Tom's World
[ The strange and twisted world of Tom Mairs ]

What this web is all about:

My name is Tom Mairs, and this page is basically here as an outlet for anything that does not seem to go on my business pages. You can read my resume here if you like (updated Dec '08). I currently live in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

What I Do
I am one of those people who can't possibly have too many projects running at the same time. Every time I think I am going to relax and be "normal", another interesting project pops up and I just can't resist. A good friend of mine, who has very similar interests, describes people like us as "The New Renaissance Men" and I have to agree. Like the men of that era, we can't seem to focus on one particular interest when the entire world is so interesting. At any one time I am either working on writing story, or finishing a sketch, learning a new language, or re-designing a cool gadget I just bought. Nothing is safe from my screwdriver as the inside is always more interesting than the outside, and there may be an opportunity to improve on it. I just enjoy learning new things, regardless of the field, and try to apply that knowledge to the thousands of idea fragments that are constantly floating around in my brain.

I have been involved in the computer industry 'since the Altair 8800 was the hottest box on the block (remember building your own keyboard interface ?). That should take you back to about 1974. I have worked with most commercial computer systems including VAX, PDP, Apple, IBM (servers and PC's), Rockwell, Honeywell, and Tandy. I also have design experience with components from Motorola, Intel, AMD, Cyrix, Texas Instruments, National Semiconductor, Zilog, National Instruments, Digital, Siemens, Rockwell, and Panasonic (to name a few). My programming experience includes the PHP, Perl, XML, Java, all the BASIC(s), Pascal, C, C++, Prolog, Cobol, Forth, and Assembly code for Intel, Motorola, and Zilog Processors. I have been building robots for almost as long, and take every opportunity to teach what I know to others, particularly kids. See my robotics page for more details on that.

Any how - That's me. fell free to send me an email if you like what you see here.