Sam Dalton

Rails developer. Cat person. Brews beer. Kiwi in SF.

Profile

Software Engineer at Quid
Information Technology and Services | San Francisco Bay Area, US

Summary

Having worked in the web development industry for the last 6 years, I have built up and honed a wide set of skills. From front-end design in HTML, CSS and Javascript, to backend logic in a multitude of environments. I have recently found a home in the Ruby on Rails framework/way of life and thoroughly enjoy every second I spend using it.

In addition to web development, mobile app development is also working its way onto the scene. Having created a number of iPhone and iPad applications, I consider this to be a viable and fun place to expand in to.
Specialties: Web design - HTML/CSS/JS, Photoshop Web development - Ruby on Rails, Sinatra, PHP, Wordpress, .NET MVC, anything else required Server administration - UNIX preferably (/bin/sh is like a warm blanket) Japanese - 少しだけ。 Lateral thinking - Project Euler, MENSA, logic problems Music - Encyclopaedic knowledge of numerous band histories and discographies.

Experience

  • May 2011 - Present
    Software Engineer / Quid
    Rails, Javascript, and all good things web related.
  • Nov 2010 - Present
    CTO / Shopt Ltd
    Shopt was a spinoff company from Vital Link, that aimed to capitalise on the technology that had been development and market it to a more commercial audience. My role was to further develop the application and turn it into a sellable SaaS product. I also helped to provide direction for the company, and its business decisions.
  • Jan 2005 - Present
    Chief Ninja / Freelance Web Developer
    From a young age, I have been actively developing and designing websites and web applications. A large proportion of this work was carried out part time during secondary and tertiary education, however since finishing university, this has become a full-time endeavour. A sample of some of the applications built are: · Hotel booking service for the snow covered Mt. Ruapehu in New Zealand · CMS for local Bridge clubs to manage their tournaments and scores · Foreign-language tutoring with comprehensive booking and text alert service · A social network designed to encourage people to quit smoking - http://kick.it · A location based voucher administration tool with mobile browser interface The first three projects were built with PHP and MySQL, and the second two with Ruby on Rails. The location based service made use of the Google Maps Javascript API, and the services of SimpleGeo for location based calculations. Facebook Connect and OAuth were used in the development of Kick.it to provide social integration. Freelance iOS Developer The rapid rise of Apple's iOS platform has provided me with an opportunity to carve a niche in New Zealand as a freelance iOS developer. Since beginning this enterprise, I have come to enjoy and excel in the development, and have been engaged in interesting and stimulating projects. Two of these include streaming music for a radio station and a student timetable and staff directory application for the University of Auckland. This work was carried out both part time during tertiary study, and full time since completing university.
  • 2008 - Present
    Web & Mobile Developer / Intuto NZ Ltd
    Intuto NZ is company that provides e-learning solutions to both academic institutions and commercial businesses. Their .NET based LMS and content authoring tools are world class, being used by Cambridge University in England. My work with Intuto included developing improvements to the interface of their content authoring tool, as well as develop custom iOS applications for learning English vocabulary, IELTS test preparation, and a generic application that students could use to purchase and download interactive courses on any course produced by their authoring tool. This work was carried out as part of an 800 hour practical work component of my engineering course.
  • Apr 2010 - Present
    Chief Technical Officer / Vital Link Group Ltd
    Product development, IT strategies, server administration, business direction, R&D
  • Apr 2010 - Present
    Co-Founder / Vital Gifts Ltd

Education

  • 2008 - 2010
    University of Auckland
    BE(Hons) in Software Engineering
    Activities: Engineering Revue Executive Team 2010 Software Engineering Students Association

Additional Information

Interests:
Music, technology, web design, web development, web standards, cooking, guitar, computer gaming, brewing, board games, movies, reading.

Recent tracks

  • Oliver James by {'mbid': 'fa97dd36-1b82-43d7-a6e4-2adeafd59cef', '#text': 'Fleet Foxes'}
    5 hours ago
  • Blue Ridge Mountains by {'mbid': 'fa97dd36-1b82-43d7-a6e4-2adeafd59cef', '#text': 'Fleet Foxes'}
    5 hours ago
  • Meadowlarks by {'mbid': 'fa97dd36-1b82-43d7-a6e4-2adeafd59cef', '#text': 'Fleet Foxes'}
    5 hours ago
  • Your Protector by {'mbid': 'fa97dd36-1b82-43d7-a6e4-2adeafd59cef', '#text': 'Fleet Foxes'}
    5 hours ago
  • Heard Them Stirring by {'mbid': 'fa97dd36-1b82-43d7-a6e4-2adeafd59cef', '#text': 'Fleet Foxes'}
    5 hours ago
  • He Doesn't Know Why by {'mbid': 'fa97dd36-1b82-43d7-a6e4-2adeafd59cef', '#text': 'Fleet Foxes'}
    5 hours ago
  • Quiet Houses by {'mbid': 'fa97dd36-1b82-43d7-a6e4-2adeafd59cef', '#text': 'Fleet Foxes'}
    5 hours ago
  • Tiger Mountain Peasant Song by {'mbid': 'fa97dd36-1b82-43d7-a6e4-2adeafd59cef', '#text': 'Fleet Foxes'}
    6 hours ago
  • Ragged Wood by {'mbid': 'fa97dd36-1b82-43d7-a6e4-2adeafd59cef', '#text': 'Fleet Foxes'}
    6 hours ago
  • White Winter Hymnal by {'mbid': 'fa97dd36-1b82-43d7-a6e4-2adeafd59cef', '#text': 'Fleet Foxes'}
    6 hours ago
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