Hello! Welcome to my Launchpad homepage. I'm a software developer/engineer and am interested in rather too many computing related topics, including fairly diverse things such as compiler and interpreter construction, data recovery tools and techniques and aspects of A.I. such as machine learning and neural networks. I hold a B.Sc in Computer Science and Applied maths, a B.Sc (Hons) in Computer Science and an M.Sc in Information Technology. Other non-computer related interests include trading and investment and the general gyrations of the financial markets, running, hiking and the outdoors, squash and playing the guitar.

I quite like inspirational quotes, so below I share my current (for very flexible values of current) set of "quotable quotes":

"To put away aimlessness and weakness, and to begin to think with purpose, is to enter the ranks of those... who think strongly, attempt fearlessly, and accomplish masterfully." - James Allen

"Today does not care about yesterday's failures or tomorrow's regrets. It merely offers the same precious gift - another 24 hours - and hopes that we will use it wisely." - Jim Rohn

“If you are going to achieve excellence in big things, you develop the habit in little matters. Excellence is not an exception, it is a prevailing attitude.” - Colin Powell

"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent." - Calvin Coolidge

"The greatest mistake you can make in life is continually fearing that you'll make one." - Elbert Hubbard

"Unless a man undertakes more than he possibly can do, he will never do all that he can." - Henry Drummond

"A man can succeed at almost anything for which he has unlimited enthusiasm." - Charles Schwab

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." - Confucius.

"There are none so blind as those who will not see." - John Heywood, 1546

"For those who believe, no explanation is necessary. For those who do not, none will suffice." - Joseph Dunninger

"It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog." - Mark Twain

"Respect your efforts, respect yourself. Self-respect leads to self-discipline. When you have both firmly under your belt, that's real power." - Clint Eastwood

"Cynicism is destructive." - Michael Masterson

“A Skilled Fighter Puts Himself Into A Position Where Defeat Is Impossible, Yet Never Misses The Opportunity To Defeat The Enemy” - Sun Tzu

“Supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting” - Sun Tzu

“You must be the change you want to see in the world.” - Mahatma Gandhi

“Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value.” - Einstein

"Everything counts." - Brian Tracy

"Whether you believe you can do a thing or not, you are right." - Henry Ford

"Persistence is to the character of man as carbon is to steel." - Napoleon Hill

"Faith Does Not Negate Reason or Exploration." - Anne Rice

"There's nothing so absurd that if you repeat it often enough, people will believe it." - William James

"Never mistake a clear view for a short distance." - Paul Saffo

"Being right is not guaranteed by being rational." - Michael Hill

"You see, in life, lots of people know what to do, but few people actually do what they know. Knowing is not enough! You must take action." - Tony Robbins

“Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” - Parkinson's Law

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." - Aristotle

“Do what you love not because you just want to be self interested. Do it because you’ll be better at it” – Francis Ford Coppola

"Optimism means expecting the best, but confidence means knowing how you will handle the worst. Never make a move if you are merely optimistic." - Anonymous

"Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare" - Japanese Proverb

"You can't be lucky all the time, but you can be smart everyday" - Mos Def

"Arrogance is thinking you are better than everyone else, while Confidence is knowing no one else is better than you." - Robbie Williamson

"One of the great tragedies of life is the murder of a beautiful theory by a gang of brutal facts." - Benjamin Franklin

"The man who really wants to do something finds a way, the other finds an excuse." - Unknown

"Maybe you don't like your job, maybe you didn't get enough sleep, well nobody likes their job, nobody got enough sleep. Maybe you just had the worst day of your life, but you know, there's no escape, there's no excuse, so just suck up and be nice." - Ani Difranco

"No one ever excused his way to success." - Dave Del Dotto

Mackay's Moral: "You can't win the race if you never start."

"Successful people are not gifted; they just work hard, then succeed on purpose." - G.K. Nielson

“You gotta be careful if you don’t know where you’re going, otherwise you might not get there.” - Yogi Berra

"Many of us crucify ourselves between two thieves - regret for the past and fear of the future." - Fulton Oursler

"And I myself have seen all the hard work and all the proficiency in work, that it means the rivalry of one toward another; this also is vanity and a striving after the wind" - Ecclesiastes 4:4

"You are not entitled to an opinion unless you can state the arguments against your opinion better than your opponents can." - Charlie Munger