Dave in a Nutshell (with apologies to O'Reilly Press)

What I do:

I write computer software. Lately, I've been writing mostly web based software but I can program in a number of programming languages. In particular, I've been writing websites where the user (a client or an employee) logs in and can then access the company records. The benefits of this sort of software is secure access from anywhere you can access the internet. It's like having an infinite number of terminals to your company information.

I design databases. If you have company information that you need to store and retrieve, then you need a database. Like most things in life, there are better ways and worse ways to design databases. It's important that a database be accurate; fast; that it grows gracefully; and, that it's easy to change and maintain.

Why I can do these things well:

I earned a PhD from Texas A&M University in Information Systems (technically called 'Business Analysis and Research'), but most faculty in the Computer Science Department thought I was a CS grad student. For my dissertation I wrote a system (in a computer language called 'Objective C') that found complex patterns in natural (human) language. One thing that the PhD program did for me was teach me to program in a number of different computer languages - from APL, LISP and Prolog to FORTAN and C++, Java was just emerging then. Before Texas, I earned my MBA from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and a Bachelor of Science from Radford University, also in Virginia.

Although I can and do program in a number of languages, I consider my greatest talent to be relational database design. Database Design was one of several subjects which I taught at Texas A&M and, later, University of Michigan. My time in Michigan was spent teaching Intro to Information Systems and Intro to Database Systems to throngs of undergraduates. Naturally, that required a passing familiarity with a variety of database systems and design tools. I also became involved in the internet boom as the founding father of the Genesee Freenet which did (and still does) help thousands of people get connected to the internet who would not otherwise be able to.

One of my professors from Texas A&M hired me away from the University of Michigan to telecommute from Virginia to Texas (Milagro Systems). We expanded to an office in Virginia where I managed as many as 3 C++ programmers. That company's product just missed the "dot com" craze and eventually ran out of funding.

I was fortunate to be immediately hired by a large insurance company (Atlantic Mutual Companies) under the mysterious and nebulous title of "Technology Consultant." Basically, the job was to get involved enough in every IT project to find ways to reduce duplication of effort and encourage more productive methods. It gave me plenty of time to research emerging technologies. Being an insurance company, there were naturally huge databases, ancient (but important) legacy systems and plenty of security concerns. I also spent a fair amount of my time teaching the latest programming concepts to the folks who wrote those ancient (but important) legacy systems. Atlantic Mutual insured 10 companies in the World Trade Center of New York City before the 9/11/2004 attack which desctroyed those buildings. The company was able to pay all of its obligations, but gradually downsized itself out of existence.

I was again fortunate to immediately get a job with a small but growing web development company (ICONS). I worked as an exclusive contract programmer. This is when I started seriously programming for the internet. I worked on a performance award management system for Booze Allen Consultants, The Roanoke Appalachian Trail Club was a pro bono project that did all sorts of things for members (newsletter library, message forum, member directory, etc.). I designed the database for an auction site, a dynamic content management system for the Lutheran church and a subscription service/email engine for the Southern Baptist Convention International Missions Board. I worked on several custom shopping carts and secure credit card processing systems.

I left ICONS to move to the Gulf Islands of British Columbia to live with my new wife (Athena George). We're building a house on Saturna Island together. Since receiving my open work permit late in 2005, I've been working as a contract programmer/system architect. You can see my most recent projects on my homepage.

I am always looking for interesting & challenging projects. While I prefer independent, non-exclusive contract work, I'll certainly consider other arrangements as well.