Programming

Why I love Apache and PHP

Fancy CarsIn keeping with the design philosophy, I like my code simple. I’ve seen, and worked with many a venture that killed themselves on cost alone. Costs they could have avoided by using open source software and an excellent hosting provider. Don’t let a designer or programmer talk you into something you don’t need or can’t afford just because it’s the top of the line. Good software and hardware can be scaled up to meet rising demands. Start small. Start simple. You’ll have more money to build big in the future.

Show me, don’t tell me.

I specialize in creating useful, easy to understand web applications. It makes my life easier if I’m the one doing the site updates, and allows other people to control their own assets and rely less on the schedule of a busy developer. Take a look at a few of my past projects.

  • Victor Emanuel Nature Tours – In the process of building out their new site, I designed and built some custom tools for their webmaster. No more sifting through HTML looking for out of date information! Now they can log in and update the site themselves, and the changes are reflected immediately.
  • University of Texas, Chemistry & Biochemistry – Even though it’s my job to keep this site current, I spent a lot of time building the database and updating tools. Why make data and graphical changes difficult, even for yourself? When I first arrived, making a simple change in the site’s navigation required creating new graphics and updating literally hundreds of HTML pages. Now it can be done with a few simple forms in a matter of seconds.
  • The Matrix Online – Any MMO requires banks of servers and lots of administration work. In the course of assisting MXO, I’ve knocked out Perl and PHP scripts to automate a great number of tasks and sort a multitude of reports.
  • En-Tranz & Shadowbane – En-Tranz was tasked with running the MMORPG Shadowbane in Asia, and needed some custom data mining and reporting. Throughout the beta period and during launch I created a vast number of PERL deamons, log file parsers, web reports, and even an on-line training center for their customer service team.
  • Gathering of Developers – There are backend tools that are still in use today update the content on this website. They can add games, mix up the flash ads, and organize the menus all with a few mouse clicks.
  • Knight Ridder – The AdManager Database started as a simple fulfillment tool for the banner ad design process, and it grew quickly to a national, company-wide application for the entire ad production process. This home brewed applications saved them thousands and thousands of dollars in software and worked like a charm.
  • William Haskins, Writer and Import Auto Center – Simple and straightforward site management tools. These folks are able to log in and make content changes to their sites any time, day or night, without letting me know first. They love it and so do I!