Alex Barger
cTO
Initially, I started as a freelance contractor. At that time, the LAMP stack was not widely adopted by companies in Lancaster, and I wanted to stay local. This company stood out as a bird of a feather for me. It felt like a very down to earth team with a desire to improve, iterate and have some fun while working.
When I was around eight years old my father purchased a Commodore 64 for the family. We would spend hours typing in computer programs from magazines, and having to troubleshoot that code when it didn't work properly. We got a 300 baud modem and would dial-in to other local BBS, and in-time ran our own. When when the Internet became a "thing", there wasn't much to actually do on-line. The local BBS scene was not only a place for computer geeks to hangout and socialize, we also had interactive games. We even had a meetup at Long's Park, before meetups even had a name. Much like the process of building your application or website; building, running and moderating our own BBS is where I draw my inspiration.
Most of computer and programming education has been hands-on and self taught. After graduating from Elizabethtown Area High school, I earned my Associates Degree of Computer and Electronics Technology at Electronic Institutes of Middletown. Since that time, I've advanced myself with on the job experience and the following training classes:
NetG CompTIA A+
Ricoh/Savin/Gestetner factory certified on several models of fax and photo copier machines
Cisco VOIP
Paychex Systems HR Management
React Fundamentals
Elastic Engineer I
My favorite type of project in general is one with some kind of tangible result that has an element that is technically challenging or requires a new or different approach. While I do like cookies, I don't enjoy repeatedly doing the same thing over and over. The variety is really key.
My core belief is that anything can be done with enough time, money and resources. I thrive on overcoming challenges with modern, yet practical and cost conscious solutions to complex assignments. With over 18 years of professional experience, over 35 years coding, you may often hear me say ... "oh, let me tell you a story."
I like meat and cheese, playing the card game Magic: The Gathering and going fishing with my buddies. I also enjoy working on household DIY renovations, tinkering with electronics and woodworking.