Snapshot of Jim's award winning Discussion Forum The Event Horizon Forum

Snapshot of the Minority Business Development Agency Web Portal which I designed and launched in October 2006 at the Department of Commerce, Washington, D.C.

• Biography :: Excerpts of My Life & Career •

[ 01-January-2004 ]

   I was born in Baltimore, Maryland on July 28th, 1966 to Jay and Joan Goldbloom. For some reason they like only boys, as I am the youngest of three brothers each four years apart.  My oldest brother, Jeffrey, died in 1993.

   I grew up in Mount Washington and Pikesville until my parents divorced and later spent time with both parents in Baltimore, Annapolis, Essex and Elkridge in Maryland.  I graduated from High School in 1984 and worked for over a decade in a family business that closed in the latter 1990's.  We ran three high quality paint and wallcovering stores in two states, known as Potomac Paint Centers.

   As I was interested in computers at that time, I found work doing dialup technical support for a family owned business in Chantilly, Virginia.  A startup Internet Service Provider (ISP) riding the boom of the Internet in 1990's.  That company was then absorbed into Verio, Inc.©, an Internet presence that utilized the strategy of purchasing smaller ISP's to form a large backbone infratructure to sell Internet based access and services.

   I spent nearly 5 years working for Verio as a Customer Engineer and Quality Assurer for technical support which involved many disciplines in the IT field.  In 2002, NTT, Inc.© of Japan merged with Verio and shortly thereafter my position and my entire engineering department was virtually eliminated.  Over 3,000 employees were laid off as NTT/Verio, Inc. re-organized their corporate structure and business plans.  They chose Valentines Day to do this, and a massacre it was.

   Being suddenly unemployed, I took some necessary time off to recuperate after I cashed out my considerable stock options.  I then went back to school and earned a Computer Information Systems Diploma in Webmastering at Strayer University. My GPA was 4.0 (yes, really) and I earned placement on the President's List which is the highest honor possible for that private University within my academia.  I also studied hard and earned a certification from the World Organization of Webmasters, becoming a Certified Professional Web Developer (CPWDV) this year.  Now I get to say I know what I'm doing, and I've got the papers to prove it! 

  In May of 2004 I was hired by Indyne, Inc. as Senior Web Developer for the Minority Business Development Agency Web Portal handling all aspects of PHP, MySQL/Oracle back end and Content Management Tool web development and design.  For full details on this exciting job and all the projects I've been involved with, please review my resume'.  I am a contract employee to the Federal Government until the end of 2005 when the contract will either be renewed or Indyne will place me somewhere else.  My office is in the Department of Commerce (Hoover Building) downtown Washington, D.C. 

  I worked very hard to put myself in a position to land a job like this, and the effort at going back to school, getting certified and going through the laborious interview process was well worthwhile.  After being laid off from Verio, I knew my destiny was in my own hands.  Now I am in a job where I can exercise both my creative and technical skills and gain immense experience working on a dot gov web site and within a first rate team environment as a Senior Developer.

   Since 1986 I've maintained my discussion forum, Event Horizon, as my hobby and a creative outlet where I discuss issues from politics to paranormal and converse with friends and loyal users.  It used to be known as ADBBS.  I currently reside in Falls Church, Virginia.

   Among my favorite things, I enjoy non-fiction and historical literature and I'm a big movie fan.  As a second hobby, I play guitar and digitally record my own music.

   My motto in life is this: No risks, no rewards!  Grab your dreams and make them happen.  Then when you acheive a goal, create another and start all over again. The joy is in the growth and development for me.

   Thank you for taking the time to read my personal bio, and enjoy JG Net. 

Sincerely,

• Welcome to Jim Goldbloom's Network (JGN) •

   This is my personal web page and repository for pertinent content which is both family oriented as well as professional in nature.  You don't have to have the last name of Goldbloom to view this site.  I designed this simple but elegant interface to make navigation easy and straight forward. Just click on any of the buttons on the top or bold light brown links anywhere on this site.

Most pages within jimgoldbloom.net are written with XHMTL and CSS for maximized cross-browser compatibility, separating content from style, conforming to W3C standards.  I know it's a personal page, but I'm a perfectionist!

• What's HOT right now for me •

[ 2-October-2006] - The launch of my redesigned MBDA.gov portal!

   I am so proud today.  I've spent the last few months working on the new design for MBDA.gov, the web portal of which I am the Senior Web Developer.  My protoype was approved and after numerous presentations and training of staff of the new features, it's now released. It's a radical design when compared to most staid government web sites, but it's state of the art with a liquid layout, templated skins, interactive features including a forum, survey and FAQ areas. And most importantly, it's my code and construct including all graphics, layout and overall design and functionality.  It's really turning heads in the agency.

[ 20-October-2004 ] - Received "Above and Beyond" award from Indyne!

   Today at a business lunch, in front of other Indyne contractors who work beside me on the MBDA job, I was given the "Above and Beyond" award with the follow engraved text:  "We hereby express our sincere appreciation to Jim Goldbloom in grateful recognition of your outstanding performance, team spirit, and commitment to excellence".  I was the sole recipient within the team.  See my updated resume' page which I updated, of course.

   Needless to say, I am very happy my work is being recognized, but I took a moment during my brief speech to let the team know I appreciated them taking me in and that I've only experienced such teamwork and comraderie at one former workplace so this was very special - not just for me, but for all of us.  So I am beaming a little, today, and of course -- back to work tomorrow! 

[ 11-October-2004 ] - I Purchased a new digital 8 track recorder!

   As I noted in my bio, I also record my own music as a hobby.  For complete details on my home recording studio setup please refer to this page.  I am very excited because today I purchased the Zoom MRS802BCD 8 track digital recorder which also has 190 programmable guitar/vocal effects, built in CDR-W drive to create audio disks, USB 2.0 support for connection to my PC to make MP3s and a built in drum synthesizer.  View the complete specs on the Zoom, it's within my budget and perfect for making demos.

   My current music (in the form of downloadable MP3 demos) are listed on the music page linked above.  I was contacted by Tim Anderson, director of a future independent film named "Fade to Black" to use my Volition Introduction MP3.  I am still waiting to here back if he will use it or not, but my music is recognized at long last, so that's very exciting news as well.  Wish me luck on the film credit!

[ 3-May-2004 ] - New Job, Senior Web Developer at Indyne, inc.

   Today I was officially employed as a Senior Web Developer for Indyne, Inc. working on a web portal contract for the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) through the end of next year, 2005.  My duties include PHP scripting, MySQL database design, integration and management, Web Design, content management and server monitoring.

   I'll be working full time at the Department of Commerce building in downtown Washington, D.C. for the duration of the contract.  I am still available for part time contract or consulting work on the side, unrelated to the MBDA contract.

   Employers, please review my professional resume' which is now online...