Gerald Thurman

Current

Instructor at Scottsdale Community College

Past

Computer Programmer at Discount Tire Company
Member of Technical Staff at Bell Labs

Education

Purdue University
University of Wisconsin-Whitewater

Connections

24 connections

Industry

Higher Education

Websites

My Website

Gerald Thurman’s Summary

I've been a computer professional since 1979.

I am a FLOSSer (i.e. user of Free/Libre and Open Source Software).

I run Linux at home (Ubuntu) and at my office (SUSE). Note: I ran OpenBSD at my office before switching to SUSE.

If I need to write a program, I usually write it in BASH or C.

I have taught programming classes using the following languages: C, C++, BASH, Java, Perl, JavaScript, PHP and a little bit of Python.

I have taught kids how to write XHTML.

I currently have the following blogs: Internet Observer, Security Watchdog, Computing Bits, Stocks Stuffer, Biotech Trekker, Nanotech SmallBlog, FLOSSER, Grid Utilitarian (supercomputing), Math Babbler, and the Robot YottaFiler.

I have the AzFoo blog at AzCentral.com (I post almost every day) and my Twitter user name is @nanofoo (I usually tweet 3-4 times a day).

Since Feb-2005, I have spent a lot of my time creating BABs (Basic Arithmetic/Algebra Bits) and BARS (Basic Arithmetic Road Signs).

Since Dec-2000, I have been working to achieve financial independence via the stock markets, but the current economic "crises" hasn't provided any help.

I am in the process of developing the RoadHacker character and I am currently an "advisor" for RoadTripAmerica.com.

Gerald Thurman’s Specialties:

I am not a guru in anything.

Gerald Thurman’s Experience

Instructor

Scottsdale Community College

(Educational Institution; 1001-5000 employees; Higher Education industry)

August 1997 — Present (12 years)

I was hired at Scottsdale Community College to help get a Computer Science program up and running. All was well until the dot-com correction took place. CS enrollments went to zero and I switched to teaching lower-level math.
Computer Programmer

Discount Tire Company

(Higher Education industry)

1989 — 1996 (7 years)

I worked on the Unix-based store system. The software was written in C and Bourne shell (along with a couple of Perl programs).
Member of Technical Staff

Bell Labs

(Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; T; Telecommunications industry)

1980 — 1985 (5 years)

Joined AT&T Bell Labs in Columbus, Ohio, during the summer of 1979. Did OYOC (One Year On Campus) at Purdue University from 1979-1980. Left the company during the summer of 1985 and moved to Phoenix, Arizona.

Gerald Thurman’s Education

Purdue University

MS , Computer Science , 1979 — 1980
University of Wisconsin-Whitewater

BS , Math and Computer , 1975 — 1979

Additional Information

Gerald Thurman’s Websites:

My Website

Gerald Thurman’s Interests:

stock market, road tripping, blogging about 21st century technologies such as high-performance computing, informatics, biotech, nanotech and robotics

Gerald Thurman’s Groups:

Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR), Free Software Foundation (FSF), and the Long Now Foundation