About Computer Voodoo

What kind of experience do you have?

I've been playing with computers for a long time. I was exposed to computers since kindergarten with an Apple computer running the LOGO drawing/programming language. Ironically I was afraid to use the computer. My family bought our first computer (Apple IIc) in the 1980s. I moved on to IBM clones in the 1990s through one of my friends. He also owned an Apple IIc and that's what brought us together. I took programming classes in high school, BASIC for one year and Pascal for the next. I attended Wentworth Institute of Technology in 1995 where I learned more programming languages: C, C++, COBOL, Assembly, LiSP, Java, Visual BASIC, and some others. Everything I do today is primarily self-taught including networking (wired and wireless), web page programming, Windows operating system (3.1, 95, 98, 2000, XP), Linux operating system (Debian is my distribution of choice). Some of the things I do today include setting up Wi-Fi hotspots, maintaining servers and web sites for small businesses.

Why/how can you charge so little?

The reason I charge so little is due to my personal beliefs/values/morals. If you want your car fixed you should not have to pay nearly the price you purchased it for. The price of the PC is near a point where it becomes part of our "throw away" society. If it doesn't work you can just buy a new one and toss the old in the garbage. People think the same with their PC, but this is where they are wrong. The only time you'd need to toss that PC is if the hardware goes bad. What typically goes wrong is Microsoft Windows. I won't go into how I detest Microsoft.

Here's a personal story I had involving a computer repair store. A long time ago I had purchased a game and it didn't install properly. I brought it to a small shop nearby. $50.00 was the base starting price. It turns out that all the guy did was go online and find the answer. He added 5 characters to the game's boot command and voila! That's $10.00 per key press. The game itself probably didn't cost that much. This is something I'll never forget.

People tell me I should charge more, but what then will separate me from these others that charge so much? I'm not a businessman, I'm just a nice guy to do business with. If you think I charge too much please compare my pricing with that of other similar businesses.

Where did the business name come from?

So many computer tech businesses use the terms "geek", "expert", or some other common descriptor. How do you plan to separate yourself from the pack? Be slightly more original or different than the others. To many it would seem that it takes some kind of "black magic" to fix a computer. The final stroke of inspiration for a name came from episode 43 of the animated comedy "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" called "Video Oiuja" featuring Billy the Witch Doctor.

Why is this Web site so boring?

This started out and will remain as a platform for experimenting with Web page coding. It is about writing all code from hand, minimalism, and cleanliness. This Web site is a library/laboratory and not an amusement park.

The mindset

If you're wondering why I carry out tasks in a different fashion, you can check The Hacker FAQ. This sums up the way I think.