The Dark Side Geek

I began my career in Software Development, but quickly tired of the regimented design process: not enough coding and too much bureaucracy. I had done some system administration on the side and found that I enjoyed the constantly changing nature of the environment and the “immediate gratification” offered by developing tools for such a user base. Thus, I made the switch to Information Systems.

I had spent 11 wonderful years at Fortune 500 NCR Corporation, 9 of them heading up IT special-projects. I was team leader and Internet specialist for NCR’s domestic Engineering & Manufacturing plants (home base: San Diego). It was a great group, but corporate executives did not listen to the opinions of anyone not at Dayton world headquarters. When the CIO told me that he wanted to take a wait-and-see approach before adopting the strange new “world-wide web”, I knew that I had to leave for my own peace of mind.

From there, I joined startup AirFiber as Director of Information Technology. AirFiber was a wireless communications company specializing in free-space optics and ultrawideband RF. It was a kick-ass line of products that unfortunately came when the telecom market was crashing. We fell short of funding that could allow us to weather the storm , so the doors were closed in Feb 2003. The job was a great opportunity to start an IT organization from the ground up, as well as keep my hands dirty in a broad range of technology projects. Not to mention that it was a company filled top-to-bottom with great people. Oh well.

I then landed a great gig at Verari – a very promising HPC, blade server, and container-based data center  manufacturer. As IT Director,  Iassembled a great team that was able to do some fantastic work, and then poof! Just my luck, Verari also faltered in a down economy. They have risen from the restructured ashes as Cirrascale in 2010, so we’ll see where that takes me next!

Even though at work I have joined the “dark side” as management, I am still a developer at heart. Besides authoring MajorCool and AlphaPage, I have also contributed to such open-source projects as Majordomo, Apache, NCSA httpd, GNATS, expect, mp, pcal, and many others.

I am a motivated self-starter with a passion for learning new technologies and knowing where, when, and how to implement them effectively. If this is starting to sound like a lot like a résumé, you are right.

Dogs & cat, but no kids.

As a native Californian, I have adapted to that stereotypical “active lifestyle”, and I regularly enjoy playing softball (P/SS/OF), volleyball (indoors and beach), bowling (198 avg), and cycling (road more so than mountain). I am also trying to improve at golf, tennis, & skiing.

I am a die-hard Padres fan with season tickets. Also glued to the TV during football season (go Chargers!). My alma mater UCSD didn’t have a football team, so I adopted the cross-town San Diego State Aztecs and attend most games with my Dad (an alum).

I am a Garden Guy. I enjoy landscaping/gardening and attempting to grow orchids. Its the East County heat that kills my plants, not my sub-par horticultural skills. Or so I’d like to believe.

My favorite TV shows include The Big Bang, Glee, 30 Rock, NCIS, Justified, and Nova. And how could you not appreciate any of the entire original USA line-up (Burn Notice, Psych, Blue Collar, etc). I truly enjoy/admire Craig Ferguson on the Late Show, and Erin Burnett on CNBC’s Street Signs. And OK, I’ll admit it – So You Think You Can Dance is a guilty pleasure.

I enjoy all forms of music, with the exception of Rap. I have an extensive CD collection that I unfortunately end up listening to only a small percentage of – not a good use of my discretionary cash! Pat Metheny, Guster, Cold Play, Yanni, Alan Parsons, Enya, XTC, 10000 Maniacs, and anything by Puccini are tops on my list.

I’m a movie buff, though I have vowed to be a little less aggressive with my DVD purchases; only my absolute favorites (such as The Usual Suspects, Last of the Mohicans, Blade Runner, Seven, anything by Monty Python, and the Pixar collection) have made it onto my shelves.

Throw in season tickets to the opera and an occasional play thrown in for good measure, and you’ve got the scoop on my entertainment tastes.

Other interests: Antiques, Astronomy, Home Automation, Photography, SciFi, and reading about the inner-workings of the human brain.