Prior to 2007, starting in 1998, I worked in IT (Information Technology) at two different companies, and concluding with a stint as an independent consultant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In fact, before this, I had had a strong background in computers and programming. My undergraduate major included a minor in Computer Science, and even in middle school and high school I’d been at the forefront of the emerging PC hobbyist world, having learned programming on my uncle’s Apple II computer in 1979 or so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was an “early adopter” with respect to PCs, windows, and the internet. I wrote and published my first website in 1995 (bear in mind the WWW was only 3 years old at that point), when working as a teaching assistant at the University of Pennsylvania. The website provided the syllabus, curricular materials and support to my students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When financial difficulties in the late 1990s impelled me to seek a better-paying job, computers seemed like an obvious place to go. So I talked my way into my first position, in the IT department of a fortune 500 company, and did fairly well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Self-Employed IT Consultant, Minneapolis, Minnesota<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Business Systems Analyst, June 2006 \u2013 September 2007<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n HealthSmart Pacific, Inc., Long Beach, California<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Business Systems Analyst and Database Administrator, May 2005 \u2013 June 2006<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n ARAMARK Uniform Services, Burbank, California<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Various positions ending as Data Analyst, June 1999 \u2013 February 2005<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Although I’ve been “out of the industry” for 14 years now, I work hard to maintain my skills with respect to computers, programming and the internet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Essentially as a hobbyist, I maintain my own Ubuntu Linux servers, from “root” to user interface. I maintain multiple blogs using the WordPress toolset (including this site you’re reading right now), I started a personal “Wiki” using the Mediawiki toolset, I have a prototype “geofiction” web-based GIS system in place on the OpenStreetmap (Open source GIS) platform, and I continue to experiment with everything from machine-language programming to database design to designing operating old-school text-MUDs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I would classify my current strengths as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n As of early 2021, I have built a website specific to my intentions to be a part-time website designer and provide hosting services. That site is called raggedsign<\/strong><\/a>. Included on that site is a portfolio<\/strong><\/a> of my current running websites and projects – most of these are my “own” but several are for friends and several provide me with small but regular income at this point.<\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Prior to 2007, starting in 1998, I worked in IT (Information Technology) at two different companies, and concluding with a stint as an independent consultant.…<\/p>\n\n
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Current Skills and Competencies<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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