An expert in internet technology, I code fluently in Perl and Python as well as the standards of the web: html, css, javascript (ajax). I am an expert regular expression coder. I know relational database design thoroughly, focusing on MySQL. I was a Java expert but have not used it recently. I am less fluent, but still conversant in many other languages like C, Visual Basic and PHP. I can pick up new languages and technologies as I use them. I value the opportunity to learn something new. I have designed and implemented database-driven applications for the web and desktop. Beyond the web, I have written custom client/server software speaking dns, smtp and various other protocols - industry standard and my own creations.

I am self-motivated and work well on my own or as part of a team. I am able to accept other's opinions and admit mistakes. I run my own internet server and provide advanced internet hosting.

Good software is:

• User oriented: Provides a practical, user-friendly and efficient interface.
• Network aware: Makes secure, compatible and efficient use of the network.
• Data driven: Uses fast, efficient, logical relational data structures.
• Reliable: Handles failure modes, displaying reliable and descriptive errors.

Employment:

2009-present: I developed a new anti-spam product, Quorum.to. Written in Python, it uses the web-framework Django as the foundation for it's user interface and data model. It uses the twisted framework as the basis for it's custom servers.

2003-2009: I worked at Ironport, the company that acquired SpamCop.net from me. Ironport was acquired in turn by Cisco Systems. I completed various projects unrelated to SpamCop while at Ironport. I learned the Python programming language. I continued to work on anti-spam technology. I was an advocate for SpamCop.

1997-2003: Consulting and SpamCop. Completed web-based projects for a variety of clients. See Work Examples for samples. While consulting, I started a project of my own: SpamCop. This site grew beyond my expectations - becoming the most popular spam reporting system on the net. It eventually became a company employing myself and a couple of helpers full time. In June of 2003, I sold the company to Ironport systems.

1995-1997: Communication Billing Technologies. I left my hometown of State College, PA for New York City and a job expanding CBT onto the internet. There, I learned software design at the ground level. I implemented several projects using Visual Basic in Microsoft Access as the front end and Oracle as the data store. I also managed the wire closet and maintained the hardware (servers and desktops). I and one other developer implemented a complicated Java application (applet) in the browser.

1990-1995: Master Computer. Working as service manager at Master Computer, I saw the company grow from a three employee mom-and-pop computer store to the largest one in State College. When I left, the company employed over twenty people and served thousands of customers ranging from first-time home users to large corporate accounts. Working closely with customers gave me a solid understanding of customer relations and business. I first became interested in security issues here too - I still have a collection of different boot-sector viruses on 5 1/4" disks. I hacked a 5 1/4" drive to override the write-protect, so that I could make changes to my write-protected utility disks from my virus-clean workstation.

Background:

Born in New Zealand in 1971, I grew up in State College, Pennsylvania. I graduated from State College Area High School in 1989. Although I began a degree in Computer Science at the Pennsylvania State University, I moved to New York before finishing (I have always learned more from real-world problems than classes). I enjoy photography, camping, sailing and other outdoor activities so Seattle was an obvious choice.

My computer experience began in fourth grade when I was part of the first generation of kids to use the original Apple II in school. This was my first exposure to programming (Logo, BASIC). I used, programmed and dissected my mother's IBM Portable Computer at home. I owned a Commodore VIC-20 and then graduated to my own IBM XT clone. I worked at Burger King for a summer to buy this, my first real computer. That 8088 has evolved over the years as my primary workstation. I use laptops as my primary workstation these days, currently an HP pavilion dv8000). My first networking experience was running a BBS in high-school: the Jewel, starting on the XT. I have been using and building networks ever since.