What the web, karate and computers have in common

Note: This article was written in 2006, the first year of the site's operation. Since then things have changed :-).

I studied systems programming in college and somewhere towards the end of my studies I started programming for the web (not in school, they didn't teach that kind of thing before). It's a field with wide applications and I think it will continue to grow in the future. In my opinion, it is generally not complex programming, but you can see the results and I enjoy the work.

When I write code for the web, I try to follow modern design methods such as separating the look and feel using CSS (as well as layout using CSS), keeping the code valid and using various modern methods (such as RSS and SEO). However, I have my own opinions and only do what I personally think is right and beneficial. When one tries to create a nice site, one runs into a number of problems (making it work in Internet Explorer, how to do something purely in CSS). Since I have been doing this for a couple of years, I have managed to solve various problems and would like to share my experience with others so that they don't have to spend hours uncovering a problem.

During the period when the communist era ended in the Czech Republic, I saw several Asian films that absolutely charmed me (like The Whistle Blower or Shogun's Ninjas). That's why I took the plunge and signed up for karate as a young man. I think it was the right thing for me because I've stuck with it to this day. I have tried many other martial arts in the fifteen plus years since, but I have remained loyal to karate. I may not train as often today as I did when I was a student, and I act as a coach at most of my training sessions, but I still find joy and pleasure in this budo. And also in karate I think I have gained a lot of experience and knowledge (for example also from Zen Buddhism or Japanese history) that I would like to share.

When I was about 10 years old, my father bought me a Sinclair ZX Spectrum computer, and thus my life became completely connected with computers. Computers were my entertainment, my source of education and now my job. I don't think I'm the best in any area of computing, but I have a broad overview of many areas. I have a degree in programming and I do web development at home (part of my job). While in college, I made my money selling and servicing computers and mainly managing small networks. When I graduated, I was looking for a programming job, but ended up working as an IT System Administrator. I work in a software development company and have over 80 servers to manage, so I have to use advanced administration techniques. I have gained a lot of experience in this area as well and I find it a shame to keep it to myself.

So the answer to the question "What do the web, karate and the computer have in common?". They're all hobbies I love and I want to share my experience of them. I'd almost forgotten my other hobby, which is traveling. I love to explore other countries and most of all people from other countries. That's why I will also include here various interesting pictures from my travels.

I wouldn't want this site to become a place where I pour out my thoughts, opinions, complaints and comments, like a large number of blogs on the web. On the contrary, I would like to feature articles where you can find techniques and advice on solving various problems along with my practical experience. I hope to keep to my plans and, most importantly, to keep updating the content regularly. Equally, I hope that there will be many people who will find this site interesting and useful and will visit it regularly.