Walt Zwirko
Walt Zwirko
My first computer encounter came at the age of 10, when a grade school chum in Brooklyn, N.Y. invited me to visit his dad's college engineering lab. Fascinated by this strange 1963 world of cold, sterile rooms, whirling tape drives and punch cards, I maintained an interest in technical stuff into high school, where I not only set up a low-power neighborhood radio station, but also built my own TV camera (a geek before the term was even coined).
It wasn't until 1982, however, that I got my first computer: Something called a Commodore VIC-20, which used a TV set as a monitor. That was followed by a Commodore 64, then an original IBM PC (with two floppy drives; not a hard disk in sight) and a home-built 386 clone computer (this one did have a hard disk).
I last upgraded my home computer (which had originally been a 1995-vintage Micron Pentium 133) to a blazing 1.5 megahertz speed by replacing the motherboard several years ago, but it is now quite obsolete. I'm getting ready for another processor transplant.
My desk at work sports a fast Dell Optiplex with plenty of memory and hard disk space (but it never quite seems to be enough). I lug around a Dell Latitude D810 computer on the road, using it to update WFAA.com from just about anywhere, including:
• My living room sofa (where I am now)
• The Tom Thumb supermarket cafe (earlier today)
• Las Vegas
• Florida
• Cleveland
Since 1975, I've worked as a reporter, photojournalist and producer at television stations in Indianapolis (WTHR, 1975-1980), Salt Lake City (KUTV 1980-81) and Dallas (KDFW 1981-84, and WFAA 1984-present).
I even directed a live program once: The 1987 rescue of Baby Jessica from a well in Midland Texas, a production which was seen via satellite around the world.
A version of the weekly report is produced for WFAA's World Wide Web Internet site, which I established in 1995. For several years, through 2001, I was managing news editor for WFAA.com.
Now I hold the title of Senior Editor at WFAA.com, in addition to producing the Internet version of Computer Corner.
I hope you'll share with me any comments, questions or suggestions about our Web sites or Computer Corner.
WFAA SPEAKERS BUREAU REQUEST FORM
If you would like to request Walt Zwirko as a speaker at your next community event please click here.
It wasn't until 1982, however, that I got my first computer: Something called a Commodore VIC-20, which used a TV set as a monitor. That was followed by a Commodore 64, then an original IBM PC (with two floppy drives; not a hard disk in sight) and a home-built 386 clone computer (this one did have a hard disk).
I last upgraded my home computer (which had originally been a 1995-vintage Micron Pentium 133) to a blazing 1.5 megahertz speed by replacing the motherboard several years ago, but it is now quite obsolete. I'm getting ready for another processor transplant.
My desk at work sports a fast Dell Optiplex with plenty of memory and hard disk space (but it never quite seems to be enough). I lug around a Dell Latitude D810 computer on the road, using it to update WFAA.com from just about anywhere, including:
• My living room sofa (where I am now)
• The Tom Thumb supermarket cafe (earlier today)
• Las Vegas
• Florida
• Cleveland
Since 1975, I've worked as a reporter, photojournalist and producer at television stations in Indianapolis (WTHR, 1975-1980), Salt Lake City (KUTV 1980-81) and Dallas (KDFW 1981-84, and WFAA 1984-present).
I even directed a live program once: The 1987 rescue of Baby Jessica from a well in Midland Texas, a production which was seen via satellite around the world.
A version of the weekly report is produced for WFAA's World Wide Web Internet site, which I established in 1995. For several years, through 2001, I was managing news editor for WFAA.com.
Now I hold the title of Senior Editor at WFAA.com, in addition to producing the Internet version of Computer Corner.
I hope you'll share with me any comments, questions or suggestions about our Web sites or Computer Corner.
WFAA SPEAKERS BUREAU REQUEST FORM
If you would like to request Walt Zwirko as a speaker at your next community event please click here.
