Personal Development
These are projects I've worked on in my spare time. They are chances for me to play with new concepts or ideas that I read, and then make interesting things of them. When I build something on my own, I like to share, so you'll find the terms are usually very open.
Textify 2.0
Textify is a BBCode conversion utility written in the spirit of the Gradient Text Tool that was coupled with the old Yahoo! chat software such as CheetaChat and YChat. Originally written in PHP, it was later rewritten in JavaScript in order to build familiarity with the Prototype JS Library (and reduce the work the server was doing).
The newest version supports multi-point gradients, automatic bbcode detection and preservation, and the ability to load, share, and save gradient information. (PHP, Javascript)
Professional Development
On the professional side, I'm a programmer at heart. Building things and solving problems is my passion. And so, here are problems that I've particularly enjoyed.
ASAP Sign In Kiosk (offline)
The Academic Skills Achievement Program at California State University, Monterey Bay needed a simple replacement for the antiquated C-BOARD tracking system. It needed to track appointment information and run reports cross-referenced against student data. To compound the challenge, the tutoring center did not have money to invest into software packages, leaving the possible languages for development limited to those programs installed as part of the default CSUMB loadset. The results of this were a simple touch screen kiosk which is still in production at the school, several years later. (Visual Basic, MS Access)
Homeland Security Digital Library
Built for the Dudley Knox Library (as a contractor) a team of engineers built and maintained the document repository for one of the Center for Homeland Defense and security's web presences. The HSDL is a site for "homeland security policy planners, strategists, researchers, scholars, managers and first responders" who want to learn more about the evolving field of Homeland Security. Development included integration of the Scout Portal Toolkit as a document repository, followed by integration and development in uPortal. (JSP, PHP, MySQL, MSSQL) This project was completed while serving as a contractor.