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This site is powered by green hosting at a CO2 neutral data centre

My server is hosted in a CO2/carbon neutral datacenter in the Netherlands by the awesome folk at Tilaa and it's powered by Ubuntu.

Short of the javascript libraries, this site is written and maintained entirely in HTML 5 and CSS 3 by me (by hand) using the Vim text editor.

Speaking of libraries, here are some of the public bits of coolness I've inexpertly hacked together:


I test the site mostly on the latest Firefox and Google Chrome. Your mileage may vary with Internet Explorer versions less than 9.

Anything the music player has is provided (with permission) from Magnatune. The current song is "Taqsim oud" by Tim Rayborn from his album "The Path Beyond".

A special thanks goes to my daughters Ashley and Kiera for their suggestions and hugs to my missus Cheri simply for putting up with me for 17 years.

Here's a hampster. His name is Charlie. Feel free to feed him.

 

You can change the site's background colour here ⇨   change to the green stylesheet change to the blue stylesheet change to the purple stylesheet change to the Vincent van Gogh stylesheet change to the simple stylesheet

About Me

Known across the interwebs as "Bocan", I'm a 38 year old Texan living in the UK now for over 15 years.

I've been married for over 17 years and have two teenage girls. My interests are currently centered around: organic gardening, computer and networking technology, cycling, music of all types, photography, software development, blogging, environmental and social volunteering, sustainable living, sporadic bouts of creativity, and life in general. I'm also the creator of the online newspaper "Environmental Sustainability".

Work

In my younger days I was a drilling yard hand, an auto mechanic, an aircraft armament systems specialist in the US Air Force, a roofer, a software developer, a database administrator, an IT infrastructure manager, and even a general labourer on building sites.

I'm currently working as the network services manager for a local company that builds mobile systems integrations and my "commute" is a 30 minute bike ride!

On the side I'm also a volunteer trustee of The Druid Network - a registered charity in England and Wales (1138265).

Controversies

Politically I'm a social libertarian almost bordering on anarchist. Socially I'm a mixture of activist, complete geek, and evolved redneck, with a tree huggin' hippy who practices a strange religion thrown on top. If you're thinking I really shouldn't mention such things publicly then see these words of wisdom.

The Legend *

      Know, O Prince, that between the years when the oceans drank Microsoft and the gleaming Windows, and the rise of Ubuntu, there was an Age undreamed of, when shining servers lay spread across the world like blue mantles beneath the stars - Debian, FreeBSD, Slackware, AIX, Solaris with its dark-haired women and towers of spider-haunted mystery, SuSE with its chivalry, Caldera that bordered the pastoral lands of SCO, OpenBSD with its shadow-guarded tombs, RedHat whose Sys Admins wore steel and silk and gold. But the proudest kingdom of the world was OS X, reigning supreme in the dreaming west. Hither came Chris the Texan, little-haired, sullen-eyed, MacBook in hand, a builder, a programmer, an admin, with gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth, to tread the jewelled server rooms of the earth under his sandled feet. ;-)

* By tradition, this has been on every home page I've ever had.

My CV / Resumé

Click on the LinkedIn button below to see the full version.

Summary


I'm a technical I.T./Infrastructure manager with 13 years experience in various industries including finance, telecoms and software development/services and 8 Years experience managing both senior and junior system engineers of multiple disciplines, DBA's, and software testers. I also have excellent interpersonal and communication skills at all levels of business.

With my current and previous employer I enjoyed the challenge of a hands-on technical management role and see this as a space I'd like to stay in for the medium term future...

On top of that I also have extensive experience with database administration of IBM Informix and MySQL, Informix 4GL development, and web development (HTML and PHP).

Specialties


Software Testing and Release, QA, UAT, Linux, Unix, MacOS, and Microsoft Windows systems administration in academic and commercial settings. PCs and PC-clusters; Linux (RedHat, Fedora, Suse, Ubuntu), MacOS/X 10, VMware ESX and ESXi, Windows 98/2000/XP/Vista/7, SunOS/Solaris/Open Solaris, AIX ; LAMP Setup and applications, DNS, HTTP/HTML, PHP, MRTG, NIS, NNTP, Samba, SMTP/IMAP/POP3, SSH, TCP/IP, X11; Cluster-computing software; Active Directory; Sendmail, Exim, Microsoft Exchange; and monitoring technologies like SNMP, Nagios, Icinga, Cacti, etc

View Chris Funderburg's profile on LinkedIn

What I'm Studying

Hover over each link to get a quick description


My current courses are:
- U116 - Environment: journeys through a changing world and
- DD131 - Introducing the social sciences - Part 1.



Causes, Charities, and Projects I'm Supporting

Hover over each link to get a quick description


Books I'm Reading

I have a Kindle so, yes, I do actually read a few books at once. Hover over each link to get a quick description.

 

Books I've Recently Finished

 

My Amazon Wishlist










We did not invent the algorithm. The algorithm consistently finds Jesus. The algorithm killed Jeeves.
The algorithm is banned in China. The algorithm is from Jersey. The algorithm constantly finds Jesus.
This is not the algorithm. This is close.

My Favorite Photos

These are some of my favorite or currently relevant photos. Usually taken by me unless noted otherwise.

A picture of Ashley when she was sick with meningitis.  A picture of my allotment the first time I saw it.  Our pool, as viewed from the hotel room.  Sunset on the beach. Pefkochori, Greece  A picture of our previous cat, Piper James  A picture of a sunburnt Chris Funderburg sitting in a boat and covered with towels  A picture of Lake Brownwood, Texas  A picture of Chris Funderburg (with sledgehammer)  Mark and Chris Funderbury sitting on one of the lions in Trafalgar Square Londone in July 2006  Ashley, Cheri, and Kiera Funderbury standing in the eastern egyptian desert during our 2006 holiday by the Red Sea near Hurghada  Ashley and Kiera Funderbury by the Red Sea during their Egyptian holiday in 2006 

Contact Me


Or Via this magical QR code


A QR Code for Chris Funderburg

The Hidden Bit


Heh heh. Using the mouse's scroll wheel instead of the menu are we? This page is mainly for me - mainly like a holding area for things until I can action them...

Building and Supporting:

  • Very little.: I need a new project.

Looking For:

  • A GTD application that integrates completely into my life. (Like The Hit List – but integrated with Google and Evernote and Dropbox)

Worries / Major Concerns:

  • My Macbook Pro has finally died permanently and I really need a new one.
  • Need to remember to renew my passport
  • The driver side window on my new car is bust. Need to get that fixed with the A/C.

Your Life is Your Life


your life is your life
don’t let it be clubbed into dank submission.
be on the watch.
there are ways out.
there is a light somewhere.
it may not be much light but
it beats the darkness.
be on the watch.
the gods will offer you chances.
know them.
take them.
you can’t beat death but
you can beat death in life, sometimes.
and the more often you learn to do it,
the more light there will be.
your life is your life.
know it while you have it.
you are marvelous
the gods wait to delight
in you.
– Charles Bukowski