So you want to find out more about me. Well... You've come to the right place. Things might be a bit random, as that is to be expected. Read on all about the internet side of things.

My History, joining the internet which started it all...

I got an AOL CD in the mail one day back in 2003. I was doubting whether I should go for it or not and since I only had a 14.4Kbit modem, everything was SLOW when I took the pledge and signed up for the service. I was very patient at the time and didn't care how long pages took to load. I did happen to grab a 56K modem later on after a few months for $14 from a thrift store and that gave me better speeds.... I spent days on AOL Chat, talking to members and web users (non-members who used AIM also known as AOL Instant Messenger), I was still learning at the time and got suckered with malware like you would NEVER BELIEVE IT.

I, at the time, wasn't websavvy at all! I ended up reinstalling windows 98 (on an old packard bell computer) close to 900 times. I then did a search for anti-malware and found good software to keep it off my computer. I then picked up on it very quickly that I had to be more aware of what I was doing online and not to download/run just about everything I saw. About and around the time in late 2004, I discovered mozilla firefox. It was a godsend. I didn't have that many features, but it was better than internet explorer.

I also was looking for a new machine as time went by, as flash player was getting unbearably slow. I spotted a curb side computer, a nice Compaq Deskpro 2000. That lasted me for over 3 years until the motherboard popped on it. I then discovered while on the way back from school when I didn't have a computer for a few days, a pentium II, 233 MHz MMX powered machine. Heh, it wasn't THAT much faster, but it was a lucky find. I then begun the days of youtube when a friend told me about it.

I thought about it for a bit. I needed a webcam, so I saved up what little cash I had and purchased a $23 (actually $2.30 in china) keychain DSC camera. I used that for the longest time before I grabbed a logitech webcam from a neighbor who was moving out. It was THE BEST camera ever. I used both cameras to record video blogs and all when I signed up. My first video was the human hard disk experience. Lol. During that time, while in value village (man, I loved that store, I still go there often to check things out), looking for a computer for another family member, somebody told me about Ubuntu.

From then on, I fell in LOVE with the Linux experience. Using it for a few months as a live CD, I then decided to install it. I used that between windows 2000 (then XP afterwards) until I found I was using linux more than I was windows. I became more websavvy and found there was more open source alternatives to what I was using. I acquired a pentium III & 1 GHz at the same time, that someone tossed to the curb. It worked until 2008, when a kind neighbor was deciding to move and eventually, after trading my beloved webcam and bluetooth headset, I got this Compaq Evo D310v (pentium Celeron 'pC', 1.7 GHz, now a pentium 4 'p4' at 3.06 GHz).

Even though the RAM (768MB in total of DDR 266 MHz) wouldn't work in it, I stuck with what it had until I dove into tigerdirect and grabbed two 512MB SD-DDR 133 MHz (I know, it's clock speed is slower, big deal) modules. I put them in and it worked, I was up to speed and everything rocked! I still wanted a faster processor, so I took to the road of parts swapping with any computer I could get my hands on that was on the curb. Days of bus rides and carrying two screwdrivers, I uberly upgraded to 1.8 (p4), 2.8 (pC), 1.5 (p4) and finally, 3.06 (p4), the current processor I have. I then invested in the best graphics card I could use in my hardware by consulting friends. An ATI HD 4650 was what I chose. Realizing that I had pushed the limits of my hardware, I would have to end up getting a new computer. I checked out the magazines, stores, ads, everything! Since I kept seeing new things each month, I came to my senses and asked myself “Why should I get a new one, when I have everything I need?”. I decided to keep it.

That aside, I ended up wanting portability. I got a netbook (battery only lasted one year, I still use the netbook, which has Linux Mint 13 presently), then bought a blackberry playbook and tablet PC from ebay at a steal of $65. That was enough technology for me. I use each device evenly, each month I cycle between them all.

YouTube (owned and operated by google) History

From December 2005 until December 2009, I had the personna of “rootbrian” and subscribers were many, comments were big and I was frequently featured due to recording/uploading tons of videos on so many topics that were relevant, and non-relevant. I didn't care. I just loved the thing about the site, haters, and everything, including the thought of being partner, free speech and all, until some motherfuckers decided to get me suspended for no apparent reason on December 2009.

Two months before that happened, after I got a threat and a tip from a subscriber/friend, I caught on and had to look elsewhere that was flag-proof when the first video got removed. I did research on the top 10/25 video platforms. Dailymotion was one I had joined in 2007 when somebody told me about it.

I finally decided, after reading the terms of use/service, community guidelines/rules, I decided to join Viddler.com. I had, unknown to me, less than a month to download ALL of my videos and then shortly after it happened, I had upload them to viddler over the course of a few weeks.

I then continued my place on youtube by fighting back, returning each time they tried to silence me. I have since continued to do so with many different channels, two of which didn't contain my internet personna, but most of them tagging along with it. I have NOT given up the fight for freedom of speech, expression, choice, thought, right to an opinion and everything else for that matter.

Camera/Smartphone/Camcorder history

Here is a list of cameras and eventually, my camcorder and everything else, which I have retired/still use/donated since the beginning of video blogging in 2005.

2005-2008: “Shark” keychain DSC qCIF camera – Retired, not linux compatible.

2006-2009: UT Starcom PPC 6700 (smartphone, with video camera, this was the most used device) - retired and self-bricked in 2009.

2006-2009: Logitech Quickcam Quickchat/Pro – Traded for Compaq EVO d310v desktop in 2009.

2009-2010: Kodac DC240 ZOOM – Retired.

2009-Present: Microsoft Lifecam VX3000 – Used like other webcams.

2009-2015: Panasonic PV GS-85 MiniDV Camcorder – self-destructed, recycled.

2010-2014: Logitech Quickcam (unknown model) – Narrow angle lens installed, retired, recycled.

2010-2011: Fujifilm Finepix A345 Digital Camera – Retired, donated.

2010-2014: PS3 Eye webcam – Lost/stolen by neighbour.

2010-2013: NeXXtech CIF/VGA webcam – Retired, Donated to a band mate.

2010-2012: Qlympus X-42 Digital Camera – Retired, formally used for videos, kept as backup camera.

2011-2012: Kodac Zi6 – occasionally used, encoding issues, freezes during recording sometimes.

2011-Present: BlackBerry Bold 9900 - Semi-Retired.

2012-Present: Canon SX150 Digital Camera – Used for photography and videos.

2013-Present: BlackBerry Q10 - Reported stolen.

2015-Present: BlackBerry Classic - Used along with Bold 9900. - (Both devices retired)

2015-2016: iPhone 5s (traded)

2015-Present: JVC Everio GZ-EX250BU (1080p, 720p standard, high-speed 480x240 at 300 fps, timelapse function). Previously had similar model, that was stolen. It did 720p/60, timelapse and high-speed at 300 fps like the other. - Retired, display failed, doesn't detect memory card.

2016-Present: Sony Xperia M4 - Entertainment device.

2016-Present: Nokia 6086 GSM - HSPA capable, locked to rogers. - Damaged, recycled.

2018-Present: BlackBerry Key2 LE.

2019-Present: Canon Vixia HF10 (1080p, 1440p, no high-speed or timelapse, has camera strobe flash).

2021-Present: SJCam 4K/Air: Weatherproof timelapses. Audio quality is below average and microphone rattles against enclosure.

2024-Present: Sony Handycam 4K - Main camera for all videography tasks.

Computer History

1995-2001: IBM PS/2 Model 30 – Power outage shorted the motherboard, recycled.

2001-2002: Compaq Armada 1160 laptop – motherboard died a year after somebody donated it.

2002-2006: Packard Bell (unknown model number) – Retired and donated to value village.

2006-2007: Compaq Deskpro 2000 – Retired, recycled.

2007-2009: Generic unbranded P2 MMX – Disassembled and recycled.

2008-2009: Generic unbranded P3 – Recycled, RAM controller fried, wouldn't turn on.

2008-Present: Compaq Armada 1120 laptop: Used occasionally for retro gaming, runs windows 3.5 aka 95a.

2009-2014: Compaq Evo d310v at 3.2 GHz, Core Solo (aka single core), 3GB RAM, AGP ATI 4650 HD series graphics. It ran Windows XP, QNX 6.5.0 RTOS and GNU/Linux.  It will surely be missed, the motherboard stopped working one day.

2010-2012: MDG Classmate PC rugged netbook, motherboard fried after rebooting, wouldn't power up afterwards. RAM, hard disk salvaged.

2011-Present: Fujitsu Tablet PC running Windows 10, touch screen not supported under GNU/Linux. Used equally with lenovo tablet pc.

2013-Present: Dell Inspiron 9400 (headless) with 2GB RAM, 1.83GHz dual core celeron. Formally used for DVR security and backup machine. Windows 8/8.1/10 Compatible, GNU/Linux certified, has occasional "unseated" memory issues.

2014-2015: HP Pavilion a1420n, Core Solo (p4 at 2.8 GHz) with 1GB RAM, ATI Express 220 integrated graphics, CD/DVD burners, SATA and IDE, 8 USB, memory card readers are screwed up, system supports Pentium D (celeron) Dual core processors. Retired, recycled.

2015-Present: 2009 HP Envy AMD Athlon Quad Core x4 at 2.6 GHz, AMD 6700XT graphics, 24GB of DDR3 RAM. Two physical hard disks. Retired and kept as backup.

2015-Present: Lenovo ThinkPad X220 Tablet PC. Runs GNU/Linux, fully featured except the two-point capacitive wacom-based multi-touch screen, not compatible with some wacom pens/mice, works with S-pen.

2024-Present: Asus ROG STRIX x670e-f, Ryzen 9 12-core/24 threads processor, 128GB RAM, AMD 6700XT graphics, liquid cooling, USB 3/3.2. On-board sound and ethernet are defective (documented online). Replaced with Intel 10 Gbase-T and Yamaha Steinberg USB audio.

Any updates will soon be highlighted.