About Dan
Current Status
Self-employed web developer with over eight years of commercial experience, looking for short-term contract work to expand my portfolio. I specialise in Ruby on Rails agile web development, requirements analysis with user stories and e-commerce payment gateway integration.
Technical Sklls
Ruby, Ruby on Rails, Sinatra, Padrino, EventMachine, Cucumber / Selenium, HTML (XHTML, HTML 4 & HTML 5), CSS, Javascript, JQuery, XML, SQL, AJAX, Java, C, UML and Design Patterns, MySQL, SQLite, MongoDB, Linux, Tomcat, Apache, Subversion, Git, Capistrano.
Experience
Logspaces
May 2012- Market: Volunteering
- Role: Ruby on Rails Developer
- Skills: Ruby on Rails 3, Devise, Cucumber, RSpec, HTML 5, CSS
- I was approached by Logspaces, a community of student volunteers based in Oxford, UK, to create a website to support their activities and to enhance communication.
- I liaised with the organisation to scope the project, create the specification, and followed an agile approach using user stories to rapidly deliver features built in Rails 3.
- I hosted the application during development to allow the client to see changes during the build as they were developed.
HTE Gateway
May 2012- Market: Hotels
- Role: Backend Developer
- Skills: Ruby, Sinatra, Padrino, RSpec, Capistrano
- Working for the Forward 3D digital agency, I created a gateway using Sinatra, that adds a layer of functionality onto the reservations and bookings system for a global hotels group, editing XML SOAP requests. The system handles all incoming traffic for the client's entire business.
- I created a URL generation system, using Padrino, AJAX and JQuery, that allows administrators to generate URLs for a new search system.
Libertrip
October 2011 - April 2012- Market: Travel
- Role: Backend Developer
- Skills: Ruby on Rails, HTML5, CSS3, JS, Backbone, EventMachine, Sinatra
- I worked for six months on rails development for Libertrip, a new web start-up that specialises in travel based in Lille, France. I delivered new features, enhanced data retrieval and built an API, upon which the operations of the company is based.
- I introduced a system of agile development using user stories and I created a test suite. Using cutting-edge asynchronous technology, I created a system written in Ruby and Sinatra, that used EventMachine to greatly enhance the speed of data delivery and enhances the user experience of Libertrip.
- I took an existing Rails codebase and upgraded the underlying classes to Ruby 1.9.
Peter Baikie
January 2012- Market: Therapy & Counselling
- Role: Wordpress Developer, Hosting
- Skills: Wordpress, HTML, CSS, Linux, Apache
- I was approached by Peter Baikie to create a website to help promote his therapy and counselling activities. I delivered a customised Wordpress solution that allows Peter to update his website with minimal effort and to keep it up-to-date with his articles on therapy.
- I created a custom Wordpress theme that included a number of plugins and currently host the project on my dedicated hardware in the UK.
Kahala Aviation
November 2011- Market: Aviation
- Role: Web Developer, Web Design, Hosting
- Skills: HTML, CSS, Photoshop, Linux, Apache
- I designed and built a static HTML website, to act as the brochure for a new aviation leasing company. I liaised with the company's directors to rapidly turnaround a site that is cross-browser compatible.
- I provide a full hosting and e-mail solution for the company's employees using my dedicated hardware in the UK.
Most Rated
January 2011 - Present- Market: Music
- Role: Director, Developer
- Skills: Ruby on Rails, HTML5, CSS3, JS, MongoDB, EventMachine, Sinatra, Streaming
- I am the director of a new music technology start-up company, which has developed a music discovery service called Most Rated. In conjunction with live music events, the website promotes material submitted by artists, organised around local music scene.
- The website is a distributed web application comprising of Ruby on Rails, HTML5, MongoDB, EventMachine and RESTFul API integration (Facebook, Mixlr).
- The site has a complex mechanism to automatically select tracks from the pool of artist's submissions, and collates the content into a continuous stream, like a radio station.
- I devised a business plan for the project, including a marketing strategy and fund-raising.
- I work with local venues, artist managers and creative suppliers to source the locations, the artists, creative and video for the project.
Phatnights
March 2011 - Present- Market: Music Promotions
- Role: Developer, Consultancy, Hosting
- Skills: Ruby on Rails, Cucumber, MySQL, Apache, Linux
- I was approached by Phatnights to take over the management and development from a failing web agency project and to take it forward.
- I assumed control of a large Ruby on Rails codebase, which had zero test coverage and add new features based on the client's pressing requirements.
- Working to a tight deadline and budget, I developed the software to fix critical issues and provide the basis for on-going development.
- I host the website from my own dedicated hardware in the UK.
Touch Local
August 2010 - September 2010- Market: Business Directory
- Role: Frontend Developer
- Skills: Ruby on Rails, HTML, CSS, Photoshop
- I assumed the role of freelance front-end developer in the recent redesign of the TouchLocal business directory website.
- I was responsible for the HTML, CSS, cross-browser support and accessibility of the new templates.
- I also worked on the wefinda.co.uk project, which used HAML for its template mechanism. I was responsible for updating copy, altering forms and improving user journeys.
Westfield London
June 2010 - July 2010http://uk.westfield.com/london/
- Market: Retail Property Leasing
- Role: Ruby on Rails Developer
- Skills: Ruby on Rails, HTML, CSS, XML, RSpec
- Following my succesful time with Delete, I was tasked with implementing a feature to integrate affiliate data into the Westfield London website.
- The project involved interacting with the sizeable Westfield codebase and liaising with their twenty-strong development team in Australia, to integrate XML data into Rails views.
- I worked on-site at Westfield's Holborn offices, and earned a recommendation from Sarah Lukins, the head of UK Digital Marketing.
Oxford University Press - CPT
January 2010 - March 2010- Market: Education
- Role: Ruby on Rails Developer
- Skills: Ruby on Rails, HTML, CSS, JS, Selenium, MySQL, Linux
- Following the success of the previous work I had done on the Hubbub launch, I was tasked by Head London to work on a classroom presentation tool (CPT) for interactive whiteboards commissioned by Oxford University Press.
- I instigated an agile development process using user-stories, a points system and burn-down charts, which is now in use for all new Head London projects.
- Amongst a team of four developers, I developed a XUL-supported HTML/CSS application that is dynamically generated from a RoR content management system.
- The project was comprehensive in the technology used, from MVC Javascript, to CD-ROM ISO generation on the Linux platform. Throughout a test-driven approach was used based on Cucmber, Selenium and Shoulda with 100% coverage and 2:1 test to code ratio.
Hubbub
August 2009 - December 2009- Market: Food, Retail
- Role: Ruby on Rails Developer
- Skills: Ruby on Rails, HTML, CSS, JS, Cucumber, Selenium, MySQL, Linux
- I joined the Hubbub project after the requirements phase had been completed and development had begun, and saw it through until launch.
- Amongst a team of 3-4 developers, I developed using a test-driven approach using Cucumber, Selenium, Shoulda unit tests and RCov.
- I debugged and verified the payment gateway integration with the SecureTrading network.
- The on-line retail platform won a BIMA award in the Consumer Services and Goods category.
Westfield Stratford City
May 2009 - July 2009http://uk.westfield.com/stratfordcity
- Market: Retail Property Leasing
- Role: Ruby on Rails Developer
- Skills: Ruby on Rails, XML, RSpec, Teamsite
- I worked on a large Ruby on Rails project for the Westfield group via the Delete web agency, developing front-end features on a large legacy codebase.
- I worked with the Teamsite CMS system, integrating XML data into Rails views.
- I developed a moderated comments system and associated administrative screens, using AJAX.
- I developed using a test-driven approach using RSpec.
Titan Entertainment Group
April 2005 - September 2008- Market: Retail & Publishing
- Role: Lead Web Developer
- Skills: Java, Tapestry, Spring, Ruby on Rails, XML, HTML, CSS, Linux
- I created the forbiddenplanet.com on-line megastore, an e-commerce website that promotes over 14,000 product lines from graphic novels to über-cool art toys. The website takes hundreds of orders a week and is visited by over 50,000 people each month.
- I am accustomed to relaying technical concepts in plain English; I held meetings with the senior directors to establish the requirements and embodied them into formal use case documents.
- I implemented a sophisticated Java web application that runs on a fault-tolerant Tomcat cluster. The website is a Java / Tapestry / Hibernate / Spring application. I also used HTML, CSS and XML.
- I created the titanmagazines.com subscriptions website using Java / Tapestry / Hibernate / Spring. The site handles 70-80% of the business' subscription orders. The site uses a mySQL database to store a publication schedule, which is interrogated by the front-end to determine which magazines are to be displayed in the user's locale. I developed a content management system that allows non-expert users to administer content, based on XML / XSLT.
- I know how to work under pressure and to challenging deadlines. I created the dwscifi.com news website using Ruby on Rails in under two weeks, yet the site now hosts several hundred articles and allows the editors to manage the content themselves.
- I was responsible for all of Titan's webservers and websites, which are hosted in-house on hardware that I procured and configured.
- I introduced several concepts and technology to the business, in particular I introduced an agile / XP methodology which is now adopted for all web development within the organisation. I developed a project planning tool in Ruby on Rails, which tracks the requirements for projects on an intranet website.
- I was responsible for the creation and maintenance of Titan's web development environment. I installed and maintained a subversion repository and cruise control, Apache and Tomcat servers.
Nationwide MPOS
August 2004 - April 2005- Market: Financial
- Role: Web Developer
- Skills: Visual Basic, HTML
- Working as a consultant for Gamcom, I worked as a developer on the society's mortgage point-of-sale system (MPOS). MPOS uses proprietary in-house software technology based upon a a vast and complex systems architecture. I was swift to learn and adapt to this new environment, including learning a new language called Process Author. Within a month of joining, I was deemed capable of taking responsibility for writing new software modules.
- I have gained invaluable experience unique to working in a large software project; MPOS has around fifty developers. I am adjusted to handling the necessary communication and cooperation required for such a team to function. I am aware of the critical human factors that influence the outcome of large software projects.
Mathias and Sons
July 2003 - February 2004- Market: Textiles
- Role: Web Developer
- Skills: Visual Basic, ASP, HTML, CSS
- Through analysis of existing workplace systems, I identified a requirement for a new Internet based ordering system, called MUMS (Mathias Uniform Management System), which is still used today. I outlined the various solutions to the management via a written report and a presentation. I eliminated the man-hours spent processing orders, saving £15,000 a year.
- The project was entered for the regional Shell Technology and Enterprise (STEP) award, and I won a local and regional heat. Based upon my performance in both the project, demonstration and my presentation, I was named “the most enterprising student in the South West of England 2003”.
- I conceived, designed and implemented an Internet-based ordering system that interfaced with existing Sage Line 50 accounting software using Active Server Pages (ASP), Visual Basic, HTML, SQL and Access databases.
Education
University of Bristol
September 2001 - July 2004- 2:1 BSc Computer Science
- I attained an 2:1 Bachelor of Science degree in computer science from the University of Bristol; consistently within the top five computer science departments in the UK.
- I led a group of five students working on a group project to design a software front-end and device driver for a digital MP3 player written in C. In addition to programming, I was responsible for time management and milestone setting, task allocation, administration of the group website and version control.
- I wrote a thesis as a proof of concept for networking middle-ware in computer games. It was an individual project to design a client / server network application that explored advances in next-generation market trends such as cloud computing. Used Java and X3D, a cutting-edge graphics standard for the Internet.
Beacon Community College
September 1999 - July 2001- A - A-Level Computing
- A - A-Level Business Studies
- B - A-Level Maths
Interests & Skills
Languages
English (Fluent), French (Intermediate).
Music
- I play piano, keyboards and synthesizers, and enjoy composing my own music. I am working with several musicians on original projects and have spent many months working with a top record producer on song-writing and session playing.
- I am currently studying for Grade 8 piano, after winning the Sheila Mossman Award for the highest mark in the country for Grade 6 piano, 2008.
- I currently play keyboards for Mercury-music prize nominees Sweet Billy Pilgrim, who currently touring the UK to promote their much-acclaimed new album.
Reading & Writing:
I enjoy writing and have kept a number of blogs in the past. My writing has also been featured on the Brighton Argus website. I enjoy reading and particularly enjoy reading in French, especially translations from English authors.
