Kevin Wilson
Northern News Services

Iqaluit (Sep 24/01) - Kakki Peter has been messing around with computers since the tender age of eight. That's when his parents brought home a Macintosh 512K.

"Geek in training" Kakki Peter examines the guts of a sick computer. The 19-year-old Iqaluit resident has been using computers since the age of eight. - Kevin Wilson/NNSL photo

"It was an old computer, but it was fun," says Peter. The 512K refers to how much memory the old computer had.

Fast-forward 11 years. Nowadays, at his job with Nunanet Communications, Peter works on computers with at least 256 times as much memory as that old Mac.

Referred to by boss Marcel Mason as Nunanet's "geek-in-training," Peter spends his days making sure people's computers compute, and that their e-mails don't go off the rails.

"He's pretty good," says Peter, referring to Mason's gentle ribbing. "It's a pretty good environment."

Making sure his clients have "connectivity" --that their link to the Internet is active and functional -- is a big part of Peter's job. Living on an island means relying on satellites to stay connected with the Net.

"At least once a week," though, connectivity takes an unscheduled break.

"Once in a while, (clients) freak out," because they can't access the net, he says. "Usually they're pretty good about it," he added.

Whether they're freaked or mellow, Peter takes the phone calls and makes service calls in style, sporting a snazzy two-tone hat made of sealskin.

His mother, Aaju, made it for him. Boss Mason calls it a "sealskin beanie," although he says it with a covetous gleam in his eye.

Unfortunately, Peter's own computer was behaving badly the day of his interview, courtesy of someone else's digital camera.

"My computer had been acting up, and when I installed the camera, that was it," said Peter.

In his long, dark office, one computer was opened up for surgery, while a monitor displayed a detailed diagnostic program.

"It's running a scan disc program in DOS," says Peter. "If you run it on Windows, it keeps interrupting you."

Peter's been at Nunanet since January, following his graduation from Inuksuk High School. He's thinking of heading south to Ottawa to continue his education.

"I want to run my own business up here," he says.