Hi, I’m Benjamin.

You can call me Ben, if you like. I used to run my domain as zancarius.com but have recently changed it to something more identifiable as my own. Thus, if you want to find various projects I’ve been involved with over the years, I’m sure a Google search would turn up some decent results under “Zancarius.” Don’t look up my full name, though, because you’re apt to find more matches pertaining to that of a particular wrestler! ;)

I suspect I’ll be keeping the zancarius.com domain for something useful and entertaining. Stay tuned!

Anyway, when I previously wrote my About Me page, I included a number of details that I have elected not to include anymore. While you could certainly find them using the Internet archive, I find that they aren’t as important to me as they were previously. Thus, I will write briefly about those things that are.

Current Life: University and Beyond

I am a recent graduate from New Mexico State University and hold a BBA in Information Systems. The path was certainly long and arduous, but I feel the education I received from a local university far surpassed what I could have obtained from traveling far away. I’m a New Mexico native at heart, and I think there is a certain degree of importance behind honoring your homeland. Sure, New Mexico has its deficiencies, but it also harbors a great deal of charm. The landscape here is strewn with wide variety, too, from the stark beauty of the desert to alluring green forests of ponderosa and mixed junpier and cedar at lower altitudes.

Admittedly, such traits have granted a direct benefit to me. In late 2005, I started my lengthy commutes to Las Cruces two times a week–sometimes a little more–in effort to finish my degree. It took about three years, and while driving isn’t one of my favorite activities, I am thankful that my trips were along some of the most beautiful (if drab!) stretches of road in the country. It’s amazing what clarity can enter your mind when you’re captive to solitude with nothing more than the sound of the wind, your tires, and perhaps a little music to keep you company. I’m sure the saner sorts might call it lunacy.

Currently, I am interested in employment (hopefully federal) somewhere nearby. I’m not currently fond of leaving New Mexico, although I would very likely enjoy Colorado, Arizona, or some parts of Texas. Given the current economic clime, I would rather not toy with distances much greater than these.

Some History

Why Information Systems? Surely there were other courses of study much more fascinating? Hardly; I chose this course after many years of mixed classes, mind changes, and semesters taken off to work for my parents. Since we closed the business in 2003, I settled on pursuing a degree related to business administration; however, I was considering a degree in marketing in those days until I confessed to myself that my love for technology prohibited me from betraying it with a degree that had no real use for me. I certainly don’t mean to imply that marketing is useless for everyone, of course! I simply found that it wasn’t for me.

I have the creative talent for marketing, no doubt; in fact, one of the projects I was assigned when I took a marketing course in 2005 (maybe 2004) was to come up with an advertising theme for the community college. Imagine the surprise when I discovered that my idea was selected! Expounding upon that, I was also informed that the radio station paid to run the ad found it interesting enough to award me with a t-shirt and a few other goodies. However, the tightly knit work with sales and selling isn’t something I enjoy. I admire those with the tenacity to work in that particular field.

Oddly though, computer science wasn’t a course of study I found all that interesting either. I have never been all that great at math–although I can figure most things out if I commit myself toward a solution–and the idea of mucking about with algorithms for the pursuit of a degree wasn’t appealing. Information systems was much more fascinating, and I’ve found it to be a much greater fit. The exposure to business, operations, and information systems in general has been very rewarding.

During the course of my time at NMSU, I found that “information systems” wasn’t simply about–well–systems. It entailed an incredibly wide variety of things and exposed me to technologies, concepts, and experiences I would never have had the opportunity to enjoy if I continued down the route toward CS. Databases, database management and design, programming, business processes and models, and the analysis and application of such knowledge in developing an understanding of how a system–a business system–works has been invaluable, and I feel that this exposure has made me both a better developer and better person. For these reasons, and many others, I am indebted to my university.

Outside of university, I find my hobbies comprised of open source development and a little less writing than I would like. Hobbies of mine have usually included poetry, short stories, electronic music composition, and relatively simple graphic design. In recent years, I have found myself spending less and less time with electronic music and graphical design. I also have hardly spent the time writing that I feel I should, and there are three or four ideas I have for crafting novels. Perhaps one of these days I’ll make the time to finish one! I have had two poems published, but I would very much like to spend more effort on other works. I expect to have a few works published eventually.

Other Interests

Here are some other interests of mine in no particular order–just whatever happens to strike my fancy:

• MBTI Type Preference: INTJ. In fact, I’m a classic example of one. When I start a project, I’m focused on finishing it (product, not process). I have few friends, but I hold those few close. I’ve been accused of being a perfectionist in some areas, but I apply the criterion “Does it work?” to an almost morbid end. Unlike most INTJs, my workspace is horribly cluttered. I’ve heard that this type tends to keep their workspace neat and tidy; I find it impossible to work like that, as I must have reference material within arm’s reach! Perhaps this is a slight ISTJ leaning? I doubt it…
• Favorite Movie(s): The Hunt for Red October, Saving Private Ryan, A Bridge too Far
• Favorite Television Series: Dogfights (History Channel), Babylon 5. Anything else sucks, which is part of the reason I don’t watch television anymore! (Thank goodness for season purchases on DVD.)
• Favorite Music Genres: Almost anything. I generally listen to a wide mix from power metal to electronica. I dislike rap and I really dislike country.
• Favorite Bands: Ready for a long list? I didn’t think so: Disturbed, Rammstein, Running Wild, Kamelot, Iron Maiden, Nightwish, Epica, Within Temptation, Eisbrecher, trance[]control, Robert Miles, Sonic Mayhem (they did the Q3A soundtrack and others for id Software), Apocalyptica, Aura (trance), Airbase (also trance), Loreena McKennitt, Kitaro (Kitaro’s World of Music featuring Yu-Xiao Guang is awesome), Jag Panzer, nearly anything by Jeremy Soule (Total Annihilation, Supreme Commander, etc.), and numerous other assorted works.
• Favorite Food(s): Anything spicy or Italian. In particular: Mexican food, lasagna, any type of pasta, pizza, and a good, strong curry. There’s a local restaurant here that serves the most awesome stuffed sopapillas.
• Favorite Programming Language(s): Python. I do write a lot of my open source projects in PHP simply because decent PHP frameworks are pretty hard to find, and I enjoy writing frameworks. That said, Python frameworks are almost always of much higher quality–perhaps it’s the developer culture–so I tend to actually get real work done in Python. PHP is fairly fun to write in (though it doesn’t flow as well as Python), but it does have a lot of annoying inconsistencies and quirks that make it feel as though it spent years in ad hoc development. Python does have one annoyance: Its threading isn’t as powerful as Java nor can it run across multiple processors*. The general shortcomings of the GIL (Global Interpreter Lock) appear to be incorrigible for the time being.
• Favorite Operation System(s): *BSD (FreeBSD in particular), Gentoo Linux, and Ubuntu (for the ease of use; Linux Mint looks promising). I generally use Gentoo or Windows on my desktop, depending on my mood and how well a particular game plays under Wine. Recently, though, I’ve had to do a number of projects in Visual Studio, so I have been using Windows almost to exclusion. I may gripe frequently about Microsoft, but Windows XP is probably their best OS ever released (XP x64 in particular). Don’t get me started on Vista. Windows 7 looks to be what Vista should have been, though. I rather like it.
• I’m a southern baptist. I was raised such and it’s the direction I feel God has compelled me to take. This particular part is not debatable. Comments with intent to insight a religious debate or flame war will be treated with prejudice. If you want to freely debate about touchy subjects, that’s what the DESTRealm.Org forums are for.
• Wireless devices annoy me. Just give me a fairly cheap, wired keyboard/mouse, and I’m happy.
• iTunes also annoys me. I really dislike the interface. It’s bloated, it encourages DRM-laden song/album distribution, and generally gets in the way. I know how I want my music organized. I prefer Winamp (older versions; ~5.32 or earlier, anything passed 5.5x is too iTunes-y) (5.5x isn’t so bad now that I’ve tried it with the iPod; it’s much easier to use than iTunes and it’s a lot like Amarok!) under Windows and Amarok under *nix. Amarok has a really nice implementation, it’s friendly, it doesn’t get in the way, and it’s roughly what iTunes should have been. I’ve heard Amarok 2.x sucks; the UI screenshots I’ve seen are disappointing. I’ll give it a try soon!
• Amazon’s MP3 music service is the best thing since sliced bread. Really, it is. I’ve had exactly two problems over the course of the last six months with it, and each time their customer service are prompt and extremely helpful. I’d never buy MP3s from anyone else unless they can compete with such excellent service!
• Okay, I admit. Amazon.com is just plain awesome. They have everything, including the kitchen sink. No, I’m not kidding. As of this writing, they carry the Kindred DS604 22-by-33-Inch Double Bowl Drop-In Stainless Steel Kitchen Sink.
• Do you even play video games? Yeah. My all-time favorites (PC) are: Tribes, Tribes 2, Quake 1, 2, and 3, Doom (of course), Doom II, Doom 3, and Total Annihilation. Console all-time favorites: Mario Bros (any version, including Kart), Mega Man (2, 3, and 4 were my favorites for the NES, X for the SNES), and that’s pretty much it. I did play World of Warcraft since it was released in November 2004 but quit somewhere around May-June 2008. I picked it up again in late October 2008 but wasn’t able to devote much time to it until December. I have one level 80 on Terenas (Alliance), Thalaria (a warrior), and multiple others at various levels. My shaman will be my next 80, though I really enjoy my warrior. I offer my greatest thanks to the Black Raven Dragoons, lead by my real life friend Grimblast.

Political Identity

It’s intended as comedy, but according to www.FightLiberals.com, my conservative identity is:

You are a Flag-Waving Everyman, also known as a patriot. You believe in freedom, apple pie, rooting for America at all times, and that God gave us a two-day weekend so we could enjoy football and NASCAR.

I am a patriotic flag waver, though I dislike football and NASCAR.

Closing Thoughts

I know this about page isn’t as comprehensive as it could be. I have tried to include most things that are applicable here and now and am likely to include more information at a later date. This page will be updated sporadically as my own personal preferences and situations change. If you have any comments, I have left the comment system enabled for this page. Of course, I do reserve the right to remove or encourage any comment or comments at will.