The long version
History
The full story, oldest first. Where a public record exists, it is linked under the entry so you can check it.
Insert cartridge
The early years
Childhood
Atari 2600
My adventure started with 128 bytes of RAM and 4 KB of ROM on the Atari 2600. I spent many hours losing myself in that simple 8-bit world. I didn’t have a lot of friends growing up, which gave me plenty of time to get really high scores on games like Chopper Command, Pac-Man, and Vanguard.
Childhood
160-in-One electronics kit
I have always wanted to know how everything works. One of my prized possessions was the Radio Shack “160 in ONE” electronics project kit. It came with a book, and I did every project in it, then took notes on the projects I came up with on my own.
My parents would offer to take me to Toys R Us for my birthday, but I always wanted to go to Radio Shack instead. That is when they realized I was not like the other children.
Mid 1980s
Tandy TRS-80
My life was forever changed when I got my first computer, a Tandy TRS-80 my parents picked up on clearance at Radio Shack. It came with BASIC and a book that taught you the language. I started buying magazines to find more programs, wrote my own games, and spent hours learning how it all worked.
1992 to 1993
Pascal, then COBOL
I did not get into the IBM PC world until a Pascal class in 10th grade in 1992, followed by a class in 1993 where I learned some COBOL. Those early days had me hooked and launched my career.
1995
First tech job
Right out of high school, I worked at several small computer companies that mostly did sales and service for the retail market. Most of them are gone now, but one of them, Southgate Computers, is still in business.
Sources: Southgate Computers
1998 to 2003
Sysadmin to head of IT
I met the president of ALPIS, a small transportation company, and started as a junior sysadmin. ALPIS grew into a large Midwest carrier and a tier one transportation provider for Ford, hauling just-in-time deliveries for its supplier network. When my manager left, I was promoted to head of IT, with a $1.1 million budget and a lot of room to try ideas. I spent much of that time mining the data on our IBM RS/6000 to make the company run more efficiently.
- An auto-arrival system that read the trucks’ Qualcomm GPS data and emailed suppliers when an ETA fell outside its window.
- An automated tool that used GPS data to flag drivers over their hours.
- Fleet idle-time calculations from GPS data.
- Fuzzy matching on bill of lading entries that caught typos by comparing them with earlier shipments to the same location to increase accuracy.
- Per-truck fuel efficiency from daily fuel purchases, which flagged outliers and caught drivers stealing fuel.
- A dispatch system that matched loads to drivers by location and availability, built on all of the above. It reached the final round for a National Science Foundation grant, and when the grant did not come through, we built it with internal funding.
Player 1 continues
2003 to today
2003
Founding Lawrence Systems
When ALPIS was split into separate companies, I founded Lawrence Technology Services, now Lawrence Systems, to support them as clients. That is why so many of my early clients were in the transportation sector.
2005
Suburban Electronics and Computers
I went into business with the founder of Suburban Electronics and renamed it Suburban Electronics and Computers. We repaired TVs, VCRs, and high-end audio, added computer repair, and sold high-end audio equipment on eBay.
2007 to 2017
PC Pickup in Taylor
In 2007 my partner and I parted ways, and I opened PC Pickup, the retail side of Lawrence Systems, in Taylor, Michigan. We kept repairing TVs and audio equipment for the first couple of years, until falling flat-screen prices made it impractical.
Sources: Business listing: Lawrence Technology Services & PC Pickup
2008 onward
Speaking
I started giving talks in 2008, and they became part of how I built Lawrence Systems. Most were at small local chamber of commerce events on general tech topics for everyday business owners. I also spoke at Linux meetups and at Penguicon about open source, firewalls, and Linux. I never kept a list of those early talks.
Sources: LA2M speaker bio
2013
Small Business Person of the Year
The Southern Wayne County Regional Chamber named me its 2013 Small Business Person of the Year, for Lawrence Technology Services.
The award plaque from the Southern Wayne County Regional Chamber. 2014
Starting the YouTube channel
On February 7, 2014, I started a YouTube channel called TheTecknowledge, which later became Lawrence Systems. There were very few videos in the first few years.
Sources: Lawrence Systems on YouTube
2014 to 2021
Sunday Morning Linux Review
I was a regular at Penguicon, the Detroit-area tech and science fiction convention, which is where I met the hosts of the Sunday Morning Linux Review podcast. I joined them as a co-host in 2014 and stayed until the show ended in 2021. In 2021, Forrester included it in its list of the 100 best channel podcasts.
Sources: Forrester: The 100 Best Channel Podcasts Of 2021 · LinuxLinks review of SMLR · Daily Detroit interview, 2017
2016
Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses
I completed the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program, a business education program for owners of growing small businesses.
Sources: About the 10 · LA2M speaker bio
2017
Moving to Southgate
I closed the Taylor location and moved into a building in Southgate, Michigan. We did much of the build-out ourselves, including a studio for YouTube and the podcast.
Sources: Build-out video
2019
Retail ends, the forums begin
I wound down the retail side and launched the Lawrence Systems forums, a self-hosted Discourse community where viewers ask technical questions and help each other.
Sources: Lawrence Systems forums
2021 to 2024
The Homelab Show
Jay LaCroix of Learn Linux TV and I started The Homelab Show, a podcast about running your own lab at home. It ran until 2024.
Sources: Episodes on Learn Linux TV · Playlist on YouTube
2022
Business Technicalities
I started a second YouTube channel, Business Technicalities, for the business side of running an MSP.
Sources: Business Technicalities on YouTube
2023
CompTIA ISAO board
I served one year, 2023, on the board of the CompTIA Cybersecurity Information Sharing and Analysis Organization (ISAO).
The thank-you award from the CompTIA ISAO, 2023. 2023 to 2025
CNWR
I sold my managed services clients to CNWR and took an equity position in the company, where Jason Slagle is president. It let me spend more time on YouTube while CNWR handled client projects.
At the end of 2025 I decided to leave, and Jason bought my shares. I went back to taking consulting projects directly through Lawrence Systems.
Sources: IT in the D 461, July 2023
2026
Huntress, and some new projects
In April I started working at Huntress in a community and content role. Lawrence Systems stays independent: Huntress has no rights over my content and no influence on how it is made.
- Started Threat Level Throttle, an off-road motorcycle channel, with my friend Matt Lee.
- Started Streaming Security, a security news podcast, with Matt Lee.
- Gave talks at GrrCON, with Matt Lee, and at the 45Drives Creator Summit. See appearances.
- Built a pink phone booth hacking game with Matt Lee and Patrick Garrity of VulnCheck, and ran it at GrrCON. A video about it is coming.
Sources: Threat Level Throttle on YouTube · Streaming Security on YouTube
Missing something, or have a correction? I keep this page accurate on purpose. Open an issue on GitHub.