Screenware: Taking Back the Display

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from managing infrastructure for Rolling Hills Technology and my classrooms at LCCC, it’s that sometimes the simplest problems have the most bloated, expensive solutions. Digital signage is one of those problems. I just wanted a clean, reliable way to throw slides, weather data, and real-time updates onto the TVs around my spaces. But when you look at commercial screen management software, it’s usually a nightmare of subscription fees, proprietary hardware, and clunky, locked-down interfaces. I didn't want a black box; I wanted a system I could control, tweak, and deploy without asking for permission or paying a licensing fee per screen. So, I built it myself. The Build: Django and Raspberry Pi I approached this the same way I tackle a lot of my infrastructure projects—using reliable, gritty, open-source tools that I know inside and out. The architecture for Screenware is split into two straightforward pieces: The Server: The backend is powered by a Django web server. It handles all the heavy lifting—scheduling, data ingestion, and content management. This is the central hub where I can push updates to my students, pull in the daily Cheyenne weather forecast, or drive live announcements for events like TekCon. The Client: At the edge, connected directly to the TVs, the client software runs on a standard Raspberry Pi. It’s cheap, physically tiny, and endlessly reliable. The Pi simply polls the Django server, pulls down the views, and puts them on the glass. If a unit ever burns out or gets damaged, I just flash a new SD card, plug a new Pi into the HDMI port, and we are back online in minutes. It’s the exact kind of practical, nuts-and-bolts engineering I try to teach my students when we’re getting our hands dirty on the WyoCyberRange. You don't always need a massive enterprise contract to solve a problem—sometimes you just need Python, a microcomputer, and a solid network connection. Keeping It Free and Open Source I designed Screenware from day one to be completely free and open-source, and I will be posting the GitHub link so anyone can grab the repository. Why give it away? Because this community is built on shared knowledge and shared tools. Just like I recently released WyoCyberRange's LabTech platform as freeware, I want this display software to be accessible. Whether you are an educator trying to modernize a campus on a shoestring budget, a fellow DEF CON hacker putting together live metrics for a local meetup, or just someone building out a killer dashboard in their home lab, you shouldn't be gated by cost. I spend my days teaching the mechanics of IT and writing textbooks on automation. The open-source ethos is a massive part of that culture. We learn best by tearing things apart, modifying the code, and seeing how it works under the hood. Screenware is just one more piece of that ecosystem—another piece of the puzzle for "Nerds with Power Tools."

Rolling Hills Technology: Two Decades of Adapting, Building, and Serving Cheyenne

If you spend enough time in the IT world, you realize that the only constant is massive, relentless change. When I started Rolling Hills Technology back in 2005, the landscape of network infrastructure and business IT looked completely different than it does today. We were years away from the modern cloud, and cybersecurity was an entirely different beast. Over the years, the business has seen its fair share of ups and downs. But surviving in this industry means transforming right alongside the tech. Today, Rolling Hills isn't just an MSP keeping the lights on for local businesses—it’s the proving ground where the rubber meets the road. Weathering the Shifts Since those early days in 2005, the needs of businesses have shifted dramatically. We've evolved from basic break/fix hardware support to managing complex, automated infrastructures and deploying robust security protocols. It hasn't always been a smooth ride, but navigating those industry shifts is exactly what keeps the work interesting. Whether it's deploying Proxmox clusters, managing Ceph storage, or automating workflows for local clients, Rolling Hills has transformed to meet whatever the industry throws at us. We’ve built our reputation on doing the gritty, hands-on work that keeps operations running smoothly. The Ultimate Training Ground I spend my afternoons teaching IT and cybersecurity at LCCC, and a huge part of my philosophy is that students need hands-on experience. That’s why I built WyoCyberRange, but a simulated lab can only take you so far. You eventually have to deal with real clients, live networks, and the unpredictable nature of production environments. That’s where Rolling Hills Technology has become a cornerstone of my broader mission. It serves as a strong, real-world training ground for new interns. The students who come work with us aren't just fetching coffee; they are getting their hands dirty with actual managed services. They get to see the business side of IT—how we price tiers, handle operational workflows, and solve critical problems for actual companies. It bridges the gap between the textbook theory I teach and the high-stakes reality of the field. Filling the Void in Cheyenne Right now, there is a massive void for reliable, skilled IT management here in Cheyenne. Local businesses need more than just someone to reset their passwords; they need infrastructure partners who understand how to scale, secure, and automate their operations. Rolling Hills fills that gap. We provide the enterprise-level expertise I’ve gathered from years in DevOps and cybersecurity, tailored specifically for the businesses in our community. And as we look to the future—including mapping out our physical retail storefront, Rolling Hills Supply Co.—our mission remains exactly the same. We are just "Nerds with Power Tools," dedicated to keeping Cheyenne connected, secure, and running smoothly.

Building a Sandbox

I spend my days up to my elbows in infrastructure. Between teaching cybersecurity and IT at Laramie County Community College and running my MSP, Rolling Hills Technology, I live in a world of Proxmox clusters, Django backends, and networking gear. But a few years ago, sitting in my classroom in Cheyenne, I hit a wall: you can’t truly learn IT or cybersecurity just by reading about it. You have to get your hands dirty. You need to deploy, configure, and occasionally completely break a system to understand how it works. That realization was the spark for WyoCyberRange. Where It Started: Out of Necessity The whole project started because my students needed a safe place to break things. I was already writing my own course materials—I’ve written over 15 textbooks at this point, including IT Automation for the Professional—but the curriculum was only half the battle. We needed a digital proving ground. I’ve always believed in making the abstract tangible. Back in 2025, I even built and presented a mobile fire station model at an NSF conference just to give students a physical, visual representation of an SQL injection attack. WyoCyberRange was the digital equivalent of that philosophy. I built the LabTech learning platform to be the engine behind it—a dedicated, hands-on virtual lab environment where students could run real operating systems, configure real networks, and run real exploits without bringing down the LCCC campus network. By the end of 2025, the project had grown enough that I completely redesigned LabTech into a full Content Management System. It stopped being just a quick tool for my Monday-through-Thursday classes and started becoming a comprehensive educational ecosystem. The Evolution: Open Education and Real-World Tech The platform is built on the same gritty, real-world tech I rely on in my home labs and in the field. It’s powered by the things I tinker with every day—Proxmox VE, Python, Django, Nginx, and Tailwind CSS. As I kept building, my focus shifted toward Open Educational Resources (OER). I realized that the barrier to entry for quality, hands-on cybersecurity training was just too high for a lot of people. Earlier this spring, I gave a presentation at the WY-OER conference titled "From Expertise to Ecosystem: Building a Multi-Sensory OER with AI." That talk was essentially the manifesto for what WyoCyberRange was becoming. It wasn't just a lab anymore; it was an open ecosystem meant to bridge the gap between textbook theory and actual keyboard time. Where We Are Now: Opening the Gates Today, WyoCyberRange is more than just a college resource; it’s a community platform. It ties directly into the culture I try to build locally, whether we are organizing TekCon at the college or packing up a group of students to head out to DEF CON in Vegas. Because of that community growth, I recently decided it was time to take the next big step. Just a few days ago, on July 16, I officially announced the release of the LabTech software platform as freeware. I updated our terms of service, put out the press release, and opened the doors. WyoCyberRange is now available for anyone who wants to learn, build, and break things safely. The motto for my upcoming retail supply shop is "Nerds with Power Tools," and honestly, that ethos perfectly captures the heart of WyoCyberRange. We aren't just reading about tech—we are handing the next generation of IT professionals the tools they need to build the infrastructure of tomorrow, one virtual machine at a time.

July 20, 2026

Gamifying your next CON

July 20, 2026

Hard Hat Brigade?