Some things you may not know about me:

  1. I am a software developer.
    Throughout my career, I have mostly developed applications for the Internet. I have developed online banking applications, self-service benefits applications, mortgage and home affordability calculators, and the like. Most recently, however, I developed a digital signage application for courthouses to display case information for visitors and direct them to the appropriate courtroom. I used Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) to develop Windows services to provide case information, text notifications, and monitor/bank configurations to client applications running on monitors throughout the courthouse. The client applications themselves were developed using Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF). These apps would identify themselves to the services and the services would let them know whether there was case information or notifications to display, and how to display it (color, style, layout, paging, timing). Alternatively, if there wasn't any case information to display, it would enter an inactive state and display something else: a court seal, a text message, a screensaver, an advertisement, or some other specified media file, web page, or the like. If necessary, the services could override the case information or inactive behaviors and display emergency notifications instead. I also wrote a simple .NET web application and a Flex application that accessed these same services. You can learn more about this service-oriented architecture in my Portfolio section.
  2. I am a licensed landscape architect.
    I earned my license to practice landscape architecture in the State of Georgia (License #LA001543) in 2008. My license is active and I intend to maintain it. To earn a license (in Georgia and elsewhere) you have to pass five core exams pertaining to: (A) Project and Construction Administration, (B) Inventory, Analysis, and Program Development, (C) Site Design, (D) Design and Construction Documentation, and (E) Grading, Drainage, and Stormwater Management. Georgia also requires you to pass an exam that tests you on native plants and the state's specific natural resources. The exams are difficult. The Section C and E exams are each five hours long, and you typically use all of the time alotted. In fact, for these two exams it's common for more people to fail the exam than to pass them. To maintain my license, I have to accumulate continuing education hours every two years, so expect me to sit in on a few lectures in 2012.
  3. I am a self-published author.
    In 2010, I published Drawing Plan Graphics on the Computer as an instruction book for landscape architects to teach and demonstrate drawing principles, strategies, and techniques. The Georgia Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects has recognized it with their 2010 Award of Excellence. I used Adobe Photoshop to create hundreds of illustrations, and used Adobe InDesign to layout the manuscript for traditional book printing. I later adapted the original PDF and optimized all the images to produce a three-volume eBook in the ePub format (which is nothing more than a glorified HTML document that's been zipped up in a specific hierarchy of files and folders). I also developed a website to promote the book and share source files used within it: DrawingPlanGraphics.com.