as the family name and the crest could be inherited by the female branch in the absence of a male heir.

Listening to my grandmother's sister tell stories about the family history was fun and amazing. But finding the actual genealogical papers in my grandfather's study decades later: that was incredible.

Learning Python

The first programming language I learned was Python. I learnt it myself from Gérard Swinnen's book to write automated tests for a pirate-themed board game I had invented (graphics made with Inkscape and GIMP).

Although the development was stuck at ~87% completion and never finished, Python and automated testing became my speciality and paved my career.

Learning Linux

I learned the basics of Linux just to satisfy my curiosity at the age of 11 on a weekly workshop. Who would have thought that I would be working with Linux servers, and one day having Linux on my PC would feel more natural than using Windows.

My 11-year-old self would have been amazed at the vision of smartphones, Raspberries, k8s clouds and SteamDeck consoles.

Though I worry a lot about technology being misused, it's refreshing to remember how inspiring technology is.

My first PC

The first computer I used regularly was an i286 running DOS. It had a black and white display and a large 5.25" floppy drive. On one of my floppies, I had 12-20 games like Alley Cat, Battle Chess, DigDug and Pac-Man clones. My favourite was Space Commanders II. I was 4 or 5.

MSN Messenger

I miss MSN Messenger. It wasn't so bad being online only occasionally. And Solitaire Showdown was great too. I liked the simplicity and the graphics too. Seems I wasn't the only one who loved it. I've just come across a remake project: T1mmos/cards2.0.