About Daniel Norton

I live in Austin, Texas and am the proud father of two adult sons, both of whom attend college in the State of New York. I grew up in Texas, have lived on both coasts as an adult, but I prefer living in Austin, nearer to close family and long–time friends.

I am currently actively seeking employment (résumé).

An internet
“server farm”

Tech stuff

I have several decades of experience developing system‒level software products and have worked as a consultant or employee in R & D for companies of all sizes, including Microsoft and IBM. I am also a skilled technical writer and presenter, having written a book, published technical articles, and developed and presented technical training seminars. (I currently work in spurts on various Wikipedia articles.)

I’ve been operating my own personal websites and servers for over 10 years, but I have spent much of the last year developing a high level of expertise in internet server and internet website development and maintenance. I know Microsoft Windows inside and out, simply having worked with it at many levels for decades, but most of my internet server experience has been on Linux (LAMP) platforms.

I hold a B.S. Degree in Computer Science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Non-tech stuff

As “Mick” in
A Skull in Connemara

Since 1994, I have trained and performed as a stage, screen, and voice actor (headshot & résumé) and have performed in over 40 stage and screen productions, usually in leading (and unpaid) roles. Performing is a lot of fun, but it’s not something I expect to be able to develop into a career. (I’m also a trained singer, but am currently out of condition.) Most of my performance work in Austin has been in student films and in original showcase productions (e.g. FronteraFest). The development of these performance skills helped me to become more comfortable (and, I believe, more effective) both in situations that are intimate and in presentations before large audiences.

[ Lance Armstrong racing on a time-trial bike ]

Lance Armstrong
in the 2008
“Tour de Gruene”

I’m an avid amateur photographer and I’ll soon be posting some portfolios of my work here (including this photo to the right that I took of Lance Armstrong in 2008).

I spend most of my leisure time riding my bikes. I enjoy commuting, week‒long bike/camping tours and I particularly enjoy my remarkably unremarkable career of amateur racing (criteriums are my favorite). I am also a qualified USA Cycling race official. From November 2006 through May 2009, I served as the board Secretary of the Austin Cycling Association, where I also help with maintenance of the ACA website, www.austincycling.org. (The legacy website has served the ACA well since before my arrival in Austin, but I have championed the effort to upgrade and improve it, hopefully to be re-launched in Spring 2009.)

Although I grew up in Houston, I spent my last two years of high school attending St. Stephen’s Episcopal School here in Austin as a boarding student.

I returned to Austin in 2004. Perhaps it was the 104 inches of snow in the winter of 2003 or the −40°F temperature the day I left upstate New York in January 2004 that convinced me that I was making the right decision to return to Texas. Although I miss being closer to my sons and I miss my friends in New York, I certainly haven’t regretted the decision. I am enjoying the sunny weather and outdoor activities here in Austin, but I particularly enjoy my new friends, decades‒long friendships, and nearby family.

Contact me

I like to be accessible and, although I despise spam, I invite you to contact me via email at daniel@danielnorton.com, provided you’re not soliciting and you’re not promoting any product or position. (I report such messages as spam to the spammers’ ISPs.) These days I particularly appreciate receiving email about work opportunities in Austin that match my skills and interests.

[ Photo of the console of a CDC 6600 supercomputer ]

Console of the same model of
computer as my very first