[General Topics] Jarmezrocks:
Who was your biggest influence, in the way of Android?

Been a member since March 2011, but a lurker since probably Oct 2010. Was on DarkyROM forums early in the piece and always took the name XDADevelopers as being purely developers and so my belief and perception scared me and kept me from becoming a member for quite a few months. I followed @Darkyy and learned from some of the greats of this early era. My first ROM flash was original Darky v8 and still have the firmware to this date. I basically only signed up here at XDA because my SGS1 being flashed to non-standard ICS didn't "fit the mould" of DarkyROM that was always positioned around improved factory firmwares for Samsung handsets. I needed a new following, a place where I fit in with this non-factory firmware equipped device. I soon found @Perka, who I was in complete awe of, his mods and themes were just brilliant for that era. I made it my quest to abolish all "green" of factory gingerbread and implement as much ICS blue (reminiscent of the factory Froyo I had grown to love). Not long after my ICS initiation it didn't take long for me to miss the awesome factory goodness I had grown to love with Samsung software. I was torn in a big way.....AOSP and Samsung. This is where I made a quest to port all that I could from Samsung latest gingerbread to my now ICS device but at the sametime "re-theme" all green to all blue UI. At the time I felt I had the perfect blend of Samsung and generation 4 firmware ICS+.

1 thing that was a real setback about all Samsung S1s was the lack of hardware resources so I spent a lot of time trying to gain more performance out of my device with the least detriment to battery life, it was at this time that I discovered [MENTION=3357461]zeppelinrox[/MENTION]. To this date his Supercharger scripting has resided and been implemented on every Android device I have owned. What I can say, the man is a genius!:good:

I went on to form RemICS with other fellow XDA members @monish1995, [MENTION=4349488]Vlad87do[/MENTION], [MENTION=4712770]XYunknown[/MENTION] etc. where we grew to a peak of 22 members supporting many devices across the XDA forums.

I can honestly say that at point so low in my normal life that without this crew and feeling part of the android family all working together on something positive I don't know where I would have been? Life sux when you loose your girlfriend, loose your job and then loose your closest friend, your dog. I can't thank you guys enough for your inspiration and enthusiasm!

Other influencing members I'd like to acknowledge are @broodplank1337, [MENTION=3512588]txr33[/MENTION], @btemtd, @iBotPeaches, [MENTION=2178960]pulser_g2[/MENTION], @_JKay_

What are you doing now, since XDA-Developers and Android have opened your eyes to new opportunities?

I used to be a PC tech nerd in my younger years (grade 5 at school) programming games, scripting and robotics with lego were my thing. For more than a decade I turned my back on the tech industry not for any other reason other than persuing things considered "more closer fit" to where I wanted to be in a career. I went to university after graduating year 12. I maintained my nous and understanding of computers and techy sort of stuff but it wasn't like it was my forte. I graduated uni having completed a degree in Environmental Science, but found my way back into a "semi-IT" career in Geographic Information Systems. This was like a kickstarter needed breath life back into my dwindling knowledge of information technologies. It was then that Android came into my life, where palm pilots and PDAs where an everyday occurrence in my life as a tool for information gathering.

They were the crux of where information started for just about everything. Having had a Windows touch phone that I loathed and hated I reluctantly picked up a Samsung android phone and hoped for the best as just about all of my friends has iPhones. I was the outcast, not by choice but merely because my current phone plan, insurance and replacement of my damaged Windows phone did not allow me or qualify me to getting an Apple device. I shrugged and took the thing in hand and hoped for the best. That day I never looked back.... I hated that people put me down for owning a non "i device" I made it my goal to change what Samsung had started into something more polished and something to be proud of! Something to get back at all these Apple "android haters"! The phone was not my choice.....but modifying it to be something great most certainly was :D

Fast forward 6 or so years and I am currently building my own tech start up business from home. Android certainly kickstarted the passion for computing again where I was continuously fixing and repairing my own work mapping PC because the qualified IT guys didn't know what they were doing.

I currently work part time for a computer recycling company that spans 25 locations across Australia. I like to think that I am actually doing something that is both environmentally friendly, recycling and with computers it makes this partnership that goes hand in hand for me :highfive:

Current project at work is reviving some older IBM touchscreen PCs to be fitted out with.....yep you guessed it an Android OS:cool: enabling our supervisors to do roll call and automated generation of timesheets and staff/attendee access!

When did you decide, "it's time to make a go of this"

I decided this approximately 3-4 years ago when I began repairing peoples devices that were friends and relatives. Many people had phones/tablets/PCs etc that were still young enough that they didn't want to throw them away yet due to many financial hardships were leaving people stranded from upgrading.....I began growing peoples trusts in developer/customised software solutions to the need to upgrade or simply reviving an older device as a present for other family members "hand-me-downs" so to speak...and people surprised that this older device actually performed sometimes better than their newer current device.

Where do you feel Android can take you?

For sometime now I abandoned Android, more so out of sheer determination to getting myself back on my feet with work/employment after many years of really battling in my former trade/industry of geographical mapping. The challenges of job competition, qualified overseas people willing to work for less pretty much had left me out of work for so long that I was at times asking to work just so I could eat or exchanging my time for a cooked meal :crying: Android had consumed me so much when I had work that when I was without work I couldn't afford to be consumed by anything other than trying to find work to be able to live again. I think now I am at a point where I want to revive my android passion again but this time a passion with purpose! I was the only person at work willing or skilled enough to try make an android solution work for us in the workplace, so I see that this could actually take me really far if I can pull it off. So far I have had little success with the AndroidX86 project, however I am visiting my previous works with Android emulation and hoping to make a breakthrough sometime in the next week:fingers-crossed: wish me luck

Big thanks to XDA for making all of this possible for me.