General Log
Jan 3, 2024 - New website open for business! What do you think? Check out the code and leave any comments in Github
One of my favorite projects to work on in 2023. NACLO runs an international student competition to get high schoolers a head start in computational linguistics. As a volunteer org, development resources to help out with competition logistics have been thin, using a venerable website with a handful of PHP scripts to handle student registration, results tallying, and other administrative capabilities.
We started by designing a green-field application using modern software best practices to overhaul the system with usability, purpose, and a basic but pleasing design. Work on the project is still on going, so looking forward to the whole project recap in 2024!
Client runs an insurance services company based in Kansas City. They've been using a (quite excellent, I'll add!) decade-old application, written in .NET version 4 -- the same one I used in college -- to process client insurance claims, generate forms, and administer responses from relevant state offices.
This was a bit of a test of a foundation for a freelance enterprise; it's been decades since I worked with any Windows/MSFT-related tech, and I took the project banking that chatGPT can help bridge the gap between my Linux-based toolkit and a now-foreign Azure-based system. I'm happy to report the experiment was a success!
We were able to get the client updated to latest secure patches for some third-party dependencies, re-engineer the deploy process (Kudu is a friend if you're in Azure world, fyi), and set up the codebase for continued development. Overall, it's a joy to work on old systems that still work wonderfully; the initial developer did a great job architecting the application, and it goes to show the power of boring or mundane code that Just Works.
I'm moving on from my full-time job as a software engineer for PayIt, still the top software development company Kansas City by measure. I had moved down to Austin TX in May, and despite assurances from management and HR that the move was supported, apparently this caused some Corporate Conflicts that I don't fully well understand.
I had the pleasure of working with some truly great and brilliant engineers and managers, and the scale of what the company is accomplishing -- effectively reforming administration of state services like DMV, property tax, etc -- is a one-of-a-kind endeavor, made possible by some of the most brilliant and hardworking people I've encountered in tech.
Much hope for their success and looking forward to where roads take me!
After staying in Kansas City for almost four years during covid, it was time to move on to greener pastures. I had tried for a while to make life work as a California tech-head living back in the midwest, but fate pulls you in ways you often can't anticipate.
The reason I chose Austin is because of both the weather (incredible amounts of sunlight per year) and the health culture. I'm inspired by people pushing the front lines of endocrinology, metabolic health, and fitness/nutrition based solutions to common health maladies, and a lot of them are based in Austin!
Besides that, it's remarkably beautiful here.
June 15, 2022
- Started full-time -
payitgov.com
After a year or so of moving back home, reconnecting with family, and hunkering for covid, it's time to get a new job again. After scouting around the tech scene in Kansas City, PayIt stood out the most sophisticated and modern tech company in the area. And to my surprise it was one of the coolest and most down-to-earth business problems I'd have the pleasure of working on.
PayIt is a software services company that serves dozens of state and local governments across North America. Notably, they provide *world-class* user interfaces for the citizens of North Carolina (of whom now have access to an *actual* digital DMV!) and the city of Toronto in Canada.
I love many aspects of silicon valley, but it's a breath of fresh air to work for a comapny that has a *real* value proposition, and is *serious* about building a lasting business without looking for a quick exit or a cheap advertising dollar. More companies should be built to last, driven by the vision of the founder -- in this case, a well-needed vision for almost everybody -- rather than the inscrutable dynamics of some investor network.
See more past projects on the work history page.