About

More information about me, Andrew Thompson, where I'm coming from, and where I'm heading.

Childhood

Lucky to be born into a large family (3 older brothers, 1 older sister), in Wollongong, Australia in 1964.

Our parents separated when I was young, and we stayed with our father (the greatest man ever to live) as he worked as a mechanical engineer at various coal mines around country New South Wales and lower Queensland.

The Hunter Valley, NSW, Australia.

My father soon remarried. My step-mother is a strong and independent woman who created some waves in the lives of my brothers and sisters. We were attempting to maintain the 'status quo' we had established, while she was attempting to make her own mark on the family. She usually won, and I respect her strength for doing what she did, it cannot have been easy for her.

Mt Tibrogarran, Qld, Australia.

Soon after they were married, we were graced with the arrival of one, then two, younger sisters.

As a consequence of my father's restlessness, we lived in no one place for more than four years, and while that caused upheaval in our lives, it also allowed us to see that different people live, talk, dress and think differently.

Further, it convinced me that any place is whatever you individually make of it. Any place can be good, or bad, depending on you.

I enjoyed the hustle and bustle of being a part of a large family. Living in a large family helped me to realise the need for compromise and negotiation. It also helped to expand my horizons, as anything of interest to any family member was discussed, usually at the dinner table.

Our father would shoot questions at us, or solicit opinions on the current events he was reading in the day's paper. If you did not have an opinion on a particular topic - you had better formulate one instantly, and be prepared to argue it!

Possibly as a result of those discussions, myself and my siblings developed a finely honed sense of 'critical analysis', or as I prefer to think of it 'cutting through the crap'. I also developed wide ranging interests in science and technology, as well as society and social rights, during those discussions in my youth.

My teachers at school were both delighted and sometimes a little cautious of me. My insights were usually significantly beyond those of my classmates, but sometimes also beyond the teacher themselves!

My step-mother came from a dairy-farming background, and from a young age we lived on farms (where we raised cattle, horses, pigs and poultry and grew grain crops). As such we were encouraged to operate and drive large farm implements, trucks and motorcycles (my father was a motorcycle fanatic, and most of my siblings have ridden motorcycles at one time or another).

We got to assist our father in his efforts to ensure the motley collection of machinery we possessed stayed in working order, and got to work with heavy, dangerous, high-powered tools during the course of those repairs.

At a recent family gathering of siblings (Dad passed away in 1999) we were musing over the 'Good old days' of our youth. While we had enjoyed the variety and challenge that had faced us in our youth, we all felt rather amazed that each and every one of the seven of us had survived to adulthood!

Adulthood

My restlessness and quest for knowledge has led me down many different and twisting paths, with a variety of quaint little grottoes and side-tracks. The usual 'wife, 2.4 kids and a house in the suburbs' is not for me.

Andrew's current base is in Sydney, Australia.

I currently reside in Sydney, Australia,

I have held a variety of jobs, ranging from petrol station attendant and taxi despatcher, through clerical positions and a wealth of work in IT. In the late 1990's I also got the opportunity to become a publisher, through my internet sites.

Computer programming languages have always held a particular fascination for me, as they allow me to simulate and model the fundamental forces of nature in which I am so interested. My experience in IT languages ranges from the very business/accounting style COBOL language, up to the latest in cutting edge Java.

Late last millenium I felt the need to expand my skills base by studying Java/OOD at a local college, though I had already been writing programs in it for some months prior to the commencement of the course.

I enjoy communicating the knowledge I have gained over the years, through my internet sites, software applications, and my participation in public forums devoted to the discussion of Java, Javascript, and web-design as well as the more scientifically oriented space, nanotechnology and physics groups.

Science & Technology

My interest in space technology and colonisation led me to establish the 1.1C! internet site which, assisted by the PhySci software suite, touches on many of my areas of interest in science and technology.

In this site, I present 3D models of the planetary orbits, the near stars and toroidal space stations.

On the same site I present the Periodic Table of the Chemical Elements, an HTML version of the PToE application/applet of the PhySci software suite.

This site also contains other information on the moon, planets, stars, astronomical terms and formulae, space colonisation and evolution.

My main sites, are now the PhySci software suite and the PhySci.codes web & IT help site.

PhySci is devoted to the software suite itself, and comprises a file finder, text editor, image slideshow and browser, the PToE and the 'pocket guide to the planets'.

PhySci.codes builds upon the power of the PhySci software suite to provide a slew of advice and examples for those beginning Java, through the complete source code of the Java core API, my on-line compiler, FAQ's, debugging tips and much more.

Society & Social Rights

My keen interest in social rights and the rights of the citizens of human kind, prompted me to create the Screensaver version of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

In November 2004, I was delighted at the opportunity to speak at the Sydney Social Forum session, "Work for Dole is Legal Slavery". This session was conducted in conjunction with Bill Keats of StandUp! Australia.

Hobbies

• Photography - an interest in first still photography (mostly nature and scenery oriented) developed into making time-lapse animations from which I managed to cut my own DVD! Some of the animations have since been utilised behind the closing credits of the 'Anthology of Interest' series by Barnard's Star Productions.
• Travelling to spectacular natural places - not something I'd indulged in much until I took up photography - it gave me a great excuse to drag myself away from the computer and get out into nature!
• Communicating on public forums - sharing (and gaining) knowledge, discussing the latest trends and cutting edge technologies.
  
• Genealogy Research has become a favorite pursuit, and I publish the results in the Thompson Family Tree.
• Listening to music. Music is ultra portable in the third millenium, and now with the new MP3 players, I am rarely without my beats.
• Reading magazines (New Scientist, National Geographic) and books (mostly Sci-Fi, with a smattering of Earth's Children and adventure stories) and watching DVD's (nature based documentaries, MythBusters, Buffy the Vampire Slayer..(!)).

Likes

• Music. Pop, Rock, Disco, Classical, Be-Bop, Big Band, Swing, Jazz, Blues, Trance, Dance, Metal, Doof.. About the only types of music I do not especially like are Polka and that strange eastern music where 'the spaces between the notes, are as important as the notes' (shrugs - I need a beat).
• Laughter. The world needs more of it. My tastes in humor range from Far Side and Hagar the Horrible jokes, to movies such as 1941, Flying High and Caddy Shack. Television comedy series I enjoy (on the rare occasions I watch television) include The Simpsons, Futurama and South Park, with an honorable mention for The Mr. Hell Show
• Science Fiction, or Sci-Fi, in just about all it's forms, from Babylon 5 or BattleStar Galactica, Star Wars or Starship Troopers, or the books of Douglas Adams, Isaac Asimov, Harry Harrison or A. E. Van Vogt.
• My taste in movies ranges from thrillers and action movies, to comedies, satire and 'arthouse' pics.
  
• Photography. I have gone camera crazy in the last couple of years with the introduction of affordable digital cameras, starting with the humble Kodak DX3215, I have now progressed through the more powerful and configurable Kodak DX6490 (4MPix), to a Kodak DX6590 (5MPix) model.
• Animals and children. I have always had an affinity with animals and children. I treat animals as living sentient beings, with compassion and understanding, they treat me as a gentle being who knows where they itch. I get to act silly around children while avoiding the appearance of being half insane, afterwards, their parents take them home.
• People with curiosity. Most of the best things on this planet were discovered or invented by curious people.
• Optimists. I would prefer to live amongst incurable optimists than those that are normally gloomy and negative.

Dislikes

• War and violence. Fighting over lines on maps, or who has the best imaginary friend, is something that humankind has done far too much of throughout history. With the prevalence of weapons of mass destruction and our ability to hurtle them around the planet, we are only ever moments from complete extinction. It is time humans grew out of this primitive mode of thinking.
• Nationalism, racism. These lead directly to a (false) feeling of superiority that encourages wars and violence.
• Despotism. The irrational belief on the part of a (usually sef-appointed) leader that feels their own needs are more important than those of the group they lead.
• Vandals. It is so easy to destroy beautiful and useful things that may take many days, weeks or years to create.
• Cheaters and thieves. I would give food to the hungry, but steal from me and I'll cut off your hand.
• Ignorance. I treat those of limited intelligence gently, but am savage towards people who have the ability to learn and inquire, yet squander it watching TV re-runs and drinking beer.
• Cruelty. We have many sports that allow young testosterone filled men* to vent their aggression, they should take it out on other young men with the same ambitions.
  * Everybody else should either know better or seek therapy.
• Bullies. People that wish to get their own way by being the loudest and most menacing are one of my favorite targets of derision and ridicule.