Mornings are tough down here on the ice. The station doctor says that the heavy eyes, the grogginess and the disorientation, are all related somehow to chronic dehydration, a significant problem for everyone that lives and works in Antarctica. Every morning at 6 a.m., the first thing I do after a quick shower is head downstairs to my office and turn on my laptop computer. With a feather-light touch of my finger my screen ignites. Another quick soft touch provides me a list of my e-mails downloaded in the wee hours of the morning off a satellite somewhere in the heavens above.

A cup of strong coffee later, I am zooming through correspondence with faculty, staff, students and administrators at UAB, sending a letter to a family member, and answering a third grade classes' questions about leopard seals for the UAB WOW Web site. I take all this for granted. But in reality, information technology has transformed Antarctica. And here at Palmer Station we are lucky to have Hugh MacMullan, a marvelous Irish computer information technologist (I tried calling him a computer guru ... and ... between you and me, he really is ... but he asked that he not to be given such high and mighty status). Hugh is so Irish that his computer screen saver is his family's plaid.

But getting back to the amazing world of information technology, and how it has transformed our icy world, you'll enjoy the following interchange between Dan Willson, UAB WOW Web site coordinator, and Hugh (our guru...shhhhh). Read on.

Cheers from the true deep south!
Jim

Dan: What sparked your imagination/fascination with computers?

Hugh: In the early 80s my family moved to a more affluent neighborhood with computers in the school (TRS-80's and an Amiga!). I took a BASIC programming class, and soon became enamored with the logic of programming, and the fun that I was having at the controls of these toys. So enamored, in fact, that a friend of mine, a sister and I were all picked up by the friendly local police one evening after finding a door open at the high school. We had snuck into the computer lab and were feverously working on our latest ASCII graphics shoot-em-up game. Needless to say, but our parents and the police were all ... confused.

Dan: How did you find yourself working in information technology (IT) in one of the most remote, inhospitable regions on the planet? What kind of education, experience, and chain of events lead to the position at Palmer Station?

Hugh: After an embarrassing semester as a physics major, I eventually got my bachelor’s degree in English, with a philosophy minor (logic). I got (and still get) most of my computer training and experience the fun way: at home, on my own, just hacking away.

I got a lucky break about eight years ago when I was offered a job as a PC and Mac tech at Stanford University, with little "on-the-job" experience. This quickly turned into a UNIX administrator position (the previous admin quit), and then UNIX administration contracting with (then) Taos Mountain Software. I was in the right place at the right time — Silicon Valley 1993.

In contrast with most career moves over the past 10 years, getting a job here required unflagging interest, some planning, and patience. I got the Antarctic "bug" from the science fiction novel Antarctica, by Kim Stanley Robinson (a former recipient of a U.S. Antarctic Program Artists and Writers Program grant) about three years ago. The idea of living and working in such an unusual, inhospitable, beautiful place was fascinating. I did some searching on the web, reading journals, NSF documents, etc., and eventually discovered the USAP contractor's site (it was ASA at the time, currently: www.polar.org). I immediately applied as a UNIX administrator, but it was too late for that season. I applied again the following year, and planned to go to the job fair in Denver, even had a ticket, but a disaster at my then-current job kept me at work, and I missed my early morning flight. How ironic! I applied anyway, but it took ANOTHER year and actual face-to-face contact with my new boss at the job fair before I finally succeeded: I was going to Antarctica!

Dan: Describe how Palmer Station is connected to the Internet via satellite uplink/downlink.

Hugh: Palmer Station is connected to the Internet via a leased government satellite connection. From an internal, on station perspective it works very similarly to a standard modem connection. Once you're on the outside of the router, it's pretty different. The satellite isn't stationary, it rises and sets, requiring a bit of planning and coordination, and it uses radio waves to transmit data through the atmosphere instead of over copper or fiber wires. In theory, that's fairly simple: to establish a full-duplex connection (both sides can "talk" and "listen" at the same time) there is a transmit frequency and antenna, and a receive frequency and antenna here at Palmer Station, and the same in Miami (with different frequencies), which is our current downlink site. Data leaves our transmit antenna at a given frequency, hits the satellite, which converts it to the Miami receive frequency and transmits it to Miami. And vice versa for incoming traffic. In practice, it can be a finicky system, with weather, water and ice reflection, parts availability, and even satellite age keeping us on our toes. A newer, tracking antenna and higher-bandwidth connection are planned for the upcoming (2002) Austral Winter season.

Dan: Scientific/research environments have a specific amount of redundancy, just in case equipment breaks unexpectedly. Since you can't easily run down the street to CompUSA or mail order replacements from the Web, what kind of redundant systems are in place at Palmer Station and/or other Antarctic stations? What does this include — spare parts, spare machines, etc.? How long would it take to get spare parts/systems/software sent to the station? Because of the remote location and other variables, are upgrades and special projects given more lead-time than they would receive in the normal world?

Hugh: Redundancy is one of the key words in remote research situations. From a data standpoint, up-to-date backups are the core. If you only do one thing right today, make sure it's you're backups. Then there is communications redundancy, including network, phone, and radio ... we have four types of satellite connections, three which will support data and all four of which will support voice transmissions. We have ham radio as a true emergency system, in case all of the satellites fail. Then comes all of the different hardware sets: fail-over routers, RAID arrays, load shared/redundant servers (for the big stuff like sendmail, DNS, DHCP, etc.), with appropriate quantities of standby gear such as satellite modem, motherboards, cabling, cases ... you name it, we've got at LEAST one spare.

Getting new or replacement gear can be difficult, depending upon the time of year. Our only means of re-supply is via ship from Punta Arenas, Chile, and some years there isn't a resupply from April until July. And it takes time to get the supplies from the U.S. to Chile, as well: the lead-time tends to be about two to three months. Definitely a mindset that is difficult to adjust to! And upgrades and special projects often take years, instead of months!

Dan: What computer resources are available to residents of Palmer Station? How many computers are in public areas? What is typically done on these computers — typical office work, highly customized scientific analysis, or a combination of both?

Hugh: There are approximately ten public machines, half of which are reserved for science. There is an assortment of PCs and Macs, from brand new to a couple of years old. The common use machines are more often used for day-to-day office functions: email, records keeping, etc., while dedicated lab machines generally do the number crunching and/or data collection and instrument control.

Dan: Do you have any advice for students who are interested in an IT career but are uncertain about how to proceed? Anything in particular that worked for you or that you would recommend in hindsight?

Hugh: Don't be afraid to tinker (on your own systems, of course!) ... take stuff apart, examine, put back together. Learn about your gear BEFORE it breaks, not under the gun. Keep playing! If you aren't passionate about computers then the field is not for you, you will always be behind the learning curve.

Dan: Do you have a favorite operating system — Windows, Linux, BSD, Mac OS, or closed-source UNIX? What makes this OS more appealing to you than the other OSes available on the market?

Hugh: I "like" Linux best (RedHat flavor) because it's flexible, evolving, powerful and interesting. Not to mention free! That doesn't make it the best in all situations, however. For the sake of brevity I would generally say Linux servers, Windows or Mac desktops.