My name is Stefanos Harhalakis and I live in Thessaloniki, Greece. I also use the nickname V13 on IRC, e-mails, forums, etc. I'm a long-term(?) computer user / programmer / sysadmin. My computer activities date back to 1985.

One of the things I enjoy is computer programming. I'm currently programming in C/C++, PHP (+HTML, +CSS) and Python. I used to use other languages like Pascal and x86 Assembly but not any more. I've also tried Perl, Java and Ruby but didn't find them as useful or nice as the languages that I'm currently using (even though Ruby is a very nice language).

I prefer writing opensource programs for open platforms like Linux but I've also created a few windows programs for fun and for profit. For a long period I used to write programs for MS-DOS and OS/2 (which was something between MS-DOS and MS-Windows regarding the programming experience).

Other programming-like languages and tools/shell I'm frequently using are: SQL, Bash, AWK, TCL, expect etc...

While programming I've visited various worlds like Windows GUIs (yes... with custom made event loops too), Linux GUIs (QT and GTK), Networking, Linux kernel, etc.. and I really enjoyed them. In fact I'm still enjoying most of them.

As part of my career, I'm also acting as a systems administrator mainly for Unix systems. Until now I've administered Linux, Windows, Network, IRIX, OSF/1 (or Digital Unix if you prefer) and Solaris systems while I was lucky to have some experience with Ultrix and VMS. I have to say that I somehow miss the old days when there was a plethora of operating systems. Now it's only Linux, BSD and Windows.

Like all other systems administrators I'm also involved in network administration. Because of the weird problems we have faced, I dare to claim that I'm a well-experienced network administrator. I'm somehow specialized in Cisco switches, routers and wireless. As a mater fact, I'm teaching the CCNA course along with Nicholaos Psarras at the Department of Informatics of TEI of Thessaloniki.

Not being an exception, my administration skills were developed while being a blackhat (first) and a whitehat (latter). Thus I also tell people that I'm quite familiar with security issues.

I'm currently affiliated with the Department of Informatics of TEI of Thessaloniki (a 4-years University in Greece) where I'm a systems and network administrator and also teach the CCNA Course. I'm also involved in a number of different areas in the Department that aren't related to computers or teaching.

I hold a degree in Information Technology from the Department of Informatics of TEI of Thessaloniki and a Master's degree in Applied Informatics / Computer Systems from the University of Macedonia (also located in Thessaloniki, Greece). I'm currently a wanna-be Dr. (a.k.a. PhD student) at the University of Macedonia. My research is related to the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and especially Congestion Control, but I also like to have some looks to other areas like routing, IP and security.