Hands-on technology consulting for real people.

It starts with a call. Schedule a time and use the space provided to introduce yourself and tell me a little about your situation. After the call I'll follow up with a suggested plan of action based on your needs as I understand them. No obligation, no jargon.

Consulting is $165/hr. Bespoke projects are priced per scope — a single-person email migration is very different from setting up a community platform for a 15-person organisation. Premium membership is $100/mo for individuals (Premium Solo) or $200/mo for organisations (Premium Group), and gives you direct access to me plus weekly office hours. The best way to figure out what makes sense for your situation is to schedule a free intro call.

It depends on the scope. A simple email migration for one person can be done in a day or two. A fuller setup — email, workspace, and training for a team — typically takes a few weeks of active work, followed by a settling-in period. I recommend planning for three months of support for any significant change, which is why bespoke projects include Premium Group membership for that duration.

Not at all. I work with people at every level of technical comfort, and I'm not here to overwhelm you with jargon. I'll explain what I'm doing and why in plain language, and I'll make sure you feel confident using whatever we set up together. The goal is always for you to feel in control of your own technology. You are not dependent on me.

That's completely fine — taking ownership of your technology is a journey, and there are good managed options that give you more privacy and control than mainstream services without requiring you to run your own server. Here are a few I'd point you toward:

• Signal — secure, private messaging and calling, backed by a nonprofit. The easiest immediate win for most people.
• Proton — email on your own domain, plus VPN, calendar, password manager, and cloud storage, all privacy-focused and based in Switzerland. A solid step up from Gmail.
• Ente Photos — end-to-end encrypted photo storage and sharing. A trustworthy alternative to Google Photos or iCloud.
• Nextcloud hosting providers — if you'd like the benefits of Nextcloud without running your own server, there are many managed providers worldwide. I haven't personally used any of them, so I can't vouch for a specific one — but I'd suggest finding a provider based close to you and reaching out directly to ask about their setup and support.

Not sure which direction makes sense for you? Get in touch and we can think it through together.

Not necessarily. You can usually keep using the software you're already comfortable with, even if you are moving your email or other services to a new server.

Yes. Email is based on longstanding standards, so your existing emails, folders, and labels can be moved cleanly. Contacts and calendars export as standard files that import directly into the new system. You won't lose anything, and you can use both accounts side by side during the transition.

You own your data throughout. Everything is stored in open, standard formats. Whether you want to switch providers, move to a different solution, or simply go back to what you had before, you can. There's no lock-in, and I'll make sure you have everything you need to be self-sufficient if you choose to be.

Most of my work is done remotely via screen sharing, which works well for the vast majority of what I do. I'm also available for in-person sessions on Bainbridge Island and the broader Puget Sound area. Get in touch and we'll figure out what works best.

Whatever you're already comfortable with will most likely work fine. Email, contacts, and calendars use open standards (IMAP, CalDAV, CardDAV) that are supported by virtually every email app — Outlook, Apple Mail, Gmail, and others all connect the same way. My personal recommendation is Thunderbird for email and calendaring, and Firefox for web browsing. These apps are backed by the Mozilla Foundation and are free, open source, and work consistently across all operating systems and devices. But if you have a preferred app, we'll make it work.

These are my go-to recommendations for self-hosting with open source — battle-tested tools I know inside out and can get you up and running with quickly. Everyone’s situation is different, so if you have something specific in mind, let’s talk.

See the software suite page for more detail, and the for sysadmins page for the infrastructure choices behind the stack.