Generic Info:
Name: Timothy S. Kimball
General Avatar and Forum name: T_S_Kimball
–> Current Forums: Alternate History Forum
–> Misc Uses: Steam ID, LinkedIn (custom URL timothy-s-kimball)
Avatar (Eve Online): Alain Kinsella (Retired, no subscription for now, Alpha Clone is worthless as an Industrial character)
Avatar (Second Life): Alan Kiesler (Officially Retired)
Characters (Guild Wars 2): Sargeon Leapur (Charr Guardian), Shadara Leapur (Charr Mesmer), Arthur Kendan (Human Thief), several others…
Minecraft: Sungak (though I don’t normally play on servers)
Location (RL): Northern New Jersey, USA
Profession: UNIX SysAdmin. Personal interest in Monitoring (Icinga), Enterprise Backup (NetBackup, Networker) and game economies (i.e. Second Life, Eve Online, Guild Wars 2).
What I’m doing here:
I was an overnight SysAdmin, and loved it. Rare thing I admit, and not as lonely as you may think; Now and then work moved into the daytime as well. It’s normal for me, since I’m involved in some fairly important stuff (all of us were). And so I needed somewhere, or something, to get my mind off work from time to time. I learned the hard way (the week after 9/11) that focusing my feelings into work is a very bad idea, and one I don’t intend to repeat.
The initial writings here are related to various MMO ‘meta worlds’ such as Second Life and There. I have over 25 years hands-on experience with UNIX (mostly the Solaris OS, now some various forms of Linux), and almost 20 of those as a SysAdmin. I like to use my skills off-hours on interesting problems that I run into, as I’m always interested in doing new things with old info. Second Life (or SL as its known internally) was one way I had found to exercise those skills, while at the same time getting my mind off work (which, frankly, I do way too much anyway, and SL had been a godsend in that respect). I had some involvement with There.com before its shutdown, but mostly to learn its comparisons with SL.
I also participated in another meta world of sorts (though in the shard format), known as Until Uru (and again in the re-launched and re-shutdown Myst Online – Uru Live). With the ‘final’ re-release (known as MOULa), I’ve stepped away from the game and community, though I still keep an eye on it. I will never completely leave them, though, as they effectively saved my soul at a time I desperately needed it.
More recently, I spent several years in another MMO, known as Guild Wars 2. Though at first it was a pretty awesome fit for someone who was accustomed to the Uru community, its gradually drifted away from that over the years. I decided to take an extended leave from the game – despite liking it so much – while I re-examined my interest in MMOs in general these days; perhaps determine if its worth dedicating as much time to it as a social platform.
As of now, I joined a multi-game guild with a similar ‘G-Rated’ (my words) ideology toward gaming community that the Guild of Greeters gave me, and its been a blast to play with folks again because of it. This may eventually expand to posts on yet another game, known as Elder Scrolls Online (aka ESO).
Note that I refuse to post anything directly related to my line of work, or my company. This is purely an ethical stance, but I did like my job and had no serious gripes with it anyway; This place is purely to get my mind *off* work, not focused on it. Vendors on the other hand, well, I’m thinking about how to approach that…
Why a Kind Healer?
My Second Life and Uru avatars, as well as the RPG characters I play, tend to focus on the aspect of the Healer. Someone who is kind, caring, and wanting to help. This is, in fact, my RL attitude (when not distracted, pissed off, or otherwise pressured – which is, thankfully, quite rare).
I personally don’t care if anyone reads this. It’s mostly for my own relaxation. Any help it brings others is a bonus. And if it does help you, please let me know by contacting me on one of the above venues.
Pics
Alan Kiesler (in Numbakulla):
Me, in my ‘datacenter’ gear (yes its the same shirt :p ):
Alain Kinsella, Eve Online industrialist, part-time combatant, and Angel Cartel fan (by business association only, though he now has the jacket to prove it):
My Guild Wars 2 character collection had become extensive, and I’m in the process of updating that folder as part of a 7-year retrospective with the game.
Last Update: Jan 2020