In roughly 2017, I had a neck surgery to fuse my C4-C5 vertebrae, for a while I toughed this out, however in roughly 2019 I had to heed to pleadings of my friends and colleagues and give up my post there. Luckily, this was on very friendly terms and over the near decade I had spent working there I had made many friends and was also routinely invited back for cameos for our customers.
I have taken on several projects not worth mentioning here; however, I’ve also spent a significant amount of time studying a wide variety of topics, principally AI, and it’s application to my favorite of them all: SEO: but more about that elsewhere.
For those who know me, this will come as no surprise that I like to tinker: in general, not just in IT, however I must recommend something I learned of from a person on YouTube — H20 GPT. H20 GPT is basically a framework for setting up your own, local, general purpose AI system. Provided you have the localized horsepower to get it up and running (somewhat) and from there it’s able to be powered on time leased on GPU’s from Amazon or others. This revolutionary censorship free chatbot rivals my most ambitious tinkering and is something I’m currently still in the beta stage of working on running.
Most recently (Working under the nom de plume Jake Glass), I’ve worn the hat of Program Development Director at Rocketdriver, where I helped to found and develop a small startup company into one of the leading white label service providers in its respective industry. Most notable was my role in developing more then 50 hours of video training and hosting hundreds of live webinars, training collectively thousands of individuals in the in’s and out’s of consultative sales in the internet marketing arena.
To learn more about me and what it is I do, don’t hesitate to reach out.
Some time in 2009 I was contacted by a friend who had gone to the Philippines to start an outsourced SEO business: Endless Rise Inc or ERI as we all called it. ERI was a business that serviced agencies all over the world and gave them the ability to resell their low-cost services. In many areas of the world the services offered by ERI would cost an average of 5x or even 10x the ERI rate – making them almost as popular as BPO in a way.
The friend who had introduced me wound up leaving the business but agreed to introduce me to senior management with his endorsement for the role of salesperson.
I took the job while still doing clinical research, under the condition that I was making no promises to them in terms of effectiveness: after all, I had never sold outsourcing to agencies before. This would be an entirely new adventure.
As it turned out, I did so well, despite working part-time hours, that the company decided to offer to relocate me to Makati, Manila (Makati is to Manila what Manhattan is to New York City) and to put me up in an excellent apartment: an offer I gladly accepted.
Despite doing very well on the job, I became critically ill over a period of time and had to return to the United States. I will always feel a strong fealty towards the people of the Philippines, as I found them to be some of the nicest people I ever met, and I had an exceptional time while there.
On my return home, a new opportunity awaited me: along with medical care I desperately needed. Onto Rocketdriver
After working to help build Aqua Pure Solutions for a time, I was ready for a change — a big one. My primary hobby was still IT, Design, FOSS, and the like, but I was burnt out on conducting the kind of one-call-close selling we had to do there.
So I went looking…
Fortunately, I stumbled into a Clinical Research company that was hiring. To keep a long story short, they began me as an EDC specialist – a data input person and gradually trained me in Phlebotomy and for tests necessary to handle IP (Investigative Product) let alone administer it.
Though I found the overall industry less than appealing for personal reasons, I learned a lot in this business about phase trials, protocols and how research is conducted: and why it’s done in the way it is and to whom in the manner it is.
The circumstances of the business were already on rocky ground when I joined, and I had no opportunity to effect any of the outcomes of studies signed-on for before my involvement. I do not know the official date or what precisely occurred (a sale most likely), but ultimately, I had to leave the company along with everyone else as it shut down. I went on to seek better opportunities elsewhere — and I found them quickly.
Through the years, I’ve had the opportunity to help build some great companies that have stood the test of time.
The first business I ever worked on for someone else was, Aqua Pure Solutions. APS is a FL-based residential water purification and treatment company offering a wide range of equipment to help combat the chronic poor water quality of Florida.
I was fortunate enough to be tutored by one of the best salesmen I’ve ever met. Together, I helped to raise numerous departments, build functioning marketing vehicles, and grow the company to where others keep it going today.
Throughout my life in IT, since very early on, I have constantly strived to contribute to projects and use FOSS: Free Open-Source Software as much as possible for my clients. This isn’t only because it saves them money in the short term, but because it helps to support a tradition I hope carries on forever in this industry: giving away your work. It was in that spirit that, at the age of about 16, I developed and released an icon pack for the MorphOS and AmigaOS operating systems as a gift to this unique global community.
Through the years, I’ve been involved in helping numerous people and working as a beta tester on many open-source projects. Including the early days of Deepin Linux and even (via IRC chat) Yggsrdrasil (RIP) which was one of the earliest distributions.
