Kyle Munz

Objective

"I am always looking for a challenge. One where I can use the skills and knowledge that I already have and yet still grow and learn."

This has been my objective for decades. I have often thought that I needed to change it, update it, reword it, modernize it, something. Every time I update my resume I look at it again, and every time I leave it alone. Why? Because it is every bit as true, accurate, and descriptive of me today as it was then. I am not one to sit still. I am always studying, keeping up with new technologies, and seeing how I can apply new skills to the world around me. Feel free to browse through my list of skills and experiences but know that if the skill you seek is not there now, it may be there tomorrow.

Proficiencies

  • CEH - EC-Council: Certified Ethical Hacker
  • AWS - Certified Solutions Architect - Associate (AWS-ASA-18516)
  • AWS - Certified Developer - Associate (AWS-DEV-4264)

I have over two decades of experience managing departments and supervising teams of various skillsets.
  • Budgeting - Continuous reevaluation of subscriptions and services to identify areas of savings while maintaining operability.
  • Team Building - The best teams result from effective training, positive feedback, and by providing the opportunity for excellence.
  • Project Management - Successfully implemented Agile, Kanban, Scrum, and Waterfall methodologies depending on requirements.
  • External Resources - Outside consultants can fill gaps in internal expertise but require communication, coordination, and accountability.

I have extensive experience with AWS (Amazon Web Services) as well as the following virtualization services:
  • AWS (I hold CSA and Dev certificates)
  • VMWare/ESXi
  • VirtualBox

I first learned to program on my Commodore64 by reading the User Manual and have never stopped learning. Though these days I probably learn more from StackOverflow.

I have experience in the following languages ranked by how comfortable I feel using them:
  • Javascript/Node.js
  • BASH
  • PHP/MySQL
  • Basic (Visual,Q,GW,CBM)
  • Perl
  • C/C++
  • Java
I also have experience with the following frameworks, workflows, and SaaS:

My experience in networking is from Layer 1 on up. From terminating Cat6 cables to designing VLANs and coordinating class migrations.
  • Cisco ASA/Fortinet Fortigate/IPCop firewalls.
  • OpenVPN and MS RRAS VPNs.
  • HP/Aruba/Cisco/Hirschmann/Netgear managed switches.
  • Cisco/Aruba WAP VLAN and VAP configuration.
  • AWS VPCs and subnet groups.
  • Nagios/NTOP/MRTG networking and monitoring. (View my Nagios Exchange contributions)
  • RNRP (Redundant Network Routing Protocol - Proprietary to ABB Inc.)

I prefer linux these days but have a Windows background and work well in a mixed environment. My first computer was a second-hand Commodore64 though I have to admit being a little rusty on that system.

I have experience with installation, configuration, and maintenance of the following operating systems:
  • linux/unix - Debian and RHEL based, server and desktop, my primary desktop is Mint+Cinnamon.
  • Microsoft - From DOS 5 to Server 2019, home to server editions, and experience with MS VLSC.
  • Apple - Most of the OS X cats and landmarks and some experience with macOS Server and MDM.

My experience with PC hardware begins with hacking my Commodore64 in the 80s, working on the front lines in a PC repair shop in the 90s, to being responsible for data centers and corporate workstations.

Some of my experiences include:
  • Data Recovery and Forensics
  • Thermal and power considerations
  • ISA/PCI/AGP/PCI-e expansions
  • RAID/iSCSI
  • Installation, configuration, and troubleshooting of server and desktop components

Not necessarily technology based skills, but worth mentioning:
  • Typing (90WPM)
  • Spanish
  • Photography
  • Cycling
  • Automobile repair (This was asked in an interview once, yes I have replaced my own brakes and trust my work with my life.)
  • Red Cross Lifeguard trained (This was a PE Credit in college)

Projects and Community Contributions

Below are some of my contributions back to the open source community:

https://www.npmjs.com/~kyle138

  • check-ssl-expiration - Checks given domain's SSL/TLS certificate and return time left until expiration.
  • webnudge - Makes simple web requests to keep Pantheon containers active.
  • create-response-object - A very, very tiny object creator for lambda-proxy responses.
  • is_letter_a - I was inspired by the left-pad fiasco to make my own package with limited usability. So is_letter_a tests if the supplied argument is the letter A. Completely useless and far and away my most popular package.
  • acidd - My first attempt at an NPM module for front-end use. Randomly drifts the RGB values of the 'color' and 'backgroundColor' properties for HTML elements. See an example here.

https://github.com/kyle138

  • GithubToS3 - Lambda CI/CD bot that responds to GitHub pushes and deploys to AWS S3.
  • S3Uploader - Serverless stack allowing anonymous and secure uploads directly to AWS S3. Perfect for replacing FTP for files up to 5TB. See example here.
  • CronWhois - A lambda function that runs at a set rate to check whois registration status for a specified list of domains.
  • RedirectsForStaticWordPress - Serverless Lambda framework for redirecting dynamic requests to a static WordPress site.
  • OauthLambdaCognito - How to setup a secure, serverless, single-page webapp using Google OAuth2, Lambda, API Gateway, and Cognito.
  • FeedbackForm - Serverless feedback form. See example here.

https://exchange.nagios.org/directory/Owner/Kyle138/1

  • Check-TeraStation-Storage - Check remaining storage capacity of Buffalo TeraStations via SNMP
  • Check_qnap_temps - Yet another Nagios plugin for checking CPU, SYS, and HDD temperatures on QNAP devices via SNMP

Employment History

Hart Energy

07-21-2010 to Present

Title: Director of Technology    (07-21-2016 to Present)
Duties:
  • Supervision of IT policies and procedures that ensure high availability and minimal disruption to employees and external clients
  • Supervision and training of the Windows Server Administrator, Network Administrator, IT Specialist, and Desktop Support positions
  • Supervising the Digital Project Management team and assisting with development prioritization
  • Researching and implementing new technologies and services for the Digital Development team
  • Development of Continuous Deployment strategies with GitHub integration using AWS Code Pipeline and AWS Lambda
  • Development and design of serverless web hosting and administrative infrastructure using AWS Lambda, API Gateway, and DynamoDB
  • Coordinating with and supporting external development teams for digital projects
  • Administration of Linux Apache, nGinx, Varnish, MySQL, Postfix, Nagios, ntop, VMWare ESXi, and AWS EC2 server clusters
 
Title: IT Manager    (09-12-2013 to 07-21-2016)
Duties:
  • Administration of IT policies and procedures that ensure high availability and minimal disruption to employees and external clients
  • Interviewing and supervising Desktop Support and Windows Server administration positions
  • Design of high availability architectures for web properties in Amazon Web Services
  • Coordinating the migration of existing web properties from physical data center to Amazon Web Services using EC2, Elastic Beanstalk, Lambda, RDS, DynamoDB, and other services
  • Development of backup procedures for Linux web and database servers using onsite solutions and Amazon Glacier
  • Administration of Linux Apache, nGinx, Varnish, MySQL, Postfix, Nagios, ntop, VMWare ESXi, and AWS EC2 server clusters
  • Supervising the migration of Windows Server 2003 infrastructure to 2008 and 2012
  • Network provisioning and expansion accommodating the opening of satellite offices and acquired companies
 
Title: Network Administrator    (08-05-2011 to 09-12-2013)
Duties:
  • Administration of IT policies and procedures that ensure high availability and minimal disruption to employees and external clients
  • Administration and maintenance of Linux web servers, MySQL, and load balancers
  • Administration of Windows Server 2003 servers including Active Directory, Exchange 2007, Storage, WSUS
  • Designing and provisioning of routing, VPN, and firewall policies across eight separate networks using HP, Cisco, Fortinet equipment and AWS VPCs
  • Administration of VLANs, and VAPs on HP and Cisco equipment and IP Address allocation maps
  • Coordinating the migration of primary office network from Class C to Class B
  • Design and development of IT equipment inventory system using PHP and MySQL
  • Migration of company wide email system from Exchange 2007 to Google Apps for Business
  • Development of backup procedures for Windows servers and network shares
  • Providing Tier 2 desktop support and training to the primary and satellite offices
  • Hiring and supervision of Desktop Support positions
 
Title: IT Specialist    (07-21-2010 to 08-05-2011)
Duties:
  • Development of IT policies and procedures that ensure high availability and minimal disruption to employees and external clients
  • Administration of Windows Server 2003 servers including Active Directory, Exchange 2007, Storage, WSUS
  • Administration of Ubuntu and CentOS linux web servers
  • Administration of Avaya IP Office telecom system
  • Providing Tier 2 desktop support and training to the primary and satellite offices
  • Hiring and supervision of Desktop Support positions
 

DKM Labs

Title: CTO
Duties:
  • Design and architecture of High Availability, scalable, application serving solutions in AWS
  • Research and development of procedures using new technologies and frameworks
  • Estimating and minimizing AWS costs and developing cost saving policies
  • Assisted in the development of a project management app using the MEAN stack and hosted in AWS
  • Participated in the upgrading and migration of a class scheduling service developed in the LAMP stack and hosted in AWS Elastic Beanstalk
  • Developed cost saving serverless hosting solution for interactive brochure site using AWS Lambda, API Gateway, DynamoDB, and SES

10-07-2014 to 10-07-2017

ABB Inc. Automation Division

Title: Field Service Engineer
  • MS Windows 2003 Server, MS Windows Domain and Active Directory configuration.
  • Configuring proprietary ABB networking including TCP/IP, RNRP, and DNS.
  • Configuring VLANs and port assignment on Cisco and Hirschmann managed switches.
  • Supporting hardware for S800 I/O, Cat6, Fiber Optic, Serial, and MODBUS communications.
  • Configuring, maintaining, and supporting ABB 800xA process control automation system.

01-05-2009 to 07-20-2010

Rice University

Title: Data Center Operations Specialist I
  • Installing and configuring rack mount servers including cabling for power, network, and LOM.
  • Configuring network switch port assignments and IP information for LOM.
  • Monitoring local network, infrastructure, and utilities for critical events using Nagios.
  • Automated temperature probe polling using perl.
  • Developed inventory database using PHP/MySQL in MAMP and LAMP environments.

09-10-2007 to 12-31-2008

Top8 Corporation

Title: Network Security Consultant
  • Analyzing clients' network infrastructure from a security perspective and advising accordingly.
  • Responsible for hardware and software procurement as well as procedure development.

04-01-2007 to 04-29-2009

Lawyers' Filing

Title: IT Administrator
  • Responsible for network administration, firewalls, network security, and LAMP/Tomcat webhosting.
  • Hardware and software installation, troubleshooting, and maintenance of servers and workstations.
  • Successfully migrated network from Novell Netware to Windows 2000.

06-01-2002 to 09-10-2007

Best Computer USA

Title: Lead Technician
  • Maintaining the store's reputation as the most honest and knowledgeable PC repair shop in the Houston area.
  • Interviewing and training applicants for repair technician positions.
  • Designing and quoting PC systems to spec.
  • Troubleshooting, upgrades, and maintenance on all brands of PCs.

01-15-1999 to 05-28-2002

Just for fun

Everyone turns an old Pentium III desktop into a webserver just for fun right? Well there's no point in a web server with nothing to serve so I whipped up a blog. One of my other hobbies is attempting to keep a mid-80s motorcycle on the road, thus Project Nighthawk was begun. The blog these days no longer resides on an old P3 but has been migrated into AWS.

Read more about how Project Nighthawk is hosted today here.

Do you, or someone you know, work 40 or 80 hours per pay period? Are you expected to hit EXACTLY 40 or 80 hours with no allowance for overtime? Are you tired of calculating exactly how many hours and minutes you have left to work and when you should clock out to make exactly 80 hours? Well so was I and that's why I made this form.

Firefox had a powerful plugin called GreaseMonkey which allowed you to inject javascript locally into any webpage before it gets loaded. Chrome now offers this same functionality natively and GreaseMonkey changed its implementation and then ViolentMonkey came along. Anyways, there are hundreds of practical uses for this sort of thing, such as creating an autorefresh for a page or simply adding a Next button to pages that increment, but I tend to use it instead for entertainment. I get fun ideas for scripts that don't serve any real purpose other than as programming diversions for myself and a few seconds of jockularity for the friends that I talk into downloading them. My scripts used to be hosted at userscripts.org before it went offline, but you can find them for now on the Userscripts-mirror.

Below are some examples:

What is Justin Bieber doing on all your pages anyways? This simple little script replaces the src of every image on the page with the Biebs. It resets width and height to match the original image so layout is preserved. The worst news on CNN's site is much easier to accept with Justin's smiling mug. It uses the kinder, gentler, more innocent Biebs of yesteryear rather than today's JB. Simple, yet lots of fun to install on a coworker's browser.
One of my favorites, this one makes an array of the RGB values of every element on the page. Then three times a second it will push the R, G, and B values either up or down by a random delta between 1 and 3. The net effect is very subtle, but after a while you will notice that the background color is a slightly different hue, that div is slowly heading over into an auburn color and the text moving towards purple, or is it brown? In the early 90s I remember we had a little program called Acid.exe that we would pass around on floppies that did this same thing for DOS. If loaded before Windows 3.1 launched it would phase shift the colors of every window and program until Windows 95 and it's new driver layer came along and ruined all the fun. I just wanted to see if I could recreate the fun.
I have recently refactored the functionality of this script into a front-end NPM module.
Another DOS app from back in the day called trip.exe randomly changed the color of every individual character on the screen. If I remember correctly you could specify the rate that they were changed from slow to fast. This script duplicates that functionality, except that rather than every character it targets every object on the page. Every div, span, p, li, etc will be assigned a new random color and background color every 666ms.
A very, very short and simple script that replaces the href of every link on every page with a famous video that will Never Give you up, Never Let you down, Never Run around, or Desert you. Again, it doesn't serve any practical purpose, but fun to install on a coworker's computer.
I did PC repair in the mid to late 90s and remember when PC viruses were fun. Even the removal was fun, each one new and unique like a mystery novel. I would feel like a detective unraveling the timeline of events leading up to the infection and how the bugger spread. These days malware is big business in Eastern Europe and China and all of the fun has been sucked out of them. I remember one that came across my counter a few times, on odd numbered days it would make all of the icons on the screen run away from the mouse making them impossible to click on. Annoying sure, but admittedly funny as well. I have more or less recreated that functionality with this script. It adds a mouseover listener to every link on the page that randomly relocates that link any time the mouse cursor enter's its borders. Before long links are randomly spread all over the page and frivolity ensues. Another gem to install on your coworker's computer, I'm sure they're appreciating all of the enjoyable diversions you've sent their way so far.
Another favorite of mine, every 30 seconds this script picks a link at random and follows it. I thought it'd be fun to sit back and watch the internet go by on autopilot. It turns out most links lead to Twitter and get stuck there. The tabs in the screenshot were originally: wikihow.com, cnn.com, and wikipedia.org and now 2 of the 3 are in the twitterverse. It really amazed me how many times it ended up in twitter. If you have 6 tabs open at least two will be on twitter within 5 minutes, and once in twitter, they're stuck in twitter. Apparently twitter only has links back to twitter. Don't install this one on a browser that you have logged into GMail or Facebook or you will come back to find that you've deleted half your email, liked some embarrassing posts, and friended half of Facebook.
This script puts a giant SHH! in the middle of every page. I had a coworker who was constantly Shushing everyone around him. I made this script for him as an inside joke but it's free for all to install. Your coworker must really appreciate you by this point.

April Fools is one of my favorite holidays, I've mailed my sister a fake court summons, GIMPed a tattoo on my neck and quietly posted online, but one of my best foolishments was Fun Cat Facts! in 2012. I found a great python script that interfaced with the Google Voice API and would allow me to send SMS texts from the command line. I had a second Google Voice number that none of my friends or family knew about so I whipped up a cron job to send a different Fun Cat Fact to my victims ever hour, on the hour, beginning at midnight on April 1st. I had one friend who figured it out early on but the rest didn't figure me out until late that evening. I did have a few ask me for advice on how to block texts though. Below are the list of Fun Cat Facts I made up for the service, there are more than 24 as my victims spanned multiple timezones and some hours received a bonus Fun Cat Fact.

00:00 CST
Thanks for subscribing to Fun Cat Facts! A Fun Cat Fact will be delivered just for you every hour!! :)
00:00 CST
Cats can carry 50 times their own body weight, and they will work together in small or large groups to move even heavier objects!
01:00 CST
Cats are some of the most venomous animals on earth, but their mouths are too small to bite you.
02:00 CST
Columbus had a 4th ship, the Santa CATalina, crewed entirely by cats! However, shortly after leaving Europe, the crew was distracted by a laser pointer.
03:00 CST
I bet you knew that cats bury their own feces, but did you know that in 3 days their droppings turn into bones, and are later dug up and enjoyed by dogs!?!
04:00 CST
Felines originally had 6 legs, but the kitties would spend too much time chewing their extra toes, thus they evolved their current 4 legged configuration!
05:00 CST
Cats may start with 9 lives, but they routinely loan their extra lives to each other, at 10% interest, and eventually accrue up to 18 lives! InMEOWtality!
06:00 CST
In Arkansas it is legal to marry your cousin, but it is IL-legal to ride your cat into town on Sunday!
07:00 CST
The Russian Space Agency is famous for sending dogs into orbit around the Earth, but did you know that they had to launch cats into space to retrieve them?!?
08:00 CST
Did you know that if you spell C-A-T, 3 times, backwards, into a mirror in a dark room, with your eyes closed, you will receive absolutely nothing?!
09:00 CST
Did you know that cats can't see the color orange? This is why they aren't allowed to be school crossing guards. OMG!!!
10:00 CST
Cats are widely regarded as mysterious, in fact many of them know where Jimmy Hoffa is buried, but don't consider this important enough to tell anyone.
11:00 CST
Did you know that many skin care products are made from cat saliva extract? Oil of Mee-WOW!!!
12:00 CST
Cats earn 3 times the national average, but immediately spend it all on fuzzballs and plastic milk carton rings.
13:00 CST
Television was actually invented by a cat, as a device to keep his hooman distracted, thus freeing his feline mind to plot global domination.
14:00 CST
If a cat doesn't get at least 23 hours of sleep per day, it turns invisible. Plus, cats are allergic to the letter 'R'.
15:00 CST
Thomas Jefferson received the inspiration to write the Star Spangled Banner from his pet cat, Redcoat. Yankee Doodle Kitty!
15:00 CST
BONUS FUN CAT FACT!!! If you rub a cat vigorously against your head for 10 minutes it obtains a static charge and will stick to the ceiling!
16:00 CST
Once every 15 years cats are called on a pilgrimage to Nebraska. They are each required to bring one sock. This is why you can never find the other sock!
17:00 CST
The International Space Station orbits the Earth 4 times a day, the Brooklyn Bridge contains 19,044 individual pieces, and cats care about none of this!
18:00 CST
Cats have no problem with washing their hands after using the restroom, but refuse to flush.
19:00 CST
Only cats can divide by 0, but this is because they can't count. Also, Cats cannot smell magnesium!! Pee-Mew!!!
20:00 CST
Cat fur follicles are hollow and are the opposite color of the skin underneath! Karma-Karma-CATmeleon!
21:00 CST
Cats are capable of holding their breath underwater for up to half an hour, but don't like to get their fur wet.
22:00 CST
The words 'Broseph' and 'Staycation' were coined by a cat for the sole purpose of annoying hoomins.
23:00 CST
Kangaroos are actually the largest member of the cat family!!! Hippity-Hop-Meow!!
24:00 CST
It is a common misconception that tennis rackets are strung with cat gut, this is incorrect, they are actually made of cat *butt*!!! Your serve!!
01:00 CST
Did you know that the top 15 floors of the Sears Tower were constructed by cats?!?
02:00 CST
Cats grok Spock! _\V/
02:00 CST
You have now been unsubscribed from Fun Cat Facts! Happy April Foolishment Day!!! Love Kyle :)

  • Photography - Gallery coming soon!
90s Under Construction gif

Keeping in character I'm developing my own Serverless solution using AWS S3, CloudFront, and Lambda to host my photos. -Stay tuned!

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