About Mark
Mark Parsons is a computer technician in Brantford, Ontario, Canada. He repairs computers and helps people get their technology to behave.
He's shy by nature, so he does his best talking over the phone, at the workbench, or one carefully typed email at a time. Bring your machine and, if you're bringing a dog, bring the dog.
Dogs and animals in general are his weak spot. Ask him about anything and he'll answer; ask him about golden retrievers and the whole appointment becomes about the golden retriever.
Still in the Closet
- Commodore 64 — the original, still owned, still powers on. The boot chime is non-negotiable.
- 3dfx Voodoo 1 — the card that launched consumer 3D gaming. Still his. Still the reason Quake meant something.
- current desktop AMD Ryzen 9 5900X · 64 GB RAM · AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT
Thirty years of hardware, one closet, zero regrets. If a machine is interesting enough, it gets to stay.
Running Linux Since 1995
Started on Slackware, installed from floppy disks — color.gz first, then bare.i. The computer sat at the kitchen table. The floppy drive made a sound you only forget if you try.
Thirty-one years later the kernels changed and the disks changed, but the habit didn't.
Just Getting Into AI
AI is new territory for Mark, and it does about a hundred things to him at once:
- It scares him.
- It excites him.
- It confuses him.
- Plus about 100 other things he hasn't named yet.
He learned his trade one broken machine at a time, so he's doing the same with this. Slowly, and with the manual open.
Why This Site Exists
This site is an experiment in what AI can do. The page gets regenerated by an AI model every single day — which means it looks different every time you visit.
Wondering more? The full explanation is on the "Why" page: what the project is, why it changes daily, and why Mark (yes, a real person) is running it.