User:Echtoran

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This user is a member of the League of Copyeditors.
ANAL 5 This user is incredibly stringent with professional grammar.
OED This user uses Oxford spelling.
US This user uses American English.
Y'all This here user talks Southern, y'all.
AIM-Able This user understands AIM talk perfectly well, but does not use it. Ever. Well, sarcastically sometimes. But that's it. Really. lulz.
they This user considers the singular they to be substandard English usage.
ain’t This user considers ain’t standard English usage.
snuk This user says snuck.
... in. Ending a sentence with a preposition is something up with which this user will not put.
to / too
/ two		 This user thinks that too many people have no idea how to use words that they should have learned in grade two.
whom This user insists upon using whom wherever it is called for, and fixes the errors of whomever he sees.
which & that This user knows how to use which and that correctly.
if & whether This user knows how to use "if" and "whether" correctly.
less & fewer This user understands the difference between less & fewer.
their / there / they’re This user thinks that there are too many people who don’t know that they’re worse than their own children at spelling!
your/ you’re This user thinks that if your grammar is incorrect, then you’re in need of help.
You and Me This user thinks that if you believe it is incorrect to use "you and me" as the object of a sentence, a little talk needs to be had by you and me...
“,;:’ This user is a punctuation stickler.
.  The This user puts two spaces after a full stop.
, This user fixes comma splices. They are annoying.
A, B, and C This user prefers the serial comma.
its & it’s This user understands the difference between its and it’s. So should you.
’s Thi's user know's that not every word that end's with s need's an apostrophe and will remove misused apostrophe's from Wikipedia with extreme prejudice.
C-3 This user is an advanced C user.
C++ This user can program in C++.
objc This user can program in
Objective-C.
Perl This user is a Perl hacker.
php This user can program in PHP.


bash This user is a bash scripter.
.css This user can write Cascading Style Sheets.
<html> This user can write HTML.
js This user can program in JavaScript.
mysql This user writes programs that access MySQL.
re This user is a regular expression programmer.
sql This user uses SQL queries to locate car keys.
{{Wiki}} This user can write in the MediaWiki language
w:) This user is a wiki markup enthusiast.
xml This user can write XML.
xhtml This user can write XHTML.
prog-N This user is a native programmer.
XD This user is interested in comedy, and may enjoy writing or performing it.
ALL This user is a fan of all kinds of comedy.


Echtoran, sometimes known as Brad Johnson, was born on January 3, 1980, in the town of Sumter, South Carolina. He currently works as a system engineer for a telecommunications company.

Contents

Early Life

By the age of three, Echtoran could easily demonstrate exceptional reading skills, provable by reading names on signs he had never before seen. People amazed by the fact would drive him through towns that to which he had never been, asking him to read the street signs. Positive proof of his reading skill, and not merely one of recognition, was the phonetic pronunciation of "Thames" instead of the common regional pronunciation, which was the same as that of River Thames in southern England.

Reading became somewhat of an obsession for Echtoran, as did writing of his own. English grammar, despite its general unimportance in the Southern region of the United States, was a second nature for him, and as such, he found relative ease in correcting works.

While a young child, Echtoran developed intensive pain in his legs and lower back. This remained misdiagnosed for many years until temporary paralysis resulted in extensive testing, leading to a diagnosis of spondylolisthesis.

Forced to reduce physical activity, and after hearing Eric Clapton's song Tears in Heaven, Echtoran began playing guitar. He took lessons for six weeks, had learned everything his instructor had to teach, and began independent study.

Academics

Echtoran graduated high school at the top of his class and enrolled at Clemson University. Though he stopped attending classes before completing requirements for his freshman year, he did have a successful stint as editor of a campus newspaper. He has often cited this as one of the most joyful times of his life.

Professional Life and Troubles

Echtoran began a career in information technology, something he had picked up as a pure hobby. Work with the GNU/Linux operating system led to recognition by others, and in February of 2000, he went to work helping to build a multi-faceted telecommunications company.

Unfortunately, the stress that came with the job and personal matters led Echtoran into a deep well of alcohol abuse, which continued until December 24, 2005. Helped by Alcoholics Anonymous and an extensive personal search for meaning, Echtoran has thus far been able to conquer his addiction.

Current Operations

To this day, Echtoran maintains a plethora of hobbies. He has written two novels, the first of which he decries as "shitty ravings of a drunk." The second is currently being edited before being submitted for publication.

Since first picking up a guitar in 1992, he has played nearly every day, often spending as much as eight hours in practice. His original compositions are generally of the neo-classical variety, though he often tends to write ribald songs with a Country music feel.

Echtoran also considers himself a film buff and has expressed interest in writing screenplays. He has created treatments for several works, but as of 2007, has yet to complete one.

Echtoran is an avid user of MediaWiki software and contributes to a number of wikis, notably Wikipedia and Lostpedia. He generally avoids making major contributions, but enjoys cleaning and copy-editing articles in order to improve them.

Echtoran currently lives in Greenville, South Carolina.