The Man

I am Kevin Connolly. No, not the famous one (Not yet, anyway); just some guy who makes a living through code. That is to say I write software and websites. I go by many titles, but generally prefer to explain myself as one who creates simple solutions to complex problems.

I strive to expand my subject matter knowledge of the software world through pet projects. None are so iterative as my blog. My first blog was plaintext. The second was hand-coded HTML. The third was a rudimentary framework I put together in C#. By version 4, I was populating dynamic data on the fly. Ever since, I have learned new technologies by writing a new blogging engine. For example, the current implementation of my blog (this website, Codename MV8) runs on .NET 4.0 and was coded in Visual Studio 2010. Why? Because why not, that's why. I suppose that's why I tend to rewrite bad systems instead of building good stuff on top of bad stuff.

I started off as a phone lackey doing tech support at regional and national call centers. From there, a friend got me into a Tier 1 Help Desk gig, where we engineered a situation whereas the CIO "somehow" got wind that I knew how to code ASP.NET and VB.NET. I started doing more and more of that and less and less of the Help Desk work. About the time I was good enough to call myself a Developer, I got a new gig doing it full time - And I haven't looked back.

I work in a world of code. I play in a world of code. I live in a world of code.

The Machines

This website and occasionally others are hosted from this server (left). As with most servers, it sits in a server rack. Unlike other servers and racks, however, this one is in my living room. It spends most of its time idle, but gladly serves up requests for my websites, databases, and files (local only, of course). It sports a Q6600 Quad Core, 8GB RAM, and 13 hard drives totalling around 12 TB, including a VelociRaptor C: drive. It's out of mounting points.

My primary workstation (right), however, is configured a bit differently. It also has a Q6600 Quad Core, a rackmount 4U case, and 8GB RAM; but it lacks for storage. Sporting a mere 1TB B: drive for installs and temp/swap/staging, and a paltry 150GB Raptor C: drive, its main awesomeness is found in its three video cards and six screens. Of those, two are 22" Widescreens and one is a 26" 1080p HDTV, routed through HDMI. See the Home Office page for more details on the systems.

The server runs a Free Copy of Windows Server 2008, which Microsoft accidentally gave me. For additional information on the hardware, check the Home Office page.

To rid my periphery of bad software. To learn as much as I can about the way the world works, and channel that knowledge subsequently into improving the world around me, one small step at a time; and occasionally in large steps. I tend to replace people (and occasionally entire departments) with software.

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