About

Our greatest happiness does not depend on the condition of life in which chance has placed us, but is always the result of a good conscience, good health, occupation, and freedom in all just pursuits. — Thomas Jefferson

Welcome. This blog is about Linux System Administration and I hope to share increasingly useful articles. Popular topics I write about include performance, security, mysql and php. In the Sysadmin capacity, I remotely support 30+ clients around the globe. Most of my work is performed using terminal (Terminator) via secure shell (SSH).

Sys-ad-min: A person responsible for the upkeep, configuration and reliable operation of computer systems; especially multi-user computers, such as servers.

Born in Antigua, in 1979, my background in tech started when the internet first hit the island around 1996. Back then, although tech industry related educational and work options on-island were very limited, I made it a goal of becoming a web developer. After graduating from high school in 1997, I enrolled with NRI schools (of MHE) for a course in web development. In 1999 I started working with Antigua Sun Newspaper (more than a decade before its closure) where I served as the web developer for the daily online version of the newspaper.

As an artist in pastels and watercolors, I also came up with the idea to market and sell my paintings online along with other artists in Antigua and thus created a website which sold these paintings. Also in 1999, I created the website purehonda.com, which grew to have over 200,000 unique visitors per month and over 50,000 registered members. The site was also featured in 3 major US magazines ( Sport Compact Car, Super Street [2 times], and Honda Tuning). I sold PureHonda on Sept 10th 2001 the day before 9/11 and just missing the burst of the dot-com bubble.

In 2004, I launched PinStack.com, a smartphone discussion community that supported users with news, reviews and forum help. This site was acquired in 2009, at which time PinStack was receiving over 3 million page views per month, with over 700,000 registered members. For my next project, I purchased a much smaller website called Coolvibe which enabled me to combine server management and my love for art. I kept Coolvibe for 1 year and more than doubled its monthly traffic to just over 1 million page views monthly.

Most recently I sold altenergyshift.com. (website address is self-explanatory) Additionally, from 1998 to 2007, I was employed full-time by ACT Antigua, AT&T and Cable & Wireless. New projects include digitalart.io (update: sold) and Stacklinux custom VPS hosting. Most of my time now is spent supporting existing Linux server clients. Connect on LinkedIn.

Notable mentions…

Quoted in front page article: ‘Unprecedented’ cyberattack involved tens of millions of IP addresses.

— CNN

“Hayden, thank you for your image optimization suggestion. Millions of web surfers now get a faster web experience because of it!”

— Cloudflare

“PinStack.com is a virtual playgroud where technology buffs network, trade advice and get the latest gadget news!”

— Ottawa Citizen

“PinStack.com …a complete Blackberry guide!”

— TheRecord.com

“For the extent of the problem [Blackberry Addiction], see the BlackBerry Addicts Confession Page on PinStack.com”

— Newsday.com

“Pinstack, which is one of the more popular Blackberry forums…”

— ZDNet

“Coolvibe is a site dedicated to showcasing the best and most inspirational digital art from around the web — be it science fiction, fantasy, retro, 3D, illustrations, vector art, and virtually everything else.”

— 1stwebdesigner

“Purehonda.com is the distilled, 100% unrelenting Honda fix you need. If it were possible, we’d tell you to open a vein and pump the HTML directly into your bloodstream.”

— Super Street Mag

“With all the vinegar and spice of a tabloid newspaper, Purehonda.com crowds an immense quantity and variety of information into it’s display page. There’s enough information and stimulation here to captivate the Honda/Acura addict for hours – if not days!…if you stop by we’re sure you’ll agree that Purehonda.com comes as close to achieving a “virtual community” for Honda and Acura partisans as anyone on the web!.”

— Sport Compact Car

Listed multiple times as a top Honda enthusiasts resource

— Honda Tuning Mag