About me
Christmas List
Diary
Hi! I'm no one in particular; and, this isn't much of a web page (though I can do better if I need to.) I don't "blog"; this page is merely a reference, in case anyone needs to know more about me. Here are a few of my "hats":
I am currently the Web Development Manager for the Asay
Media Network in Joplin, MO. The company's flagship publication is Locator
Magazine, a trade publication for the Copier/Printer/Office machines industry. Our newest effort, and one
I'm becoming somewhat proud of as I've been able to make a lot of improvements in its performance and features
this year, is OMBE.com, which I believe will become one of the premier buy/sell
sites for the Office Machines and Business Equipment
industry (especially the aftermarket portions of that field).
I was a music educator in
Missouri for
11 years. I still play, sing, & conduct, but not for students (or their school
administrators). More on music,
my Christian faith, which is important, and how they relate to each other below.
I started this company
a few years ago. I had a good bit of fun meeting people in the local business arena
and helping them with their IT problems. I closed the company in the summer of 2011
after nearly a ten year run. We did a variety of work for business, government agencies,
non-profits, churches, and individuals, all in some way related to computers. The only
part of the business that remains is hosting a couple of web sites on this server. You'll
need to contact me personally if for some strange reason you're interested in putting something
on my server instead of a Real Company like RootBSD or
New York Internet.
I am probably considered a "regular" at the
PHPBuilder forums where I masquerade as
'dalecosp' (in reference to the business name in the link above). I actually got 2nd place
in a
coding contest there a while back, but I'm certainly no great programmer, although
PHP *is* a nice imperative scripting/programming
language. (This particular contest was to implement a fast algorithm to compute prime numbers).
For corporate/business uses, and most personal use, I run the
FreeBSD operating system on my computers. I've
found it to be very stable and extremely flexible; the flip side is that you have
to do a good bit of reading and experimentation to become competent with it (Of course,
that's really true for most aspects of computer and computer operating systems, despite
what we've been led to believe by that really rich guy who has that company in Redmond,
WA.). Since most people would rather have a computer that "Just Works", FreeBSD
may not be something you should be interested in; but, if you need stability and flexibility,
which, to me is a much better definition of "Just Works" than simply stamping
"user-friendly" on the cover enough times, it might
be worth investigating. You can often find me on the FreeBSD
Project's mailing lists, or posting at the
BSDForums, or on IRC (#phpbuilder and ##freebsd
at freenode....) For more on computers and programming see here.
I have served as Interim Pastor of Music (or Interim Music Minister) in several
Baptist churches in Missouri, including First Baptist, Carthage, First Baptist, Aurora,
First Baptist Oak Grove, First Baptist, Shell Knob, and others. Together with my wife,
Anita, we lead music in worship services, conferences, camps, revival meetings, and
other events where brothers and sisters meet in the Midwestern US. A lot of that info is back at
the homepage.
I produce tracks for and accompany this group
in live performances.
Some time ago, I "converted" to Christianity. That's really kind of a strange way to say it - because I was not a follower of anyone or anything else prior to "becoming a Christian".
Now, I was "rather young" at the time. I may have not had good reasoning skills then. There may have been pressure from other people to make this decision (after all, Missouri is on the edge of the so-called "Bible Belt" in the USA)....
But, I have reaffirmed this decision. I am deeply aware that as humankind, we *need* a restored relationship with our Creator. I'm also convinced that Jesus is the access point to the Creator (indeed, He was present and active in creation Himself). I've looked at death --- come close to it myself, and experienced it in my family. I needed Him then. I've looked inside my soul. I have seen the deep & consuming darkness that creeps in when the Light isn't fully shining. I need Jesus, the Light of the world, always.
But, wait just a minute, you might say. How can you "be a Christian" and remain intellectually honest with yourself and others?