Planix is, and has been for some time now, in hibernation.A founding director and partner in Planix, Inc., a small systems consulting practice in Toronto, Ontario.Worked at all aspects of running and maintaining a small business, as well as at the same time of course working on projects for our clients.Planix's clients and projects over the years have spanned a very wide spectrum. Systems and network level work forms a common theme across all our business and almost… Show more Planix is, and has been for some time now, in hibernation.A founding director and partner in Planix, Inc., a small systems consulting practice in Toronto, Ontario.Worked at all aspects of running and maintaining a small business, as well as at the same time of course working on projects for our clients.Planix's clients and projects over the years have spanned a very wide spectrum. Systems and network level work forms a common theme across all our business and almost always some aspect of the Internet has been involved. A significant portion of Planix business has been done with ISPs, including providing much of the initial technical support and systems for startup ISPs. Planix has been involved in one way or another with bringing the internet for the first time to a significant number of customers and companies in Southern Ontario.Primary focus was on systems programming and hardware/software integration, with some security analysis, network design, and troubleshooting, and emergency recovery operations. Also provided "last resort" support services for IT departments and support departments for various clients.Maintained custom SunOS and NetBSD releases used on sparc, alpha, and i386 servers at a variety of client sites. Customized and integrated applications for e-mail servers, web servers, web caching, firewalls, network and systems monitoring and performance analysis.Designed and developed C library and API for connecting AAA subsystems used at ISPs with a global internet roaming accounting and billing interchange system, and provided training and porting for customers and partners around the world.Designed and wrote one of the first complete hardware monitoring chip drivers for FreeBSD and NetBSD.Designed and implemented new security features and improved system management tools for NetBSD, and have submitted many bug fixes and patches for NetBSD. Show less

Systems programmer designing, developing, and maintaining code for embedded systems and applications in C and Go, with SQL.

Worked with the XenClient group both in Vancouver and Cambridge.Worked on virtual disk support, including some cleanup and documentation of libvhd.Investigated aspects of the blktap driver w.r.t. its use to manage coalescing of VHD differencing images.Designed a secure method for coalescing of VHD Differencing images stored encrypted and compressed on a cloud file server without requiring decryption and decompression.Investigated machine to machine authentication… Show more Worked with the XenClient group both in Vancouver and Cambridge.Worked on virtual disk support, including some cleanup and documentation of libvhd.Investigated aspects of the blktap driver w.r.t. its use to manage coalescing of VHD differencing images.Designed a secure method for coalescing of VHD Differencing images stored encrypted and compressed on a cloud file server without requiring decryption and decompression.Investigated machine to machine authentication and authorization issues as applicable to XenClient and XC Synchronizer communications. Show less

Responsible for embedded systems and platform development and maintenance. Primary platforms were FreeBSD on Intel x86, and MIPS-based SoC boards.Researched lower-cost alternatives to existing CPE devices.Researched porting of local code-base to NetBSD.Designed Git-based VCS and SCM to facilitate tracking local changes against public code bases, and to manage releases.Also a member of the level 3 technical support team.

Ported and upgraded custom software applications used at Web, including an online forum system and e-mail servers.Maintained and supported software tools used by Web's programmers, including CVS and related SCM tools. Supported and maintained the various unix servers and workstations used at Web, including e-mail, networking, DNS, overall systems security, software upgrades, etc..

I was a member of the board of directors of UniForum Canada from 1989 through to its closing in 1994. During approximately the last two years I was Vice President of the group. I was also editor and publisher of the group's newsletter, README.UniForum Canada, originally known as /usr/group/cdn, was a non-profit user group and trade association affiliated with the similar USA based group, UniForum (previously /usr/group).UniForum Canada sponsored trade shows and other… Show more I was a member of the board of directors of UniForum Canada from 1989 through to its closing in 1994. During approximately the last two years I was Vice President of the group. I was also editor and publisher of the group's newsletter, README.UniForum Canada, originally known as /usr/group/cdn, was a non-profit user group and trade association affiliated with the similar USA based group, UniForum (previously /usr/group).UniForum Canada sponsored trade shows and other professional development and networking activities and seminars, including regular monthly meetings of both the UniForum Canada group as well as the more technical off-shoot known as Unix Unanimous. Show less

I was co-chair of the 1994 USENIX Application Development Symposium, and I facilitated additional sponsorship of this event by UniForum Canada.

general systems and application programming, software maintenance, systems administration, etc., on unix based systems.Worked on design and development of the XRSA systems and network monitoring package, and was responsible for porting it to a wide range of unix-based server platforms. Provided porting, installation and training on behalf of IBM to XRSA customers in various countries around the world. Wrote white papers describing XRSA and its benefits.Provided systems… Show more general systems and application programming, software maintenance, systems administration, etc., on unix based systems.Worked on design and development of the XRSA systems and network monitoring package, and was responsible for porting it to a wide range of unix-based server platforms. Provided porting, installation and training on behalf of IBM to XRSA customers in various countries around the world. Wrote white papers describing XRSA and its benefits.Provided systems administration services to ECI customers.Designed and implemented a text console interface for an electronic banking system.Maintained open-source software used by ECI and its customers. Show less

Worked on software and database systems to facilitate analysis of point-of-sale data for market trend analysis and profitability prediction.Initially the system was a MS Windows based client/server system interfaced to the POS database on an IBM mainframe.Wrote the IBM-3270 screen based interface and translation library that all queries and data passed through to and from the mainframe system. Wrote a graphing tool and library for visualization of historical and… Show more Worked on software and database systems to facilitate analysis of point-of-sale data for market trend analysis and profitability prediction.Initially the system was a MS Windows based client/server system interfaced to the POS database on an IBM mainframe.Wrote the IBM-3270 screen based interface and translation library that all queries and data passed through to and from the mainframe system. Wrote a graphing tool and library for visualization of historical and comparative data.Worked on local area network design and helped build and maintain software tools used by the POS data analysis group, as well as providing support to the team for hardware assisted debugging of MS Windows applications and DLLs.Investigated and designed small unix-based platforms to support migration of some database functionality to the client side, as well as investigating the potential of porting the full client and user-interface from MS to unix workstations. Show less

general C and unix programming, computer and network consulting, working on contract jobs at various client firms, including Canadian Pacific and Loblaw Companies as described in separate entries

Worked on various projects including computerized train control, waybill entry system, client-server mail systems, etc.Built and maintained a complete unix-based inter-process communications library for real-time track control and monitoring systems.Worked on designing and implementing serial communications protocols and interfaces for track and train monitoring systems.Rewrote a unix graphics driver to vastly improve update speed of track and train monitoring… Show more Worked on various projects including computerized train control, waybill entry system, client-server mail systems, etc.Built and maintained a complete unix-based inter-process communications library for real-time track control and monitoring systems.Worked on designing and implementing serial communications protocols and interfaces for track and train monitoring systems.Rewrote a unix graphics driver to vastly improve update speed of track and train monitoring displays.Wrote a pop-up menu display and select library used as a core component in a waybill entry and editing system.Helped improve PC/mainframe interconnect sub-systems and protocols used for many corporate communications and applications. Show less