http://www.syntaxlamp.com/blogs/rhetts_blog/ www.rhettlowder.com en-us Nucleus CMS v3.24 © Weblog http://backend.userland.com/rss http://www.syntaxlamp.com/blogs/rhetts_blog//nucleus/nucleus2.gif http://www.syntaxlamp.com/blogs/rhetts_blog/ http://www.syntaxlamp.com/blogs/rhetts_blog/index.php?itemid=62 Hey thar
It has been oh so very long since I last updated my blog. I've been very busy with Daphne lately and have been working on many other projects and am excited to see their completion. I have moved my HQ from Havre to Missoula, and I'm loving the change of scenery and the new opportunities.
 
DAPHNE
Daphne development has been great, especially being in Missoula. The setup in Missoula works so well for programming; I have unlimited time to develop and work on the software and working from home allows me to accomplish personal tasks alongside work tasks, so my efficiency is high. At the time of writing this, 8 community health centers are using Daphne for their MHIP programs. I am very excited for what the future holds with Daphne, and am thrilled to see Daphne succeeding.
 
PERSONAL
Now that I am in Missoula, I have been able to spend more time with Rachel, and that is definitely a big plus (and one of the main reasons of moving there in the first place). Moving to Missoula has definitely given me more time and freedom to work on side projects and hang out with friends.
 
OTHER PROJECTS
I am working on Chumboat again, and it is actually very close to completion. I would really hate to put another deadline on it, but I am hoping to have it completed by February 2011. Along with that, I have developed a host of projects and ideas that will hopefully be completed and found on the rhettlowder.com website. Which also reminds me that I am planning a re-design of my site to be more professional and to showcase some of the projects I've been working on. The projects currently are: Bitx.co, PHPCrawler, LiveTrivia, Chumboat, ZoSAA, medieval zombie game, Bandit Servers, and more.]]> General http://www.syntaxlamp.com/blogs/rhetts_blog/index.php?itemid=62 Sat, 17 Dec 2011 04:38:43 -0700 http://www.syntaxlamp.com/blogs/rhetts_blog/index.php?itemid=61  
What's Been Goin' Down
In the past few months, Daphne has contracted with quite a few health centers and it now warrants a full-time position. I have resigned as CIO at Bullhook and will be assuming the position of CEO of Daphne in June. I am planning on setting up an HQ in Missoula and hopefully all of that will fall into-place soon.
 
Current Projects
Right now I am still working on the Daphne Client Management program and it has come a long way since the early versions last May (2010). I am excited about the new features and when programming I am always anxious for feedback from the end-users.
 
I have been applying for government grants and contracts lately and some of them seem pretty promising and it would be fantastic to receive a grant award. Receiving a grant would allow Daphne to grow really fast and would kick-off other projects I have planned.
 
Personal
Like I said above, I am planning to relocate to Missoula where Rachel, my girlfriend, attends college. I'm not exactly too sure when I will be there, but I'm anticipating middle to end of June.
 
I know I have not updated this blog or my site for quite some time, but I hope with being my own boss, I will have plenty of time to do both.]]> General http://www.syntaxlamp.com/blogs/rhetts_blog/index.php?itemid=61 Wed, 11 May 2011 10:58:01 -0700 http://www.syntaxlamp.com/blogs/rhetts_blog/index.php?itemid=60 INTRO
It has been so very long since I updated my blog. I left off in May/June when Daphne was getting its start and when Rachel and I resumed dating. It's Christmas Eve at the time of writing this and I felt it would be a fun to update.
 
DAPHNE SOFTWARE
I have advanced Daphne by becoming incorporated, so the official name is "Daphne Software Incorporated". I have also applied for a copyright for the early versions of Daphne Client Management. Daphne has also had successes in sales. Many health centers have adopted Daphne and are using my software to enhance and coordinate patient care. It's very exciting and I have a ton of support from across the state. Many agencies and departments are in full-approval and, apparently, I am the "Bill Gates of Montana" and health care professionals from around the state are talking about Daphne and me.
 
I have been invited to and have attended numerous meetings with the MHIP (Medicaid Health Improvement Program) and MPCA (Montana Primary Care Association) in Helena. There are some very promising prospects for the future. The largest goals at this point are to encourage all health centers to adopt Daphne, create a global data repository for Daphne clients, and contract with MPCA to create a Health Information Exchange for community health centers in the Patient Centered Medical Home model. I'm very excited to have Daphne and have the exposure it has brought me. In the next few months there should be some great changes with Daphne and hopefully it will yield a full-time job or two :P]]> General http://www.syntaxlamp.com/blogs/rhetts_blog/index.php?itemid=60 Fri, 24 Dec 2010 10:34:10 -0700 http://www.syntaxlamp.com/blogs/rhetts_blog/index.php?itemid=59 Birmingham Trip
Near th end of May I traveled to Birmingham, AL for a business trip with Bullhook Clinic. I attended the annual EHS conference and met some our account executives and representatives that I speak on the phone with on almost a daily basis. It was great putting a face with a name, as cliche as it is. In the picture to the left you will notice I am standing with Matt, our account executive with EHS (Electronic Health Systems).

In the picture above, here you will see my with the Mediadent (Electronic Dental Software) team. From left to right it is Matt, our Mediadent account executive, Brian (not sure of title), and Scott the company's president.
 
Another great part of the trip was when I flew to Fort Lauderdale, FL and stayed a few days with my brother and his family. We went to Disney World and had a great time.
As you can see to the left, there was an amazing rooftop pool. I spent a lot of time out here and one night enjoyed some red wine and a cool evening. I thoroughly enjoyed the trip and look forward to going on another trip soon.

RC Boats
Somehow I have gotten into remote control boats. I think it stemmed from just a curiosity of how well they work in the water. The original boats I purchased were all right and fun in the water and were surprisingly fast. However, they only reached speeds of up to 2 or 3 mph. I decided to go for bigger game. So, I purchased this bad boy. It's one of the higher-end models for the electronic motor, going at speeds averaging 35mph. Eventually I will probably move into the gas-powered boats with speeds of 60mph+, but for now I can't wait to see how this bad boy performs.
 
Personal
Rachel finished school in LA in June and came back to Havre. Initially I did not want to see her or hang out when she was around. Before long I realized this was not possible because we shared mutual friends and I didn't want to stay home alone. So, I decided to bite the bullet and go for it. Surprisingly enough, it wasn't bad. She did decide to talk with me alone and eventually we decided to give it another shot and we're dating again. It's great because we're approaching it more as an actual relationship and hopefully it goes longer and doesn't end abruptly again.
 
Daphne
Now that it is July, the new fiscal year just started. I anticipate hearing back from the state with their budget and ideas of how to incorproate Daphne Software into the plan.

]]> General http://www.syntaxlamp.com/blogs/rhetts_blog/index.php?itemid=59 Fri, 2 Jul 2010 10:24:21 -0700 http://www.syntaxlamp.com/blogs/rhetts_blog/index.php?itemid=58 The Helena Meeting
I met in Helena with the Montana Medicaid Case Managers for a conference about the Health Improvement Plan started this year. I had an hour spot and presented Daphne with the help of Mike Schnittgen. The presentation was very well received and there was a large interest.
 
Future Prospect
The future for Daphne looks bright. The state was saying that they would be very interested in purchasing the software for all of the clinics in Montana so that the data reported to them can be standardized and consistent state-wide. They were concerned not all clinics would be in a position to purchase Daphne individually, so they are interested in purchasing it from me and having me maintain the program and provide support. I would be very happy to do this and am excited for the outcome.
 
Currently
Daphne is still being requested by individual health centers and I have been letting them know that they can begin using Daphne whenever they want, and if the state does decide to purchase the software, the health center/clinic would just cease payments and there should be no interruption in their service.
 
Other Focuses
I have been really focused at work as I am now interviewing people for positions and doing more management tasks. I really enjoy my job and would love to stay with Bullhook.]]> General http://www.syntaxlamp.com/blogs/rhetts_blog/index.php?itemid=58 Sat, 15 May 2010 21:41:08 -0700 http://www.syntaxlamp.com/blogs/rhetts_blog/index.php?itemid=57 Bullhook Clinic
I am traveling to Birmingham, AL in May for EHS (Electronic Health Systems) training. The training lasts for 3 days and I will be going with an RN from the clinic. After the training I am flying to Florida to visit Cole, my brother. I'm really excited for it and it will be the second time I've been flying.
 
I've been really busy with Bullhook lately. There have been some critical issues with the computer end lately so I've been wrapped up in constant contact with service providers and have been wrapped up in meetings practically the rest of the time. It's really fun, but equally as busy.
 
Daphne
Daphne Software (might soon be Daphne Computer Systems or Daphne Systems or Daphne Electronic Healthcare) is going great. I have a demonstration of Daphne to give in Helena in May and I hope it goes well. I have an hour spot to demonstrate and answer questions about Daphne in front of a very large audience. I'll hopefully have pictures and/or video for the Daphne YouTube channel.
 
I have been developing a lot for Daphne and my next addition after the features are finished is a Windows-based program to run Daphne alongside the web-based version. This will look amazing and be more user friendly than the web version.
 
Personal
Rachel came and visited for spring break, and, like I said before in my last blog post, she visited friends in Missoula. Long story short, she did more than just "visit" with a certain ex-boyfriend, so we broke up. It's been extremely hard but I've had constant interaction with friends and venting that has really helped. Rachel and I have been texting often, but after some words a few nights ago that small portion of communication seems to have ceased. While this is definitely a hiccup in my life, I know that my future looks bright and I've found that focusing on Daphne and projects has helped me with this ordeal.
 
More
My new truck broke down :/ The transmission was going out so I'm glad it was caught when it was, it just sucks that I had to pay an additional $2400 to the already expensive purchasing price. Oh well, at least it runs very smooth and I can trust it more than before. I really like it and it has me wanting to buy a speed boat for it :P I'm pretty excited for this summer and having a boat would make it a VERY enjoyable summer. I've really been in the mood for outdoor activities and I'm looking forward to taking some vacation days for camping, hiking, and boating.]]> General http://www.syntaxlamp.com/blogs/rhetts_blog/index.php?itemid=57 Sun, 18 Apr 2010 22:51:04 -0700 http://www.syntaxlamp.com/blogs/rhetts_blog/index.php?itemid=56 Personal
Rachel is coming home for Spring Break on March 19. I'm really excited to see her! She's planning on going to Missoula for a week and visiting friends there. There isn't A LOT of time to spend, but I'm really glad I'm going to get to see her.
 
On top of that, I bought a new truck. It's a white 2005 Ford F-150 crew cab. It looks really nice and slick. I think it fits my new job and the style is exactly the style I like in trucks.
 
Daphne
I've been working a lot on Daphne. The head of the Montana Medicaid Health Improvement Program (MMHIP) is going to be looking it over shortly and letting me know what she thinks. I hope she likes it and wants to obtain it, because it would be great to sell it directly to Montana Medicaid. In the strange event she doesn't like it, even though she already said she loves the idea and what it can do from what we've told her, I do know surrounding clinics would love it, and I know there are 49 other states I can market it to.
 
Japtrain Eats It
Japtrain (my home and friend's network) ate it a few days ago. Kenny, the main server, had a hard drive failure. I'm still not entirely sure why, but man did it eat it. Both hard drives failed...they were redundant of each other and had a RAID controller between them. I replaced one of the drives and had to reformat only to find that the RAID controller was the problem and, I'm not entirely sure why, but killed the new hard drive too. So, two hard drives and 1 RAID controller later, and Kenny is up and running. The reformatting gave me enough time to redesign the web structure, and you can now get to Japtrain by going to Japtrain.com. Before, the address was longer. It redirects to the main server, kenny.japtrain.com The files are all on that server, and it is web accessible, but to upload you need FTP access. So everything seems to be running fine. I did have a month old backup, thankfully. So not everything was lost....actually pretty much nothing was lost. Maybe a few pictures and text files; 'bout it.
 
Work at Bullhook
Everything is going fine; no complaints. I'm trying to get backup utilities in place for all of the servers. It'll cost probably around $300 but is definitely worth it and, in the long run, is not very expensive.
 
Future Outlook
Looks bright lol. I'm really excited to get this Daphne project rolling because it could launch a software design company; which is my overall goal. So I cannot wait to see how all of this plays out.]]> General http://www.syntaxlamp.com/blogs/rhetts_blog/index.php?itemid=56 Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:35:25 -0700 http://www.syntaxlamp.com/blogs/rhetts_blog/index.php?itemid=55 W-O-R-K
Work is basically all I've been doing lately. There's a lot to do and a lot to manage. Right now we're doing UDS reports, which are basically performance reports for the grants that fund the clinic. They're ridiculous to do anyway, but it makes it ten times harder to have to pull them from separate systems. We're coordinating....let me rephrase that.... I'm coordinating an HL7 integration for our clinic that makes it SO much easier to run reports and bill from. Hopefully this time next year won't be as hectic as it is now.
 
Other Projects
Right now I'm working on my latest project: Daphne Software Development. It's long been my dream to start a software development company. I think Daphne might be it. It started as a software program designed for case managers in the bullhook clinic. I made it able to import patient information from medicaid and other organizations and then you are able to manage your patients and even add encounters, test scores (for mental and physical analysis), schedule appointments, message other case managers, view other's schedules, get notified by text/email, and more. Other competing programs run for about $40,000 and the lowest being $5,000. So I'm probably going to price Daphne around the $4,000 - $10,000 range. With about $99/mo for hosting (Thanks to good 'ol Syntax Servers I can do ASP [Application Service Provider] Hosting).
 
So, with Daphne, I am also making other sites such as AlwaysUptime.com (also found at uptimealways.com and downtimecheck.com), Quizerd.com, and SupportBlaze.com. These sites will eventually be web-based systems that have industry-targeted solutions. So, AlwaysUptime is for IT Professionals and website owners to be notified when their site or server goes down. You can even use it to see if your game server is online. Quizerd is for schools (online testing), and SupportBlaze is for any business (support tickets and live chat).
 
The Future
I like having a game plan for what I want to do. Syntax Servers is my base company, and Daphne Software Development is a DBA (doing business as) organization. I'm going to fully pursue Daphne because I believe, with it, I can create worth-while software targeted at specific industries. Right now, Apollo (originally called Daphne) is being used at Bullhook Clinic. Once the kinks and issues are worked out, and all of the features are added, and maybe even a new version released, it will be ready to resell to other clinics. This could be HUGE. Health organizations have HUGE tech budgets, and having a system to get rid of any paper is a must. Clinics will jump at an opportunity to get an electronic system that is an inexpensive solution that can be CUSTOMIZED; this is key. I know that after everything is added, I'm going to try to make a deal with Montana Medicaid to buy a Daphne batch license and give it to Medicaid Case Managers. This would be THOUSANDS of dollars. Like....close to probably $100,000. If I could sell some software for that......mah gawd.
 
What's stopping me?
Well, time....as always. But I've been able to get Daphne working. It's functional, so I'm more than half way there. And...everyone loves it and finds it super easy to use. Version 2.0 will take what they love and make it more consolidated and simple. I'm excited to make it in a month or two. But, the other thing, is HIPAA. HIPAA is a government set of rules/guidelines of electronic patient data. Basically governing how you display, store, etc. of patient information. Because Daphne shows patient information, the software has to be encrypted and secure. Daphne is currently using an SSL encryption, so that is at least taken care of. The server is in a secure facility, no unauthorized backups are made, the system is firewalled and actively monitored. The system is also audited once a month by a security specialist from the datacenter. There's not much more I can do but try to make the site more secure and work through any potential security flaws. Right now, I can only think of a few that MAY be possible to breach, but I'm not sure exactly how it could be done; if at all. Even if that were possible, it would be able to track the person's IP address. Sooo....I just need to read up on HIPAA and make sure everything is compliant, and, if not, make it so.]]> General http://www.syntaxlamp.com/blogs/rhetts_blog/index.php?itemid=55 Thu, 11 Feb 2010 16:31:20 -0700 http://www.syntaxlamp.com/blogs/rhetts_blog/index.php?itemid=54 Working at Bullhook
I now work at Bullhook Community Health Center in Havre as the Chief Information Officer. Basically I manage and teach anything technological in both the dental and medical clinics. It's an amazing and fun job. I keep pretty busy and have my own office to work from. I'm excited to work there and I really enjoy managing the network and setting up the servers and software. You can see the view from the hall into my office. I'm hoping to put something up on my walls eventually....even a clock or something.
 
Personal
Christmas has come and gone, and I had a lot of fun with my family. Rachel was here for winter vacation, and I was able to spend a lot of time with her, and I only wish there was more time. We went bowling quite a bit and had even more movie nights. She went back to California a few weeks ago and I am anxious to see her again. I'm still on the look for an extended weekend that I can fly down and see her.
 
Syntax Servers
I am installing a T1 line for Syntax Server's use. I'm planning on getting a large rack and filling it with servers and having it hosted on one T1 tunnel. Hopefully the speed and performance lives up to the Syntax Server's reputation.
 
Chumboat
A few years ago Lucas and I were planning a website called 'Chumboat.' Well, I have a renewed interest in programming it, and I've started doing so again. Hopefully this time it will be completed.]]> General http://www.syntaxlamp.com/blogs/rhetts_blog/index.php?itemid=54 Sun, 17 Jan 2010 00:52:23 -0700 http://www.syntaxlamp.com/blogs/rhetts_blog/index.php?itemid=53 Bullhook Clinic
I start at Bullhook clinic as the CIO on December 28. My last day at the Computer Center is on December 21 (I put in my 2 weeks notice on Dec 7). I'm excited to make a lot of money there, which is the whole point of staying in Havre for at least a year; to make money and gain resources to launch Syntax Servers and Syntax Software Development, Inc. I'm hoping to save most of my pay checks but also purchase a really expensive truck and crap that I need loans for so that I can build my credit. This way I can get a loan from the bank eventually to lease or buy a building in another state for Syntax's use.
 
Syntax's Future
I've set a goal with Syntax Servers that I will have it be my main source of income by it's 5th year in business. November 19 was it's 2nd birthday, so I have 3 years to get it into gear. Right now, promotion is key. I can keep up with the demands of customers and provide more and more physical servers, I just need to create that demand. To do so, I need to launch ad campaigns on xfire, steam, gaming communities, and sponsor clans in LAN tournaments. With this new job, I'll be able to set aside a lot for Syntax's use, and I'm excited to do so. Finally I'll be able to advance the prospect of Syntax Servers, and maybe even get time to program Quizerd and other software development projects I've been designing.
 
Syntax Servers Website
Every so often I decide I need to redesign the Syntax Servers website. I last redesigned it in July, and now I'm making another design for it that is WAY better than the previous two looks. This time I've spent a pretty penny on getting graphics created and it looks amazing. I plan on having the new site launched fully by January 1. This is an ambitious goal seeing as how my last design took me over 3 months to complete.
 
Personal
The picture accompanying this blog post is a look outside my house at the first snow of December. I've really been getting into Christmas this year and have been in the Christmas spirit since just after Halloween. I finished decorating my basement for the SyntaxLAMP Christmas Party that I have planned for December 19. More details will be released on the forums of SyntaxLAMP.com eventually.]]> General http://www.syntaxlamp.com/blogs/rhetts_blog/index.php?itemid=53 Wed, 9 Dec 2009 01:30:07 -0700