User:Will Murray
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About Me
I became enamored with computers in 1981—the start of the personal computer revolution. Over the next 10 years, I learned to program in BASIC and Pascal, developing a few educational programs for the Atari, Apple, and TRS-80 computers.
My first computer was an Atari 1200XL, followed by an Apple IIgs. My first online experiences were made using a 1200 baud modem on my Apple IIgs. I was a charter member of America Online (before it became known as AOL), and I became active in the local Bulletin Board System scene. As computer technology advanced, so did my skills, and by 1989 I was earning a living using computers doing graphic design work on my new Apple Macintosh IIci.
At the same time, I was a Sysop of a popular regional BBS. I met people interested in developing the first public regional Internet access service in San Luis Obispo County, California. Together, we formed the first community Internet Service Provider (ISP) in the area—even before the Web had pictures and buttons to click. My first professional Internet development experiences were developing gopher pages and later HTML pages for that ISP.
I eventually supplemented my Mac with an old and abused Intel 80286-based PC (very briefly until it died). From that point on, I've stayed with MS-DOS and then Windows-based computers. I worked in several different jobs, including night manager/auditor for a luxury hotel and a seaside resort lodge.
I continued to do computer and network consulting on the side, even adding a partner until he moved to the booming dot-com era Silicon Valley. In 1996, I became the network administrator for the Endeavour Academy applied science technical school and the Space Endeavour Camp at Vandenberg AFB.
Through a connection made at Vandenberg, I moved to Sacramento in 1999 and helped form an online auction company. The "dot-com bubble" burst laster that year, and the company folded due to lack of funding before year end. Over the next few months I studied and earned several certificaitons, before accepting a network engineer position at a Smart Reseller "Top 50" technology company.
In 2001, I formed my own computer consultancy, which continued to grow despite tough economic conditions in California. In 2004, I was selected to become the Chief Operations Officer (COO) and Chief Information Officer (CIO) of the Acorn IT Group.
When it comes to networking, I primarily work with Microsoft Windows Server and client operating systems (including Small Business Server), though I know my way around Linux systems, too (Ubuntu is my preferred distribution). I am familiar with most LAN and WAN network equipment, including a variety of routers and wireless gear. I program in PHP, Visual Basic, JavaScript, and several scripting and batch languages. I have some familiarity with perl, C, C++, and Java. I am also proficient in SQL, CSS, HTML, and XHTML, and am familiar with other XML technologies.
