History

Who Is Behind Home Domination?

I'm Harry Strand.  Throughout most of this website, I've referred to StrandControl, LLC as "we".  Technically it is "we" since my wife has a vested interest in this project and she has done some proof reading of the web site and handles the bookkeeping, but Home Domination is primary a "me" project at this point.  I'm not trying to mislead you by referring to the company as "we", I'm just planning ahead for when it becomes more of a "we" thing.  There are numerous email addresses listed on this site, and currently they all go to me.  As the company grows however, other people will take over certain email addresses.  Having separate email addresses for different requests is currently very handy for me anyway since messages go into different folders based on the email address, so please use the appropriate email address for whatever you need to email me about.  By the way, the building pictured on the About Us page is the actual building where I work, and is owned by my brother, Mike Strand.

Don't worry about the stability of this company.  Since it's just me, my costs are low, and I am also a customer, so I won't stop developing the product.  I'm employed full time by Teklynx International, so a lack of income from the product won't slow me down either.  However, you may have to be patient if you want to get a hold of me, or if you want a new feature implemented.  I also have a wealth of business knowledge at my disposal from my brother, who, with my help (on the software end of things), created and operated a multi-million dollar software company before selling it in November of 2001.  Check out his new venture at www.online-kiosks.net.  I have other good friends who are successful business owners that I can siphon knowledge from as well.

I currently do not list a phone contact so I can maintain my privacy at home.  However, if you do wish to contact me by phone, please send an email with the reason for the conversation and I'll call you or provide you with a phone number to call.  No solicitations please.

How Did Home Domination Get Started?

I started Home Domination to replace the ActiveHome software that I was using.  It was much too unreliable and limited, and I really wanted a nice programming project to take my mind off of my dad's death in December of 2002.  Since then, I keep getting more and more ideas for features, many of which have made their way into the product.  As a result, over 2 years later, I've just now released the product.  All of my programming has been done mostly between 10:00 PM and 3:00 AM, roughly every other day.  Some work has been done during the day on an occasional weekend, but the development is almost totally fueled by midnight oil. 

Home Domination has been in continuous testing since around March of 2003.  I use it myself 24-7 and currently have 8 alpha testers (mostly friends and acquaintances, some of them technical, some not) and over 135 beta testers.

My Experience

In 1979 I started programming on my brand new TRS-80, Model I, Level II in my sophomore year of high school, using both BASIC and Z-80 Assembler languages.  I programmed for my own interests until I began my programming career in 1985 where I programmed in COBOL for 4 years.  In 1989 my brother Mike needed help with a company he started which was later called StrandWare, and I programmed in C and later C++ and was an R&D manager for several years.  StrandWare thrived for many years and eventually was sold in 2001 to Teklynx International where I am still employed full time.

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