Geek For Hire

I want to build my freelance consulting business by doing projects for people needing a consistent, honest, reliable and efficient person. I hope you are just the right client for me.

I make a living helping people with websites; designing, programming and/or deployment by hosting, installing, troubleshooting and administration. I use Macs myself, but fixing Windows computers has been a good job too! I have built WiFi systems for the outdoor recreation industry, RV parks, campgrounds, senior living communities, etc. But my love is sitting at my computer and constructing websites using products like WordPress.

I’m willing to take on any challenge and will learn whatever it takes. I’ve built Linux systems for web servers, administered Microsoft enterprise products, designed and installed WiFi systems, integrated web technologies into websites and generally leverage my technical skills into many solutions. In between projects I socialize on the web, using Google+, Facebook and Twitter.

I am a technology fan and entrepreneur in Website Deployments, Internet Engineering, Audio-Video Production, Software Programming, Electronics, Computers, Ham Radio and Photography.

I was webmaster for the nearly famous Art Bell. Back in the early days of the internet, I blazed a trail of how to do radio programs on the web!

I am an honest, loyal person with high ethics and have many good previous job references to put you in touch with if needed. I pay attention to details and pride myself on correct, efficient and meaningful work.

Details

I produce customized websites, by deploying themed, CMS driven sites, mostly WordPress. I can design, deploy and support computer networks and operating systems. I can help with security issues and disaster backup strategies. I am open to other projects and contracts. I am talented in the fields of:

  • WordPress install, customization, troubleshooting
  • internet engineering, domain and hosting setup
  • server maintenance, system administration
  • operating system fix-ups, cleanup, reinstall
  • audio/video production, capturing, editing
  • multi-media streaming, podcasting
  • enterprise computer networking, Active Directory
  • computer security systems,
  • cloud storage and workflows
  • camera work, A/V editing.

And the list goes on, the typical geek stuff. I like to say, if it has a wire, I can deal with it.

Proficiencies

  • Web Technologies: HTML, PHP, CSS, etc.
  • CMS: WordPress, Drupal, Miraserver, etc.
  • Database Technologies: MySQL, SQL Server, etc.
  • Client OS: Microsoft Windows, Apple OS-X, Linux, et al
  • Google Apps: GMail, Docs, Reader, Buzz, Wave, Sites, etc.
  • Enterprise: Active Directory, Exchange, WSUS, IIS, etc.
  • Programming: PHP, Perl, Shell, Javascript, etc.
  • Networking: CISCO, Linksys, Netgear, Bluesocket, Barracuda, etc.
  • Audio/Video: Camera shoot, editing, recording, etc.
  • Products: DVD authoring, production, duplication, etc.
  • Tools: Dreamweaver, Photoshop, etc.

I may not be a paper-certified expert in some of these fields, but I do know more than most people and have the ability to quickly learn what I need to know, when I need it for your project.

I am currently working in on-line related activities:

  • setting up websites (See Examples Below),
  • processing images for display,
  • configuring database backends,
  • setting up WordPress systems,
  • deploying themes,
  • formatting data,
  • backing up data,
  • setting up domains, email, etc.
  • setup cloud-computing strategies


Internet Related Experience In the process of running web sites over the years, I’ve done everything from building my own servers and hosting them locally, deploying or colocating my own servers in data centers, leasing dedicated data center servers and now hosting with low-cost shared web hosting companies. I built the first Rush Limbaugh website server and ran it out of my own home on my T1. Yes that’s right! Then I built a multiple server web infrastructure for running a CMS package for the site. I designed, deployed and maintained the server farm for Rush and Premiere Radio Networks for over a year. These servers ran the websites of Rush, Dr. Laura, Michael Reagan and Art Bell to name names!

I’ve learned and used PHP, MySQL, shell scripts and CGI programming to build custom feature sets and capabilities to websites long before commercial tools were available. Now tools like WordPress, Drupal and Google Apps have dominated the landscape and I too have embraced these technologies. I’ve help numerous start-up companies get online, get email services and setup their website. I’ve helped deploy their in-house network and installed and maintained their Windows machines. I’ve designed and deployed a network infrastructure for a private K-12 school.


Website Samples:

  • What Do The Scriptures Say? – Recently converted to WordPress, here I post audio and video excerpts from a TV program.
  • Carefree Manor RV Park- Using the LiveSite CMS I completely redesigned the website and took most of the pictures.
  • Scottsdale Christian Academy – I put together this site from a theme and then integrated other PHP script technologies to add features to the site. I built the corporate pages and installed a CMS system to allow teachers and some staff to edit their own pages.
  • Arizona Home Locator – I rebuilt this website using WordPress and added several plug-ins to get the client just what he wanted. I customized a few styles and help set up the website contact forms and email system.
  • Space Island Group – I’ve been maintaining this site for 10 years. The project hasn’t gotten off the ground yet, but the website lives on. This site is not based on a CMS and is manually edited in HTML by me.
  • His Eternal Plan – This is a small site for a book author and where I also post audio and video recordings of the seminars. Based on WordPress.
  • GoToTalk – A vBulletin-based CMS forum site I built for the Enterprise Mission folks. After Art Bell retired, I provided a place for Richard Hoagland fans to hang out. I originally had to customize the software to accept subscription payments for access. Years later the vBulletin people added that capability into the standard product.
  • Art Bell Net – This is my e-commerce and support site where I sell the Art Bell Web Site CD-ROM. Not much customized here, just standard deployment on Blogger.
  • Go To Talk Network – I built this site to play podcasts in your browser. It uses Flash, Javascript, Ajax, Perl, PHP on both the client side and server side.
  • Youssi Real Estate – I took their old static site and set this up using a real-estate CMS product written in Perl, so agents could update the site themselves. I set up the parameters, integrated their existing theme and trained the agents on usage. It runs itself now, I am called to edit the static pages and site format.
  • Looking Out For Number One – And of course this site is my test-bed to play with all the cool things I run into. I post stuff that interests me and I feel others should know about.

The Art Bell Era The most famous position I’ve held was that of webmaster for Art Bell. I got my start on the Internet not from doing a web page about myself, but picking someone famous who needed one. I built the ArtBell.com website from scratch and ran it until Art’s retirement. It was quite the challenge to build something to handle thousands of hits each night during his late-nite talk radio program. This was back in the early days when the fastest PC was a 200 MHZ Pentium. I constantly upgraded the computers used for this site and moved between bandwidth providers often to find the best price and capabilities. I had to both build the infrastructure of the site but also maintain content. I built the site using the fastest tools available and resisted complex solutions as I had to maintain a lean and mean high availability system. I hand coded all the HTML and used only a small amount of server side processing until more powerful computers came to be. I tweaked Apache to perform the best it could and always built my servers on Linux, due to its robust security and stability.

Previous Long-Term Employers

  • Scottsdale Christian Academy – Network Consulting Contract
  • Premier Radio Networks – Website Producer (Rush Limbaugh, Dr Laura)
  • Rowland Network Communications – Art Bell Webmaster
  • Soft-Serve/Daytaco – Produced/Marketed Vertical Market Software
  • Compunetics – Software Development Manager
  • Valeron – Software Development / Electronics Tech

Education Background I have self-trained myself in many areas as needed by the projects I become involved in. I am a quick study, get up to speed on many technologies and products by simply reading the documentation, which surprisingly many people do not do. I don’t get into training classes much, as they are too slow of a pace for me. I get more from reading the books myself and applying what I learned. I have leveraged my broad experience into productive projects. I am a mature seasoned confident professional with experience to make sensible decisions and work independently, efficiently, and take great pride of my work.

I can be hired as:

  • hourly work
  • total project quote
  • contract temp employee
  • equity partner
  • full-time IT supervisor

I am an honest, loyal person with high ethics and have many good previous job references to put you in touch with if needed. I pay attention to details and pride myself on correct, efficient and meaningful work. I’ve supervised employees and worked with vendors in successful relationships throughout my career. Please contact me via my Google Profile Page if you are interested in my services and/or talents. I am available part-time and would consider a full-time gig for just the right situation. I can travel anywhere in the country and be available in a short time frame. Thank you for reading.

Even More Experience Detailed on my Linked-In Page.