Work Experience:
Stetson University, 1999-2000
Various roles: Computer Lab Assistant, Technical ResNet Assistant (TRA), HelpDesk Assistant
Former supervisors/references: Rob Davidson, Jack Harman
Call tracking/logging software: Magic Solutions, HEAT

Lab Assistant Duties:
Opening and closing of computer labs, keeping the labs clean and general maintenance, helping users with login problems and software suite issues, troubleshooting dialup connections/network connectivity over the phone.

TRA Duties:
Providing service calls to student dorms to install network interface cards or troubleshoot their network connectivity.

Rollout/Helpdesk Duties:
(At Stetson every summer new computers are ordered and delivered. The process of changing out the old computers with the new is called “rollout” there.)
Imaging/ghosting computers over the network, backing up faculty/staff computers and then upgrading
them, moving/unpacking/installing over 100 new computers, assisting fulltime Helpdesk staff with their
projects.

Daytona Beach Community College, 2001-Present
Various roles: Computer Technician - Workstudy, Data Communications Specialist - Temp/Part-Time Employee, Data Communications Specialist - Full Time Career Employee
Supervisors/references: Robert Monroe, Susan Johnson, Bill Embach
Call tracking/logging software: Track-IT!

Work-order history: 9/2001-3/2002. 1 2 3 4

Background:
I can't remember much of my early history with computers, but I do remember my first programming experience was in 6th grade. We used Apple II's and the programming language Logo. My first clear memories of IBM-PCs were the IBM computers with two 3.5" floppy drives and no hard drive. We booted them off a DOS diskette and then loaded various apps off other disks. About this same time period there was a class being taught by a Mrs. Morrow I think and she taught us all the basic DOS commands as well as using Microsoft Works for DOS. A driving force in my growing curiousity of computers came from games. I can remember playing Battle Chess and the Carmen Sandiego games. I joined an after-school computer club to have access to the machines to play games.

My true experience didn't really start however until my parents bought a PC for home in about 1992/1993. It was a IBM-clone PC 100-133Mhz w/ 8MB of RAM (later upgraded to 16MB or 32MB?). It was loaded with Windows 3.11/DOS and I was truly amazed with 3.11. I had never seen such an interface before and spent many hours just messing around with it. Wolfenstein-3D was pre-loaded on the PC, which too was something that really stunned me as something amazing. At that point I guess the most advanced graphics I had seen were the Super Nintendo's. Later on, one of my dad's friends walked me through using PKUNZIP over the phone and I unzipped Doom I on a set of disks the person had given me. I'm not sure where he had gotten the disks, but it was a full copy and it seemed months ahead of Doom becoming a buzz word. When I first loaded I had another of those feelings that this was something really incredible and that I was glad to be in the right place at the right time to witness history.

At first I don't recall of the World Wide Web existing or perhaps I just didn't know of it yet. My first experiences were with dialing up to BBS's to download shareware games and such. It was probably around 1994-ish that I remember using a unknown web browser to first browse the web (I have since tracked down the browser I used to use - the NetManage WebSurfer). I then at some point began using the Netscape browser and installing all sorts of plugins that play animations, MIDI, and so on. It was pretty exciting at the time. For a time I used AOL back when it was 2.x and was still a pretty decent service. Although, it had signs of corruption even back then ..i.e. the pop-up window that would log you off if you were idle. Thanks to AOL however I had my first tastes of online chatrooms and gaming.

Hardware-wise back then I was always terrified to open the computer I remember an upgrade from our 1x CD-ROM drive to a 4x. I believe we paid someone to install it. My first attempt at installing hardware was upgrading the modem to a internal 14.4K Modem. I can't remember the details but the modem did indeed work. Another time, I remember playing with BIOS settings before I had any clue what BIOS was and making the computer unbootable. My parents had to pay for someone to fix it and I was nearly having a panic attack. 

Ninth or tenth grade I signed up for a programming class which was entirely about GW-BASIC, a fairly outdated version of BASIC, but what I consider my first real introduction to programming. I really enjoyed that class. In my later high school days I took an advanced course about Visual Basic.

I've worked on corporate models of IBM, Dell, Compaq, & Digital systems. Along with working on various models of IBM, Dell, HP, Compaq, 386/486 "clones", and Gateway home systems. I've worked with IBM, HP, and Dell laptops. I am most experienced and proficient with Dell machines and prefer to work on them above other manufacturers. And when I say worked with I mean I've taken them practically all the way apart and put them back together again. I'm most familiar with the Dell Optiplex GX1, GX110, GX200, GX150, GX240, GX260, GX270, GX280, GX400, GX620, 745 models. For laptops I'm proficient with the C-series and D-series of Latitudes along with various Inspirons.