Jörg’s Hobbies
 
Programming

My first computer was an Apple II Europlus that my uncle built for me in 1982. That was one hell of a machine: Motorola 6502 processor (1 MHz), 48k memory, 6 colors (anyway, I only had a monochrome monitor), and a disk drive. I think the number of BASIC programs I wrote are innumerable (text and "high-res" graphical adventure games, a Dungeon & Dragons monster-generator, etc...)


Then, in 1988, I bought an Apple II GS. Somehow similar to an Amiga (although without graphic coprocessor), this computer could still run the old Apple II stuff. Equipped with a 65C816 processor (2.8 MHz), 4096 color graphics, 32 channel stereo sound and a 3 1/2 disk drive, I started writing games in assembly language. Gate, written together with two friends, Henrik Gudat and Yann Le Tensorer, and later on Spacefox were published by Toolbox, a French game company, and later on Seven Hills Software, a company located in the USA.

Finally, I switched to Macintosh. After some years using a Mac IIsi (I ported Gate to the Macintosh), I finally bought a PowerMac 8500. I wrote a couple of programs in C++, mostly semester projects, including a interactive simulator of mechanical interactions (SimKit) for the graphics lab at Carnegie Mellon University and a Tierra simulator for the LSL, the Department of Logical Systems at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne (EPFL). During the preparation for my final exams, I have written a strategic board game, Hexomania. Then I worked on a new game, Stormwind, which was supposed to be a mixture between strategic, action and simulation game, but since I am a professor at McGill my programming time is very limited. So I guess it will remain in "alpha" stage for a long time!
Skating

I started ice-skating when I was 8 years old, and started a serious Ice Dancing career when I was 14. In 1992 I won the Swiss Championships and participated in the European Championships and World Championships. At the European Championships (Lausanne, Switzerland) I finished at the 16th place, at the World Figure Skating Championships (San Francisco, CA, USA) I finished at the 18th place (out of 27 competitors), just behind the Lithuanian couple who have won the 3rd place at the World Figure Skating Championships in 2000.

 

Music

Very early, I started learning to play the recorder and really loved it. Then, as every *good* "Basler" (habitant of Basel), I learned to play the piccolo. This instrument is played during the annual spring carnival. I also tried to learn how to play the clarinet, but after one year of studies I abandoned it. What I enjoyed the most was playing the piano. If I remember correctly I started playing the piano when I was 8, and I took lessons for about 9 years.