I started this blog in 2007, following about 2 years of writing a Hebrew based blog. I guess that by now, some of you are actually interested to know a bit about me and not only about the fact that I work with Asterisk, VoIP and stuff like that. So, here it goes.

As you know, my name is Nir Simionovich. For those who might be interested, the word Nir in Hebrew means a plowed field – yes, it’s the thing you call a field of grain after you go over it with a plow. I was born in 1974, which means that I’m now ____ (you do the math).

I can honestly say that I’ve been a techno-geek for the better part of my life. My first computer was a Spectrum ZX, shortly to be replaced by an Apple in 1984. That one got replaced by my first PC in 1989. IF any of you had seen the movie “Hackers”, the scene where they exchange books speaks much to me, as my desk was always filled with such texts and books. I guess that when you’re a 14 year old computer geek, the people you look up to for inspiration are Peter Norton and Bill Gates. We all know what happened of Bill Gates, I sometimes wonder what Peter Norton is doing – probably boarding companies or something like that.

In any case, moving forward in life, I’m married and living in Israel. When I travel to conferences around the world and meet people, I tell them that I’m from Israel. Usually, I will get a response of: “Isn’t it dangerous over there?” – my usual response would be “Not any more dangerous of crossing the 120th street mark in Manhattan”. Those who visited Israel know, it’s one of the safest places on the planet and for those who are looking for night life, Tel-Aviv is a city that never sleeps.

I have two amazing daughters, Nitzan (Age 12) and Liron (Age 10) – I consider them as my two wonders. No one really appreciates things in life, till they become parents. I guess that at some point in life, when you become one, you start looking at things differently and learn to appreciate other things.

I’ve been an Open Source evangelist since my college days in the Technion, way back in 1996. Projects that I’ve been involved with in the past include Free Radius, GnuGK and the Roaring Penguin L2TP client for Linux (way back in 1995). Since 2001, I’ve been increasingly involved with the Open Source Telephony movement, which includes projects like Asterisk, Kamailio (OpenSER), OpenSIPS, Freeswitch and others. I’m an active Open Source promoter, doing so via my two websites: www.asterisk.org.il (Available in Israel only – in hebrew) and www.phpari.org (my own open source project). If you would like to invite me to speak at your event, just drop me a message and I’ll get back to you. I normally have a fairly busy schedule, but I will do my best to accommodate to your request.

Besides that, leave a note, drop me a line… If you meet me at some Asterisk convention – bear in mind, I’ll never refuse a good beer – or better yet, a good single malt 🙂