| James Gourlay |
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| Friction fire-lighting on a rare dry day in Wales. |
Name: James Gourlay
- I love to improvise, to make do and mend and figure things out for myself - even if this means doing things the hard way. In any week I may find myself programming, catering or teaching in the woods, I find these are complementary. Its the connection between things, people, ideas that fascinate me.
Interests
- Improvisation in every sense I can imagine
- Wilderness Living - I currently teach bushcraft courses in UK, amongst other things.
- Linux - allows me to get the most value out of the computer experience
- Solo world travel on a shoestring - couch surfing, hitch-hiking or ridesharing
- 1970s How-to books - I collect them, and have been fortunate to meet some of their authors
- Sailing, Yoga, massage, cookery - especially of wild foods
Appropedia and Me
What a great resource, I stumbled across Arcata, CCAT and Appropedia while hitch hiking up the coast several years ago, got totally inspired and hope to give something back.
Experience
- I developed a load- sharing router to provide WiFi based access to areas of rural Wales
- Patented a tamper-evident seal, sold it, bought a sailboat, sold it, traveled around the world
- Taught courses on bushcraft and survival skills to diverse groups
- I crew on a Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter - we sail her without the benefits of modern technology, like winches, cleats or jammers :-)
Qualifications
- Postgrad Diploma from Centre for Appropriate Technology, Wales, UK in Architecture: Advanced Environmental & Energy Studies
- Software Engineering B.Eng (Hons), University of Wales, Aberystwyth.
- Sun Certified Java Programmer, Sun Certified Web Component Developer
- Wilderness Trauma First Responder
- Certified yoga teacher, various massage modalities.
Favorite Quote
"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."
-Robert A. Heinlein