We all know and respect the great Black Belt @robbrown, now let's honour him with the Mahaloian of the Week title. Let's get to know Rob.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/33749589@N07/3609411846/

Q: Where are you from and where are you now?

A: I am Canadian born and raised. I live about 45 minuets from Downtown Toronto. I'm 32 and a Pisces who likes hugs and puppies.

Q: How did you hear about Mahalo Answers?

A: I heard about Mahalo at an Internet industry conference (I'm sorry I forget which one) about a year ago. I didn't really think too much of it other then thinking that the "human powered search" sounded like a great idea... well, other than the labour that would be involved in creating and maintain an archive powerful enough to be useful. However, I think that Mahalo 2.0 will solve that problem.

Some time after that, I was pressing the stumble-upon button doing some market research and came across this question:
http://www.mahalo.com/answers/money/what-internet-business-models-do-you-think-will-thrive-during-this-deep-recession
Jason Calacanis tipped me (M$1) for my answer and I thought, "hu... that's pretty neat" and continued answering questions. I haven't stopped :)

Q: What do you enjoy the most about Mahalo Answers?

A: I like getting paid for answering questions. While I'm not here only for the money, it is a fun and tangible point system. When I win best answer on a question and see my M$ balance increase, that is rewarding beyond the monetary value of the M$. In the same breath, I don't particularly care about belt levels because at the end of the day, there is no difference between a purple and brown belt. Above all else, it's the questions themselves that keep me here. Answering these questions here helps me to think outside of my own little world by helping others.

Q: What do you do when you're not answering questions?

A: I'm working hard and struggling in the early stages of starting a business of my own that centers around Real Estate. I started working on this business full-time before the crazy economy made everyone worry and while sometimes I'm scared and think how attractive a cubicle would be, I know that if I don't try it now, I'll never know if it would have worked. Struggling to "go it alone" this past year has been difficult, exciting, rewarding, and draining all at the same time. At the end of every week, I feel like I'm at the precipitous of something really great only to be faced with new (and exciting) challenges at the start of the next.

I also consult and provide guidance for people that I've been involved with in the past and maintain a couple of pieces of technology that I have refined over the past few years to drive internet traffic.

Q: Mac or PC?

A: If I was in one of the Mac Vs. PC commercials, I would be the odd looking guy in the middle who tells Mac that "he's not all that", PC to "stop copying Mac" and introduce them both to their hot neighbor, "open source". I use a Mac day-to-day but I regularly use a couple of PC's (XP, Vista). I have a couple of servers that run CentOS, a couple that run Ubuntu and some legacy stuff that ticks away nicely on my old friend RedHat. I run VMWare and use VNC a lot.

Q: What hobbies do you enjoy?

A: In the summer, I enjoy golfing. Even though I'm not very good, I enjoy the excuse to get outside and wander around with anyone who can join me. In the winter, I can usually be found at or around a ski hill. Throughout the year, I enjoy cooking although my self-taught methods usually have the same results in the kitchen as they do on the golf course.

Lately, my hobbies have been my children. A 1.5 year old boy and a 4 year old girl fill most of the free time that I devoted to hobbies in the past. I'm quite happy to give up golf and skiing for a while while I enjoy everything they've given my wife and I.

Q: Where is the most-interesting place you've ever been?

A: While I have a few travel stories that I would love to share over a few pints of beer, the most interesting place that I have been is San Francisco. The first time that I was there, I was blown away. We hear about the tech scene on the East coast and experience it to a degree ... but not to the extent that it exists in The Valley. I fondly remember my first night in near San Francisco at "The Old Pro" in Palo Alto. I met a couple of girls who worked at Apple and when I replied, "I resell bandwidth" when they asked "what do you do", not only did they know exactly what that meant but we had a very interesting conversation about my peering agreements. The night ended when we realized the bartender was telling the truth and that the Jager machine really was empty. I don't think that would have happened anywhere else in the world. I've been to S.F. a couple of times since then and feel a unique excitement each time the plane touches down.

Q: Favorite movie, TV show, band and book?

A: Movie: The Notebook
Ok, yeah, that's totally not my favorite movie.
I don't watch it very often but I like American Beauty.

TV show: Lost
I'm a geek and this show is like football for geeks.
I also like watching How I Met Your Mother. Barney's awesomeness is contagious and any show that uses NYC as a backdrop can't be bad.

Band: I like a wide variety of music. My favorite band right now is Fleet Foxes.
I listen to a lot of music throughout the day. I use it to control surges in work and rest. When I hear Fleet Foxes come on my playlist, I know it's just about time to dive back into work.

Book: There are a few of these as well. When I'm not reading something from the Safari online bookshelf....
In popular fiction, I enjoyed The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffengger
http://www.amazon.com/Time-Travelers-Wife-Audrey-Niffenegger/
While I really enjoy the classics from folks such as Descartes, a glance at my bookshelf shows that I find myself drawn to business books like "In Search of Excellence", "Built to Last", "Lessons From The Top".

Q: What avatars do you look forward to seeing when you click on a question? Who are your favourite Mahaloians?

A: Well, this is a tough question. While I enjoy reading the answers from the folks who frequent the site, I look forward to hearing what new people have to say just as much. My favorite Mahaloians are those that ask the most interesting questions.

Q: If you could give one piece of advice to a new Mahalo Answers user, what would that be?

A: When my wife ( @brandy76 ) joined after hearing me talk about it constantly, I told her to take her answers seriously and have fun with the community. It seems like a lot of new folks are pounding through questions for points and a couple of M$'s. There's nothing wrong with that, but it really makes me sad to realize that as the site grows, the community will change and maybe even separate a little bit.