Free Software is software that gives its users freedom. The Free in Free Software should be thought of as the Free in Free Speech. The freedoms granted are the freedom to run the program, the freedom to study and change the program, the freedom to redistribute copies of the program, and the freedom to redistribute modified copies of the program. Free Software has come a long way since its humble beginnings in the 1980s. Now you can get a completely free operating system and software to do most tasks that you’d want to do on a computer.

I use Free Software for most things I do on my computers. For example, I created this web page using the vim text editor and the asciidoc document generation system. I use the Ubuntu Linux operating system on my netbook, OpenBSD on my laptop, and the Arch Linux operating system on my desktop. I support the continued development of Free Software through the Free Software Foundation's Associate Membership Program. To become an associate member or to find out more, click here.

Geocaching is a high tech treasure hunt where the person hiding the treasure (or cache) posts coordinates on a website and the people finding the cache use their GPS receivers to find it. A cache container can be anything from a 35mm film canister to a large plastic bucket. The finders log their visit on the cache’s webpage. To prove the finder actually visited the cache, he or she must sign a physical logbook inside the cache container. The main website is Geocaching.com.

I’ve been geocaching since May 2008. Since then I’ve found over 550 geocaches and have hidden some of my own. It is a good form of exercise as it usually requires a walk in the woods or a park. You can visit my geocaching.com profile here. If you’re in the Ottawa/Gatineau area there is a local group of geocachers called Canada’s Capital Cachers.

Amateur Radio, sometimes called Ham Radio, is a hobby where qualified individuals use radios to communicate with each other. These operators can be across town or across the world. Contacts can be made using voice, images, morse code, video, or computers. In the United States, a license is required to transmit in the amateur frequency bands. There are several license levels and each one requires that the licensee pass a test. I was first licensed in November 1999 as a Technician Plus. In December 2008 I upgraded to General. In February 2009 I upgraded to Amateur Extra (the highest class). My callsign in the USA is KB1EPR. In Canada, a certificate is required to transmit on the amateur frequency bands. In February 2010 I passed the Canadian Basic exam with Honours. My callsign in Canada is VA2EPR.