I’ve worked in information technology for nearly 40 years, with experience ranging from application development and databases to servers, virtualization, cloud infrastructure, networking, storage, backup, and end-user computing.
Professionally, I work in IT for an insurance and banking organization. Over the years I’ve worked with a wide range of technologies, including Windows Server, Active Directory, Microsoft SQL Server, VMware, Hyper-V, Azure, AWS, Azure Virtual Desktop, Microsoft 365, Exchange, Veeam, Linux, MySQL, electronic document imaging, and various other enterprise systems.
My development background goes back considerably further than many of the technologies I use today. I’ve worked with everything from mainframe and DB2 environments to Visual Basic, VB.NET, .NET, SQL, web development, and the assorted scripting and automation that inevitably become part of managing IT systems.
Education
I have an undergraduate degree in Business Administration/Computer Science from Illinois College in Jacksonville, Illinois, and a graduate degree in Management of Information Systems from the University of Illinois, Springfield.
My education combined business and technology, something that has proven increasingly useful over the years as IT has become as much about understanding an organization’s needs as it is about the technology itself.
Technology at Home
Outside of work, technology is also one of my main hobbies. I’ve maintained a home lab in one form or another for many years. These days my interests include Proxmox virtualization, Linux, NAS and storage systems, networking, backups, Home Assistant and home automation, security cameras, media servers, PC hardware, and finding interesting uses for older enterprise hardware.
I’ve also spent a lot of time over the years building and experimenting with things simply because I wanted to see if I could make them work—from custom arcade cabinets and home media systems to servers and other home technology projects.
ArcadeCab.com
I’ve also maintained ArcadeCab.com since 2003. The site grew out of my interest in building custom arcade cabinets and documenting the process so others could build their own. Over the years it has been used by people around the world for cabinet plans, construction information, hardware ideas, and other arcade-building resources.
ArcadeCab and this blog really represent two sides of the same interest. ArcadeCab focuses on the arcade-building projects, while this site has become the home for the broader technology projects, experiments, fixes, and discoveries I’ve accumulated along the way.
About This Site
This site began as a place to document some of those projects, fixes, experiments, and discoveries. Many of the older articles are now snapshots of technology from another era, but I’ve kept them because they’re part of that history—and occasionally they’re still useful.
After a long break from writing here, I’m using the site again to document the technology I’m working with, problems I’ve solved, projects I’m experimenting with, and anything else technical that I think might be useful or interesting.