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Cristiana Yambo

resume@cloudthirteen.com (516 901 2567)

March 2005-September 2005
Internet Holdings, San Jose, Costa Rica

Web Programmer/Designer

At Internet Holdings I had several duties, web programming, web integration, specification writing and web design.

Web Integration involves taking existing open source applications, and making them work with a site specification and design. I used many different applications, such as Mambo, Xaraya, phpAdsNew, Gallery, and others. When integrating a site, first I look at its individual requirements, and I then do research on what content management system (CMS) to base the site on. I used Mambo for many sites, and Xaraya for others. On the surface every CMS does one thing, manage the content of the site, but, along with that, every one has a different idea of what a CMS should contain. Mambo, for example has a robust administrative interface, but, the templating features were limited. Xaraya, however has full featured templating, with a less powerful administrative back end. Since I used Mambo the most, I documented everything in the administrative interface, and produced a manual for clients to use.

As part of my web programming duties I coded modules and stand alone web applications in php that were not currently available as an open source package. For example, I programmed several custom modules for Mambo, such as a ticker that interfaces with the content database,and displays all the recent headlines. One example of a standalone application is a series of template based mortgage calculators that several company sites use.

I also composed several specifications for upcoming websites. These specifications were composed in OmniGraffle, a Macintosh OSX app similar to Visio. These specifcations took form as a large tree diagram of the external site structure. Each leaf corresponded to a page or application in the site. Contained within each leaf is the page structure, database structures, and possibly flowcharts of the specific functionality. These diagrams were used to show clients a graphical representation of their site structure, plus, it contained a lot of technical details for the other programmers to follow.

I also hand coded several websites, using the latest in CSS and HTML. I made several tableless layouts, using only CSS for the structure. As an aside I occasionally I also did some design work such as creating logos and website designs.

February 2000-July 2000
Drumbeat Digital, NYC NY
Senior Applications Developer

My main assignment was to create a complete content management system for our clients. I built the entire system in perl, from the ground up. My goal with this system was to enable the client to modify the website, without having to learn html, or keep track of the site structure.

The crux of the system was the administration section. Since those areas are closed from the general public, I made a series of screenshots depicting the process. The entire system was written in an object oriented style, so it allowed the codebase to be used for multiple sites with minimal effort. Due to lack of staffing, I wrote the entire system in a few weeks. But once we hired more staff, I taught the new programmers how to use, and modify this system.

February 1997 - August 1999
Thoughtbubble Productions, NYC NY
Senior Applications Developer

My main responsibilities were to create extendable, reusable web objects, and to manage and train the programming staff. All the web objects are written in perl, specifically for the apache/mod_perl server.

All the programs I wrote used modular code which can be customized to a new look and feel in a matter of minutes. My entire codebase was written with the ‘use strict’ directive so that all the modules could be run under Apache::Registry with no alterations. Every module I wrote contained comprehensive documentation written in the pod format.

I also created mod_perl modules to dynamically generate template based pages. Since we needed an extendible way to authenticate users, I wrote a mod_perl module which did authentication checks via a database. All the code I write is also written in a secure manner as to not compromise the system, or the data.

A key feature of all the code, is the administrative backends. Again, here is a series of actual screenshots (new window) from the administrative backend. This allows non-programmers to access the program, and data in an intuitive way, rather than relying on them to learn sql. Since, all the data is modified via a front-end, it tends to keep the database free of any logical errors.

My other responsibilities were to maintain the database, as well as the web server. It also included tuning and optimizing the configurations and data. I also helped maintain the linux servers, with such tasks as securing and upgrading systems.

January 2001-February 2005
Consulting Projects

Technical Writer
Make Magazine

I wrote an article for Oreilly’s magazine Make, which appeared in the November 2005 issue(new window). The article
was about a techinque, called circuit bending which extracts new and unusual sounds from old toys or
music equipment.

Web Application Designer/Programmer
PrayerWares.com

I designed and programmed a custom interface for Prayerwares.com (new window) to allow the administrator to receive, and post messages to the website.

The administration backend, allows the administrator to approve user’s messages for publication, delete or hide messages, and more. The other
part of the backend was to have a categorized database of quotes, where the administrator can add categories and quotes at will. I made a series screenshots of the administration section, which show some of the capabilities of the engine.

The user has the ability to see approved messages, and quotes, plus he can submit messages to be posted on the website, which are subject to approval from the administrator.

I also customized and installed the bulletin board system PHPbb (new window). The customizations I made changed the default theme to make it fit in with the design of the website.

Web Designer
Ornamental Gardens and Ponds
Ornamental Pond Liners

I coded, and designed the website for the sites Ornamental Gardens and Ponds and Ornamental Pond Liners (new window). I had to build a design which reflected the company’s image. I used Adobe Illustrator to create all the graphics, and GoLive to make the
site. The main part of the site, is the pictures, and, since it is a static site, I wrote some ‘one off’ perl programs to generate the html for all the secondary pages.

StupidBoy
Flash Programmer/Designer

For the now defunct StupidBoy, I designed a print ad which was used in several issues of Bust Magazine. I then programmed and designed a flash matching game

Design and Technical Portfolio

Cloud13 (new window) contains most of my design and technological works. I also have a site Censtron (new window)which has several electronic experiments I worked on. Also, an article I wrote about ‘Circuit Bending’ will appear in the November 2005 issue of Oreilly’s Make Magazine (new window).

Computer Skills

Programming & Markup Languages:

php, Perl, Javascript, SQL, CSS, ActionScript, HTML

Database Servers:

mysql, postgresql, oracle

CMS Systems

WordPress, Mambo, Xaraya

Operating Systems:

Mac OS X, MacOS, Linux, Solaris, All flavors of Windows

Graphics Applications:

Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe GoLive, Adobe Imageready, Adobe Acrobat, Macromedia Flash, Macromedia Dreamweaver.

My Macintosh Software

traxporter, a traktor dj studio playlist exporter, and iChat Smiley Remover, which removes emoticons from iChat

Education

Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Polytechnic University