E-Mail: neil@blondeguy.com
Phone: (831) 427-1529
Address: 130 Serra Ct., Santa Cruz, CA 95060
The mission of Blonde Guy is to provide high quality service, software and hardware to users of ArcaOS, OS/2 and eComStation.
Blonde Guy strives to provide customers with the best products and service possible, to treat every customer with attention, consideration and respect and to build positive, lasting relationships with our customers.
The Blonde Guy office is a powerful location with resources for OS/2 support.
The office is comfortable with a 32 inch LG color monitor, Das keyboard, Hand Systems mouse and a pair of CR-X speakers have been arranged on the desk by and ergonomic consultant.
The office is furnished with a Workspace chair, custom desk and bookshelves, and adequate shelf space in the garage back up this powerful home office.
An APC UPS, IOGear USB KVM, Cable modem and Gigabit Ethernet hub fit neatly under desk on and equipment shelf along with the server, Garbopeep, running ArcaOS. The server is running Jetty, Weasel, Digi IMAP, FTPserver, rsyncd, VNC server, telnetd and IniServe.
Blonde Guy has two laptops, a Lenovo X490, combopeep, and a Lenovo T470, ubopeep. Both laptops run ArcaOS and Windows.
Blonde Guy keeps virtual machines for nearly every released version of OS/2 and eComStation.
Apple iPad and iPhone systems are configured to interact with OS/2-based systems.
An artist's system is available with Adobe CS and a flatbed scanner.
The office is equipped with an HP Color Laserjet Pro M252dw printer on the network.
Internet gateway and WiFi service is provided by NetGear N300 DGND3700v2 router.
Blonde Guy is using Comcast Business Internet for now, looking forward to upgrade to Cruzio fiber when that is available.
My standard rate for expert consulting for ArcaOS, OS/2 and eComStation is $125/hour.
For locations where significant travel is needed, travel expenses are additional.
Blonde Guy is a sole proprietorship. I have created an efficient home office with business grade cable internet access, an OS/2 server, OS/2 development machines, and a well-equipped workstation to build and test computers. I handle most aspects of the business personally. When you deal with Blonde Guy, you know that I'll be doing the work, not someone less experienced. I have lower expenses and I'm focused on OS/2 and eComStation support.
I work with organizations as large as the New York Subway System, where I took over maintenance of OS/2 software used by the MetroCard fare card System, and as small as one-person businesses, where I am sometimes on a retainer for consulting on an as-needed basis.
I've been writing software since I was in junior high school, on a wide variety of systems and in multiple languages. I started writing OS/2 programs in 1990. I founded Blonde Guy when IBM wound down OS/2, leaving clients without support. My best customers have OS/2 software that has worked for years, and don't find it cost effective to switch platforms.
I produce comprehensive, high-quality software solutions. I emphasize thoroughness and efficiency. I offer excellent problem-solving skills, and bring a no-nonsense approach to software development and documentation.
I create applications for OS/2 using C/C++, Rexx or Java. I have done product releases including requirements, design, documentation, builds, testing and release. I have taken charge of maintenance of several client's OS/2 software. I have ported software to and from the OS/2 platform.
I wrote Suntan Special, an OS/2 software application that adds, updates and removes OS/2 programs. Suntan Special is used to produce Blonde Guy computers, and is also sold as an end-user product.
I am an expert at installing OS/2 on diverse hardware. I recommend compatible peripherals and work to create OS/2 support for new devices and peripherals. I solve device driver problems, configure OS/2 and find solutions for problems with OS/2 systems.
Blonde Guy purchases used laptop and desktop computers that run ArcaOS. Blonde Guy is a reseller for Arca Noae.
The Blonde Guy website is used to advertise and administer sales of computers, Suntan Special, ArcaOS licenses and software. I created the website with variety of tools such as HTML, JavaScript, web page layout using Cascading Style Sheets and tables.
I wrote an on-line ordering system to manage my inventory, list of customers and orders and generate business data for accounting and taxes using Java and Jetty hosted on an OS/2 server. I use my customer list, the web-site and OS/2 user groups to market my products. I handle customer support and work with suppliers. I write articles about ArcaOS, OS/2 and eComStation to help promote my business.
I host and administer the PMMail/2, BayWarp.org and BlondeGuy.com websites.
I manage the PMMail/2 project, leading a world-wide team of developers on the OS/2 e-mail client program. I coordinate product planning, bug reporting, source code management and software releases. The entire project is done remotely, using e-mail and web tools.
I serve on the board of directors of Warpstock Corporation to put on an annual OS/2 technology conference.