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Interview with Guy Patterson who maintains Security Blog Nullamatix.com

March 7, 2008

Guy Patterson maintains Nullamatix.com , a technology, development and security related blog. Nullamatix offers the latest news and commentary on trends in network technology, site development, and network security.
 
 WJ: How would you describe your profession?
 
I’m currently a System Administrator that’s responsible for just over fifteen thousand users, hundreds of servers, and a portion of security and network related issues. The fast pace, demanding environment forces me to stay current as technologies continues to progress. I love it.
 
 WJ: How did you get into New Media/Online publishing/Online communications? Did you see yourself getting into this field early on? What did you used to do “in an earlier life” (prior career, if any)?
 
Prior to creating Nullamatix.com and really getting back into the online community, I decided a career in marketing and sales was what I wanted to do. After establishing a secure position with a successful telco company (Sprint), my long time friends convinced me my talents, skills, and abilities were being put to waste. A week later, I quit my job as a sales representative and started focusing on my true passion, computer security, systems, and information technology.
 
 WJ: What do you think are the turning points that helped make webmastering/online publishing/online marketing a lucrative business field?
 
The exponential growth of Internet users during the 90’s, and still today, sure helped. More users mean more available consumers; more available consumers mean greater potential to sell products and services. People, although an obvious gross generalization, realized at one point the Internet would become as common as the telephone, television, and even electricity.
 
 WJ: In your opinion, what is the most exciting recent development in online publishing?
 
There are so many I’m unable to choose a specific at this time. I’m really interested in seeing Automattic’s continued development, that’s a start-up definitely worth watching.
 
 WJ: What do you think are the essential skills to become a successful webmaster?
 
This depends on a variety of conditions, including your definition of success. A set of skills every successful webmaster should possess, in my opinion, are: fluency in some form of server side scripting, basic organization skills, creativity, imagination, diligent work ethic, among others. Just as a side note, I recently read the term webmaster is no longer considered a reputable title, but should instead read web developer. Web development has become so expansive that becoming masterful at every aspect of modern web development is nearly impossible. When was the last time you spoke to a webmaster fluent in Photoshop, PHP, Coldfusion, .Net, Ajax, Java, javascript, database design and integration, XHTML, RSS, load balancing, query optimization, user interface design, etc?
 
 WJ: Being a webmaster has gone from being a one-person job to a field that allows specialization. Is that a good thing or a bad thing for your business?
 
Web development specialization is a huge advancement, not only for businesses, but for end users, too. The old saying, “two heads are better than one” comes to mind. When a group of specialized individuals collaborate as a team on a project, the end result is usually fantastic. Take a look at some of the amazing products Google’s released over the last few years. GMail, Google Reader, Adsense, all of which where brought to life by a group of specialized individuals working as a team. I’d say if this worked for Google, there’s a decent chance it’ll work for my business.
 
 WJ: Do you think the industry is regulated enough? Have the authorities or the Net’s relevant governing bodies become too restrictive? Which areas of online activity do you think NEED further regulation?
 
Yes, the industry is currently suffering an abundance of restriction. With the ongoing Comcast & Sandvine issues, the United States Government able to grant immunity to telephone companies charged with warrantless wiretapping, net neutrality at risk, where does it end? The United States Government has no business regulating any forms of communication, including the Internet. For organization purposes, I still like the idea of migrating pornographic sites to the .xxx TLD. The idea behind .com (commercial), .net (network), and .org (non-profit organization), which isn’t strictly enforced, makes sense to a certain degree. Perhaps the Internet would progress with greater efficiency, providing a new level of beneficial enhancements in a variety of areas: productivity, speed, ability to exchange information, interaction, and more. Anything’s possible, right?
 
 WJ: What are the challenges the industry is facing today?
 
I would like to see an increase in support and implantation of standardization. Web development standards and information technology best practices are in place, and they’ve worked; why not increase the effort toward ensuring everyone’s on the same page, no matter the subject? For example, if a set of Linux standards existed, I wouldn’t need to know whether to use emerge, yum, apt-get, YaST, apt-rpm, or urpmi depending on which distribution I’m on.
 
 WJ: What would your advice be to someone who is just getting his or her feet wet in online business?
 
Read, study, design, implement, test. Read, study, design, implement, test. Some of the most successful Internet marketers share their success daily through ebooks, blogs, mailing lists, and forums. Find the real marketers and read anything and everything they’ve ever made available. I personally recommend Darren from ProBlogger, Daily Blog Tips, Courtney Tuttle, and Alan from Affiliate Confession. Go crazy and never think an idea doesn’t have potential to generate revenue. Go ahead and experiment with blackhat techniques (nothing illegal or against any TOS, of course), dip into the overly saturated ringtones market, start a mailing list, write a blog, find something you’re comfortable with, and more importantly, enjoy. You never know unless you try. The more you try, the more you learn. The more you learn, the more you know. If these processes are consistently executed, you’re guaranteed to eventually generate revenue, which will only continue to snowball.

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