In a van, down by the river... with a laptop.
I was in a few papers recently. The Daily Camera did an arcticle "Boulder Bohemian will Code for Karma" which was replicated over at the Colorado Daily as "'Hippy Hacker' works the web out of VW Bus". The print edition of the Camera actually used a photo of mine from this article a year ago: "An Equation for Job Happiness". As for me I'll be leaving boulder for a while and heading out for some WOOFing in Kauai, Hawaii (three weeks) and New Zealand (who knows how long). But first I'll head around the old US of A visiting friends and family before I head off into the wild. I'm working on some blog software that should be up and running within the three weeks I'm here in the states. For now I'm just updating the front page until the software is read. See you guys on the road. -Hippie Hacker
BSP 1.0 Success
Blatent Self Promotion 1.0 was pretty successful and I was able to make some good contacts. Gonzo Style blogger Rob Spectre over at Dream Not of Today wrote up a nice blog entry about me while at the conference including a youtube video and put up a few flickr photosets. This was my favorite photo. I've also had my first few sponsors/customers who have funded me for 6 hours of non-profit time. My first non-profits I'll be working with are Viva Peace and Cornerstone Student Ministry. Viva Peace is in my office building on the mall, and I'm a volunteer with Cornerstone. I'm still trying to find a few longer term clients to fund my work and my office space lease is up July 31st.
What is it that you do?
I make people smile by doing the right thing
Well it's a bit more complicated than that, but I basically spend 50% or more of my time working with non-profit entities to help them operate in a more secure and efficient manner. Many non-profit organizations do not have the resources or experience to handle todays growing threats from the 'bad guys'. So I decided to step up to the plate and spread the love.
How do you make money?
You think I'm in this for the Money?
While I like having enough bread to keep gas in the van, keep the dog fed, and pay rent, but I don't like to ask the non-profit's I work for for money. Eventually I'd like do be able to fund myself with grants and contributions from people who have seen the impact of my work and want to spread the love.
For now, the interim approach is to use my skills as a 'Paid Professional Paranoid' and 'Internet Plumber' to get contract work. The gimmick here is that for each hour I contract out to a normal organization, I pledge to work an hour for a nonprofit to help them with security and efficiency. Hence getting the street cred with the other people out there doing good to find the bread I need to keep the van running.
You call youself a Hacker! Isn't that bad?
I'm am somewhat a mix of the Hacker Manefesto and aWhite Hat hacker.
That would be the movie equivalent of John Wayne hanging with the Easy Rider crew. Good? Yes. Knows how the 'other side' thinks? Yes.
I've written security application frameworks for several companies over the years. I also attained a CCIE in Security and know networking pretty well. I've got some killer ideas for some new applications, but I have to find the right folks to work with. Using this branding is a way to limit my market down to those folks I'd like to work with.
Hippys for Hire
Why would I want to hire a hippy?
It's akin to hiring a starving college student, but I've been around the block a time or two. The monicker reflects my laid back ability to talk to folks of all levels, bringing my expertise as a hacker to an everymans level. I can talk to CXO's on down, and feel comfortable in my own shoes, while not making them crawl out of theirs.
You remind me of Matt Foley!
Are you available for motivational speaking?
Of course!