gf-tech.com

I have a recurring event in Google Calendar that has no end date. Three times a week it sends me a reminder to do something. It was set to never end.

Recently I noticed I had stopped getting the email reminders. I checked my calendar, and saw that the event was no longer there. I went back a week and the event still showed on M,W,F.

I edited the event and still found that it was set to never end. I could not get this event to keep propogating.

The start date on the event was close to two years ago, so I made the start date the current date and that seemed to reset the event. That was a weird glitch.

I've decided to re-open this blog. I originally started this site as a way to run web services, and to back up data. I chose the URL quickly, and without a lot of thought. I worked fine for a while, then I launched muddylaces. Everything migrated there, and this site remained as a placeholder that I hoped to do something with.

It was always my intention to start this up again as my tech blog, and today I decided to make the jump, and re-open gf-tech for business. I work for a tech company in Victoria, and I enjoy reading about tech. At heart I am a geek. I will publish tips n tricks, geek tools I use, and software I play with.

Greg Fox, B. Sc.
Phone: (250) 893-6000
Address: Victoria, B.C.
Internet: http://www.gf-tech.com
Electronic Mail: resume@gf-tech.com

Career Summary

Competent and goal-oriented Software Developer with a degree in Computer Science. Over six years experience in the software development industry. Proven ability to design and deliver robust and maintainable components of a complex system. Strong object-oriented design and implementation skills. Productive and results-driven in team and individual projects.

Work Experience

Kodak, Victoria, B.C.
November 2006 - Present
Software Developer

• One of the primary developers on InSite Storefront, a critical component of the Kodak Web To Print solution.
• Investigated payment processors, and identified one that would best allow the web portal product to accept credit card payments from the end users for customers.
• Created a method for one web portal to offload print jobs to another web portal.
• Designed and implemented plug-in architectures for payment processors and shipping carriers. This gave our customers the ability to select their preferred partners.
• Researched third party API's and developed strategies for incorporating their functionality into the product.
• Upgraded legacy batch scripts to PowerShell.

NewHeights Software, Victoria, B.C.
May 2004 - November 2006
Software Developer

• Researched Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) and SIP-related Internet Engineering Task Force RFCs and became one of the company experts on these technologies.
• Integrated a large third party C library into a .NET assembly. This involved implementing a managed C++ wrapper around the C library.
• Managed communications with and bug reporting to a third party SIP stack vendor. 
• Enhanced skills by learning new software development techniques, and applied those to already in-progress projects.

Voice Mobility Inc, Victoria, B.C.
June 1998 - April 2004
Telephony Software Engineer

• Worked within a team to develop the telephony components of an exciting and extremely useful unified communications product.
• Aided the porting of crucial code packages from Windows to Linux.
• Managed a large project from beginning to end. This included design, implementation, testing, and bug fixes, as well as supervising a new employee assigned to this project and coordinating the work of my team with other teams.
• Accurately estimated timelines for assigned work, which led to consistently meeting project deadlines.
• Was involved in the complete re-design and re-implementation of our system. This involved abstracting out a hardware layer, and building interface layers to convert from an event-based system to a callback-based system.
• Worked with the Quality Assurance department to define and resolve bugs during the development cycle, and with the Client Care department to resolve customer issues on deployed systems.
• Analyzed the existing code base to help improve the efficient use of system resources.
• Quickly and efficiently learned different tools to aid development. The tools included change tracking systems, source control tools, and requirements tools.
• Helped train new employees, which allowed them to understand our system design, code base, company procedures, and company policies.
• Followed the in-house Best Practices guide to help ensure a homogeneous code base.

Voice Mobility Inc, Victoria, B.C.
April 1998 - June 1998
Co-op Work Term 5
Development Intern

• Maintained an existing OS/2 code base.
• Ported our application from OS/2 to Windows NT.
• Researched different paging protocols in order to determine which would best suit the newly defined telecommunications product.

Maritime Forces Pacific, Esquimalt, B.C.
September 1997 - December 1997
Co-op Work Term 4
Database Designer

• Analyzed the current design of a large database system, and recommended improvements that were later implemented.
• Liaised with the database users to determine what features the database would need next.
• Documented the entire system so future developers could easily maintain the database.

The Canadian Astronomical Data Centre, Victoria, B.C.
January 1997 - April 1997
Co-op Work Term 3
Software Engineer

• Made changes to existing programs adhering to software design standards and practices.
• Increased the efficiency and functionality of aging software.
• Wrote new software that combined the use of database queries and C-shell script calls.

The Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory
May 1996 - August 1996
Penticton, B.C.
Co-op Work Term 2
Software Engineer

• Converted FORTRAN programs into C programs by modifying existing GNU Makefiles.
• Developed an HTML-based interactive display system for the visitor center. This required complete system design and implementation.
• Created routines to produce summary reports for observatory post-processing programs.
• Composed user-friendly configuration and install procedures for observatory export software, using C-shell scripts.

Education

• University of Victoria, Victoria, B.C., Completed a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science Co-op in June 1999
• Wellington Secondary High School, Nanaimo, B.C., Graduated in 1993

Computing Experience

• Skills/Technologies: C#, ASP.Net, Flex, PowerShell, managed C++, C++, C
• Software: Microsoft Visual Studio, FlexBuilder, Perforce, Subversion, CVS, Visual Source Safe, Jira, MKS Integrity Manager, MKS Source Integrity, Microsoft Office

Interests

• I have a growing interest in photography.
• I am an avid mountain biker; I particularly enjoy riding highly technical singletrack. I have also become involved in mountain bike racing.

Currently the best way to contact me is by sending me an email