Into the Wild Spaces :: About the Author, Randall Wood
       
 (DIR) Travel Writing
 (DIR) Technology, gadgets, OSes
 (DIR) Economics, Development, Politics
 (DIR) News about me
 (DIR) Woodnotes Guides to Tech
 (DIR) Poetry
       
       ----
       Recent entries:
       Calabar (Travel/Nigeria) 16 Mar 2024
       White-Hair Point (Travel/Caribbean Islands) 15 Mar 2024
       The Haw River (Travel/North America) 1 Mar 2024
       The Dogs of Delhi (Travel/India) 9 Feb 2023
       The Taj Mahal (Travel/India) 7 Feb 2023
       The Pines Stand in Pockets (Poetry, Travel/N.America) 7 Feb 2023
       A Quiver of Pens (/Tech/Other) 28 Jan 2023
       ----
       
       You are reading this on gopher, yay!  On the WWW it's at
       http://www.therandymon.com.
       Welcome!  I have fond memories of gopher and thought in a radical act of
       defiance against the way the modern WWW is headed, I would replicate my entire
       sites content on gopher.  Enjoy it!  Here are a few words about the author.
       
       Spammers and identity thieves, please take note:
       
       I have spent most of my life living and working overseas, from Asia to Latin
       America to Africa.  Other than travel, my biggest interests are open-source
       software and computer systems, writing, exploring, camping, biking, hiking,
       surfing, and making maps.  I love languages and good books.  This website
       reflects my passion for exploration.
       
       I am the co-author of the best-selling travel guide book  Moon Nicaragua and
       its companion Living Abroad in Nicaragua for expats and retirees.  I am also
       the author of the phenomenal Dictator's Handbook: a practical manual for the
       aspiring tyrant.  In addition to those three books, I have published several
       other pieces as well.
       
       I work in the power sector, with a focus on solar, wind, and renewable energy
       technologies. I previously was a senior manager with RTI International, where I
       designed and implemented projects related to clean energy, energy efficiency,
       and improving access to energy for the rural poor, particularly in Africa.  I'm
       passionate about solar PV and mini-grid technologies, as well as improving the
       status quo on utility service delivery.  Before that I was General Manager for
       a 33 MW peat-to-power plant in Uganda, and for ten years I was the Resident
       Country Director for MCC: I spent five years each in Benin and Senegal.
       
       In my spare time I make maps and surf, play the 12-string guitar, and go
       hiking.  I am a vocal advocate of Open Source software and love Linux and
       FreeBSD in particular.  I dabble in server tech and retrocomputing.
       
       I am listed on LinkedIn for professional networking, but don't/won't use
       Facebook, despite its flaws.  I have an Amazon author page. These days I don't
       do social media and typically stick to a text-only browser. The WWW is a
       wasteland and the internet is generally speaking, a sewer.
       
       I much prefer email.  Drop me a line if you'd like to get in touch; my current
       (disposable, spam-filtered) email address is zafiro17 AT gmail DOT COM.
       
       Rest assured, this server is not placing any cookies or tracking you in any way
       (Man, don't you miss the early days of the Internet?)  As a result, I have no
       idea if anyone is reading this stuff.  If you've gotten here by gopher, say
       hello.
       
       Enjoy the site, advertising-free, tracking-free, "create a profile"-free, spam
       free, etc.  It's been my pleasure.