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Employment History
Meta Platforms, Inc. : June 2022-June 2024
Production Engineer III / Web Efficiency Technical Program Manager
Working as a remote contractor for this Global Powerhouse with the Web Efficiency and the Programming Languages & Runtimes teams to diagnose performance issue root causes and assist a wide variety of Software Engineers to resolve those issues. Our teams are responsible for ensuring that the ecosystem including Facebook / Instagram / Messenger / WhatsApp / MetaQuest and other applications maintains superior performance characteristics and resolving performance problems quickly and correctly. During my time with Meta, I have authored several tutorials regarding how to perform these tasks that are widely-used within the company by engineers looking to improve their own work's performance, and looking to investigate performance issues within their own teams. Regularly participate in high-level infrastructure and capacity planning sessions across multiple teams. Top-level oncall for efficiency support, as well as being an oncall in rotation for performance team. Direct supervision, training and mentoring of one supporting Production Engineer.
Dental Game Plan : January 2020-February 2022
Senior Developer / Web Developer / Process Designer / Application Builder
Tech stack includes: Linux, Apache/Nginx, MySQL/CouchDB, PHP, HTML, CSS/Sass, jQuery, Codeigniter3/4 and a variety of remote tools (Slack, ClickUp, Zoom, Skype, etc.) Leading a development team of 3 programmers and 1 graphic designer in the creation of a call center/marketing operations center application to replace the combination of Five9, Infusionsoft and Zoho. Currently over 70 active agents calling on behalf of over 160 active dental clients. Agents inside of the call center and working remotely from locations all over the world work marketing, recall and treatment acceptance programs, and manage office appointment schedules. The application is driven by a unique workflow which I designed and built that allows clients to manage their own contact patterns with options for contact timing, contact types and contact scripts, including voice, email and SMS messaging. Contacts use API connections to Amazon Connect (voice), SendGrid (email) and Twilio (SMS). MySQL master/slave servers and all application and backup servers are running on Amazon AWS instances that I provisioned and maintain. Use of this application instead of the other 3 services cut the operating costs from $5000 per seat per month to $1100 per seat per month, resulting in significant savings for our clients. Worked remotely for the last year of this position.
HandcraftedModelShips.com : April 2014-December 2019
Web Developer / Process Designer / Application Builder
Managed 13 web properties for this ecommerce nautical-themed company, including custom PHP/MySQL websites and one Wordpress site. Websites used custom shopping carts deployed across multiple domains to process over 7000 products. Payment gateway API connectors included Authorize.net, Payeezy, SkipJack and Paypal. Designed and built many web-based applications for end-to-end, enterprise-wide inventory and product management, production manufacturing order and shipment management for our overseas factories, employee task assignment and tracking, and warehouse worker deployment, among others. I was the go-to guy for any and all things ecommerce-related, including process design, code building, graphic design and production, marketing and copywriting advice, managing inventory feeds to the various APIs, and running and evaluating analytics. In addition to managing all web server issues, migrations and activities, I was responsible for process design and code building for enterprise elements such as enabling task assignment and tracking, designing and building a complete custom inventory management system and integrating it with warehouse machines, packaging and shipment definition, labeling and tracking, developing a preproduction ordering process that was previously all paper so the owners could communicate with their overseas manufacturers, and achieve some accountability, and I designed and implemented a new web security matrix, allowing supervisors to manage and enforce which content any employee type has access to, among many other projects. Worked remotely for the last 3 years of this position, communicating via email, phone and Skype.
Contract Web Developer : July 2012-April 2014
Building web projects using PHP, MySQL, Javascript, jQuery, CSS and HTML5. Criminal Defense Strike Force May 2, 2013 I was responsible for everything ... wireframe, design, graphics, photos, coding and SEO. I also hosted the site on an Ubuntu instance in the Amazon AWS Cloud, including the WordPress blog. As with all of my independent work over the past couple of years, this project was hammered out, staged then deployed in a CVS environment. Eclipse has been working well, for me. Currently, the site is being managed by another party. American Gun Works December 18, 2012 As with Criminal Defense Strike Force, I was responsible for everything. In addition to everything, I designed, built and optimized the MySQL database, and I built the back end CMS for the client. This one's still hosted on my dedicated Fedora servers.
The Welch Group : March 2012-July 2012
PHP / HTML5 Developer
As a contractor with Robert Half Technology in Los Angeles, I built early iterations of The Welch Group's proprietary video product using PHP, MySQL, Javascript, JSON, CSS, HTML5. Built a custom shopping cart integrated with Authorize.net's CIM framework.
The Criminal Defense Group : 2001-May 2012
Web Developer, Web Marketing Director, Application Developer, IT Director
a.k.a. The Chase Law Group, United Defense Group Managed a single-office network of 25 Windows workstations, 2 dedicated Red Hat Linux servers, and provide remote technical support to several hundred attorneys nationwide. Developed proprietary marketing tools to assist in the deployment, management and reporting of extremely broad online advertising campaigns with a monthly spend of over $60,000 and monthly Internet revenues of over $400,000. These are low volume web properties, with traffic averages around 6,000 unique visitors per day. Designed and programmed several web-based applications to assist resident attorneys in their management and reporting duties. View some examples of these websites and applications here. Applications built with: Linux, Apache, HTML, HTML5, Javascript, CSS, PHP, XML, MySQL. They are integrated with various Microsoft products such as Access and Excel in the office. The office Windows systems utilize various VBScript macros and MS-DOS shell scripting which I authored. These applications enable the firm's attorneys to communicate, schedule, track, evaluate, and manage their cases, nationwide.
Internet Society - Los Angeles Chapter : 1998-2010
Board of Directors Chairman, Chapter Trustee and Education Committee Chair
Founding Member of this well-respected Chapter of the international organization. The Chapter was dedicated to promoting general Internet knowledge, working to develop Educational applications for the Internet, and participating in the creation and standardization of protocols for Internet activities through the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), a branch of the Internet Society (ISOC). The Chapter was officially the largest ISOC Chapter, with over 400 members state-wide at the time I left office.
Contract Web Developer : 1990-2001
Projects included crunching HTML for the initial rollout of the CitySearch website and building a Shockwave game for the Paramount Pictures/Howard Stern "Private Parts" movie site, among others. Clients include OverTheNet, Zentropy Interactive, NextStep Media, ZigZag, Platt College, Glendale Career College, Dori Howard Enterprises, MyPhotoDiet.com and many others.
XactImage : 1999-2000
Application Developer
Working with this Los Angeles-based web production company. Among other activities, I developed the programming for a 'proof of concept' for Fairchild Corporation, a major aerospace parts manufacturer. The proof of concept demonstrated how their web presence could integrate with their in-house inventory chain to enable vendors and suppliers to interact directly with Fairchild's product management system. By re-purposing existing forms for use on the web, my solution maintained a low learning curve, making for a quick rollout and potentially reducing errors and improving the efficiency of their product delivery stream. Acted as company liaison during a major transition in product offerings for our telco management clients from service affiliate AT&T.
Novomind (formerly 'eBrain') : 1998-2000
English Artificial Intelligence Developer
Working with this German company during development of their proprietary C++/Java engine, I cleaned up and augmented the translated 'brain' for their 'Virtual Agent' web-product. This involved adjusting the translated output and creating patterns and rules for the interaction between the Agent and the site visitor. (See Novomind.com for a demonstration of the current implementation.) On a side note ... I never met my employers on this project; all communication took place in cyberspace or via the occasional transatlantic telephone call.
Instructor, Internet Programming : 1996-1999
Glendale Career College, Glendale, California
Taught a popular course in Web Design, Client-side programming (HTML, Javascript, CSS) and digital graphics production
Game Programming : 1992-1994
Cyberboy Studios, Marina Del Rey, California
Three-man development team wrote and produced award-winning CD-ROM games
PrePress Production : 1979-1992
College Press, Burbank, California Audio Amateur Publications, Peterborough, New Hampshire Precisionforms, Inc., Jaffrey, New Hampshire 80 Microcomputing Magazine, Peterborough, New Hampshire Kilobaud Microcomputing Magazine, Peterborough, New Hampshire Notable Honors
President's Y2K Internet Task Force : 1999-2000
As the member of U.S. President Bill Clinton's Y2K Internet Task Force representing the Los Angeles, California region, in conjunction with the President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion, the USDoJ's Critical Infrastructure Protection Group and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), I participated in a global system monitoring and network troubleshooting effort during the transition from the year 1999 to the year 2000. You may recall that there was some concern that computers all over the world would have problems with the new century dates, and our task was to find and fix any such problems with the computers that power the Internet as they occurred. Fortunately, the computers of that time rolled over quietly. Education
APC - Data Center University : July 2011
Completed Course of Study in Data Center Design, Build and Operations
Platt College, Eagle Rock, California : September 1995
Graduate with Diploma in Computer Graphics and Design
Due to my experience with building web properties, I met several times with faculty members during my enrollment at the college to introduce them to HTML structure and code, and to help develop their syllabus as they crafted the school's first web programming course. Development Environments and Tools
Networking Environments
Servers: Linux, Unix, Windows NT 3.5-XP
Workstations: Linux, Windows95-Windows7; Macintosh 7-OSX Secure Wireless
Miscellaneous Platform Experience
Oracle 8i, Novell 3-4, MS-DOS 3-7, BeOS, Palm, WindowsCE,
BlackBerry, iOS (iPad, iPhone, etc.), webOS (Palm), Android
Web Server Software
Responsible for deploying, securing and maintaining: Red Hat Linux, CentOS Linux, Ubuntu Linux, Slackware Linux, FreeBSD Unix, Windows NT Server, Windows Server 2000-2008, Apache HTTP Server, MySQL/MariaDB Database Server, Sendmail Mail Server, Postfix Mail Server, Secure Sockets Layer, SELinux Security Layer, Bastille Security Framework, Sentry Tools
Production Software
I keep my skills very fresh with constant experimentation and by tweaking and rewriting existing applications to take advantage of new tech developments. All webpage programming is developed using either a simple text editor or an IDE, like Eclipse with the CVS plug-in. Other project-oriented software includes NetObjects Fusion 1-3, MS FrontPage 97-3, MS Project98, Dreamweaver and other web authoring programs. Well-versed in the Git version control system, and MVC development environments such as CodeIgniter 3 and 4. In addition, at the request of my clients, I have developed several websites using various Content Management Systems (CMS) such as Drupal, Joomla and WordPress. These include customized base applications, custom plug-ins/add-ons/modules, and expansions of existing community work. I hacked the Jekyll CMS for Dental Game Plan to run multiple instances on a remote server, with automated site-building and publishing processes. Web programming languages include PHP, PERL, WAP, XML, RSS, Javascript, HTML, CSS, JSON, jQuery, and, to a lesser extent: Node.js, Backbone.js, ColdFusion, Java, VBScript and others. Database software includes MySQL/MariaDB, MS-SQL, a little Oracle 8i, some PostgreSQL, various Berkley implementations and Microsoft Access and Excel. Materials production software includes Macromedia Director 3-8 and all versions of Flash (even back when it was being developed by FutureSplash!), the GIMP, Inkscape and other FOSS tools, and Adobe products including Photoshop 2-6, Illustrator 3-8, Acrobat 2-5, PageMaker 3-7, and Premiere 3-7 with After Effects 3. Audio development and manipulation has been done with various audio programs including Sound Forge 2-6, Audacity and Cakewalk 7. 3-D Virtual Reality production has been accomplished with software from Lightwave, Virtus, Caligari, and most recently with SGI/CosmoSoftware's outstanding CosmoWorlds. During Game Production, our team used Kinetix 3D Studio with custom Photoshop scripts and masking effects and the DOS-based Game Creation System (GCS). Regular production networking activities utilize various conferencing, shared environment, CVS, telnet, FTP, system status, remote control, and high-level browsing software. Extensive shell scripting. Frequently involved in beta-testing and professional developer programs for major manufacturers. As the IT Director for a large law firm, I had to troubleshoot and modify all kinds of workstations and servers, both local and remote. I regularly trained and assisted employees of the firm in the operation of their systems both in the primary office and remotely with employees all around America, and I frequently performed computer forensics tasks to aid in the development of legal defense positions. During these activities, I worked intimately with all of the major operating systems, several brands of personal and handheld devices and all of their attendant communications protocols ... along with a very wide variety of personalities. |
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