Welcome to the Web Site of

This is the web site of Ric de France (AKA Richard de France, Richard Defrance, Rorschach, Ricman, Ricster)...

Why did I set up this site? Too much spare time...

In case you're wondering what I look like, this picture below is of me hard at work!

My Contact Details
E-mail:	rdefrance (at) gmail (dot) com
Phone (International):	+61 412 945554
Phone (Australia):	0412 945554

Please feel free to contact me.

More About Me...
Things that are interesting to me right now, or things that I am working / involved with (things I'm happy to discuss with people over e-mail):	GNU/Linux An open-source operating system that is distributed by many companies or groups of people. Click here for my experiences of installing and running GNU/Linux on a Toshiba P20. Most people will say (if they know what Linux is) that they're using Linux. Linux is just the kernel, and the entire operating system is GNU/Linux. Gentoo Linux One such distribution of the previous point. Slow to build, but extremely easy to maintain. Everything is compiled from scratch, and is optimized for your system. No fancy installer, but if you've used Red Hat (Enterprise) Linux or Mandrakelinux for a while, then you should have enough understanding of how to get Gentoo to work. Mozilla An open-source browser (with e-mail reader, and HTML creator), and in my opinion better than the original Netscape Communicator (although on their web site you won't find much reference to that old product, as their new browser, Netscape 7, is built on Mozilla development efforts) or Microsoft's IE (just a word of warning about IE - read the license before installing... you'll be shocked as to what you'll be agreeing to...). Mozilla is a suite of browsing applications (ie. it has a browser, mail reader, news reader, etc). For a lighter version, try Firefox. Wiki In a few words: totally open, collaborative articles. I'll admit that this was a little alien to me, but I think it's an absolutely superb concept. In a way, it's what the Internet promised when it was first invented. That link above takes you to Wikipedia. Find a topic that interests you, and start editting a page today, or have a look at the list of pages I have edited on Wikipedia.
Education:	Some kindergarten in East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia (1977) Some other kindergarten in Carlton, Victoria, Australia (1977 - 1978) St John's Primary School - East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia (1979) Sacred Heart Primary School - Kew, Victoria, Australia (1980 - 1985) De La Salle College - Malvern, Victoria, Australia (1986 - 1991) RMiT - Melbourne, Victoria, Australia (1992 - 1994) Victoria University - Footscray, Victoria, Australia (1995 - 1999)
Work History:	Chez Philippe de France Restaurant (my father's restaurant) - Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Southern Croissants Bakery - Richmond, Victoria, Australia (1993) Motion Amusements - Melbourne, Victoria, Australia (1993 - 1994) Bobby McGee's Restaurant / Entertainment Lounge - Melbourne, Victoria, Australia (1994 - 1998) Rydges Melbourne Hotel - Melbourne, Victoria, Australia (1998) IT Department in NAB - Melbourne, Victoria, Australia (1999 - 2007) Infrastructure specialist - Australia (2007 - ...)
Current Job:	Infrastructure System Administrator

Some links to click on...
Firefox Browser - Support an open source browser by using it... GNU/Linux with the Toshiba P20 - My experiences with my Toshiba P20 and installing and running GNU/Linux on it. My Area @ Amazon.com - Containing more information about me and what I like, along with some reviews of some of the items that they sell. HTML Symbols - Some useful symbols and HTML code equivalents. Browser / OS Sniffer - A useful JavaScript display screen to give feedback on what browser and OS is being used to view it. Thoughts & Comments - Some of my thoughts in blog format... I used to make my own home grown blog (see 2005 - there are links on it to older thoughts.), but I found it difficult to maintain and upload to this web site. Hopefully using blogger will mean I will publish more often. Devon Meadows Heated Dog Pool - My dog had a slight limp about mid-2004. We were recommended to take it swimming. She was better in about 3 months. This link happens to be my local "dog pool". If your dog is injured, or needs a break from routine excercise, try swimming it. Speed Camera Locations Around Victoria - I got this file a while ago, and I didn't know what to do with it. But here it is. It may not be accurate, but if it gets you to slow down when driving around Victoria, then I guess it could save you some money, and help the police keep the road toll down. Both sides win!

Some links to click on...

Firefox Browser - Support an open source browser by using it...

GNU/Linux with the Toshiba P20 - My experiences with my Toshiba P20 and installing and running GNU/Linux on it.

My Area @ Amazon.com - Containing more information about me and what I like, along with some reviews of some of the items that they sell.

HTML Symbols - Some useful symbols and HTML code equivalents.

Browser / OS Sniffer - A useful JavaScript display screen to give feedback on what browser and OS is being used to view it.

Thoughts & Comments - Some of my thoughts in blog format... I used to make my own home grown blog (see 2005 - there are links on it to older thoughts.), but I found it difficult to maintain and upload to this web site. Hopefully using blogger will mean I will publish more often.

Devon Meadows Heated Dog Pool - My dog had a slight limp about mid-2004. We were recommended to take it swimming. She was better in about 3 months. This link happens to be my local "dog pool". If your dog is injured, or needs a break from routine excercise, try swimming it.

Speed Camera Locations Around Victoria - I got this file a while ago, and I didn't know what to do with it. But here it is. It may not be accurate, but if it gets you to slow down when driving around Victoria, then I guess it could save you some money, and help the police keep the road toll down. Both sides win!

The search engines I choose...
Google Dogpile

Under construction:
This site will always be under construction in one form or another. Please check back often to see what else is new, and what other things I have added.