David Bass

Web developer with a Master's degree in Information Systems interested in automation, artificial Intelligence, security, learning new things, design, innovation and problem solving.

picture of David Bass

Experience

Senior Developer for Digital Initiatives @ Western Libraries

January 2013 - present / Bellingham, WA
  • evaluating Neo4J (graph database) as a possible tool for creating (or implementing an existing) systems / responsibilities inventory tool / map
  • developing a desktop batch uploader application using Electron / NodeJS / VueJS to integrate with the University's instance of Islandora (named MABEL)
    • the application creates thumbnails of the user's images, sends those images via Ajax to Clarifai's and Microsoft's Cognitive Services APIs (or possibly MachineBox) for analysis. The response contains tags/keywords that describe the image (or video), recognizes faces, performs a color analysis of the image, and generates an alt title tag. All of this will provide consistent, enhanced metadata for the Unversity's large collection of images and video.
    • next steps include generating MODS XML to accompany with each image, and then trigger Drush batch ingest scripts to import the content into Islandora.
    • if / when time permits, we hope to use NLG (natural language generation) to dynamically create sentences that describe the image based on the keywords/tags provided by Clarifai / Microsoft's APIs.
  • assisted colleagues with Drush commands for Islandora batch imports
  • assisted colleagues with installing Drupal modules for Islandora
  • developed a Python script to split large XML files into separate files
  • developed a Drupal 7 module to help students with writing assignments; automates several facets of in-person workshops, including finding related keywords (via the Primo and Alchemy/Watson APIs) and automatically generating all possible combinations of those words and generating Ajax (behind the scenes) queries in Primo (OneSearch); something that would take a long time to do by hand
  • designed and developed interface enhancements for Primo (OneSearch), our library catalog / search engine including API integration with Alma and other systems and a custom permalink generator
  • created classification and recommendation engine prototypes using Dandelion.eu and Alchemy APIs
  • served on a team that gathered requirements and researched digital asset management systems (DAMS), which led to the selection of Islandora (MABEL)
  • member of the OneSearch Management Team (OMT), the Alma Management Team (AMT) and the MABEL Management Team (Islandora)
  • skills / tools used in this position: JavaScript, Solr, NodeJS, APIs, JSON, jQuery, AJAX, HTML, Drupal 7, Drupal 7 module development, Linux, Apache, PostgreSQL, XML, cURL, rSync, Git, and CSS.
  • obtained certifications for Primo Back Office and Alma administration by Ex Libris

Web Developer @ PIER Systems

June 2011 - December 2012 / Bellingham, Washington
  • developed custom solutions for clients and enhancements to PIER (a SaaS application) using a combination of JavaScript, JSON, jQuery, jQuery Mobile, AJAX, HTML, ColdFusion, Java, Linux, Apache, MySQL, jBoss, XML, Eclipse, cURL, SVN, and CSS.
  • worked with other developers to create the first mobile version of PIER using jQuery Mobile (v1.1.1), Ajax and a RESTful API.

Web Developer @ Platypus Productions

November 2010 - June 2011 / remote
  • helped create the next version of the BBB's (Better Business Bureau) video + advertising delivery system using the following tools: Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP, JavaScript, jQuery, AJAX, XML, JSON, PERL, cURL, Git, FlowPlayer and CSS.
  • Automated the conversion of online videos using encoding.com's API.

Founder / Developer @ Cascade Data Systems

2002 - 2014 / Darrington, Washington
  • created a web application development system known as appGenerator (aka 'Dokuments'), which automates the process of building web-based relational databases, forms and reports. v5 introduced enhanced security, multi-tenancy (subdomains), and 256-bit AES encryption (data at rest).
  • appGenerator was built with Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP, JavaScript /AJAX, cURL, and XML templates. Recently migrated from MySQL to PostgreSQL.
  • used appGenerator to build/automate a variety of client systems, including:
    • a recurring survey for a Fortune 10 company, resulting in a 40x increase in speed over the previous developer , a university's financial aid application system , a disaster response / donation system for a non-profit following Hurricane Katrina , a web-based winery pricing application (a conversion from Access) , a web-based SMS publishing / e-commerce system using authorize.net and ARB (automated recurring billing) , an expense tracking system for remote workers , a work order management system for a municipality , a project management system for a real estate company , an alumni contacts database , a web-based scheduling / registration system for construction volunteers for Hurricane Katrina reconstruction , a series of HIPAA-compliant medical referral forms for a physical therapy clinic with 256-bit AES encryption (data at rest) , a 1,000-record web-based medical records system , a property management system , surveys and reports for a non-profit organization , a voucher and vendor management system for a municipality , event registration / e-commerce / payment systems using authorize.net , several custom website content management systems (CMSs)
  • Created an Amazon Machine Image (AMI) on EC2 to facilitate easier evaluation and deployment of appGenerator
  • Setup and managed Linux servers with root access on Rackspace Cloud, Amazon EC2, VPS.net, Softlayer and Rackspace. Setup and managed a FreeBSD VPS server on Verio.
  • designed and created numerous websites with hand-written code and Photoshop

Prior Experience

Web Developer @ Creative Assets 2000-2002 / Seattle, Washington

  • worked with Acadia Creative (ASP) and Electric Pen Design building e-commerce and other websites

Web Developer @ Attachmate 1999-2001 / Bellevue, Washington

  • served as the international webmaster (ASP / Windows) maintaining 22 websites in 13 languages
  • developed an experimental grid/spreadsheet-like tool using ASP for internal use

Entrepreneur @ eGauge 1999 / Seattle, Washington

  • research and prototype development of an electronic receipt tracking system using ASP, Windows and SQL Server

Software Developer @ B-Line 1998 - 1999 / Seattle, Washington

  • created software tools to process and analyze large amounts of data

Web Developer @ Orbit Network 1997 - 1998 / Whitefish, Montana

  • maintained travel-oriented websites

Database Developer @ Uwohali 1997 / Starkville, Mississippi

  • Access database development

Technical Support @ Mississippi State University 1996-1997 / Starkville, Mississippi

  • part-time assistantship (during graduate school)

Skills

Skill Confidence Career Usage
GraphQL 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,3,5
Neo4J 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,3,5
Python 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,3,5
NodeJS 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,5,10
VueJS 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,10
Electron 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,8,10
JavaScript 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,10,10,10,10,10,10,10,10,10,10,10
HTML 9,10,10,10,10,10,10,10,10,10,10,10,10,10,10,10,10,10,10,10,10
CSS 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,8,8,8,8,8,8,8,8,8,8,8,8,8
jQuery 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,3,5,6,7,8,10,10,10,10,9,8,4
Git 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,6,7,8,9,9,9,9
Linux 0,0,1,1,1,2,3,4,4,4,4,5,6,6,5,6,7,8,9,10,10
PHP 0,0,0,3,5,7,9,9,9,10,9,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1,1
Drupal 7 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,2,3,4,5,6,7
· module dev 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,3,10,7
JSON 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,7,7,8,8,8,10
AJAX 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,3,5,7,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9
XML 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,4,4,4,4,4
cURL 0,0,0,2,2,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,4,3,3,2,3,3,2,1,1
PostgreSQL 0,0,0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1,1
SQL 0,0,0,2,4,6,8,10,10,10,9,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1,1
Apache 0,0,0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1,1
Windows 1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,2,5,5,5,1,1
Photoshop 0,0,0,0,0,1,2,4,4,4,4,3,4,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,0
PERL 0,1,2,2,2,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,8,10
ASP Classic 0,5,7,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0
ASP.net 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,2,0,0,0
MySQL 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,5,5,6,7,8,9,8,7,4,2,2,2,2
Ruby on Rails 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,2,0,0
Solr 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,2
rSync 0,0,0,0,0,0,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3
OSX / MacOS 0,0,0,0,0,0,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,5,7,7,8,9,6,6,6

Education

M.S. Information Systems

Mississippi State University
1996 - 1997

B.S. Business Administration

University of Montana
1994 - 1995

Business Administration

Auburn University
1991 - 1993

Contact Information

david at davidbass dot com
Bellingham, Washington
linkedin.com/in/davidbass