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As I find the time I'll add brief write-ups on these projects and the things I found neat about them!
Web Server
Although this domain dates back to 2017, I've actually built and hosted a number of personal web servers in the past.
Ownfest.com was back in 2004 and is one my earliest examples.
Although not technically impressive by today's standards, and i-frames weren't the best choice, there's a few things I'm still proud of about it.
Floyd-o-vision was an attempt at live streaming, 3 years before Justin.tv and 7 before Twitch!
I wrote a small script to take a picture from a digital camera every 10 seconds or so, overwriting the last picture. This would display on a webpage which was refreshed every 10 seconds.
The server would have been Windows 2000 Server using IIS.
Today, floydasaur.us is running headless on the cloud with nginx.
Tech Foundry Capstone
The final project at Tech Foundry is a capstone that makes use of all the topics covered in the course.
My idea was to take a pihole, and place it on the cloud so that mobile devices could make use of the adblocking.
But, I quickly realized how horrible an idea an open DNS resolver out on the Internet can be. DNS amplification is no joke.
I spent a lot of time learning some interesting cybersecurity concepts, along with a good amount of server hardening best practices. In the end, a combination of DNS, VPN, encryption, firewall, and extremely locked down user accounts made me comfortable enough to enjoy the ad-free experience.
Streaming Gear
I have a lot of fun collecting and learning to use broadcast equipment and software.
Sample of Equipment Used
- Behringer 502s 5-channel analog mixer.
- Neewer NW-100 phantom power supply.
- Behringer MA400 headphone amplifier.
- Audio-technica AT2020 cardiod condenser microphone
- AVerMedia Live Gamer Portable 2 Plus external capture device.
- RetroTINK 2X-Pro analog line doubler that outputs to HDMI.
- A Really Cheap RCA Composite Switch not like there are a lot out there.
- Logitech StreamCam 1080p 60fps is all I need.
- FXPak Pro the SD-card reading SNES cartridge of my dreams.
Some of the Software Used
- Voicemeeeter Potato for even more channels to mix.
- OBS Studio I even use it's virtual camera for Teams meetings.
- DaVinci Resolve no better free NLE out there in my opinion.
- TikTok Live Studio they don't allow you to use anything else.
Book Boilerplate
I used to do a lot of contract book writing, editing, layout and cover design, and publishing. And if there's anything I love to do, it's try to automate anything I have to repeat multiple times.
I decided to create a rough boilerplate, or skeleton, of a published novel that I could quickly reuse for other clients. This led to me finishing projects faster and more consistently.
The skeleton itself contained a lorem ipsum of sorts: The word "meow" nearly 75,000 times. To illustrate to people on stream how they could self-publish their own work, I ended up publishing Meow on Amazon.
It has sold suprisingly well over the years, considering I wasn't expecting anyone to buy it at all. It was also the fastest I've ever had an audio-book delisted by Amazon.
Non-Profit Branding
As Marketing Director for a local nonprofit, I led a re-brand with marketable, merch and kid-friendly dinosaur characters. All created and illustrated by myself.
I made sure that the branding was consistent across all media, whether print, online, t-shirts and more.
There are many ways I could measure the impact, but I knew I made a difference when an fan of the nonprofit showed me their tattoo.
How many people can earnestly say they made a company mascot that someone wanted permanantly on their body?
Absolutely one of my personal highlights, and I started taking my art more seriously after. You never know where it may end up!