Simon Lang:
Web Programmer

Hi there! My name is Simon. I make awesome web apps.

I'm an Aussie web developer based in Brisbane. I have a Software Engineering degree, and about 10 years of industry experience.

I specialise in Javascript and Symfony (PHP) development, but also have experience with a wide range of technologies, and always love to learn new ones.

If you're reading this, hopefully you're interested in giving me some work. I really love my job - making web applications is fun. I'm always keen to hear from talented, passionate and like minded people, so please check out the rest of my site and get in touch if you think we'd work well together.

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Employment

• 2011: Open Platform. Front-end web developer (HTML,CSS,JS) more info...

  For the past few months I've been working for an Edinburgh .NET software house called Open Platform. They make corporate-level web tools for big financial insitutions and similar types of clients. Their software is very high quality. Since being here I've brushed up a little on my C# and SVN, got familiar with .NET MVC & IIS but mainly focused on creating the front-end of their new website, using jQuery and CSS3.

• 2010 - 2011: Self Employed. Freelance web and application developer. more info...

  Since going freelance most of my work is done through oDesk, but I've also done a bit of work outside it. In the last year I've spent most of my time on 2-3 major projects and about 8-10 smaller, shorter ones. Almost all web applications.

• 2006 - 2010: Kintek.com.au. Production Manager, Software Engineer more info...

  When I joined Kintek there were only two staff members (my bosses). They treated me extremely well, and taught me how to produce professional websites. The company has since grown to about 10 employees, and now specialises in making highly advanced web applications. It's cutting edge stuff, with a team that loves it and I count myself lucky to have been a part of it. It was been during my time at Kintek that I developed a real passion for Software Development, and the web as a platform.

• 2008 - 2009: University of Queensland. Tutor (Web Information Systems) more info...

  At University I worked as a tutor for a third year Web Information Systems course (INFS3202), and even received a tutoring excellence award which I was pretty proud of. The course covered topics such as HTML, CSS, Javascript, PHP, JSP, Oracle, MySQL and making basic web apps. It was a relatively easy subject for a lot of students but I believed it was a good, practical course unlike a lot of the other subjects I took.

• 2004 - 2005: Queensland Department of Child Safety. Youth Worker more info...

  During university holidays I occasionally worked as a youth worker. This basically involved taking care of some foster kids during the days when no one else was able to. Some of them were pretty challenging behaviourly but overall it was a very rewarding and interesting job.

• 2001 - 2005: Daily Mercury. IT Support more info...

  During high school and university holidays I worked as a trainee to the systems administrator of a local newspaper of about 100 staff. I really enjoyed this job. Here is a reference. My main role was to provide technical support to the staff. My boss, the sysadmin was a real pro and I learned plenty about troubleshooting, networking and computer hardware. I also gained a bit of insight into the print industry.

Education

I've learned far more in the workplace or from my own projects than from any formal education. But here are my formal qualifications anyway...

• 2003 - 2009: B. Engineering (Sofware). University of Queensland, Australia more info...

  I started a 3 year Bachelor of Information Technology degree at the University of Queensland, which actually took me 7 years and came out as Bachelor of Engineering (Software) instead. I learned object oriented programming and a lot of software development theory. My favourite subjects were Artificial Intelligence, Web Development and Information Security. Most of our assignments were Java, but I also did a little C, C#, C++.

  During that time I worked as a tutor for a third year web information systems course (INFS3202), and even received a tutoring excellence award during that time. I also landed a great job at a local web development company called Kintek.

• 2000 - 2002: Certificate II in Information Technology. MRAEL Training more info...

  During high school I completed a traineeship doing IT support at the local newspaper (reference). The traineeship itself didn't teach me a lot, but staying on working with the newspaper after it completed was invaluable, and I learned plenty about troubleshooting, networking and computer hardware. I also gained a bit of insight into the print industry.

• 1998 - 2002: Year 12. Mirani State High School more info...

  In high school I took a Programming/Database subject and won the highest achievement award in both senior years. The course taught me some basic procedural programming and relational database theory. At the same time I took a serious interest in the web, started making my first websites and did some work experience in a software team.

Skills / Toolkit

Click here for some Code Samples. (PHP and JS)

Portfolio

Some projects I've worked on as a freelancer in the past year. I can provide more information about any of these projects on request.

• Winning Games: Wickets, Nations & States Card Gamesmore info...
  Since early 2011 I have been assisting a small Australian business called Winning Games to make their card games into web-based apps. They include multiplayer, mini games, thousands of cards and have been implemented as Facebook Apps and Chrome Web Store apps.

  

  Technologies used: PHP, MySQL, Symfony, Javascript, Google Maps APIs.
  
  http://www.playwickets.com/
  http://www.leadnations.com/
  http://www.playstates.com/
  
• CabakMon Digital Signage more info...
  This was a pretty interesting project that involved interfacing with a few different systems. The result was a slideshow that appeared on an array of large-screen televisions in a local shopping center. On the slides were real-time weather information and energy consumption information that was fetched dynamically from sensors on the solar panels on the roof of the shopping center.

  

  Technologies used: PHP, Zend_RSS, GD2, SQL Server, IIS.
• Vesox.com Domain Generator more info...
  A very small tool for a client I started with recently - generates "random" domains for prospective hosting customers, and checks their availability.
  
  Technologies used: PHP, Symfony, MySQL
• Work Experience Directory more info...
  One of the first projects I took on as a freelancer, involved creating a simple job-search type website, but targeted specifically at Australian high school students looking for work experience placements.

  
• STK Newsletter Template more info...
  A very simple newsletter template. Sliced from PSD to HTML+CSS

  

Prior to 2010 I worked for a company, so I can't claim any of their sites or apps as purely my own work. Head over to kintek.com.au to see the sites we developed as a team between 2006 and 2010. My main role was backend and frontend programming, so I also can't take any credit for any of their beautiful designs! =)

Here are a few of the more interesting projects I worked on during my time there. Contact me for more information about any of these projects.

• CRC Mining SmartCap - Software that monitored truck driver's brain waves (seriously)more info...
• CRMother - Custom CRM we used to manage our customers and projects more info...
• PurplePalate - Ecommerce Wine & Events more info...
• TripleP Client Scoring Application - Tool for clinical psychologistsmore info...
• Site Management System - Logistics and management for distribution companies more info...
• TeachThis - Downloadable teaching resources for primary school teachers more info...
• Plus literally hundreds of small websites and assorted programming tasks...

Interests

As do most people, I love music. Rock, Folk, Roots, Reggae, Dub, Drum n Bass, Breakbeats, Hip Hop, Funk, Jazz, Soul, Classical.... soooo much good music in the world, and not nearly enough time to listen to it all. If I can wear a pair of good headphones while working, I'm a happy man. Festivals and concerts are definitely my social outing of choice.

Travel is another of my passions. So far I've had the good fortune to see a bit of South East Asia, the United States, Fiji, and a fair bit of Australia, and I'm looking forward to further exploring Europe this year!

Being a self confessed nerd, I like reading a lot. Mostly science novels - both fiction and non-fiction. I'm particularly interested in Artificial Intelligence, Human Consciousness, Evolution and Information Security.

What else? coffee, wine, beer, friends, family, animals, nature, cooking, cycling, sleeping, watching "The Wire". Usual stuff.

Just don't ask me about sport. I have trouble describing the difference between cricket and football. Subjects that leave me equally perplexed are politics, finance, Twitter and current-affair tv shows.

Contact Me