About

I'm a geek web & technology enthusiast, based in Sherbrooke, QC.

I currently work full-time for a canadian retailer in hardware/building materials, focusing on programming web and desktop applications, making sure that any relevant statistics/informations/sales numbers/etc are accessed as painlessly easily as possible.

Mind you, I am not a programmer by profession (i've been learning that as a hobby), I'm more akin to a tech support guy. Being in both seats at the same time is a two edged swords, but it has been rewarding both for me and for my colleagues/users.

Besides work, when not I'm keeping myself up-to-date in whatever IT skills crossing my mind, i'm a music fan (wishing i'd had the time to learn guitar, for starters), spend too much time gaming online (thankfully, no MMO games), like driving alone with high-volume trance music and i'm a guarana addict... mostly because of Guru energy drinks. (But i'm just a fanboy :) )

About this web site

This website has been put in place to take over my unused personal blog. My new weapon of choice for my blogging needs is now Twitter (see Networks for more info/listing), since I can post whatever I wanna talk about in less than 140 characters.

 Qu'est-il arrivé de l'ancien blog?

Tel que (plus ou moins) mentionné en anglais ci-haut, bloguer avec du une bonne quantité considérable de texte ne me vient plus du tout à l'idée. Au lieu de laisser tomber le blog sans rien mettre sur la page d'accueil, j'ai décidé de mettre cette page.

Twitter feed

I use Twitter as a replacement for blogging; since I usually want to shout out short sentences that fits into (or less than) 140 characters, Twitter is a perfect match.

Recent Tweets (Profile URL: http://twitter.com/bilange):

    Résumé

    Relevant general information

    • Spoken languages: French, English
    • Average English knowledge (Reading/writing: 95%, Listening: 85%, Speaking: 65%)
    • Fully involved, without reserve, into whatever i'm getting my hands on, professional or otherwise
    • At a glance: reliability, frankness and discretion

    IT knowledge

    Everything listed below is/was learned outside any courses or formations:

    • Operating systems : DOS 4 to 6 including FreeDOS, Windows 95 to Vista/7, Novell Netware 4, Linux (Distributions: Slackware, Debian and Debian-derived like Ubuntu)
    • Navigation tools : Internet Explorer, Netscape/Firefox, FTP/SSH software...
    • Web site creation: Photoshop/GIMP, (x)HTML, CSS, PHP 4/5, MySQL, Javascript/jQuery
    • Programmation: Basic knowledge of these languages: C et C#, Python, Shell scripts, …
    • Hardware: update and troubleshooting of PC software and hardware
    • Others:
      • Advanced knowledge of OGC-Plus software, as well as it's database suite used (Informix SQL 4.0)
      • Configuration under Linux of: Samba file sharing service, web hosting (Apache / Lighttpd with MySQL), virtual private network using OpenVPN.

    Work Experience

    Technical support and programmer (2006-current)
    Rona L'Entrepôt, Sherbrooke

    • Putting in place and diagnostic of any electronic-based tools used by employees
    • Keep up-to-date store inventory and sales data
    • In outages/faults, diagnostic and repair of any point-of-sale servers and terminals (IBM & OGC-Plus)
    • Creation of Intranet site used solely by employees (In-house formations, dynamic reports and graphs creation)
    • Creation of tools enhancing overall productivity (automation or procedures and reports)

    Technical and customer support (2006)
    Tony Informatique, Victoriaville

    • Advice customers on PC and hardware sales
    • Install, restore and troubleshoot software/hardware related issues on customer's PC.

    Technical support (2003)
    Transports Quebec, Quebec City

    • Diagnostic and applying patches overnight in the first wave of the Blaster (aka MSBlaster or LoveSan) worm attack/infection
    • Installation and update of various operating systems
    • Information gathering on BlackBerry phones and on cellular network's ranges

    Education

    2003: DEP, Computing Support
    Centre de formation professionnelle Marie-Rollet, Ste-Foy, Quebec

    DEP's are Quebec Education Minister's "Vocational Studies Diploma", technical studies on a specific field focused on a fast access to the job market. For an overview of the Canadian education system, click here (local mirror); for a more detailed, textual overview of Quebec's education system, click here (local mirror).

    1998: DES, "High School Diploma"
    Le Boisé High school, Victoriaville, Quebec

    PDF Download: Eng, Fre
    Résumé with complete postal address,
    including references, can be provided upon request.

    Contact

    You can contact me using...:

    • Windows Live Messenger (AKA MSN Messenger):
    • E-mail:
    • Skype:
    • ...or look at my networks page to see even more ways to get in touch.