Alf Orion Watt
Work Experience
Designed, implemented and published iStumbler for Mac OS X. iStumbler scans
and logs wireless networks and is an Open Source project released under a
BSD style license.
Built and installed the first four radios for SFLAN, a project aimed at
creating a member owned and maintained city-wide wireless network using long
distance 802.11b links, and embedded linux systems.
http://www.sflan.com/
Tested Cometa's wireless service platform against a pre-release Intel
Centrino system for their initial rollout to dozens of Mc Donalds
restaurants in Manhattan.
Provide IT & Consulting services to VC firms, including off site backup and
multi-site data replication. Deploy and manage linux file servers to provide
central document storage, backup and small web applications tailored to
specific business requirements.
Produced technical documentation using Docbook XML and XSLT style sheets to
support my own development projects and a small wireless startup.
Continued development of Webgets, a component system for developing
web-based applications on the Java Servlet platform. It provides classes for
creating consistent, interactive sites.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/webgets/
Consulting Web Developer
NextCard, San Francisco
January 2001 - May 2001
Provided consultation and training in Java, Web Development and Source
Control best practices. Encouraged the use of Open Source and Free Software to
reduce costs, ease development and improve security.
Worked with development team to simplify application code base, improving
overall performance of the system and reduce maintenance costs by implementing
a fast, robust and stateless persistence architecture.
Played principal architect and technical lead for the LightSurf Media
Application Hosting Platform, which manages photos, associated meta-data,
user accounts, sharing, e commerce and fulfillment. The platform has an open
API and is SOAP enabled for easy integration into existing systems.
Evaluated and implemented a server platform based on the most efficient and
cost effective java application server products available. Utilized Open
Source and Free Software to dramatically reduced licensing and hardware
costs in an ASP deployment of LightSurf's flagship product.
Coordinated local and offshore development groups implementing Media
Application Hosting Platform. Developed persistence API, supporting
documentation and implementation requirements. Performed code review of
contractor contributions and managed overall systems integration between
server components.
Consulting Web Developer
NextCard, San Francisco
December 1999 - March 2000
Developed Administrative Tool kit allowing business owners to manage
customer accounts, alter pricing strategies on the fly and provide real- time
customer service and graphical reporting.
Internet Applications Technical Lead
Microsoft bCentral, San Francisco
http://www.bcentral.com/
November 1998 - September 1999
Provided architecture and technical leadership in a small team working on an
application using mod_perl and Apache on FreeBSD systems.
Implemented a fast session cache in Perl, dramatically improving performance.
Improved source control and development process by training developers.
Software Engineer, Build Master, Quality Assurance Engineer
Perspecta, San Francisco
July 1997 - November 1998
Prototyped a user interface for editing a complex database modeling of
conceptual and ontological relationships between keywords.
Developed an integrated cross platform build and install system for java
server applications using Perl and XML.
Technical Skills [years]:
UNIX (BSD, Linux & Solaris) [7], Threading and Concurrency [7], Web
Performance & Tuning [6], Web Services [6], User Interface & Usability
Design [8], OO Analysis & Design [6], Pattern Languages [4], Python [2],
Objective-C [2], XML, XSLT, XHTML [5], Java [5]