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Community Spotlight: Sheepdog

EmilieT
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Happy Friday everyone! 

 

To end this week, we have a little treat for you: the first community spotlight of 2019, which will be focusing on ... Drum

                                                                                                                                                             Screenshot 2019-02-22 at 10.10.48.png

 

He's been a member for a very long time now, but is one of the few regulars who hadn't gone under the spotlight yet; better late than never! He answered a few of our questions to help you guys get to know him better but you can ask him some more in the comments if you're curious about anything further. wink

 

What’s your name and where are you from?

Sheepdog. Otherwise known as “oi you” , “move it mate" and more the commonly known “Paul”. Currently living on Anglesey though not originally from there or anywhere in particular having moved around a lot over the years.

 

What's the story behind your username?

A strange obsession with herding sheepdogs at the time. It's now cats but sadly, herding cats is a rather obscure past-time. I own neither before you ask.

 

What brought you to the forum?

Can’t remember why but I do recall the forum opening up in 2008 and I joined somewhere around June I think, Might have been before that. Ah you may be wondering why my current registered time is showing October 2010? Well thats the result of the infamous Mod14 being over-zealous with moderating everything and everybody. Short story, Mod14 deleted my original account over a link for Crackberry and lives on in spirit as the long running in-joke of the forum.

 

What do you like most about the Community?

It's one of the few forums that is lightly moderated - even with negativity - and users aren’t made to feel unwelcome unless it's their intention. It's not boring either with the subject matter and the Community Managers get involved which is a bonus.

 

What would you do if you ever won the lottery?

I have won the lottery. On my birthday of all things, 20 years ago. Granted it was a mere 4 balls and resulted in £65 at the time but a win is a win. Played it once or twice after that but generally it's a rip-off so don't bother with it.

 

Do you have any resolutions for this New Year?

I made a list on January 1st to play the keyboard and progress on the guitar. So far, not exactly keeping up with that and it's been a bit slow in progress. There’s another list of computer related things I want to learn which has completely changed since January! That and actually clear my Netflix list completely.

 

What would your ideal cake be like?

Not that keen on cake to be honest. Ice cream is more my thing though I have done a rather good Ice-box cake.

 

Apple, Android or Windows? Apple. Moved to an iPhone 5S a couple of years ago after getting really fed up of yet another app daily update breaking the user interface on Android. I still use my two Android phones, one for a VOIP phone as a landline replacement and the other a Chromecast controller/backup phone. Does Windows Mobile 6 edition count? I really loved my XDA Zest from years ago and still works. 

 

If you had to watch a TV Show or a movie in a loop forever, which one would you pick?

Every time I go into the main room, it seems stuck on ITV3 and Midsomer Murders. Back to the question, it would probably be Star Trek (all of them) as the stories are more or less self-contained without being too heavy. STD (Discovery) would be the reminder that I’m stuck in a never-ending loop.

 

Which future development in tech are you looking forward to?

I’m more retro these days so whatever new tech arrives, it can wait. I am interested in seeing the phasing in of electric vehicles and how they can match the current combustion engine performance and range.

 

Any hobbies besides the Community?

There’s a cupboard full of small board computers and components just waiting for my time to assemble into something pointless. I have a thing for retro-computing books and there’s three shelves worth of the era I’ve yet to sit down and read. Reminds me, I do have a project to build a retro gaming system from the cupboard of components at some point. That’s not including the various bits and pieces for music I have around (thats both instruments and PA), music tech, photography, computer bits, wirebinding/crafting hobbies that are ahem, stored for later.

 

That was really fun, thanks again @sheepdog for your answers!

 

Feel free to say hi or ask any follow-up questions in the comments, and have a lovely weekend everyone. sun

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Cleoriff
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Hi @sheepdog

Great spotlight even though I feel I have 'known' you for years wink

 

Two questions if I may?

 

1) What job are you in? Is it technical? I seem to remember once you saying you had the option of working from home?

 

2) You always post on SCD and DOI (which is great) So do you or any of your family members have dance experience?

 

(Cleo in nosey mode) Smiley Very Happy

Veritas Numquam Perit

Girl in a jacket
Message 2 of 22
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gmarkj
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Loved the summary of the MOD14 "incident" - had to look that up to understand it but still amusing!
Did you ever consider the modular phone phase that was floating around a few years ago?

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Message 3 of 22
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sheepdog
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@Cleoriff wrote:

Hi @sheepdog

Great spotlight even though I feel I have 'known' you for years wink

 

Two questions if I may?

 

1) What job are you in? Is it technical? I seem to remember once you saying you had the option of working from home?

 

2) You always post on SCD and DOI (which is great) So do you or any of your family members have dance experience?

 

(Cleo in nosey mode) Smiley Very Happy


@Cleoriff

 

1)  its computers but not the pointy click throw something at the screen type of work. More linux command line stuff (not programming directly) and system adminstration in keeping servers/services running. Stuff that breaks because of missing semi-colon or full stop. Lots of investigation to why things have broken then trying to resolve them very quickly and then having to explain the root cause.

 

2) Dad dancing and drink induced variety only. Fortunately neither is practiced these days. 

 

Message 4 of 22
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Cleoriff
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That's fascinating @sheepdog....so  type of troubleshooter?

Are you freelance or work for a specific company?

Veritas Numquam Perit

Girl in a jacket
Message 5 of 22
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sheepdog
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@Cleoriff wrote:

That's fascinating @sheepdog....so  type of troubleshooter?

Are you freelance or work for a specific company?


A large global company. Though at times I wonder if it is rofl

 

Not really a troubleshooter but its part and parcel of my role that I should know how to break and fix things. 

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Anonymous
Not applicable

Hello @sheepdog

 

Great Spotlight Paul Fantastic

 

One question I've always wanted to know, it's fascinates me that you have Evil Edna, from Will O The Wisp, as your small avatar ... = ... why did you choose her?

 

You come across as highly intelligent with a cracking sense of humour as shown on the SCD & DOI threads ... you can analyse each programme & predict the odds for the following weeks results ... How do you do this? ... I suppose this ties in with @Cleoriff's question on what you do for a living ie something technical which requires a big brain

 

Star Trek ... I'm a Trekkie, fave is TNG & the original tv shows ... don't have means to watch Discovery ... Which character from any Star Trek would you like to be & why? (I said Commander Data in my long ago Spotlight)

 

Who is your fave dancer off SCD / DOI? mine would Brendan Cole ... & ... Ray Quinn

 

What is your taste in music? soft rock for me 

 

What change(s) would you like to see on this forum?

 

Thank you Paul for putting up with my inquisitive questions ... & ... me chucking in some useless info about myself ... wink ... it comes from not asking a question from anyone I'd not be prepared to answer myself ... & ... being able to be Gobby At Times on the Forum

 

Image result for images for a bunch of flowers

 

From Me To You, Thank You

WispaRed7 (Jane) Cat

Message 7 of 22
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Marjo
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Lovely spotlight @sheepdog, nice to learn more about you! slight_smile 

 

I have an additional question too. You mentioned liking cats but don't currently own one. What kind of cat would you get if you could? Cat Very Happy Also, what's on your Netflix list?

 

Also @Anonymous speaking of Netflix, I've seen some episodes of Star Trek Discovery on Netflix, if you have that, the series should still be available on there? slight_smile It's quite different from the earlier series but I do enjoy it. 

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Glory1
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Great spotlight @sheepdog, really nice to get to know a bit more about you and what interests you.

 

I'm not surprised at the job you do as you're pretty good at analysing what's going to happen on SCD and DOI each week.

 

I also like Star Trek and could easily watch all the series again. My favouite was Deep Space Nine and least favourite Voyager, though I did like the female captain.

 

Can I ask do you get the chance to read at all and what sort of books keep you interested? Or are you only into technical magazines and books?

 

Thank you for letting us get to know you that bit better and hopefully you'll be around the forum another 10+ years if not longer.

Lover of all things Samsung. Currently using Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus 128gb


Message 9 of 22
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sheepdog
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@Anonymous wrote:

Hello @sheepdog

 

Great Spotlight Paul Fantastic

 

One question I've always wanted to know, it's fascinates me that you have Evil Edna, from Will O The Wisp, as your small avatar ... = ... why did you choose her?

 

You come across as highly intelligent with a cracking sense of humour as shown on the SCD & DOI threads ... you can analyse each programme & predict the odds for the following weeks results ... How do you do this? ... I suppose this ties in with @Cleoriff's question on what you do for a living ie something technical which requires a big brain

 

Star Trek ... I'm a Trekkie, fave is TNG & the original tv shows ... don't have means to watch Discovery ... Which character from any Star Trek would you like to be & why? (I said Commander Data in my long ago Spotlight)

 

Who is your fave dancer off SCD / DOI? mine would Brendan Cole ... & ... Ray Quinn

 

What is your taste in music? soft rock for me 

 

What change(s) would you like to see on this forum?

 

Thank you Paul for putting up with my inquisitive questions ... & ... me chucking in some useless info about myself ... wink ... it comes from not asking a question from anyone I'd not be prepared to answer myself ... & ... being able to be Gobby At Times on the Forum

 

Image result for images for a bunch of flowers

 

From Me To You, Thank You

WispaRed7 (Jane) Cat


@Anonymous

1. Evil Edna: completely forgot about that but sometimes reflects my darker side cool

 

2. Predicting results: I would say its a combination of astute observance and statistical probability but basically, its just me guessing the mood of the performance. Sometimes I do actually work out the SCD possibilities by stats and outcomes. I have more fun trying working out the possible relegation teams for the Premier League about this time of the season!

 

3. Star Trek character: Probably Worf as he's got the right attitude 90% of the time to just go in and sort it by a single means alone. It may not work but its the thought that counts rofl Don't worry about STD, bar one (Saru), its managed to achieve the near the thought-impossible act of surpassing the Wesley Crusher by ensuring every crew member is hated. 

 

4. Favourite SCD/DOI  dancer: hmmm, I quite liked Christina from a few years back as she was quite a good teacher even with John Sargent. Though each has different qualities to say I don't really have a favourite.  DOI: I'd say Keiran Bracken for completely changing our expectations from the show. 

 

5. Music: well it varies considerably. Lets just say from Elvis to Taylor Swift with lots of 80's/90's stuff thrown in from dance/pop/RnB/trance. Some modern stuff in there but not much. I've left my youtube playlist to random so throws in some interesting things to listen to. 

 

6. Changes to the forum: not much to be honest. Just bring back the old front page with the board listings please!

 

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