About Me
Please click to view my Curiculum Vitae.
Who is this guy?
Hi! My name is Paul Figura!
In case you don't already know who I am, let me introuce myself. Although my real name is Paul, alot of people have taken to calling me "Fig", especially online. This doesn't come to much of a surprise to me, as I've had that nickname for years (the first time I remember being called "Fig" was in grade 2, when all my friends at the time decided we all needed cool nicknames).
The Beggining
During my formative years, my parents bought our first PC (a 386/33mhz, with 4 megs of ram, and 60 megs of hard drive space), and changed my life forever. I've been a computer geek ever since.
It started, as many things do, with a game. Since getting this new computer I decided it was time to try to get a game for it. My mom bought me Nova 9. After that, more games came, and I learned more and more about the PC that ran them. I learned what kind of optimizations were available at the time (like memmaker), and I also learned of the importance of conventional memory. Editing autoexec.bat and config.sys files became second nature.
A few years after that, I really dived into computer culture. One of my friends introduced me to the world of BBS's (Bulletin Board Systems).If there was anything that could be called a precursor to the internet, it would be the BBS. You would dial up to someoned computer with your modem, their PC would pick up and you would have a menu presented that would let you chat, download files, or play games. I eventually started up my own BBS and called it "ThE AsyLuM". It was pretty successful, and it ran for 2 or 3 years... Until I got the Internet. And once again, everything went black, and another chapter of my life begins.
int Geek;
I would say I was maybe a year late into the internet game. However, I had no trouble adjusting, because I was BBSing up until the day I got the internet, and kept current on almost every technology. In a somewhat misguided effort, I went to John Abbott College to get my CEGEP DEC in Commerce. (For those of you not from Quebec, it's a government funded middle stage between High School and University. CEGEP generally takes a year off of University). I knew within the first year that Commerce was not for me. However, I plodded along, and managed to finish my degree in Commerce. Looking forward, I applied to Concordia University in Computer Science with a Minor in Political Science. It was the best decision I've ever made in my life, and have never enjoyed school as much as I do now. Computer Science was definatly my calling.
while (true){ Geek++; }
In my second semester at Concordia, I joined the ranks of the Concordia Computer Science Society (CCSS), and became the VP of Software Development. I led a team of student developers to start creating what has since spun off into its own entity, a 2d adventure game engine. From that project, the begginings of UGENE began to form. (NOTE: I don't take credit for starting UGENE, although I contributed code, ugene, at best, evolved from the lessons learned from the CCSS project).
The year after that, I was elected (by a vote of CCSS members (500+)) to become the President of CCSS. It was said by many people that under my leadership the CCSS had it's most successful year, and in fact we won the coveted "Society of the Year" award from the Engineering and Computer Science Faculty. It was really a great honor, and I will always remember back to my fond memories of the CCSS.
What's next?
I've since passed on the CCSS torch to focus more closely on my studies, and work a little in my final year at Concordia. I will be graduating in May 2005, and have lots of things to prepare for. First of all, I've met the love of my life, Melissa, and am planning on moving in together with her as soon as we both finish school (we graduate at the same time). Secondly, I am starting to make myself more known to various Software companies in preparation for my graduation. I will start applying to companies (to get a full time job) starting in January. (If any company wants to hire me now, I'm available for part time work :) ). My interests (and espertise) in software ranges from Game programming, to Web programming, to compiler development. I think I'm a pretty damned good coder, and a real geeks geek. The only complaint I ever get is that I'm sometimes a little too politicaly aware (because of my Poli Sci Minor), but I don't mind. If I can stir things up once in a while, it makes for fresh ideas!
-----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK-----
Version: 3.12
GCS/E/AT d--(+)@ s:+ a-- C++++(++)
UL+++>++++ P++++ L+++@>++++ E--- W+++
N+ o+ K- w++++>--- O-- M- V? PS+
PE++(-)@ Y+ PGP+>+++ t+ 5- X+
R++>+++ tv+(-) b++>++++ DI+() D+++
G+>++++ e*(++)>+++ h!>--- r++>+++ y+>++++
------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------
For some of you, the above might tell you all you need to know about me. However, The Geekcode is not for the faint of heart. The rest of this page is for people who are actually interested in who I am, and what I do.
Please click to view my Curiculum Vitae.
Who is this guy?
Hi! My name is Paul Figura!
In case you don't already know who I am, let me introuce myself. Although my real name is Paul, alot of people have taken to calling me "Fig", especially online. This doesn't come to much of a surprise to me, as I've had that nickname for years (the first time I remember being called "Fig" was in grade 2, when all my friends at the time decided we all needed cool nicknames).
The Beggining
During my formative years, my parents bought our first PC (a 386/33mhz, with 4 megs of ram, and 60 megs of hard drive space), and changed my life forever. I've been a computer geek ever since.
It started, as many things do, with a game. Since getting this new computer I decided it was time to try to get a game for it. My mom bought me Nova 9. After that, more games came, and I learned more and more about the PC that ran them. I learned what kind of optimizations were available at the time (like memmaker), and I also learned of the importance of conventional memory. Editing autoexec.bat and config.sys files became second nature.
A few years after that, I really dived into computer culture. One of my friends introduced me to the world of BBS's (Bulletin Board Systems).If there was anything that could be called a precursor to the internet, it would be the BBS. You would dial up to someoned computer with your modem, their PC would pick up and you would have a menu presented that would let you chat, download files, or play games. I eventually started up my own BBS and called it "ThE AsyLuM". It was pretty successful, and it ran for 2 or 3 years... Until I got the Internet. And once again, everything went black, and another chapter of my life begins.
int Geek;
I would say I was maybe a year late into the internet game. However, I had no trouble adjusting, because I was BBSing up until the day I got the internet, and kept current on almost every technology. In a somewhat misguided effort, I went to John Abbott College to get my CEGEP DEC in Commerce. (For those of you not from Quebec, it's a government funded middle stage between High School and University. CEGEP generally takes a year off of University). I knew within the first year that Commerce was not for me. However, I plodded along, and managed to finish my degree in Commerce. Looking forward, I applied to Concordia University in Computer Science with a Minor in Political Science. It was the best decision I've ever made in my life, and have never enjoyed school as much as I do now. Computer Science was definatly my calling.
while (true){ Geek++; }
In my second semester at Concordia, I joined the ranks of the Concordia Computer Science Society (CCSS), and became the VP of Software Development. I led a team of student developers to start creating what has since spun off into its own entity, a 2d adventure game engine. From that project, the begginings of UGENE began to form. (NOTE: I don't take credit for starting UGENE, although I contributed code, ugene, at best, evolved from the lessons learned from the CCSS project).
The year after that, I was elected (by a vote of CCSS members (500+)) to become the President of CCSS. It was said by many people that under my leadership the CCSS had it's most successful year, and in fact we won the coveted "Society of the Year" award from the Engineering and Computer Science Faculty. It was really a great honor, and I will always remember back to my fond memories of the CCSS.
What's next?
I've since passed on the CCSS torch to focus more closely on my studies, and work a little in my final year at Concordia. I will be graduating in May 2005, and have lots of things to prepare for. First of all, I've met the love of my life, Melissa, and am planning on moving in together with her as soon as we both finish school (we graduate at the same time). Secondly, I am starting to make myself more known to various Software companies in preparation for my graduation. I will start applying to companies (to get a full time job) starting in January. (If any company wants to hire me now, I'm available for part time work :) ). My interests (and espertise) in software ranges from Game programming, to Web programming, to compiler development. I think I'm a pretty damned good coder, and a real geeks geek. The only complaint I ever get is that I'm sometimes a little too politicaly aware (because of my Poli Sci Minor), but I don't mind. If I can stir things up once in a while, it makes for fresh ideas!
Version: 3.12
GCS/E/AT d--(+)@ s:+ a-- C++++(++)
UL+++>++++ P++++ L+++@>++++ E--- W+++
N+ o+ K- w++++>--- O-- M- V? PS+
PE++(-)@ Y+ PGP+>+++ t+ 5- X+
R++>+++ tv+(-) b++>++++ DI+() D+++
G+>++++ e*(++)>+++ h!>--- r++>+++ y+>++++
------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------
For some of you, the above might tell you all you need to know about me. However, The Geekcode is not for the faint of heart. The rest of this page is for people who are actually interested in who I am, and what I do.
FiG at a Glance:
Full Name: Paul Jonathan Figura
Age: 26.78416321
DOB: 04/03/1982
Born in: Montreal
Occupation: Student
Degree: Computer Science
Full Name: Paul Jonathan Figura
Age: 26.78416321
DOB: 04/03/1982
Born in: Montreal
Occupation: Student
Degree: Computer Science