Mark Paine

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why me

Experience. I have over 20 years of experience developing a wide variety of software applications independently, under the employ of well-known software companies, and under the employ of not-so-well-known startups which were acquired by well-known companies. My greatest satisfaction lies in creating software solutions that I find useful, others get excited about, and nobody gets tricked by. Business integrity is crucial to me.

Resourcefulness. I enjoy finding and deploying appropriate tools for the job. In the past this has included C, Objective-C, Java, Python, Ruby, Rails, Django, OCaml, MySQL, and PostgreSQL/PostGIS to name a few. Whether it's front-end, desktop, browser, back-end, or native mobile, I'm comfortable.

evidence

Independent Software Development

Oct 03 to present

As an independent software developer I've worked on a range of projects:

  • iPhone applications, one of which is available in the AppStore now, complete with a push notification service involving an OAuth Consumer, Google App Engine, the Twitter API, a custom server application written with Apache/Python/Django/PostgreSQL, and Apple's push notification servers.
    http://www.dublfab.com/howl
  • Contract work for Urban Mapping Inc. Geospatial web applications originally written using Ruby/Rails/PostgreSQL/PostGIS, then ported to Python/Django.
    http://developer.urbanmapping.com/demo
  • Various Google Gadgets written primarily in Javascript communicating with a custom OAuth Provider written in C/Python/Django/PostgreSQL.
  • An investment portfolio management web site to suit my personal needs complete with automatic FIFO lot matching, overrides for tax-advantaged non-FIFO lot matching, wash sale flagging and adjustment, realized/unrealized gains, corporate event handling such as symbol changes, splits, dividends, acquisitions, and rate of return calculations factoring in the time value of dividend payments. Created with Apache/Ruby/Rails/MySQL, then rewritten with Python/Django/PostgreSQL and an OCaml lot matching engine. I can demo this application on request.
  • Developed a web application to provide information and handle customer reservations and payments for the world's longest running windsurf school.
    http://www.abkboardsports.com

Owner, Chief, Software Developer, Windsurf Guru, Scuba Guide, Janitor

Villa Bientu • Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles • Mar 05 to Feb 07

Owned, marketed, operated, taught windsurf lessons, led scuba expeditions, mediated domestic disputes, and cleaned the toilets for Villa Bientu, a 4-unit bed & breakfast in the Caribbean on Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles.

  • Developed a web application using Apache/Ruby/Rails/MySQL and Google AdWords to handle all marketing, reservations, and payments.

Software Engineer | Engineering Manager

Overture Services Inc | GoTo.com | Cadabra.com • San Mateo • Jun 98 to Oct 03

Mainly Java and Python development.

  • Independently identified a need for and implemented a search phrase recommendation engine using a k-means based collaborative filtering system. No, I don't claim to have any machine learning knowledge. My claim is to have the ability to see where it can be applied and the resourcefulness to apply it.
  • Developed a books, music, and video comparison shopping engine with a team including 2 other developers.
  • Created a cross-platform metadata editor using Java/Swing/AWT and a custom XML page description language.

Software Developer

Random Noise Inc • San Francisco • Sep 97 to May 98

Java and Javascript programming.

  • Created an area composition engine for a web page creation Java applet which included linebreaking, hyphenation, sub/superscripted text and anchored, floating objects long before they were supported natively by browsers. Midway through the project it became more and more clear that applets weren't gaining acceptance, so I re-engineered the composition engine using Javascript.

Computer Scientist

Adobe Systems Inc | Frame Technology Inc • San Jose • Sep 97 to May 98

C programming.

  • Just about every activity at Adobe and Frame revolved around developing features for the FrameMaker desktop publishing application. My specialty included development of the most advanced WYSIWYG area composition engine of its time, including Japanese text layout.

QA Engineer

Symantec Corporation • Cupertino • Mar 96 to Sep 97

White box software quality assurance.

  • Wrote software quality assurance tools using Apple's software development tool of the time, MPW, for testing Q&A, Symantec's consumer oriented, flat-file database.