Some high points

• Designed and implemented an audio machine learning framework in C++ using wxWindows, Portaudio, Libsndfile and some algorithm help from the Audacity project.
• Used Inline::Java in a Perl program to query and test a proprietary application that exposed an XML API -- but only over a Java DataConnection wire. If there’s anything more unnatural than mixing Java and Perl in the same source file, please let me know, because I’m sure there’s a great story behind it.
• Planned and implemented a mobile wireless access point using a two-way satellite link and a 1965 Ford Econoline that survived several trips to Burning Man before dropping its transmission on a remote highway at 3 a.m.
• Created a new event calendar system in Ruby on Rails which accepts reader-submitted events and generates XML output for InCopy/Indesign-based print CMS using criteria such as time, tags and geographic information.
• Built a full-featured newspaper CMS from scratch using PHP. It seemed like a good idea at the time.
• Remember the 1996 election? I do. That’s when I learned Macromedia Director (this was before Flash, mind you) while helping create “Wall Pat In,” a satirical computer game where you play Pat Buchanan and attempt to build a wall to keep foreigners out of the U.S.
• Cobbled together a working extranet and ordering system using Filemaker on MacOS and Perl on Windows NT, which at one time handled half of all orders for a prepress shop.
• Managed to keep civil engineering students awake in a basic computer science course they were forced to take.
• Coded the prototype for an online banking application designed for kids in cooperation with Disney and ING Bank, long before libraries like Dojo and Prototype turned DHTML Hell into Ajax. As a side note, I grew up in Amsterdam, where Ajax means something else entirely.
• Co-wrote the Schwa World Operations Manual, a satire of corporate marketing dressed up as science fiction.

Selected work

• SNOTEL map: Created as part of a special section on the local effects of global warming, this mashup between Google maps and data from the Natural Resources Conservation Service displays historical data for selected snow measurement stations in the Sierra Nevada.
• Restaurant inspections: First created as part of another special report, we now run the only public database for restaurant inspections in Washoe County.
• Movie listings: We would get the data from Cinema Source, but I’ve always liked how it displays the week’s movie times on a single page instead of one page for each day. A very small detail, but it still makes me happy.
• RGJ.com calendar, search view: Nothing special (and it needs a lot of work), but note that we allow people to upload pictures with their events. The admin interface is actually more interesting.
• RGJ.com, public event entry form: About a quarter of the events in the RGJ.com database came from readers.

The usual list of jobs

April 2008 to present: Bioinformatics specialist
Bioinformatics Core at the University of Nevada, Reno in Reno, NV

• Provided software engineering and consulting services to researchers in various departments on campus.
• Administered and maintained molecular modeling lab, hardware-accelerated Tera-BLAST server, and other computing resources.

June 2006 to March 2008: Senior Editor, Digital Media
Reno Gazette-Journal in Reno, NV

• Directed photographers, reporters, editors and videographers to manage daily coverage, breaking news events, and special projects for newspaper web site.
• Implemented 18/7 coverage and planned staffing for the new digital desk. Designed new “mission control” floor plan and implemented it with help from several departments.
• Designed and implemented new event calendar system in Ruby on Rails that accepts reader-submitted events and generates XML output for InCopy/Indesign-based print CMS using criteria such as time, tags and geocoding.
• Designed and implemented system to map and graph snow measurement sites in the Sierra Nevada as part of special coverage of the local effects of global warming trends.
• Launched podcasting for RGJ.com, produced weekly podcasts, and handled promotion efforts.

January 2001 to June 2006: Online Technical Lead
Reno Gazette-Journal in Reno, NV

• Introduced software engineering best practices, including standard specifications and design documents, unit testing and documentation tools in LAMP environment.
• Successfully managed three live web server transfers involving Linux, FreeBSD and Solaris. Also managed several major system installs affecting multiple departments.
• Designed and implemented e-commerce system for classified ad entry, including generation of live previews of print version of ad.
• Designed and implemented database-backed, web-administered content management system which stores and searches thousands of text and multimedia files, and produces web and email products in multiple formats.
• Managed our on-schedule migration to Saxotech Online (formerly Publicus).

August 2000 to May 2001: Lecturer
Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Nevada, Reno in Reno, NV

• Planned lectures and project assignments for introductory computer science course in C++.
• Lectured to 50-70 students twice a week and assisted students on an individual basis.

August 1998 to January 2001: IT Manager
Reno Typographers in Reno, NV

• Designed and implemented a Filemaker-based job-entry and tracking system with web-based extranet components. The resulting system handled 50 percent of all client orders.
• Provided programming and web development services to clients using Java, PHP and ASP.
• Implemented shipping-quote XML interface on J2EE platform for casino-related startup.
• Integrated Linux, BSD and Windows NT servers into a MacOS-based shop.

October 1997 to July 1998: Programmer/System Administrator
Tribute MultiMedia in Amsterdam, The Netherlands

• Responsible for technical aspects of web site creation and programming.
• Assisted in implementation of TCP/IP network of Windows NT and Linux machines. Responsible for firewall configuration and administration.
• Responsible for installation and administration of several UNIX database packages (Solid, PostgreSQL, MySQL)
• Created multimedia prototypes and presentations in DHTML/Javascript, Java and Macromedia Director.

June 1996 to August 1997: Content Chief
Las Vegas Sun in Las Vegas, NV

• Managed editorial side of web site for newspaper and sister publications.
• Developed new content areas and in-house multimedia expertise.
• Responsible for day-to-day supervision of 15-member department.

1994 to 1997: Writer
SCHWA, Inc. in Reno, NV

• Co-wrote World Operations Manual (Chronicle Books, Sept. 1997).
• Designed and implemented the first Schwa web site (Fall 1994).

I’m not afraid of people in large groups

• “Ringermute: An audio data mining toolkit.” Master’s Thesis, Department of Computer Science, University of Nevada, Reno, NV. December 2005.
• “ARS VEHO: Augmented Reality System for VEHicle Operation,” presented at CATA-2005, New Orleans, March 16-18, 2005.
• “Planning Ahead: A Survey of Caching Strategies in PHP”, presented at the 6th annual O’Reilly Open Source Conference, Portland, Ore., July 26-30, 2004.

I can study

• M.S. Computer Science, December 2005, University of Nevada, Reno
• B.A. Political Science, May 1996, University of Nevada, Reno
• Attended the University of Chicago and University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

I’m a geek, too

• Languages/markup: Python, Perl, PHP, Ruby, Rails, HTML/CSS, JavaScript, XML/XSLT, C/C++, Java, Emacs Lisp, MATLAB
• Operating systems: Linux (various distros), FreeBSD, OpenBSD, IRIX, Windows NT/XP, MacOS, OS X, Solaris
• Applications and technologies: TCP/IP networking, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Apache, Tomcat, qmail, Samba, postfix, git, Subversion, CVS, puppet

These people know what I can do