User:CoolFox

'Lo folks. My screen name is CoolFox, or just Fox for short. I'm an active Wikipedian, and generally specialize in technology articles. For a good example of my work, you can look at the AlphaSmart page.

Background
In "real" life, I'm a 22 year old male student living in San José, California, majoring in Electrical Technology. I happen to be "afflicted" with Aspergers syndrome. I'm hot tempered as a result, and I am known for my curt one liners when I'm ticked off, earning the nickname "Fox" for my dry wit. As thus, my screen name is a portmanteau of my surname and nickname.

I'm an avid yo-yoist (having friggen mad skills with a yo-yo), and use a YoyoJam Spinfakor HG as my "sidearm"; a fairly competent french horn player; a complete computer nerd; and gadget geek that is rarely found without a handheld, iPod, Nintendo DS Lite, and a mobile phone. I love tinkering with gadgets, computers, machines, or anything else for that matter.

Computing wise, I mainly use Macs, but I'm not one of those "Mac assholes" who are so completely anal and self absorbed that they have never even TRIED to use anything else. It is true, however, that I hate Windows with a certain spark. It sucks for anything but games, but it does that pretty well though. I love tinkering around with PCs, especially overclocking and case modding. I'm also totally into old school equipment.

I'm a trained karateka, having acquired the rank of 6th kyu in the martial art of karate

Lately I've become involved in Airsoft, I wield a KWA Glock 19, and Classic Army Heckler & Koch MP5.

Lastly, I'm quite a UNIX junkie, but I'm trying to get more into Linux, cuz it's free. I personally use Kubuntu, as I am a KDE user. Actually, screw the new version of KDE, I find that I'm using GNOME more and more.

I personally LOVE Wikipedia, not only for looking stuff up, but just the nature of it all. Information is a very dynamic medium that is meant to be shared without boundary, and Wikipedia is a shining example of how well this can be done. (on a side note, Wikipedia isn't perfect, we all know they have blatant censorship issues).

It is a necessity for everyone to have access to knowledge; to be informed for making better decisions about our world.

Favorite Websites

 * AnandTech Hardcore tech tinkering and review for the avid power user.
 * Ars Technica One of the best Tech news and review sites on the net.
 * bit-tech.net UK's top independent hardware reviewer, and home of the best PC modding you'll ever see.
 * Engadget The Gadget Weblog. One of my favorite places to get gadget news
 * Gizmodo The direct competitor of Engadget, so they cover a lot of the same stuff, but I read it anyway.
 * LifeHacker Technology and how it affects our lives, and how to use it properly.
 * Joystiq The Video Game Weblog.
 * The Unofficial Apple Weblog The website name sums it up nicely.
 * Slashdot THE nerd news site.
 * iLounge The premier iPod-everything-related website
 * AppleFritter A great Mac modding site, I have contributed my own "project" of sorts too:
 * Homestar Runner My favorite place to get a laugh. Be forewarned, it's very silly.
 * Red Vs. Blue The other place I go to get a hoot. A rather silly Halo machinima web video series. I'm a sponsor too!
 * Infinite Illusions The place where I get all my yo-yoing crap. Lovely people to deal with.
 * YoYo Nation The other place I get my crazy crap.
 * Airsoft Extreme Local airsoft retailer that I patron. Walking into their store is just staggering; their walls are covered in quality replicas.

Favorite Webcomics

 * Alpha Shade Frankly, I never could understand what is really going on here, but it's absolutely epic.
 * Applegeeks A bit of Mac evangelism with a boot to the head, but most of the comic has little to do with Apple.
 * Gone With the Blastwave Think Red Vs. Blue infused with the atmosphere of a nuclear holocaust. Rarely updated, but probably my favorite comic.
 * Mac Hall Ah, dorm life... no longer updated, but its worth reading the archives.
 * Three Panel Soul From the producers of Mac Hall, a new comic absolutely OOZING with style and humor.
 * Megatokyo Two Americans get stuck on a permanent trip in Tokyo. Hilarity ensues.
 * PAWN Warning: This comic has lots of nudity, but it's so hilarious and tasteful, you're not likely to even notice it (naw, you'll notice it, but it truly is tasteful). A scholar and a demon trudge through an underground maze. Hijinx are ubiquitous.
 * Penny Arcade The normal world, viewed through the eyes of madness; oh, and gaming too!
 * Slightly Damned A silly comic about the afterlife, with a bit of angst thrown in for good measure.
 * VG Cats A comic that usually features our favorite video games... and kicks them when they are down. Nothing but parodies.
 * What The Duck The sordid life of a freelance photographer. With a duck. (wait, what?)
 * The Joy of Tech Kinda hard to explain. A good humorous look at the hi-tech industry, and how honestly f-ed up it is.
 * SquidiA Modest Destiny is a pixel art based strip that sums up its storyline in the title, but the writing is anything but modest. No longer being updated, but it is so worth reading the archives.
 * Dresden Codak This comic draws from of all those higher-ed courses we took in college, and turns it into something useful: humor. This guy's art style is absolutely epic.
 * Questionable Content Character based comic that has amusing dialog. Also very obscure music references, but they were always lost to me.
 * XKCD The acronym stands for nothing. Not very artful, but damn, this this comic's writer has the wit of something else. Press the Random button for Full effect!
 * Wasted Talent Cute comic by a tortured UBC engineering student.

And now for the obligatory cheesy quote, eh? (quite literally, infact): Life is like a wheel of cheese, it goes round; sometimes it stinks, sometimes it get nibbled upon by sadistic rodents; but in general, doesn't it taste good?

Ahem. Now for a quote of mine that actually means something: Passion in the hands of an unreasonable man is a dangerous thing; its what leads to progress and change; indeed, its the only thing that ever has.