Well, I finally broke down and created an account here. I'll give a brief intro, and try to make myself comfortable...

I'm not quite a novice when it comes to computing in general, but then, I'm not quite an expert either. Hardware is my specialty, with networking running a close second.

My first experience with a computer came 20 years ago, with an Apple IIe. I gradually fell behind technologically, until I received my first PC in 1993 (An IBM Consultant -- 486DX-2 66MHz with 8MB SIMMS and Windows 3.1 -- weee!). From 1993 to 1995, I slowly learned the concepts behind software configuration, after which, I broke that very same PC when fiddling with hardware (I bent the ZIF Pins on the processor...Oops).

My next PC was a custom built Pentium 166MMX system, which I started upgrading almost immediately. After another couple years of learning hardware, I started buying parts, building systems out of them, and selling them.

I am now the SysAdmin of NM505.com, a small web portal created for a local community of people I met on MSN. I run a pair of Dell PowerEdge servers (2200 and 6100), along with several custom-built servers, running everything from Windows and *nix, to BeOS.

I have just brought myself to start learning PHP, and I'm sure I'll have lots of questions to ask as I move along. I'm sure there will be plenty for me to answer as well.