About DMAN_LFC

Hrmm ahhh where do I start - ok the name. Well the nickname DMAN is what my mates used to call be back in NZ which is sorta short for Dan the Man. The LFC standard for the most successful english football club of all time (thats Liverpool Football Club for you slow ones or you poor ManU supporters who think you are). OK ticked that box, erm whats next ah... I suppose about me...

Well I'm the Project Leader for MediaPortal which is quite cool as I get to boss people around and bark out orders but no one listens. Just kidding about bossing people around & stuff but the others not listening is all true ;-). OK seriously I'm the can do man for the team if they want I will try to get for them. i.e. New devs, new hardware to support etc. Many of you will know me as the TV card man, the guy who can add support and knows alot about them - I'm all to glad to help. I help out where I can on the project but time has been very rare of late with work & family :-(.

As for my programming experience it started back with Basic programming on Atari's and Amstrads and quickly developed skills in Pacal & C when I went to college but after that my allegences have always been with hardware. I say this because most of my working history has always been with a large worldwide IT vendor in numerous roles. Technical Support, Pre-Sales, Project Management, Product Management, Business Development and now Partner Sales. Yes IT Sales! I don't do this for the money (which is crazy) but for the love of the project.

I first noticed MediaPortal when it first started after looking for MediaCenter software on the internet and since having a modded Xbox with XBMC I kept a close eye on the devlopments. After doing alot of evaluation work for a STB side project which went commercial btw I quickly opted to help the community out as the potential was awesome. I think you'll agree it continues to live up to expectations.

I'm currenlty 32 but fast approaching 33 and have a son 5 and two adopted children from my second marriage (live fast, die young ;-P) a daughter 12 and son 15. I live in the north west of England but I'm fortunate to travel alot in my job which I enjoy especially being from the other side of the world. At a recent training event we had to count the number of years in the IT industry - I had 15! Time to become a farmer :-).

I love working for the team on this project we have a good laugh every now and then and it's great being part of something that forms a community around the world with our varying cultures. The team at MediaPortal are a great bunch of lads (no one's admitted to being a girl yet) and I hope you enjoy all the efforts the combined team puts in, especially the developers! If you have any C++ or C# programming experience we would gladly welcome you aboard to help expand MediaPortal's capabilities - just contact me with what you want to do.

In addition I have a keen aspiration to invent technology I miss the product design and customer solution development aspects in my current role (I have an engineering background) and would be keen to meet with fellow Brits to discuss HTPC hardware solutions to take to market. If you have a good background in electonic engineering drop me a line.

DMAN