tcoburn.com

Hi, I guess since you clicked on this, you want to know more about me
Well, I'm a 37 year old white male, 6'2'', 169lbs, blue eyes, and dark blonde hair. I started out attended Ivy Tech State College located in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, for Computer Information Technology, programming speciality, but then later moved to Warsaw and started attending school at the Warsaw Campus, and changed majors to Student Directed Studies. I now live in a small 2 bedroom house on Park Ave. here in Warsaw, Indiana.. see photos

My experience in computers includes pretty much all areas except for graphics and annimation. I just don't have the artistic ability to draw. I can't even do a stick man right..LOL Everyone has a few weaknesses, that just happens to be one of mine. Instead, I try to concentrate on my strengths, which are Computer Networking and Web coding.

I also volinteer my time at Combined Community Services, and other projects to help raise Blind and visually impaired and disabled awareness. Since most people don't know how to act around someone who is disabled, I try to promote the fact that, "we are people too". We have a sense of humor, we get sad, we have lives just like anyone else. How do you treat a person with a disability? like a person, its as simple as that.

I spend most of my days experimenting in all areas of Computer Technology, looking for a place where my experience is most needed. People with disabilities can do the same job as anyone else. This website and my portfolio proves that the visually impared can see a Computer screen, and be fairly productive in any walk of life. Some are even able to drive using the Bioptic Driving program. I was a good Candidate, until Glaucoma settled in most reciently.

I was unable to see the blackboard at all in college, which made passing courses a real challenge. Most of my classes I was able to scrape by with a B or C depending upon how much the instructor wrote on the blackboard. Some used it more then others. but the majority of instructors would not assist me at all gathering data from the blackboard. Most of them wouldn't write on paper, and they wouldn't allow someone else to take the course with me unless that person paid for the course. I completed 60 credit hours of college training, until my last course where I had an instructor named "Ben Stonebreaker" who insisted on giving a final exam on the blackboard instead of on paper. I retook the course 6 different times, getting the same instructor each time. I asked him repeatedly if he would write the exam questions on paper, but everytime he refused, and Ivy Techs administration would not allow someone else to enter the class with me. so therefore, I was unable to finish my degree with a suitable GPA to go thru the graduation ceremony.. because of that, I was not able to go thru the colleges "job placement" program, so as I tried to look for work in computers on my own, I ran into many employers who could just not understand how a person with a visual disability could possibly see a computer screen, much of less give me a chance to prove myself and what i can do..

I went thru dozens of interviews, had a few interviews over breakfast or dinner, had interviews that seemed to go well but never called me back to do any work..you name it, I went thru it :(

In the meantime, I had to find whatever I could get so that my family wouldn't starve... So... I started applying in other areas, once again coming into barriers with employers saying "hey your resume is all computer experience why not go for computers instead" and once again turned down for lack of experience, or over experience in other fields too.. personally I always thought it was an excuse just to not give me a chance because of my disability, but to each their own I guess..

So..I had to get a job, with insurance and benefits and maybe some kind of 401k program so my family would be safe..so.. I got a job at a local factory glueing foam to metal frames all day for couches and RV's and travel trailers. and I must say it was probably the worst job I've ever had..worse then cleaning up trash at a truck stop for $3 an hour. LOL but it paid the bills. I did that job for 8 years, but because I was loosing too much vision, after so long, I was no longer able to perform my job duties. So, I quit, signed up for Social Security, and got my butt back to Ivy Tech, to finish my degree, so I could find a job I could do rather I had eyesight, or not, so I started back again in Student Directed Studies, and should be done by June 2008. After that, I plan on attending Indiana Tech, for a Bachelors in Business and Data Communications.

So..in my spare time, I use my talents as a hobby and to help others since thats all I can do besides go to school and volinteer. LOL.

I am fluent in Windows 95/98/Me/2000/XP, MS-DOS 3-6, DR-DOS, PC-DOS, many flavors of Linux, Unix, and Sun Solaris servers.. In windows 95/98/NT/2000/XP I am fluent in Office 2000/XP/2003 the entire package of applications, in programming I am fluent in Basic, Cobol, C/C++/C#, Assembler, Pascal, Fortran, CP/M, RPG 1,11, and 111 I am also good in Networking, Security, and mantenance, I have currently put together 4 computers on my own completely from scratch, and I am also very good at home networking and Novell Netware up to version 6.0 the last version we had in school. I am also fluent in web page design and development.. (x)html, perl, vb, activex, ASP, ColdFusion, php 3-5, MySQL, PostgreSQL, SSL, and dbase design, excluding shockwave which I am working on but just don't have the drawing ability to finish a project on my own. I'm pretty good with Dreamweaver, just the graphics part I have a problem with.

I have been using computers since the very first Texas Instruments with 12k of RAM that I had back in 1976. Besides IBM PC compatibles, my favorite line was always the Amiga and the VIC-20 I had when I was a kid. I never liked the Apple Macintosh line much, not even the newest Mac OS X 10 and the iMac. Mainframes I always enjoyed the Vax 9370 and the Vax 11750 both of which I had access to in both college and in high school at a career center I briefly attended earning college credit during my high school years..

I have 2 sisters, 1 step-sister, 1 half-sister, and 1 brother. My Mom and Step-Dad live in New Haven, IN, and my Dad and Step-Mom live in Ft. Wayne, IN, I visit on weekends when we can, I love all very much.. Hobbies include movies, computers, culinary arts, swimming, horsebackriding, and coin collecting.

I am also a prowd member of Ivy Techs Student Leadership Academy, representing Warsaw. It has been so much fun, we get to go on Field Trips across the state, and the members are like a family to me.

About the only certification I have is I passed the CNA certification from Novell back in July of 97, I am currently working my goal towards the A+ and Network+ and Server+ exams. I build and upgrade computers for friends with any spare time I have.   I ran a Renegade Bulletin Board System called Inner Child BBS from Jun 1990 to Aug 1996 when my first divorce was finalized and had to move in with my parents just before moving here to Warsaw. I now run a discussion board over at tcoburn.net. Its not as much fun as the old days of Bulletin Boards, but I enjoy it. Helps me to promote Blind Awareness. I also hangout over at leoville Town Square on a regular daily basis. Leo Laporte is a very popular Television personality who used to have a TV show about Computers and Technology, seen all across the country. I help out over there alot wherever I can. Leo is a nice guy, and we have a community of friends over there that I help and consult with on a daily basis. I've learned alot from them, and they learn alot from me. So thru that I have gained alot of group experience over the years, even though alot of us have never actually met in real life.

I dedicate this page to my friends and family, and all the employers and users out there who say I cannot see a computer screen. Gosh what am I doing here then? I should be sitting in a chair with my dog on one side and my caine in the other. haha

I would also like to thank future Web Hosting for letting me have the space to put this page on..

if it wasn't for them, and their exceptional support and patients, this page would not have been possible..