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WHO IS EDDY CARROLL?

Eddy Carroll currently lives in the centre of Dublin in Ireland. After a mispent childhood playing with computers and networks, I studied Computer Science at Trinity College Dublin for four years from 1986 to 1990. If you were in my class, you might like to check out my Class of '90 contact page.

Employment
I am currently providing software development and consulting services through my company, Snoopdos Technology.
   Until December 2003, I was Chief Technical Officer at Virtual Access, a manufacturer of high performance network management systems and equipment. Using our Activation technology, our products can literally install themselves. I remain on the board of Virtual Access as an external director.
   Until April 1998, I developed video drivers for ARTIST Graphics (now defunct), a video card manufacturer based in St Paul, Minnesota. My main area of expertise was Windows 3.1 and OS/2 video drivers, though at the time I left, I was also responsible for the Windows 95 and Windows NT drivers.
   Initially, I worked in ARTIST's European Headquarters in South Dublin; when that office closed in 1992, I continued working from home. That arrangement continued happily for six years, with one or two visits each year to Minnesota to keep in touch with the core development team.

Computers
I've been involved with computers in one way or another since around 1981 -- over half my life. Starting off with with Commodore PETs at my school, I progressed through the Commodore VIC 20, C64, C128, Amiga 1000, Amiga 3000, and Amiga 4000 which is still operational today. There was also a 133 MHz PowerPC-based BeBox, which has since found a new home in London.
   Since the demise of Commodore however, my focus increasingly switched to the PC. Right now, I maintain a local network with too many machines to count, including assorted Linux, Windows and OpenBSD servers, and Windows XP / Windows CE clients. These are used primarily for software development and local testing. My trusty Amiga 4000 doesn't see much use any more, especially since it lives at the end of an ISDN line, but I still occasionally telnet in for old time's sake.
   Along the way, I helped found the Commodore User's Group of Ireland, which ran from 1983 to 1996. I also acted as sysop of Infomatique BBS, Ireland's longest running Amiga-based BBS system (1985 to 1994). Meanwhile, I was actively involved with Compunet, the UK-based Commodore 64 online service; if you remember ALLANON from those days, drop me a line!
   Compunet is where I was first introduced to MUD, the Multi User Dungeon. Shortly afterwards, I started playing MUD at its home base of Essex University. Nearly 15 years later, I'm still playing, though these days you can find it at mud2.com. Check out my Unofficial MUD2 Site for more information.

Life, the Universe, and Everything
My philosophy of life is simple: reduce entropy. This seems to serve me fairly well, and can be applied to a surprising number of situations. Where I can't reduce entropy, I try at least to avoid increasing it.

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