Brief introduction with people hosting the group

Hi all,

with this post I'd like to introduce to you people who are hosting the group. So, here we are:

Jim:

I am an American who is greatly enjoying living in Lviv with my Ukrainian wife. I treat my current life as a self-financed sabbatical from work in technical training for a computer manufacturer then a storage manufacturer. Most all my work has been in large enterprise environments.

Interests outside computer science are traveling and history.

Look forward to seeing everyone at the meetings.

Ivan:

Well, my history of IT-obsession goes far back into early 90s: the first computer I played on was actually a microcomputer VAX (CM-1420), I wrote my first program in C on another VAX which run under OS VMS. Since then my life is inseparable from computers. Currently, my field of expertise is system administration, especially of Linux systems. My fixation about open source triggered interest in English and now these two items rank very high in my pantheon of interests.

Zhenya:

I was born on a Wednesday and there are 12 days till my next birthday on which my cake will have 26 candles. I am idealistic and must feel useful to be happy. The main contribution I make is that of advice, service, and ever present support. Once my grand mother used the word "meeting" instead of Ukrainian "нарада" describing why I should leave earlier. That time I understood English is not simple foreign language. And at last, but not the least I believe, life's just a big chewy bone and happy to meet the same people.

Viktor:

So, I'm Viktor and my primary 3 passions are high tech, travelling and English. There might be a few other 'primary passions' but in this world 'nothing lasts forever' :). I'm always open to discussions regarding those three at least. One can find more about my IT background on LinkedIn, the rest, I think, could be discussed during the meetings. Se ya all there!

Wad:

I'm Vadim Mashkov. I was born long time ago and far away from here. I call myself 'IT philosopher' as I am trying to understand why we need computers, mobile phones and other high-tech gadgets. I love free software, reading (especially science fiction) and history (investigate historical events). Some time ago I fell in love with Lviv girl so I moved here about five years ago.

Ira:

I rock-climb, dance and develop software for fun & profit. When not working, I travel to remote countries, preferably poor but with spectacular nature. During travels I load myself with heavy reading, anything from software development to Seneca the Younger. Reading list suggestions are always welcomed