My Information Technology History
My father was a programmer who worked at Texas Instruments for over 20 years on their military programs. I was always around computers, even at a time when almost no one had computers in their homes. With each new desktop my dad acquired, the old ones were often handed down to me. The first computer he gave me was a TRS-80 Model III along with some BASIC programming books. At the time, I was only interested in copying the code from the books so I could play the games. However, after having to retype the code every time the desktop was turned off or lost power (the Model III didn’t have internal storage), I eventually began to figure out what those ifs, fors, prints, and other statements actually did.
Unfortunately, by the time I got my brand new Acer Pentium 75 computer with Windows 95 and started figuring out the internet, my interest in coding had waned. However, that interest was quickly resurrected when I bought a used copy of Visual Basic 6 Pro and discovered Active Server Pages (ASP) and how similar the languages were to the BASIC language I had accidentally taught myself so many years ago.
So, in my spare time, I created a simple online store for the company where I was working as a machinist and, though the languages have changed, I haven’t stopped coding since.
For the last 27+ years, I have done work for companies that range in size from one employee; to non-profit organizations; to large global Fortune 100 enterprises, and have covered dozens of industries in the process. I have managed teams of developers, contractors, and business analysts on projects of every size with those teammates scattered throughout the United States, Germany, England, Australia, and India.
I have written and maintained applications in web programming languages (PHP, ASP, HTML, JavaScript); Windows application languages (Visual Basic, VB.NET, C#); relational databases (MS Access, SQL Server, MySQL); scripting languages (VBS, PowerShell, bash, Python); reporting tools (Crystal Reports, Splunk, ElasticSearch); and a couple of applications for the Apple iPad.
In addition, over the last decade, I have expanded my skills beyond programming to include Linux server administration, cybersecurity, digital forensics, and other varying information technology disciplines.