Brian Glass

• Apache
• Blender
• C
• CSS
• Django
• Flex/Actionscript
• GeoDjango
• Gimp
• Git
• Google Maps API
• HTML
• HTML::Mason
• Ingres
• Inkscape
• Javascript
• jQuery
• MatPlotLib
• Mercurial
• MySQL
• Nginx
• Perl
• PostgreSQL
• Python
• Raphael.js
• SQL
• SVN
• Tornado
• Yahoo Maps API
• Ubuntu

Highly Experienced

I am a web developer with over 15 years of experience in the software industry. My specialty is web development. I am a full-stack developer and can work at any level of the stack including OS maintenance, web server configuration, database programming (Python or Perl) and config, Javascript/Actionscript, Ajax, CSS and HTML.

See Some Code

I like to give back to the community. I started the Sheepology project for church management and church web content management. I will be spinning off several modules from that project as projects in their own right including a Django/Flex based visual tree editor and a Django webcam. If you'd like to see some of my source-code, visit this project.

Content Management Expertise

I have worked with several web content management systems including Joomla, Bricolage, and Ellington. In addition to this I have worked with the Jazbox print content management system and integration of Jazbox and Ellington. This experience in addition to my familiarity with common content management systems like Typepad and wordpress give me a thorough understanding of what a content management system should look like. I am building a web content management system into the Sheepology project as well.

Bleeding Edge Tempered by Experience

While age (I'll soon be 39) and experience have tempered my sense of adventure, I still tend to want to ride the cutting edge of technology. I am always look for new and better ways to do things. In 2008 I left the employer I had been with for 12 years because I felt I would soon be joining the ranks of dinosaur cobol programmers (albeit with Perl). While the ride since (in the volatile newspaper industry) has been nerve racking to say the least, I very much enjoy being able to choose and develop cutting edge technologies.

brian@glassbrian.com

As lead developer I am involved in a variety of projects. I have worked closely with the Ellington and Jazbox content management systems. I have been involved in some data conversion projects and some internal applications.

Representative Projects

• Tide Map/Chart

  Visit the Tide Chart site.

  • Used Python/Matplotlib to generate tide charts (PNG and PDF) from the XTide program
  • Used Django to serve the images
  • Used jQuery and jCarousel to indefinitely scroll tide charts through time
  • Generated a map of chat locations with Google Maps
• Mug Shots

  This application has not yet been released to the public.

  • developed Python scripts to scrape arrest data from County Sheriff websites from multiple local counties
  • generated bar and pie charts using raphael.js
  • used jQuery with the taconite plugin for ajax
• Source Database

  This is an internal database reporters use to keep track of "sources."

  • Used GeoDjango and PostgreSQL
  • Customized the Django Admin.
• Jazbox to Ellington feed
  • configured Jazbox to feed NITF to a Python server on a remote host
  • Processed Jazbox NITF into something Ellington would accept
  • Fed to Ellington with paramiko

At the Rocky I was the primary Django developer. I built our Django environment from the ground up using PostgreSQL and Apache. I configured an Ubuntu RAID system for developement and hosted our public site on Webfaction. I wrote 90% of the Django code and helped train other developers to use Django. I used jQuery on the client. I developed numerous applications in a very short period of time.

NOTE: since the Rocky closed in March of 2009, many of the portions of the site I built have been shut down and so are unavailable for your viewing pleasure.

Projects

• Holiday Lights

  This application allows people to submit their holiday lights displays and provides our readers with an interface for plotting driving routes and rating displays.

  • Configured PostGIS
  • Imlemented GeoDjango environment and Model/View structure
  • Wrote skeleton templates for our designer
  • Imported Census Bureau shape files (county, city, etc.) into GeoDjango
  • Wrote a Python function for finding efficient routes (The Traveling Salesman problem) using a dynamic programming approach and a unique combination of the nearest-neighbor and full-search method for longer routes - see source code
• Colorado Election Results
  • Created a Python script to extract election results from a SQL Server database (fed by the Associated Press) into an XML feed for our Flash/Flex developer
  • Created a simple Django admin for our reporters to call races
  • Implemented DNS load balancing for election night
  • Configured an Ubuntu RAID server
• Colorado County Election Profiles

  The Colorado County Election Profiles was on a very tight deadline because of the impending election. I worked with a designer/CSS artist and Flash/Flex developer to finish this project in just over 2 weeks.

  • Designed Django models
  • Converted census data to Django database using Python
  • Implemented basic Django templates
  • Created pie charts using jQuery and Canvas (with excanvas)
• Colorado Campaign Finance
  • Designed Django models
  • Converted FEC data to Django database using Python
  • Implemented basic Django templates
• Colorado Election History
  • Created Django environment using PostgreSQL and Apache
  • Designed Django models
  • Imported data from an Excel spreadsheet
  • Created an XML template to feed the Flash application
• Denver Public Schools Report Cards

  Denver Public Schools Report Cards

  • Converted Excel spreadsheet to XML feed for Flash/Flex developer

MR publishes reviews of research mathematics publications and provides a search engine to our database of reviews and bibliographic information. MR's production systems run Ubuntu Linux with Apache, mod_perl and Ingres. Internal application are developed using the HTML::Mason Perl templating system.

Representative Projects

• MathSciNet Front End

  MathSciNet is the primary public-facing product of Mathematical Reviews.

  • UI design using xhtml, CSS, and javascript with HTML::Mason templates
  • HTML::Mason templating system
  • browser compatibility testing
  • Graphics generated with Gimp and Inkscape
  • standards compliance (xhtml 1.0 transitional)
• Scanned Document Archive

  This application is a web-based tool to scan and archive the mathematical publications MR reviews. It is for in-house use only.

  • UI design using xhtml, CSS, and javascript with HTML::Mason templates
  • managed transition from a commercial scanned image archive package (OTG) to an in-house developed system
  • converted MSSQL tables to our own table structures in Ingres
  • Class::DBI object/relation mapper and HTML::Mason templating system
  • object-oriented Perl based storage engine
  • use of Gocr and later an in-house developed barcode scanning tool for auto-identification
  • fine-tuned an open-source Perl package for detecting blank pages
  • Used PDF::API2 perl package for compiling images on the fly into PDFs for in-house viewing
  • end-user support
• ADA (Author Database Application)

  ADA is an in-house application for identification of authors on reviewed publications. This project was a conversion from a combination of a legacy terminal-based application and a collection of printouts to an entirely web-based paperless tool.

  • updated legacy C program for finding likely author matches in our database
  • HTML::Mason templating system
  • refactored UI for a web environment using html, CSS, and javascript
  • converted ESQL C and OSL (Ingres 4GL) logic to Perl/DBI
  • refactored matching algorithm
  • end-user support
• General Support and Administration
  • fall-back Linux administrator
  • minor Apache configuration
  • general in-house end-user support
  • general scripting
  • data conversion

• Glass, Brian, Sept. 1, 2006, IT Trends: Digital Deployment, Sound and Video Contractor
• Glass, Brian, Jan. 1, 2006, IT Trends: Web Servers, Sound and Video Contractor
• Glass, Brian, Sept. 1, 2005, IT Trends: Getting IT Done, Sound and Video Contractor

• Glass, Brian, November 28, 2006, Better Blondes, ScienCentralNEWS

  Credits are shown in the video player window on the publisher's site. My clip is at the end of the full video.

• Web Design World 2007
• OSCON 2005
• Web Design World 2002
• The Perl Conference 1999
• SQL training at CA/Ingres 1996

• Sheepology Church Management System

• Glass::Brian->blog;
• Through the Cooking Glass

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