Tom Rathborne, Mad Computer Scientist

(This is my interests-and-skills résumé; see also my Curriculum Vitae résumé.)

Areas of Interest

Computer Science
- Has a deep understanding of computers, algorithms, and their complexity.
- Almost got a B.Math in Computer Science with a minor in Philosophy from the University of Waterloo.
Computer Graphics
- Has been pushing pixels since age 10.
- Has been developing pixel shaders for 10 years.
Computer Systems
- Knows how the hardware works.
- Expert Linux system adminstrator.
Computer Programming
- Has been developing his practice of programming since 1982.
- Is expert in complex structures, languages, and programs.
- Comprehends streams and sockets and parallel computation.

Internet Expertise

I have a thorough understanding of the following layers of the Internet.

TCP/IP Networking
- Wires: Tin Can & String through Ethernet
- Layers: ISO and TCP/IP models
- IP Routing:
  - Basic static router
  - Unix Hosts - Linux + iptables
UNIX & GNU Systems
- System Administration
  - Secure configuration & administration
  - Task scheduling with cron
  - SysV init systems
- Userland
  - Internet daemon care & feeding
    - SMTP: Exim4, sendmail, Courier, Postfix
    - POP3/IMAP
    - DHCP
    - SSH, etc.
  - shell scripting
  - gcc toolchain
  - screen terminal multiplexer
  - bandwidth-efficient backups with rsync
- Linux
  - Desktop user since 1994
  - RedHat 5 (1997) through current Fedora & EL Systems
  - Debian & Ubuntu Systems
  - Installation on any architecture
  - Software RAID configuration & recovery
  - Kernel configuration, patching & compilation
Relational Database Management Systems (RDBMS)
- Relational Concepts
  - Semantic modeling
  - Normalization & trade-offs
  - Linking to external programming object systems
- SQL Dialects
  - PostgreSQL and its relatives, e.g. Ingres, Illustra
  - MySQL
  - Sybase & MSSQL
Perl Programming Language
- Responsible CPAN Use
- Layered Object Oriented Construction
- DBI Database abstraction layer
  - Transaction
  - Class::DBI OO Layer
- Programmatic XML Template & Transforms
  - XML::Twig
  - XML::Simple
  - XPath, XSLT
- mod_perl
  - Complex Apache configuration
  - Request pipelines
Apache HTTP Server
- Secure & Tight Configuration
  - Complex Multihost VirtualHost
  - Configuration via RDBMS
  - Authentication & Authorization
- Duct Tape Modules
  - Proxy for security, load balancing, and namespace consolidation
  - Filtering
  - URL rewriting
Tying all of the above together:
The World Wide Web
- Programmatic Site Architectures
  - Layered design for fault isolation
  - Deep automation of anything a monkey could do
  - mod_perl link to GIMP-Perl for dynamic paint
- W3C Standards
  - XML Template engines generating validated XHTML
  - Accessibility Automation
  - Validating CSS
- Client-Site Programming
  - JavaScript
  - DHTML DOM
  - AJAX Fancy Dynamic Widgets