Roland "Commander" Sykes
June 1st, 1953 - March 10th, 2008
Wizard, Bit Twiddler, Philosopher, Teacher, and most fun of
all...
The Bus Driver for ADAPT
From: June Kailes
Roland: mentor, teacher, patience, passionate, strident, smoker
Back in the prehistoric days before internet browsers and email programs, I was an interested, eager, early adopter of computers, e-mail and using the internet. I would spend many hours with Roland in person and on the phone asking endless questions. He was a patient mentor and I can still hear him ask, “Does that make sense?”
Just the other day, while cleaning up some computer folders, I found files of code-- Roland had taught me how to automate email mailing lists long before e-mail software made it easy to do. With his help, I was surfing the internet using ‘Gopher” long before there were browsers available.
Yes, Roland, it did and it does … change ones life, and although there are many days where I’m drowning in email avalanches and swearing at the email monster created, I know I could not be productive without it.
So, I thank you and I will miss you.
June Isaacson Kailes
