Archive for July, 2009

The new gallery

Posted on July 31st, 2009 by Ryan Reed

Recently, I've been working on changing up my gallery. Currently, the gallery uses Flickr as the host which is definitely nice for reliability for hosting but it does pose the problem of not being very dynamic. What do I mean by that? Well, for every new Flickr album, I have to create a new page. I'm sure I could work out a way to get around that but I'd rather host all the images myself.

So, what advantages does my script propose over my previous method?

  • Dynamically updates - Everytime a new folder of images is uploaded, a new album page is created for the album. No coding required by me
  • The script automatically creates thumbnails for the images as needed using sizes specified by the user
  • Exif data is pulled from the original image during the thumbnail creation process. This allows me to display time taken, ISO, camera, image description as image title, etc.
  • The display of the pages are easily customizable with css.
  • The gallery requires only 2 files, the main page (for displaying the albums and pictures) and the thumbnail builder

I will admit that this has taken me about a month to get the scripts to the point they are now but it's honestly because I've been learning as I go. Image manipulation is something new, and thankfully, I had a buddy of mine help me out along the way. Thanks Joe.

The new gallery has not been uploaded yet as there's still a few things I want to make sure are completely polished. I may release it for download for anyone to use but I haven't quite decided yet.

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Even SecureWorks Recognizes my Awesomeness

Posted on July 23rd, 2009 by Ryan Reed

Today was an interesting day. The MSS portion of VeriSign (which I am a part of) was recently acquired by SecureWorks. My Team Lead recently, without my knowledge, nominated me to become the Employee of the Month for SecureWorks. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I had won the honor.

I would definitely consider this an honor as it's not like a fast food style "Employee of the Month" deal (which, coincidentally, I have won before). I was recognized for the work I was doing company wide. It wasn't for just showing up on time, flipping burgers, and such, it was recognizing my performance and skills which I believe to be something I should definitely proud of.

If you are interested, you can check out the "censored" letter that was written by my Team Lead that lead to the award. Check it out

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Network Specialist Resume

Posted on July 13th, 2009 by Ryan Reed

Just got around to updating the 'ol resume and Monster.com profile. I need to update the resume a tiny bit more to include the new company, SecureWorks as the sale has been completed.

I also need to export the new resume to pdf. Ah, no rush, I suppose.

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I’d Like to Welcome George Simons

Posted on July 10th, 2009 by Ryan Reed

I'd like to welcome George Simons of geosimons.NET to the modern web development world. George currently works with me at SecureWorks and has finally got past the initial "under construction" page. I never thought the day would come. I'm so proud.

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New England, It’s Not You, It’s Me

Posted on July 3rd, 2009 by Ryan Reed

I've always preferred living in the south rather then New England for various reasons but in the last year, the urge to move has been pretty large. I've never been a cold weather kind of guy, snow gets boring after 10 minutes.

So you might ask yourself "Ryan, why not just move then?' Ah, there are numerous reasons but a few really stand out.

  • The job - this is the biggest reason. I enjoy my job a great deal. I'm a big fan of the firewall management part of our business. It's extremely interesting and the troubleshooting, normally, doesn't drive me insane. I actually feel like I've come into my own in this respect, being able to troubleshoot firewall issues, setup VPNs, etc.
  • The people I work with - I have an excellent team behind me. The shift is really rough, but I get to work with some smart and fun guys/gals. Our shift is pretty close and we have a lot of fun while getting a huge amount of work done. It's really the reason I haven't changed shifts
  • The job - I know I said it earlier but it really is the job. Good money, good people, and good fun.
  • The economy - It's a bit harder to find a job now adays. Finding a job without 10 years of experience maybe a bit tough. Leaving my current job without a job offer would be a huge problem.

Besides those points, I really don't have much holding me in New England. My family moved out of New England when I went to college and I don't have a significant other at the moment. I'd really like to move someplace South/Southwest. Texas seems really nice but I'd be open to almost anything south of Jersey. I guess I'll just keep a lookout and work on getting a good chunk of certs for a little while.

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