Professional Info
I was basically a Unix graphics developer who taught himself Security, Java, and various Web technologies, only to get sucked into management positions after spending any amount of time at a company, but I still like to keep my hands pretty dirty. I’ve built and led development teams at multiple start-ups ranging from self-service financial kiosks to enterprise security middle-ware to digital media companies. I also spent some time developing network video protocols with the X Consortium and building my own MP3 player (2001).
I’ve also been dabbling with Voice Assistants and Home Automation and even created an Alexa Skill. Can’t say I’m super impressed with the current state of voice technology, but at least my wife and kids can manage the TV/Receiver/NVidia config by asking Alexa to turn on the TV.
Home Theater/PC Convergence
Aside from the blog, I was a guest editor on missingremote.com where I posted a couple Home Theater and Windows Media Center experiences. A list of my postings:
- 67 Easy Steps to a W7 Media Center Reinstallation
- Cracking the Disney Blu-Ray Club for around $12 each
- LG BD690 Blu-Ray Player OOTB Install
- Guide Recording Hulu, Netflix or Anything via the Hauppauge Colossus
Note, I’m not a Windows (or Andriod or Mac) bigot, and in fact 95% of my software development experience is on Linux and Unix, but when evaluating WMC vs the Linux offerings (MythTV, etc…), the DRM issues (specifically CableCARD) made WMC the obvious choice. Microsoft eventually killed that product, but I’m still back-hauling cable from my second home using Plex and an old Hauppauge WinTV DCR-2650. Rebuilt all my HTPCs during Covid lockdown and actually found a mini-ATX motherboard that would take the old Core i7-3770K that I was running Windows 7 & WMC on on. It’s now a happy remote Plex server in Santa Cruz.
Personal Info
I ride a BMW K1300GT motorcycle, attended 5 days of California SuperBike school and (sometimes) change my own oil on all my vehicles. I’ve been a Miami Dolphins fan since I was a little kid (no connection to Florida, so I can’t really explain why) but loyalty has kept me with the team through thick and thin. Living in California, I take full advantage of the ski & wine country, and built a wine cellar under my stairwell to help leverage that.
I spend far too much time trying to build and design Nitrate reduction mechanisms for a 60 gallon Cichlid fishtank. With more free time, I’d be playing beach volleyball. The rest I do have gets wasted on Science Fiction. Lately Peter Hamilton, Iain Banks and Neal Asher.
I can be reached at
