My name is Emmett Charles Plant. I put up this website so that you can find contact information on me if you need it, or learn about me and the things I do, or whatever. I'm not really big into personal websites, and I spend too much time online as it is. This website is basically here so that I can tell people a quick web address when they want to know one. I actually update this page fairly often.

I'll break up the site into some easy-to-use sections.

History

I was born on December 21st, 1976 in Bucks County, PA. I grew up in Doylestown. I went to Gayman Elementary School, Overlook Elementary School, back to Gayman Elementary School, Lenape Middle School, Solebury School, back to Lenape and then to Central Bucks East High School. I went from there to Northeast High School in Philadelphia, PA. I got married on May 16th, 1999 to Star Christina Foster. Star and I both live and work in Philadelphia.

Software

I'm the founder of Time City. I guess I'm the Mayor, as well. Time City is a first-person-perspective multi-player network game being written using the Open Development model. Linux.com did an interview with me about it; you can read it here. We had a fantastic demo at the last LinuxWorld conference. The game will be free, and entirely Open Source. For more information about Time City, feel free to visit http://www.timecity.org. The Time City Project has grown leaps and bounds over the past 60 days alone. I can't wait to see what happens next.

Music

I wrote the song 'We Are Number Six' under the band name of 'Beautiful Science,' and I hope to release more when I get the time. I think that Beautiful Science's time has past, and the next piece I do may be released under the band name 'Magic Chair Copier,' which is a reference to part of a speech by Richard Stallman. As always, my next piece will be released as a .mp3 file only. This line is written permission to do whatever you want with it. If you need to sell it to feed your family or buy that Porsche, go ahead, I don't care. There's also talk of a collaboration between me and some other guy; I'll let you know if it ever appears. Meanwhile, I've been doing some experimentation with Sound Forge and the accordion. I wanted to see if I could get a 'club organ' sound out of it with some tweaking. Here is the result. I'm also in the process of recording an array of voice samples for DJ Nettwerk for his upcoming CD set, currently named Community. I'll make the samples available here, too. I also picked up a copy of Nettwerk's Sounds Of Slashdot 2.0 at the last tradeshow. Killer. Hey - I just got done remixing a new tune. It's called 'Ace of Base - Cruel Summer (DJ Emmett Geeks In Space remix)' and it's available right here. I've recently started a new music project, a group called 'Pajama Crisis.' Expect to read more about it here in the future.

Listening

Okay, okay. I can't explain it, but I've recently developed a liking for Moxy Fruvous. Maybe it's my affinity for Weird Al, TMBG and Rockapella coming back to haunt me. Maybe it's just because they're really good.

Writing

The only non-work writing I'm involved in is something really exciting; I'm finally doing a comic book! Well, a digital comic book, anyway. With my story and Fred's artwork, we're creating something really, really cool. More updates as they come. There used to be a link here to the first part of Mutually Assured Distraction, a story set in my as-yet-unpublished-because-I'm-lazy-and-haven't-touched-it Technocracy universe. You can read it here.

Dayjob

I currently work for Andover.Net on a site called Slashdot. I write original articles and post news bits throughout the day. My official 'title' is 'Slashdot Author,' but my new Slashdot business cards list me as 'Comic Relief.' If you're viewing this page, you probably got there by clicking something on Slashdot. You can see all the things I've written or posted to Slashdot by following this link. As of 2/3/2000, I still work for Andover, but we're being merged with/acquired by VA Linux. Also, for those interested, I was the guy MC'ing the Slashdot booth at the LinuxWorld Conference and Expo in NYC. The funniest thing was when some guy came up and asked me if I was a professional comedian that does tradeshows. No. I'm just a geek journalist that happens to write full-time for Slashdot. While I was at the Geek Compound, I was on two shows of 'Geeks In Space,' which were #21, 'Free Love,' and the Library Filtering Update show. Before I worked for Slashdot, I was a Staff Editor for LinuxToday.

Media Center

This new section of my website is a place where you can find references to me in the media, pictures of me and stuff like that. Most of my appearances have something or other to do with my job, or as a writer, or just as a member of the Linux and Open Source community. Here you go.

Photographer Jay Matsueda is responsible for my 'official' photographs. You can find them here, I call them Working, Accordion, Glare, and Matrix.

An article of mine, 'Where Daemons and Dragons Collide,' was quoted in a Salon article.

I got to talk to punk god Johnny Rotten about mp3's and the Pinkertons on his internet radio show, Rotten Radio. You can find me on the archived April 8th show at eYada.

I'm finally a cartoon character. I appeared on the far right in an After Y2K cartoon called 'Slashdot Gladiators,' a parody of the summer movie Gladiator.

For a brief moment, I appeared on 'The Money Programme,' a show produced and airing on BBC television.

I was interviewed by iUniverse, for an interview called 'Geek In Sync.' Bastards put it behind a free 'membership.' Ergh.

A parody advertisement of mine, 'Best,' was played on The Linux Show on June 13th, 2000. You can listen to the show in it's entirety here.

Hobbies

I'm a big fan of Linux and Open Source. And no, I won't call it GNU/Linux. Quit whining. I'm building my home network with Linux. My first box, flux.mentaltempt.org, also known as emmett.slashdot.org, is a Slackware machine. I also added a new Linux box to the network; it's my pimp mac daddy Tuxtops laptop, currently known as hoverboard.mentaltempt.org.

I collect props and memorabilia from the finest 'sci-fi' trilogy of all time; Back To The Future. At this point, I feel it's safe to say that I have seen these movies no less than ninety times each. If you were to go so far as to say I'm obsessed, I probably wouldn't disagree with you. Save the Clock Tower!

I also collect classic arcade games; my collection at home includes Superman, Space Invaders Deluxe, and Xevious. I bought my wife Q*Bert for a birthday present, and we both bought each other half of Space Invaders Deluxe as a wedding gift. The Basement Arcade is a great place to start if you're interested in the hobby. Childish Things has some pictures of our games posted in their Arcade section. My wife got Frogger for her birthday last year. Even in the new apartment, we're running out of space. My wife and I are also members of VAPS, the Video Arcade Preservation Society.

I'm a historical reenactor of the French and Indian War, and I sit on the Board of Trustees of Flashback, Inc., a historical reenacting organization based in New Jersey. Members of Flashback attended my wedding in full period regalia, and made the day a memorable one. Wait until March or so, and you'll be able to find me at the events on the calendar on their page.

Ever since I was very little, I've been enamored with the black box in the living room. I watch television, and I'm not afraid to admit it. The only shows I watch religiously are The Simpsons, Family Guy, King of the Hill, Due South and Iron Chef. There's also a 'second tier' of shows I watch. I watch these specifically because my wife got me hooked on them. Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Ally McBeal and Pepper Ann sit here. If I get a moment, I like to catch Bill Nye : The Science Guy. I also like the new round of CGI shows, like Beast Wars : Transformers and Voltron : The Third Dimension. I saw War Planets a while back; that was cool, too. Television is the opiate of the masses, and I occasionally need sedation. Oh yeah, I also love Penn & Teller's Sin City Spectacular. It's like the Ed Sullivan show on crack.

Contact

Emmett Charles Plant
834 Chestnut St., Apt. 1428
Philadelphia, PA 19107
emmett@slashdot.org
215-238-5875 home/office
215-629-9694 fax
888-285-8865 ext. 80639 mobile