Great Big Digital

The Christmas of 1998, when I was just 8 years old, my uncle gifted me a 100+ project kit sold by RadioShack. The kit was designed by Forrest Mims and taught me all about digital and analog circuits. I was hooked. After building my own projects and getting comfortable with the bare metal world for a few years, I discovered microcontrollers. Which led to learning my first programming language, PBASIC for Parallax’s line of Basic Stamp microcontrollers.

Over the years the technology changed and as it turns out, hardware is expensive… One thing that remained free however was code. I quickly found myself enamored with anything web or internet related, the instant feedback of seeing my code do stuff was magic. I dug into anything and everything with a network connection. From weeks of reading RFCs, to going to conferences on cyber security, to hacking together a Glade air freshener to be triggered from an old IRC chat bot (because why not?); the binary world shaped my manifesto of “break it until it works”.

Software isn’t just a job for me, it is a lifestyle, personality, and defining trait of who I am. This passion has given me so much and I am committed to doing things the right way with a very healthy appetite for knowledge.

• Software Development

  • Committed to standard and core software development principles. Using proven practices such as KISS, DRY and SOLID, to deliver robust software. These principles, along with years of development experience, translate into projects that provide exactly what you need, the right way. As a full-stack developer I take passion in the back-end with any API’s, data mgmt or custom 3rd party integrations. The front-end? Working with the design team, we take care of the technology that works for you. Whether it be keeping with the WordPress ecosystem, or with bleeding edge headless CMS and dynamic Vue/React. Languages: Python, PHP, Apex (Salesforce), JavaScript (ES6/jQuery), HTML, CSS, Sass, and more! Frameworks: WordPress (vanilla and headless), Django, Flask, React/Vue/Node/LWC/Aura.

• DevOps

  • It is impossible to talk about proper software development and not bring up DevOps. With Development and Operations systems today, it is easier than ever to get everything in version control and automate it. Version control and local Docker development allow us to develop locally, track a running history of everything, implement code reviews and approval processes, and much more. Utilizing popular CI/CD tools such as GitHub Actions, we can be rest assured that any code going to any remote or live environment has been tested and approved, all without worrying about deployments.

• SysAdmin

  • The environments where software is run and executed is just as important as the code itself. Maintaining staging and production environments can quickly become complicated and if things go wrong, could be catastrophic. My understanding of Linux (Debian/Arch), web serving software (apache/nginx), routing, htaccess permissions, and general server/linux maintenance and monitoring will provide more than just success but also stability and sound of mind.

• Game Development

  • As much as I love playing video games, I equally enjoy making them. Coming from the old Macromedia Flash days, I quickly found myself in love with this avenue of development (thanks NewGrounds!).The freedom and flexibility to do absolutely anything with the assets, both 2D and 3D I create, drove my software skills to heights I never knew existed. From augmented reality to mobile games, I’m all in!

• Sushi

  • I love sushi. I love the idea of sushi. I love everything about sushi. From the methodical washing of rice to prepping the fish, I love it. The passion started when I found Hiro’s YouTube channel. I quickly ordered bamboo mats and trucked my way down to the local grocery store and the rest is history. Since my first failed attempt a few years ago, I have gotten not so bad at rolling those delicious nori wrapped gifts.

• 3D Printing

  • What’s better than code? Code that can build real world stuff, that’s what. The whole idea of creating something in software, click a button, then poof it’s in your hands, is mind blowing. Give me a stock Ender 3 and I’ll compile new firmware, set up auto leveling, put it on a network and give it a web interface, then setup cameras for oh so beautiful time lapses. I’ve followed DIY additive manufacturing since it’s infancy, when building a printer from old CD-ROM drives was new and acetone baths for ABS prints were discovered.

Gist

Personal GitHub