Gavin Vickery

Personal Details

• Status

• Location

• Phone

• Email

• Company

• Available for Hire

• Nanaimo, BC, Canada

• 250 616 1308

• gavin@geekforbrains.com

• Input Logic Inc.

Programming Skills

• PHP

• 6 Years Experience

• When it comes to code, PHP will always be my favorite. For the last 6 years I’ve worked on a variety of personal and client based projects ranging from full featured e-commerce to classified search engines.

• MySQL

• 5 Years Experience

• With every good PHP application comes a database. MySQL is always my first choice. Its fast, light-weight and comes pre-installed on almost all hosting servers today. I find MySQL to be more then adequate for the majority of my projects.

• Python

• 2 Years Experience

• I originally studied Python to help with Linux administration tasks. Later I developed a couple small desktop applications for the company I work for using PyGTK and PyQT4. Since then I’ve used it for everything from sorting my photo collection to writing a web-crawler.

• Ruby / Rails

• Currently Studying

• In an attempt to gain a wider skill set when it comes to web-applications, I've decided to learn Ruby and the Rails framework. I believe this will not only help me grow as a programmer but also open more doors for potential work. I haven't planned any fun little apps to make just yet, but I'm sure I'll have some soon.

• iOS

• Currently Studying

• I've always wanted to make mobile games, and being that the App Store is the biggest, picking up iOS was a natural choice for me. I'm actively developing a couple apps that I hope to release soon.

• Android

• Currently Studying

• Due to my love for open source, It was only natural for me to pick up Android. At the moment I’m only studying Android, but hope to develop some applications and games for the market soon.

• Java

• Currently Studying

• Developing with the JDK has been a pleasure so far, and I’m excited to see how far I can stretch its capabilities. I hope to be coding in Java fluently within the next year. My dabbling with Java is mostly influenced by Android’s Java background.

Coding Skills

• XHTML

• 8 Years Experience

• HTML was probably the first thing I ever typed as far as code. I remember sitting in my uncles basement, both my cousins next to me, all programming on little monitors with black screens and green text. Blinking text and scrolling marquee’s were all the rage back then. It was sad to see them go.

• CSS

• 6 Years Experience

• Although I never started web development with CSS, I quickly picked it up after discovering its benefits. Today I have a history of coding an assortment of CSS designs including liquid layouts and graphic absolute positioning.

• Javascript / Ajax

• 4 Years Experience

• Javascript never used to be a favorite, but its growing on me. It has its place, but I find its overused in many applications. I prefer to use frameworks such as jQuery when developing Ajax driven applications. I'm also very interested in Node.js and hope to build something with it soon.

• HAML

• Planning On Learning

• I plan on learning HAML after I have a strong grasp on RoR. If you don't know what HAML is, here's a quote from their website: "Haml is the next step in generating views in your Rails application. Haml is a refreshing take that is meant to free us from the shitty templating languages we have gotten used to."

• SASS

• Planning On Learning

• Like HAML, I plan to learn SASS after learning RoR. SASS is built by the makers of HAML and is ultimately the same thing, but for CSS instead of XHTML.

Framework Skills

• Caffeine

• 5 Years Experience

• Caffeine is a personal project of mine. I started development shortly after getting into PHP to help hone my skills. Over the years I've used it on most of my projects. It works as a thin layer between core PHP and common modules such as user accounts, authentication and pages to help build an web application more efficiently. I've since released it on GitHub as open source.

• Codeigniter

• 2 Years Experience

• I started using Codeigniter for personal projects, and later made use of it in the company I had been working for. I've built a vareity of basic sites as well as an in-house time sheet system capable if importing into Quickbooks directly.

• Drupal

• 1 Year Experience

• When I first looked a Drupal a couple years ago, I wasn't very happy with it. I've since come back to it due to its active development and growing community. I've written several custom modules for Drupal, as well as a variety of themes.

• Wordpress

• 1 Year Experience

• I initially used Wordpress for my blog. Later I wanted to add some portfolio work and other features to it, so I found myself writing custom plugins and theme templates. I've since launched a several personal and client sites.

Other Skills

• Mac

• 2 Years Experience

• I never used to be a "Mac Guy", but some industry guru's I work with managed to convert me. I absolutely love it! I currently use all Apple products personally as well as for work and development. My mobile office conists of MacBook Pro, iPhone and iPad.

• Linux

• 5 Years Experience

• Linux is one of my favorite operating systems. It wasn’t always that way however. Like most, I started on Windows but found myself wanting more. After several attempts at making the switch, I finally did it. I used to use Linux for my desktop workstation but mainly use it to run my servers now. I prefer Ubuntu but have experience with Debian, Red Hat, Fedora and OpenSUSE.

• Windows Networking

• 3 Years Experience

• I’ve worked with several different types of Windows networks including basic work groups to full featured Windows domain infrastructures. I’m comfortable working with Server 2003, Active Directory and VPN’s. That being said, I’ll only use Windows if I absolutely have to.

Work Experience

• Co-Founder / Programmer

• Input Logic

• After many years of playing with the idea of starting my own company, I've finally decided to take the plunge. I started the company as a partnership with one of my bestfriends, Shawn. Combined with his design skills, my programming and our combined ideas, we hope to provide products and services that nobody else can offer. We're based out of Nanaimo, BC, Canada.

  Present

• System Administrator

• M&D Management Consulting Ltd.

• While at M&D Management Consulting Ltd, my duties included network and system maintenance, backups and in-house software development. Unfortunately due to economic reasons, the company had to close it's doors. It was a great place to work and I'll always miss it.

  2007-2011

• Programmer / Web Designer

• Push72 Design Inc.

• While at Push72 I worked on a variety of projects including web design with Photoshop, front-end coding with XHMTL/CSS and programming with PHP and MySQL.

  2004-2007