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Presenters

Lots of people have asked us who we are and what we look like. Here’s an attempt to answer those questions!

Laura CowenLaura Cowen is a Usability Specialist at IBM, psychology PhD student and geek. She became a presenter because Studio A was installed in her living-room and she kept offering opinions on what the other presenters said during recordings. Laura’s used Linux as her desktop at home since 2002 and at work since 2006. She’s been using Ubuntu since Warty Warthog and spends time convincing work colleagues to do the same. You might have bumped into her at a Hampshire Linux Users Group meeting, LugRadio Live (where she wore a yellow Crew shirt most years), at FOSDEM in Brussels, or, more recently, running around organising OggCamp and OggCamp10. Laura is @lauracowen on twitter.

Photo of Mark Johnson
Mark Johnson is a Developer who works mainly with PHP/MySQL but also dabbles with Ruby, Qt and interesting Javascript APIs. He currently works as an Open Source development adviser for UK education. He’s used Ubuntu since Warty Warthog. He is also the obligatory long-haired bearded geek on the Ubuntu Podcast.  Mark is @marxjohnson on twitter.

Alan Pope (small)Alan Pope has spent the last 13 years working as a system admin on some evil proprietary software, but does what he can for Ubuntu and Linux in his spare time. He first encountered Linux in the mid-1990s, and ran RedHat then Debian on the desktop and server until Ubuntu Warty came out. Alan became an Ubuntu member in 2006 and is the contact person for the UK LoCo team, a member of the LoCo Council and a member of the EMEA Membership Council. He started the Screencasts team and has attended lots of Developer Summits. He quite dislikes forums. Alan is @popey on twitter and identi.ca.

Tony WhitmoreTony Whitmore is a photographer and project manager by day and media geek by night. He has been using Linux since RedHat 7.2 and Ubuntu since Breezy Badger. He is not a developer, although occasionally tries despite the laughs from real developers. He twiddles the knobs on the Ubuntu Podcast and tries to make sure everyone is speaking somewhere near their microphone, which is not as easy as it sounds! Tony is @tonywhitmore on twitter.

Past presenters

Ciemon Dunville (small)Ciemon Dunville is an aviator, currently working in simulation, by night a dabbler in gadgets. A radio ham (G0TRT) and keen biker, he’s been using Linux since Redhat 7, and switched to Ubuntu when the noise from HantsLUG suggested there might be something in it. With no deep Linux knowledge he is the level-headed voice of calm who makes sure we don’t forget the users. Ciemon was a presenter during seasons 1-3.

Dave Walker (small)Dave Walker is a system administrator and VoIP expert, as well as programming C++ and Java. He began experimenting with Slackware in 1999 but moved to Ubuntu when Warty was released. He is part of the team which produces the Mythbuntu distribution and hopes to become a MOTU one day. Dave was a presenter during seasons 1-3.