mark j. hughes

2355 Ravenwood Drive • Lemon Grove, CA 91945
Email: mark.hughes@green-ant.com

Special note on this resumé

This resume system is a live example of a PHP/MySQL system I have designed.

I have used MySQL to store all data for the employment, community involvement, and education sections, and PHP 5.2 to pull out and format that information. The aforementioned Curriculum Vitae system also uses PHP/MySQL, but I have barely scratched the surface on entering in the information on all of my pieces.

In addition, the display of all pages uses a proprietary PHP-powered content management/template-based display system which I am currently developing with a view to commercial deployment.

Education

DoubleClick DART Network Training

New York, NY
Feb, 2000 - Mar, 2000

I have attended and successfully completed both the DART Network Architecture and DART Commercial/Trafficking Introduction training in New York City. I learned:
  • DART network basics
  • How to layout DART networks
  • How to use the DART layout tags for placement, cache busting, proxy busting, and quick loading
  • How to enter, stop, start, and alter campaigns
  • Report generation techniques
  • Much more…

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA
Aug, 1995 - May, 1997
College of Arts and Sciences - Undeclared

Greencastle-Antrim High School

Greencastle, PA
Aug, 1992 - Jun, 1995
Salutatorian

Employment Experience

Advanced Reservation Systems, Inc.

San Diego, CA
Chief Software Engineer
Oct, 2001 - present

Green Ant Dot Com

San Diego, CA
Master Ant / System Administrator
May, 2000 - present


Green-ant.com is my personal website and quasi-business card. The main server, owned by myself and graciously hosted by my current employers, I currently host a number of websites, such as The Mac OS Xclave, and a number of domains for friends, such as kotora.com.
I built the most current incarnation of the server myself - a first - in the winter of 2002, including budgeting and purchasing all the hardware, assembling the hardware, and configuring a fresh installation of FreeBSD. All important server software, including SSH, Apache, MySQL, qmail, and so on, were hand tuned, compiled, installed, and configured by myself. Ongoing, I effort to keep the server patched to the latest and greatest, and eagerly await FreeBSD 5.3.

The Mac OS Xclave

San Diego, CA
Senior Editor / Founder
Sep, 1998 - present


One of the most highly respected sites in its scope, the Mac OS Xclave is a Mac OS X site focusing on all sides of the new Apple operating system, from large information briefs to opinion pieces to links and beyond.

Dub Miller and the Highway 6 Band

Fort Worth, TX [telecommuting]
Sys Admin / Website programmer
Aug, 2001 - Dec, 2001


Created and deployed a series of backend technologies to assist Dub and his band to administer their site, their show date database, and much more yet to be rolled out.

TRI System Nutrition

San Diego, CA
Senior Programmer
Apr, 2001 - Sep, 2001


Primary developer tasked with converting an established FoxPro nutrition application into a full database driven e-commerce application.

Informatica Corporation

Palo Alto, CA [telecommuting]
Web Application Developer
Oct, 2000 - Dec, 2000


Engineered a complex web application for the "Open Enrollment" system for the Human Resources division. The system was designed from its inception to be a front-end to the benefits enrollments for all Informatica employees. Employees were to be able to view their current enrollments, decide if they would like to change their choices, add/drop coverage for medical, dental, vision, and Flexible Spending accounts, and change any information about their account that didn't require the contact of a trained HR professional.

Evergreen Financial Services

Yakima, WA [telecommuting]
Technical Consultant
Sep, 2000 - Dec, 2001


I am responsible for helping Evergreen with their high-end PHP-based collections system, including maintaining pre-existing code, HTML design, and adding new features and web applications to the system.

Cognitra.com LLC

Ipswich, NH [telecommuting]
Lead Developer
Jul, 2000 - Jun, 2002


I am responsible for developing the website and initial product for Cognitra, an online survey system which will allow businesses to more granularly analyze the structure, efficacy, and efficiency of organizations of any size.

HearMe Corporation

Mountain View, CA [telecommuting]
Technical Consultant, Programmer
Jun, 2000 - Nov, 2001


I am in charge of developing a set of complex tracking technologies that assist the marketing team to create cost/value analysis reports on its numerous advertising and mass mailing campaigns.

Maxify Corporation

Los Gatos, CA [telecommuting]
Technical Consultant, Programmer
Jun, 2000 - Jun, 2001


I am responsible for the ongoing development of various Web-based applications, using technologies such as PHP, MySQL, Perl, and JSP.

Blue Silicon Corporation

San José, CA [telecommuting]
HTML Designer
Jun, 2000 - Jun, 2000


Part of a team responsible for changing the user interface of the company's enterprise messaging system.

Netstep Access Services

Kingston, NY [telecommuting]
Unix Administrator / Technical Consultant
Apr, 2000 - Oct, 2001


As a technical consultant to both the president and other key consultants to Netstep, I am responsible for securing network access, maintaining A/UX and Linux boxes, and much more.

Small Dog Electronics

Waitsfield, VT [telecommuting]
Programming Guru / UNIX Administrator
Jan, 2000 - Dec, 2001


As an assistant to the Senior Programmer, my duties include maintenance and configuration of three Mac OS X boxes, continuing development projects using PHP, MySQL, and Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology, and expertise in transforming the entire web-based application into a more modern design.

The Macintosh News Network

San Jos, CA [telecommuting]
Senior Programmer, Systems Administrator
Jan, 2000 - Jul, 2000


As System Adminstrator, I was responsible for the day-to-day maintenance, security, and administration of 3 high-end Intel-based Linux servers serving millions of pages per day. My responsibilities included, but were not limited to, Apache, MySQL, network, and DNS administration.
Additionally, I was the senior programmer in charge of developing, among other projects, a wide-ranging web-based news administration system which would eventually replace the news reporting system for the Network. The project utilized PHP, MySQL, and a number of in-house technologies to deliver a scalable, customizable, fully-dynamic news service. MacNN is currently using this system to serve upwards of 20 million unique visitors each month.

IntuitiveISP.com

Benicia, CA [telecommuting]
Senior Programmer / UNIX administrator
Jan, 2000 - Nov, 2001


In addition to advising IntuitiveISP.com, a highly-regarded hosting firm, on business and technical issues, I took a hands-on roll with with programming, systems administration, and task automation on a number of platforms from Linux to Windows to the Mac OS.

Wilson College

Chambersburg, PA
Instructor, Department of Information Systems, Department of Continuing Education
Nov, 1998 - Dec, 1998


Taught Introduction to Web Page Design and Implementation, covering HTML 4, Cascading Style Sheets, design elements and relevant Internet topics such as client/server transactions, and much more.

RhapNet

Washington, DC [telecommuting]
Contributing Editor
Sep, 1998 - Oct, 1998


Contributed columns to one of the first Rhapsody (Mac OS X) websites out there - eventually took over the control of administering the site, and rolled some of the intent of the site into the Mac OS Xclave.

The MacTimes Network

Scotia, NY [telecommuting]
Contributing Editor
Jul, 1998 - Oct, 1998


As a senior contributing editor, I covered a number of professional and technical issues relevant to the time with in-depth feature articles.
I left the Network when numerous editors had contacted me personally with some serious allegations about the state of the site which could not be looked past.

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA
Computing and Technology Manager, Hill College House
May, 1996 - May, 1997


I was responsible for the hiring, supervision, budgeting, and continuing evaluation of a staff of 10-12 who were responsible for the hands-on tech support needs of the 550 residents, as well as manning the House's computer lab.

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA
Computer Consultant, ResNet Expert, Hill College House
Sep, 1995 - May, 1996


I was responsible for hands-on tech support requests, such as operating system configuration, networking, software installation, hardware installation, and much more.

Apple Comics

Greencastle, PA
Jack of All Trades
Jul, 1985 - Jul, 1993

Community Involvement

PHP Quality Assurance Team

Nov, 2000 - present
Quality Assurance Engineer

Greencastle Area Arts Counciil

Greencastle, PA
Nov, 1999 - Jul, 2000
Executive Board Member

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA
Dec, 1995 - Dec, 1996
University Honor Council, Member, Webmaster

Part of the team of students, faculty, and administration who helped to craft PENN's very first version of an honor code. The school had been the last Ivy League school to develop an honor code.

West Philadelphia Tutoring Project

Philadelphia, PA
Sep, 1995 - May, 1996
Tutor

Boy Scouts of America - Troop 95

Greencastle, PA
Feb, 1995 - Sep, 1995
Assistant Scoutmaster

Boy Scouts of America - Troop 270/95

Greencastle, PA
Apr, 1988 - Feb, 1995
Scout

  • Ordeal member of the Order of the Arrow
  • Achieved the rank of Life Scout, and earned 42 merit badges

Skills and experiences

A true engineer at heart, I have a wide range of skills and talents across many disciplines. Among my numerous individual skills, the following are the technologies that I utilize most often:

Among the tools listed above, I also have extensive experience in the following larger spheres:

  • Managing small, medium, and large-scale Web, mail, FTP, and secure transmission (SSH, SCP) servers
  • Managing small, medium, and large-team Web application development teams, from initial idea to specification to project management to testing and deployment
  • Administering high-end enterprise-level servers (millions of pages a day)
  • Compiling, customizing, and configuring all of the tools above, as well as any other Linux/UNIX software required
  • Bringing together of numerous, previously un-integrated divisions to function as one when the situation called for such a need.
  • Technology/server emergency triage

References

References upon request.

Published works / Journalistic background

As founder and managing editor of the Mac OS Xclave, I have written upwards of 100 individual technology and editorial pieces varying in length from 100 words to 10,000 words, not counting the daily news coverage for over 18 months. The site earned distinctions as the best in its class from a number of search engines, including Yahoo! and Macintosh related sites. My content has been quoted, published, or linked to from over 20 online magazines and hundreds of sites.

In addition, I have had published over 20 full-length technology articles for the Macintosh News Network and the now-defunct Macintosh Times Network. My pieces have garnered praise from numerous sections of the Macintosh community, and have as well been linked to by numerous news services.

You can read the CV-style listing here.

Personal info

I am a beginner golfer with a little over 2 sporadic years to my credit along with an 18 handicap. Additionally, I enjoy weightlifting and playing most any organized sport including tennis, basketball, baseball/softball, and football. I also very much enjoy hiking, camping, exploring, and spending countless quality hours with my wife and my two Miniature Schnauzers.