About Dan
Hello! My Name Is Dan.
I'm a pretty good guy I think. This site exists primarily as a repository for random things I like doing, as well as kind of a playground to practice things like server administration and such. My resume is available on demand.
General Experience
I've wanted to be involved with computers since grade school when I was programming stupid little text adventure games in BASIC on my old 386 running nothing more than DOS. The monitor was an old monochrome box that buzzed when it was on, but I could always be found in front of it. This was long before any form of GUI was around unless you count Direct Access, but we won't. Being a gamer since the days of Intellivision, I found myself playing games like the Space Quest series, Leisure Suit Larry (despite my age), etc. In between gaming, I found myself learning to program in BASIC as best as I could. I never made anything noteworthy, but as I learned more through the years I branched out into other fields in Computer Science, such as hardware, networking and telecommunication, system administration, etc. One of my biggest attributes that anyone that's worked with me can attest to is that I am constantly learning new things and trying to better myself. From books to hands-on experience, I've always felt that knowledge is indeed power and as a result I have learned so much from simply taking things apart and putting them back together again. This has eventually led me to become a Linux Administrator by trade, but I have since moved on from that position.
Software Experience
I started my career as a programmer, working with Coldfusion (back when it was owned by Allaire) and Microsoft SQL database. From there I've branched into other forms of programming over the years, such as python, perl, C++, php, and the occasional bash script. However as my career grew and my computer knowledge matured, I decided that the only way I could possibly enjoy programming was if I was programming things I actually had a vested interest in, which sadly was not anything I was being paid to do. I made a lateral move to Linux System Administration, something I enjoyed doing and was willing to learn more about, and I haven't looked back since. I am no longer a SysAdmin but I'm still in IT, changed after I made a significant career upgrade. Again, resume is available upon request.
Hardware Experience
In my spare time and also as side work, I will build custom-made PC's. Building it custom allows me to tailor a computer to my specific needs, as well as gives me the peace of mind knowing what I have going on inside my PC. Building computers has also given me a fairly decent knowledge of the inner workings of a workstation, and I've used this knowledge to fix several hardware-related issues with other people's computers. Protip: If your hard drive starts to make strange noises, back up your data and break open your wallet.
Personal Stuff
I have plenty of hobbies, most of which take up a majority of my free time so I never really have time to be bored anymore. I like cooking, gaming, winetasting, messing with arduino and raspberry pi boards, beermaking, guns, and of course yo-yoing, an admittedly obscure hobby. I've been throwing since I was a kid but you can usually find me learning new yoyo tricks online. I think I'm pretty good but nowhere near as good as the guys that compete.