About Me (The Egotistical Page)

Last updated: 9 March 2010, 12:11am EST (GMT -0500)

Places Of Residence

• Stonelick Township, Ohio (1+ year, June 2008-present)
• Liberty Township, Ohio (2 months of corporate housing, April-May 2008)
• West Lafayette, Indiana (7 years, 2001-2008)
• San Bruno, California (5 month internship, 2001)
• Sunnyvale, California (3 month internship, 2000)
• San Luis Obispo, California (4 years, 1996-2000)
• Salt Lake City, Utah (4 years, 1992-1996)
• Orono, Maine (5 years, 1986-1992)
• Denver, Colorado (9 years, 1977-1986)

Education

• Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana (2001-2003), Masters of Science, Computer Science
• Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, California (1996-2000), Bachelors of Science, Computer Science
• Skyline High School, Salt Lake City, Utah (1994-1996)

Employment

In the spring of 2008 I joined Northrop Grumman Xetron, located in Cincinnati, Ohio. My job consists of performing all phases of the software lifecyle as a member of a small engineering team to create network communication software. I'm happier in my job than I've ever been. Every day I go to work I get to work with fascinating, cutting-edge technology for a clueful, well-funded customer, aware the entire time that the work I'm doing is important and has direct, tangible impact. I couldn't ask for anything more.

Prior to NG, I worked at Arxan Technologies in West Lafayette, Indiana helping develop their entirely cool software-based anti-tamper/anti-reverse engineering technology. I had interned with Arxan during my last year of graduate school and they were good enough to hire me on full time a few months after I graduated, in March 2004. As it was a small company (I was employee 21) my duties included a little of everything, including software design/development/testing, information technology, and quality assurance. By the time I left in March 2008 they'd grown to almost 100 employees, sustaining a growth rate of almost twenty employees a year. It was a fun ride.

During my educational career, I had internships with:

• Arxan Technologies in West Lafayette, Indiana (May-December 2003)
• RSA Security in San Mateo, California (February-July 2001)
• Cisco Systems in San Jose, California (summer 2000)
• U.S. Satellite Corporation in Murray, Utah (summers, 1997-1999)

Animals

I'm in a relationship with a young woman who brought eight dogs (yes, you read that right: eight) into the relationship. She has been heavily involved with fostering/rescuing so she developed quite the diverse pack, ranging from 13-pound Pekingese to an 155-pound Newfoundland. In the summer of 2008 we added another Newfoundland that we'd been fostering but would have been impossible to place due to his particular challenges as a result of his life before coming to us.

With that many creatures running about we needed a sizeable yard, so the five acres (one of them fenced) that came with the house we purchased in Ohio come in handy.

We've done a fair bit of fostering for Newfoundlands since the spring of 2008. We've worked exclusively with the South Central Newfoundland Club. They've been incredibly helpful and supportive. I'm proud of the fact that we've been able to help them out through some very tough years; in 2008 the average number of Newfoundlands rescued in one month equaled the number rescued in the entire year of 2006. In these tough economic times, many families not only lost their homes but had to painfully part with their lifelong family pets as well due to landlords being unwilling/unable to allow renters with dogs.

Pack Members

1. Einstein (male Newfoundland)
2. Prince (male Pekingese)
3. Lucy (female Pekingese)
4. Andy (male Border Collie)
5. Steven (male Pug mix)
6. Freddie (male Pug mix)
7. Jimmy (male Newfoundland)

Foster Dogs

1. Richter (male Newfoundland), owner surrender in February 2010. He's about seven years old and morbidly obese (target weight: 150 pounds. Weight at first vet appt: 215). We've got him on a strict diet and he's quickly losing weight while gaining both energy and mobility. His name is a reference to his weight (think "scale"). :)

Alumni

• Big Dog (male Newfoundland), fostered, placed with a Forever Family in spring 2008.
• Dora (female Newfoundland), fostered, placed with a Forever Family in spring 2008.
• Pink (female Newfoundland), sister of Jimmy, fostered, placed with a Forever Family in summer 2008.
• Purple (female Newfoundland), sister of Jimmy, fostered, placed with a Forever Family in summer 2008.
• Darth Vader (male Lhasa Apso), RIP, 28 Nov 2008
• Kogy (male Poodle mix), RIP, 28 Nov 2008
• Annie (female Newfoundland), transported (owner willingly surrendered her), March 2009
• Dozer (male Newfoundland), fostered April-June 2009, placed with a Forever Family near Bloomington, IN, 26 June 2009
• Annabelle (female Newfoundland), fostered June-September 2009, placed with a Forever Family in Indianapolis, IN, 9 September 2009
• Bud E. Dog (male Newfoundland), fostered September-October 2009, relocated to a new foster family closer to the family who will be adopting him
• Fudge (female Newfoundland), transported from owner surrender to foster home, 18 November 2009

Hobbies

• Cooking. Fairly early into my stint in graduate school I realized that I honestly enjoyed cooking for myself. It was a nice chance to focus on something other than the intimidating pile of work that was usually crushing down on me. Once I graduated and had quite a bit more free time and disposable income I was able to explore more of the culinary world. As of 2009 I feel comfortable calling myself an accomplished beginner-to-intermediate cook. There's no question that I've got a huge amount to learn, but that's one of the things I like about cooking: there's always a huge amount to learn about cooking no matter how much of an expert you are.

  
  Feel free to peruse my Recipe List.

• Photography. I purchased a Fuji FinePix A330 3.2 megapixel camera at Radio Shack for $150 the day before I left for my trip to Cancun in January 2005. I've found that I've enjoyed having it, but more surprisingly, I seem to have some actual aesthetic sense for what makes a good picture. Just in time for my trip to Maui in January '06 I added a 6.2 megapixel Fuji FinePix E550. In December '06 my dad very generously purchased a 6-megapixel Nikon D50 DSLR camera for me for Christmas. You can peruse the pictures I've taken in my Photo Album.

• Housework. Upon moving to Ohio in the spring of 2009 I purchased my first house. It came with five acres of land, though only two of them could be considered the "yard." Learning how to take proper care of a house and yard has been quite a challenge, but I think I'm taking to it well. I do sometimes miss having weekends where I could be lazy from 5pm on Friday until Monday morning.

• Socializing. In the spring of 2002 I was introduced to the Rusty Bucket, a West Lafayette piano bar inside the Neon Cactus. I was instantly hooked and became a regular from 2004 until the spring of 2008. I still manage to get back every month or two. The piano is well-manned by the one and only Bruce Barker. Bruce does fantastic covers of well over 400 songs, focusing fairly heavily on the 80s. It's definitely the best entertainment I've found in the midwest. A good Cactus night is four hours full of loud, raucus fun, good music, low-brow comedy mixed with cheap drinks. If you're in the area, don't pass up the chance to see what it's all about.

• Motorsports. Through my appreciation for Subarus, I was pointed towards the World Rally Championship, more commonly known as "rally racing." I've been watching rallies regularly since early 2004. It's great in all the ways most motorsports are terrible: the track is more complicated than an oval, there are extreme restrictions on repairs that are allowable, tire selections, and expenditures by the manufacturers. It's a real test of human skill, engineering talent, and then throw some luck in there. It's a blast to watch and encourage everyone to check out the races now that they're being carried on HD Theater (carried by most cable and satellite providers)

• Hockey. I first got into hockey while living in Maine. I played for a few years, but trying to play with kids who learned how to skate around the time they were potty trained was difficult when I first put on skates at age 9. I found it far more enjoyable to watch hockey, becoming a fan of the Unversity of Maine Black Bears, coached by the legendary Shawn Walsh. I got to watch some truly excellent hockey by some incredible players, several of whom are now in the NHL (Scott Pellerin, Keith Carney, Eric Weinrich and Mike Dunham, just to name a few).

  In Utah, I became a casual fan of the Golden Eagles, the local minor league team. They left town but were replaced by the Utah Grizzlies in 1994. My friend Matt Fankhauser and I became devout fans and got to watch their incredible 1995-1996 season which was capped with a 4-0 sweep of the Orlando Solar Bears in the final round of the playoffs to win the Turner Cup.

  In 1995 the Quebec Nordiques moved to Denver and became the Colorado Avalanche. Matt and I decided that the Aves were going to be "our team" as they were the closest NHL franchise to Salt Lake. I've been a loyal fan ever since, watching them win the Northwest Division every from 1996 to 2004 and winning Lord Stanley's cup in 1996 and 2001. As with any Colorado fan, I've developed a potent hatred for the Detroit Red Wings. After Todd Bertuzzi sucker-punched Steve Moore and broke his neck as a result of riding him to the ice in 2004, I've also added him to my hate list.

  I've lived in the midwest since 2001 so I've developed more interest in some of the area teams, such as the Chicago Blackhawks, St. Louis Blues, Columbus Blue Jackets, Pittsburg Penguins and the Nashville Predators. See the paragraph above regarding my feelings for the boys from Detroit.

  In 2004 I was able to finally afford DirecTV service and got the NHL Center Ice package. In the fall of 2007 I was able to upgrade my system to HD and now bathe in the true glory of having high def hockey available. It's really helped my ability to stay interested in the sport.

  To the NHL: I'm not going to be happy with the new rules until you finally get automatic icing. This touch-up stuff is stupid. It doesn't add any drama to the game, and more importantly, people get seriously injured when they lose an edge and plow into the boards. Fix this. Soon.

• Skiing. Though I first learned to ski in Colorado, I didn't get serious until I lived in Maine. I would consider myself to be an advanced skier, skiing a combination of blue and black runs. My best season was our first year in Utah (1992-1993) when I went skiing 21 times, often skiing three times in a weekend (Friday night, Saturday and Sunday). Due to a knee injury in the spring of 1995, I don't do any of the following: off-trail skiing, moguls, or jumps. Check out my Digital Tribute to Skiing.

  Resorts I've skied:

  • Colorado
    • Keystone
    • Eldora
    • Copper Mountain
  • Maine
    • Sugarloaf/USA
  • Utah
    • Alta
    • Brighton
    • Deer Valley
    • Park City
    • Solitude
  • Lake Tahoe (California/Nevada border)
    • Heavenly (winner of the "best resort phone number ever" award: 1-800-2-HEAVEN)
    • Squaw Valley

  Resorts I'm planning on skiing:

  • Whistler/Blackcomb (Vancouver, Canada)
  • Kirkwood (Lake Tahoe)
  • Vail and/or Aspen (Colorado)
  • Taos (New Mexico)
  • Mount Bachelor (Bend, Oregon)
  • Somewhere in the Alps

• Cars. I am a loyal Subaru fan.
  • Current car: 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX sedan, 7 Aug 2007 - present
    • Premium Package
    • Tires
      • All-season: stock 17x7" wheels with stock Bridgestone Potenza RE92A (205/50-17) tires.
      • Winter: 16x6.5" wheels with Dunlop Winter Sport M3 (205/55-16) tires
    • Upgrades
      • Brakes
        • Brake Rotors: Centric Premium
        • Brake Pads: Akebono Pro ACT Ceramic
        • Brake Lines: G-Stop Stainless Steel
        • Brake Fluid: ATE Super Blue
    • Planned Upgrades
      • Wheels/Tires
        • Replace stock 17x7" wheels with Rota SDR 17x7.5" wheels wrapped with Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 summer tires in 225/45-17
      • Power
        • Cobb Tuning AccessPort (Stage 1, +9% horsepower, +10% torque)
      • Suspension
        • Cobb Tuning Stage 1 Suspension (front and rear sway bars)
  • Previous car: 2001 Subaru Legacy sedan, summer 2001 - Aug 2007
    • Power
      • Cold air intake (Cobb Tuning)
      • Full exhaust with 2.25" diameter (equal-length headers, high-flow catalytic converter, mid-pipe, muffler) engineered by iON Performance of Calgary, Alberta, Canada and installed by Genesis Racing & Development in Naperville, IL.
    • Suspension
      • All-season tires: Bridgestone Potenza RE950 (225/45-17) on Rota SDR rims (17x7.5") purchased from SubyDude
      • Front & rear strut tower bars from Cobb Tuning
      • Sport-tuned springs from iON Performance
      • KYB GR-2 sport-tuned struts purchased on Tire Rack
      • Whiteline adjustable rear swaybar from PDM Racing
    • Braking
      • Stainless steel brake lines from Cobb Tuning
      • Sport brake rotors
      • Sport brake pads
  • Cars I will own some day (oh yes, they will be mine):
    • Audi S4
    • Porsche 911

Social Activism

I try to donate a reasonable percentage of my time and money to organizations that further social causes I support.

• The American Civil Liberties Union. They strive to protect the rights granted to all American citizens by the Bill of Rights as well as the 13th, 14th, 15th and 19th Amendments to the United States Constitution. In summary:
  • Your First Amendment rights - freedom of speech, association and assembly; freedom of the press, and freedom of religion.
  • Your right to equal protection under the law - equal treatment regardless of race, sex, religion or national origin.
  • Your right to due process - fair treatment by the government whenever the loss of your liberty or property is at stake.
  • Your right to privacy - freedom from unwarranted government intrusion into your personal and private affairs.

• Americans United for Separation of Church and State. AU is a nonpartisan organization dedicated to preserving the constitutional principle of church-state separation as the only way to ensure religious freedom for all Americans.

• The Democratic Party. I strongly support social welfare programs, universal health care, drastically improving all levels of our educational system, defending voter rights, improving our country's security through diplomacy instead of military force whenever possible, womens' reproductive rights including abortion, gay marriage, separation of church and state, increasing the minimum wage, civil liberties, and gun control. I strongly oppose the death penalty, invasions of privacy, privatization of sevices for the public good, and censorship. With the hope of furthering those goals, I feel I am best represented by the Democratic Party.

• Project Vote Smart. PVS is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that tracks voting records, issue positions, public statements and campaign finances of all candidates and elected officials.

• The Innocence Project. The Innocence Project is a national litigation and public policy organization dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted people through DNA testing and reforming the criminal justice to prevent future injustice.

• The Electronic Frontier Foundation. The EFF protects our rights in the digital age, focusing on areas such as privacy, intellectual property, free speech, and electronic voting.

• The Electronic Privacy Information Center. EPIC works to protect privacy, freedom of expression, democratic values, and to promote public participation in decisions concerning the future of the Internet.

• Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility. CPSR fosters public discussion of and public responsibility for use of technology in systems that are critical to society, challenges the assumption that technology alone can solve political and social problems, and encourages the use of information technology to improve quality of life.

• Project Gutenberg. This project scans in public domain literary works and makes them available for free download. As of April 2007 their collection consists of over 21,000 items and 50 new items are being added every week.

• Child's Play. This charity was started by Gabe and Tycho of Penny Arcade fame. Gamers giving toys and money to childrens hospitals around the world. I organized Arxan's donation to Child's Play two years in a row which raised nearly $6,000 for sick children and their families.