Reese Armstrong

Reese Armstrong

Creative Technologist in Austin, Texas, he/him

About

I'm building and administering on-premise IT infrastructure, primarily with Linux. I work with Docker, Kubernetes, DNS, OPNsense, UniFi, and others.

I also love making and designing for the web. It's my blank canvas to create things.

Volunteering

2022 — Now

I work primarily on the member-facing dashboard for Obl.ong, a service providing free, quality domains for all,
backed by a nonprofit.

2022 — Now
Austin, Texas

I was the lead organizer for the first high school hackathon since the pandemic with over 15 attendees!

2023 — Now
Liberal Arts & Science Academy in Austin, Texas

I founded and lead day-to-day operations, special projects, and tournaments for the LASA Foosball Club. I'm currently working on raising money for a new foosball table, and building a custom electronic scoreboard.

2020 — 2024
Everywhere

I'm an active member in the Hack Club community, volunteering time to help out where I can.

2022 — 2022
Director at Austin Hack Club
Austin Central Library - Teen Center

I lead a small Hack Club at the Austin Central Library Teen Center to teach other teenagers the magic of programming.

2018 — 2022
Austin, Texas

I designed and operated the website, brand identity, and technology systems (like email servers) to allow Ladies Let's Talk to focus on providing their services. I also was on occasion hired to do larger projects.

2021 — 2021
Austin, Texas

I successfully lead a campaign and petition with over 175 signatures to rid the Austin ISD school district of the software "I-Ready" during the pandemic.

Side Projects

Ongoing

A personal weblog I started to share my thoughts in a longer format .

Ongoing

My personal website for my thoughts, tools, projects, and contact information.

Ongoing
Home Server Administration

I keep a home server running Proxmox VE with a Kubernetes cluster, certificate authority, DNS server with ad-blocking, and Home Assistant. I'm currently working on moving all the configuration to git with Terraform, Packer, and Fleet.

2023
plot

I built a small Ruby DSL that allows for the building and rendering of charts using the Observable Plot library via the bun JavaScript runtime.

2023

I wrote a small esbuild plugin to generate bookmarklet URIs.

2022

I created a website where people can cURL it from their terminal to get the latest transaction data for any transparent organization on Hack Club Bank.

2021

I created a (now defunct) URL shortener with Svelte and Node.js/Apollo Server.

2016
Ubuntu Installation on Chromebook

I installed Ubuntu on my Acer C720 Chromebook alongside Chrome OS using Crouton.

Certifications

2024 — 2027

This certificate is proof of my knowledge and skill with visual design in Adobe Illustrator.

2024 — 2027

This certificate is proof of my knowledge and skill with visual design in Adobe Photoshop.

2023

I have an active amateur radio license, callsign KJ5DAR, which permits me to transit messages over long-distance radio.

2023

I passed the AP Computer Science A exam, which pertains to basic proficiency with Java.

2021 — 2024

This certificate is proof of my extensive Linux experience and knowledge administering desktops and servers.

Projects

2022

I developed a leaderboard system for the LASA Foosball club, which uses TrueSkill ratings to rate players when they play.

2022

I forked PactMaker by ActiveCampaign, updated and modified it, to create an in-house system for signing waivers electronically for hackathons. It has since been used for HackPNW and Hack Austin.

Work Experience

2017 — Now
Austin, Texas

I designed the main website, brand identity, and numerous apparel designs. I also took the photos used on the website and in promotional materials.

Speaking

2024
San Francisco, CA

I spoke about how to build member-first organizations that are open, democratic, and transparent through ensuring that the core of your organization isn't separate from your membership.

2022
Austin, Texas

I gave a talk about getting started making a personal website, and a quick intro to Git and GitHub.

Awards

2024

Our project, a membership tracker won most comprehensive at the Hack Club Leader's Summit hackathon.

2022
Platinum Open Semifinalist from CyberPatriot

My team and I qualified for the semifinal round of CyberPatriot XV (15), the National Youth Cyber Education Program run by the Air Force Association. This puts us in the 97th percentile of all teams (~2400) across the nation.

Education

2022 — Now
Austin, Texas

I'm currently pursing a distinguished achievement high school diploma at the Liberal Arts and Science Academy.

Contact

Website
SourceHut
GitHub