Cut my teeth in the Unix world with SunOS 4.1.3, quickly embraced Linux 0.1 and my computing career was born. I worked as a systems administrator for a number of years and transitioned to development work.  Like everyone else, by the late 90’s I began building websites and have been doing it ever since. I have worked for agencies, big companies, and small companies on various technology projects – Server administration, Web Development, Software Development, etc.  Today I am sitting on over 25 years of experience.

Former host and organizer of the Breaking Development Podcast and Conference.

Currently, I work as a Linux System Administrator and part time am taking a “Technology Sabbatical” as a high school humanities teacher while I complete my MA in History.

Update:  My MA was conferred April 2019.

But my passion is in system automation — trust me, with a few lines of Python or a sprinkling of Javascript, I could eliminate you. I also have a passion for evangelizing technology.  I have recently come to the conclusion that I am a techno-utopian.

I also have a fetish for organizing information into Personal Knowledge Bases, metadata, and the quest for the perfect 21st century library.

I am spending some time exploring Linux administration, software development, tools, and methods I didn’t have time for in the past.  I have really gotten on the automation and productivity bandwagon.

Distro of choice: Ubuntu, because life is too short for anything else.

I have over 30 years of technology (software development, Linux administration, web development, and evangelizing technology) experience, seven years as a humanities teacher and am always looking for the next opportunity – feel free to email me.

What I Use

In the past I have worked from Ubuntu using Gnome, but it required too much tinkering to accomplish basic things and I do not need nor desire a ton of customization of the stock desktop environment. MacOS is solid and has a number of small features that just make it simple to use: Bluetooth just works, Touch ID, Apple Messages (with the feature to auto enter 2FA texted codes and have them auto delete after is life changing.) to name a few.

My main daily workstation is an Apple M1 Mac mini (2020) – 16GB Unified Memory, 512GB SSD, 27-inch Studio Display (wholly unnecessary since I spend the bulk of my time in a terminal.), Magic Keyboard with Touch ID and Magic Trackpad. I have an older (1920×1080) Samsung 24″ SR35 IPS Panel Borderless LED Flat Monitor as a second screen.

My portable is an Apple 13″ M1 MacBook Air – 8GB Unified Memory and 256GB SSD. The battery lasts forever.

My home server is a custom built Ubuntu 22.04 (LTS) 11th Gen Intel Core i5-11600K 2.90GHz processor, 64GB RAM, 512GB NVME boot drive and 11TB ZFS pool for data.