About me
Hello!
Welcome to my About me page! Below you will find various sections outlining who I am, my experience, and my goals. All of this is to help you to get me know me better. My contact info is also included here.
A little about me
Hi there. My name is JC Palmer. I’m a writer with over twelve years of combined experience in journalism, technical writing and editing, and copy and content editing. Wherever I go, I bring a strong understanding of the English language, user empathy, and limitless desire to learn. I quickly and enthusiastically absorb knowledge, especially anything relating to technology.
I don’t stop until a project is done, then I start looking for the next thing. I excel at interviewing users to find pain points, and I know how to bridge the gap between developer and stakeholder. I am a novice coder, but I have started learning Python to get a headstart on learning topics such as machine learning and data analysis.
While I lack experience in API documentation, I am hard at work learning the ins and outs of it. I hope to be competent in this area within the next several months.
For the time being, this documentation portfolio is a work-in-progress as I flesh out all of my notes and recall all of my memories on each topic.
Odds are if you’ve landed here, you have my contact info. My main website is under construction, but I have prioritized this portfolio site.
Please feel free to reach out with questions. Email is best.
Experience
Technical writing
I started technical writing in 2019 on a contract for the U.S. government. This contract saw me work with the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) on a financial database and frontend system called IRMS. I was a part of a small team, just one of four people, which became three shortly after I signed on.
I took on a few different roles in this position, including QA testing, overseeing all documentation, and finding myself in charge of all official IRMS communications. I had to hit the ground running and teach myself the ins and outs of technical writing, from industry best practices to how to interview SMEs and properly show user empathy.
Finding my footing did not take long and I quickly earned my keep on the IRMS team. I rewrote a lot of old system documentation that I found subpar, I created new testing methodologies, and I started working on standarizing document branding.
After returning to technical writing, I once again found myself on the IRMS team working as the system’s lead technical writer. I picked up where I left off, writing a style guide based on the Federal Plain Language Guidelines and my work in the open-source community, rewriting the system’s primary help documentation, and spearheading new initiatives to create more cohesive documents for the users and stakeholders.
I have also contributed some technical writing to the open-source community, such as writing the style guide for the Solid project and small, one-off documents here and there.
Journalism
I have the most experience writing professionally with technology journalism, primarily as a freelancer. I have written thousands of articles in over twelve years, mostly dealing with smartphones and video games.
I have always practiced journalistic ethics to ensure that my readers can trust what I write. Journalism, at its core, is meant to serve the readers, not the corporations, search engines, or ad companies.
While I enjoyed my time as a freelancer, staff writer, and editor, I knew it was time to leave. The focus had grown too much on SEO and e-commerce. I did not have enough of a following to strike out on my own.
Editing
Amongst the years of writing, I picked up quite a bit of editing experience, too. As an editor, I learned how to use language to better make my points. More importantly, however, I learned how to be a leader, mentoring and instructing junior writers in their craft as they found their footing and voices.
I mentored countless staff writers and freelancers, helping to shape them into stronger writers. Some of them would go onto do great things in their careers. In the technical writing world, I had the opportunity to mentor and train a person wholly new to writing. I taught him from zero how to write properly, and now I trust him enough to write documentation in my stead or on his own projects.
I believe that editors are just as important as writers because they take the raw work and mold it into something stronger, ideally enhancing the writer and their skills in the process. A good editor, however, also learns along the way, too — they should be willing to expand their horizons, to not get so set in their ways, and to open themselves to someone else’s perspective.
Goals
Short-term goals
My professional short-term goals are simple: I plan to finish a few crash courses on calculus, Python, and R to prepare to start a Master’s degree in data science. (This is a goal I’ll elaborate on in the next section.) I have a subscription to Coursera Plus and I am about to finish the math portion, after which I will immediately move onto the Python section. These courses are designed to prepare non-STEM students for the University of Colorado Boulder’s data science graduate program. I decided to take these courses because I had not taken collegiate math in over a decade.
I am very excited to learn Python and R, two programming languages with which I have little to no experience. Even in my current role as a technical writer, having knowledge of Python will be immensely helpful and could open many doors as I look to expand my career options.
Once I finish these three preparatory courses — ideally in the next two to three months — I will progress to my mid-term goals.
Mid-term goals
Within the next year, I plan to enroll in the University of Colorado Boulder’s online Master’s of Data Science program. I still need to meet some financial goals first, of course, but in the time between completing my short-term goals and starting this, I will be using my Coursera Plus subscription to learn new data science topics. Getting this head start should offer me an advantage when I begin the Master’s program and it ought to help me stay on task when things get challenging.
I know that what I’m walking into will be tough. I know that I will get overwhelmed at times. However, I am prepared for these eventualities and I have already begun to brainstorm and plan for these outcomes. I am aware of my limits and I know how to be watchful for them.
Getting a Master’s degree in Data Science is not a vanity project, but a step towards a career change. I have done my research and I believe that having the accolade will be a net benefit, not just when I apply for jobs, but to my confidence and knowledge base. I could opt for the self-taught route, but I do not think I would succeed at it.
Long-term goals
As you might have guessed, my long-term goal is to shift careers into data science. I would like to work in the artificial intelligence field, specifically. In my boyish dreams, I would earn a PhD in Philosophy and teach the ethics of AI, but that’s far too into the future for now. In the next five to ten years, I want to be thinking clearly and rationally and that sees me building a whole new set of skills, a new portfolio, and a new career, all from scratch.
What draws me to data science? I think it’s the solving problems with data. When I had my internship toward the latter end of my undergrad, I fell into the role of a data analyst and I loved it. I love working with data; my brain just works that way. I love to write and I always will, but when I look at the field of data science, I feel that pull, that calling I grew up hearing people talk about.
So, I’m willing to do what it takes to make it happen. Yes, it will take blood, sweat, and tears (hopefully not the former), but I believe in living a virtuous life. One of the cardinal virtues is temperance, which includes discipline. Discipline will see me through the tough times, the days where I don’t want to study, or work on my portfolio (such as I’ve done here), or apply for yet another job. I will have to keep going, and you can bet that I will.
Interests
Free and open-source software (FOSS)
I honestly cannot remember my introduction to free and open-source software (FOSS), but I do remember the first time I installed Ubuntu 7.04 Feisty Fawn in 2007. This wasn’t my introduction to Linux, but it was my first time venturing out into the Linux world on my own with my own hardware. I quickly found myself enthralled by the freedom and, to make a seventeen-year story short, I have had Linux on at least one machine in some capacity since then. I have never left.
Of course, Linux isn’t the be-all, end-all of the FOSS world, it’s just one of the biggest players. It’s the gateway that guides people into the community, hopefully opening doors for them to learn many new skills just like it did for me.
As I grew older and the FOSS community matured, I became more involved. Lacking any coding skills, I wasn’t sure what I could possibly do besides help test software and file bug reports, which I happily did. My writing skills grew, however, and so did my confidence that I could contribute meaningfully to the FOSS projects I found so helpful, many of which sorely needed help with their documentation.
FOSS means a lot to me and I will go out of my way to use it wherever possible. Yes, sometimes that makes for some inconveniences, but to me, it’s worth it. If there’s an open-source alternative to a product I normally use, I will at least try it out. And as you can see with the documentation on this site, I have been successful in finding plenty of viable FOSS projects and alternatives.
I maintain that FOSS is vital to the health of our technological future. That’s why I do what I can to support it, both with my labor and my money.
Writing
Beyond technical writing and journalism, I love to write as a hobby. I’ve always had a dream to publish a fantasy series, and I’m close to finishing the first draft of the second book in the duology.
In fact, I started writing fiction when I was a child and it was this passion that started me on my path to professional writing. The tables turned, of course, and now I spend most of my time writing professionally instead of creatively, but the passion for the world that I’ve spent more than a decade creating still burns bright in me.
I love to participate in National Novel Writing Month, better known as NaNoWriMo, which rolls around every November. This challenges writers to write 50,000 words in 30 days. It’s a remarkable achievement if you can do it, and I’ve completed it each time I’ve set out to do it. I assure you, it’s brutally difficult when you are a working adult. And I don’t even have the challenges that other participants have, such as children!
Whether I publish traditionally or self-publish, I fully intend to see my duology in print someday. The task of editing and revising stares me in the face, though, and I have yet to conquer it.
Reading and studying
I believe that most strong writers are avid readers, and I read plenty to see how I can improve my own writing. While I read exclusively fiction when I was younger, I have since flipped almost completely as I’ve gotten older.
In place of fantasy, which I still love and admire, I have chosen to dive into philosophy. I adore the ancient wisdom you can find in Plato’s works, what remains of the Stoics’ writings and teachings, and many others. I make an active effort to study these so that I can learn how to be a virtuous person.
My reading speed has slowed considerably, but in return, my retention and critical consideration has increased. I take notes, make connections, and practice my own active reading style.
Truman said, “Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.”
Homelab
I picked up actionable skills on my own terms since entering the FOSS world, more than just hopping around Linux via the command line. I decided to learn how to do things with Docker, Kubernetes, networking, and more advanced Linux work.
My humble homelab journey started with a Raspberry Pi 4 and Home Assistant, but it quickly expanded from there until I had a few single-board computers, a few mini PCs, a couple of workstations, and a NAS. I purchased older, used hardware to save money and now, I have my own rack that I’m currently fleshing out with gear.
Having a homelab has taught me so much, yet I have even more to learn. I consider myself a novice apprentice with many of the skills I’ve picked up, such as Docker. However, my experience as a technical writer means that I excel at reading documentation, even that which is poorly-written. So, even when I don’t know how to do something, I can quickly look up and figure how to do it.
The homelab journey is still underway. As I write this, I just put a Dell R730XD into production as my new NAS, running TrueNAS Scale. I also want to replace my Intel NUC 12 Pro with a Dell R730 to run all my virtual machines and containers. Finally, I need some kind of NVR, preferably with an NVMe slot, for my Frigate server.
The rest of my rack space will go to my network stack when I can build my own 1U OPNSense router, get a patch panel, and hopefully repair my Juniper EX3200 48-port PoE switch. I’m also considering building a 3U gaming rig for my Windows needs to get rid of my dual-boot setup.
Woodworking
I consider myself a novice woodworker and I have a couple of projects to show for it. The standing desk I use for work was the first thing I completed, a simple slab of walnut that I mounted to the wall in my dining room. I sanded it down and finished it with tung oil, creating a natural finish that looks and feels incredible. While the work isn’t complex, I’m still quite proud of the effort and time that I put into it.
I have two projects in-progress, a butcher knife hilt and an ash slab headboard. The latter is massive and I keep putting off working on it, mostly because I’ll need to haul its two and a half to three-hundred-pound mass outside to my patio to work on it each time I am ready to do any kind of sanding. I decided to shape the knife hilt by hand with a rasp and file, so it’s more of a side project that I work on in my free time when I need to relax and let my mind unwind.
I have very few tools at this point, but I hope to grow my collection in the coming months and years. Maybe at that point, I can do more complex pieces. For now, however, I am content with what I can do. Woodworking is a calming hobby and one that I’m grateful that I can finally do.
Gaming hardware and software
Before I got into homelabbing, I found a passion in PC gaming hardware. I have always loved putting computers together, having started when I was a young child when it was a lot more complicated. Every PC I’ve ever owned, I’ve built myself. I have also built PCs for other people, too, or helped them with the process. It’s something I enjoy.
Of course, I put that hardware to good use with video games. I started gaming when I was young with a Super Nintendo, which my family quickly replaced with a Nintendo 64. Video games have played a huge role in my life, sometimes too big of one, but now they serve as just one of a few fun pastimes. It’s great to hop on to play whatever has my attention, but I understand these days that moderation is key. That means I limit my gaming time quite severely to a couple of hours per week.
I tend to stick to single-player games, but I have a long and storied history with Bungie’s Destiny franchise. It’s partly why I so strictly control my gaming. Of all my interests and hobbies, I consider video games the least important to me now, except as a means to connect with friends who live far away. Time is precious and is a resource that we can never get back, and I personally don’t find video games to be the wisest use of my time anymore.