More than a bio, this will probably look like my 'curriculum vitae'. However, what better way to get you to know me than to describe my life's achievements and experiences.
Name is Kevin Aquilina. Born in 1970, of Maltese parents. Stuck on the island since that time. For those who wonder what and where the 'island' is, just look at a map of Europe. Around 90km south of Sicily there is usually a small dot put on the map with a heading of "Malta". Usually the printed name is much larger than the island itself, no matter how small they try to print!.
Primary education suffered at the hands of Franciscan nuns until the age of 10 when I was transferred to another church school (I started hating the church at around the same time, wonder why...) in Rabat, Malta. Left said school at age 11!. Re-started secondary education at Liceo Vassalli, tal-Handaq, Malta where I happily managed to educate myself until the ripe old age of 16.
For one month after school leaving age ; and yes, you read right, 1 month! ; I studied arts (as in lingos), at the New Lyceum, after which I jumped the gun and entered Technical Institute, where I spent the next four years struggling with the innards of micro-computers to earn the City & Guilds certificates parts I, II and III in Micro-Computer Technology.
Started working as an apprentice in the Electronics section at a local ship-building yard while still studying micro-computers. After three months assisting in the computer room where I was already showing promise, the Human Resource manager succumbed to bribes from other full-time aspiring I.T. leaders already employed as clerks in the computer section and had me transferred "for my own good, duh!" to the shipyard's electronic maintenance section and later on to the Electronics outfitting section where I worked on installation and commissioning of electronic equipment on board four of six timber carriers built at the yard for the then still existing U.S.S.R.
Left at the first opportunity (1993) to join The Management Systems Unit, a company formed at around 1990, to 'install, deploy and maintain mini-computer sytems (as they were still called at the time.)' for government use. What we then knew as mini-computers, we now know as glorified PCs or Servers, which is the more renowned buzzword.
I've been employed at the same company (politically re-baptised as M.I.T.T.S. in 1996) for more than ten years, mostly supporting UNIX servers, more recently Linux. They recently decided to award me a "Commitment through loyalty" award at a company award ceremony which I promptly refused to attend, seeing it more as a slave reward than actual recognition of the more then 10 years of pioneering hard work I gave to the company.
Also during this time, I courted and married my first (and only and present) wife, Madlene. We got married in 1994 and went through seven years of conception hell before finally being rewarded with a beautiful daughter who was born three months pre-maturely, weighed 770 grams and had to stay hospitalised, struggling for life for her first seven months.
Main interests:
Well, it's about time you get to know something more interesting about me, no? So here goes.
Apart from my job, which centers mostly around computers and Operating Systems, I'm deeply in love with music, photography and literature, my main three hobbies.
My music has mostly been for self-enjoyment. I'm into songrwriting, both lyrics and music, and also into the recording process where I have built a very small project studio on the 'studio in a box' concept developed by Peter Gotcher (of Digidesign fame) although I developed the whole concept again myself, not knowing I was just re-inventing the wheel. When I came across a picture of Peter Gotcher's studio-in-a-box product, it so resembled mine that I nearly fainted of indignation, more at the time I spent coming up with the concept than of actually not being the first to implement it!
Anyhow, on to photography. While working at the shipyard, two things introduced me to photography. One, a colleague and friend of mine nicknamed Jesus, who was a quite capable amateur photographer and dark room artist himself and the availability of cheap russian cameras, the ZENITH range, brought over by polish employees at the yard. For around £80, I got my first SLR, with wide, standard and telephoto lenses. I spent years parctising this hobby with this basic equipment and learnt quite a lot. More recently I switched over to digital and currently run around with an Olympus Camedia C-3040Z and associated gadgetry.
Which brings us to literature. There's not much to say here except that I love both reading and writing and exercise both as much as I can, whenever I can, like I'm doing with this Bio. I've also just subscribed to a writing course so that I might become more accomplished as a writer and hopefully get published in the process.
All of the above is me, although obviously there is much, much more I left out. I could talk endlessly about my past, family, present, future, other hobbies, inability to understand the innards of my car, my contribution in the Amiga scene, etc, but, are you really interested? Thought so. If you are, drop me a line using this link or the one at the bottom of my homepage