I recently accepted a position at Fox Interactive Media (FIM) as a Senior Software Engineer in the newly formed FIM Audience Network business unit.  So what is the FIM Audience Network?…the recent press release describes things best :

The new unit will combine FIM’s advertising technology, ad operations and performance sales efforts into one unit. The team will be responsible for the sales of performance-based ads for both FIM and third-party sites.

Favorite upside…I’m getting a new MacBook Pro (thanks Boss).  Only downside…I have to temporarily turn my back on my Ruby brethren as I will be developing in Java again :)  Don’t worry though…it’s still Agile development 4 life baby!

It has been a privilege to work for IBM during the past eight years.  I will always be grateful for the valuable experience, mentoring and practical lessons that I have gained while working there.  I am definitely looking forward to this new challenge and to starting a new phase of my career.  Between my career change and the upcoming arrival of The Chislets my life has just gotten a whole lot more interesting!

I have some big news to share with everyone! My wife Jaclyn and I are expecting…TRIPLETS! Yes, you read that right - 3 babies — all at the same time.

It’s said that things in three are a special occurrence in nature, to quote the authority that is Wikipedia:

Hope that brings us comfort in the middle of the craziness! We are excitedly awaiting the arrival of our three “Chislets” in early October. Until then we are looking for a larger car and trying to figure out how to fit 3 cribs in our nursery.

If you want to follow the adventures of the pregnancy and beyond, tune in to The Chislet’s Blog (yes…these kids are already THAT COOL).

My practice recently developed a self-service recycling kiosk for green startup RecycleBank. The kiosk takes the RecycleBank business model to the next level and allows customers to not only earn rewards, but help the environment around the clock without leaving the comfort of home.

While working as lead developer on the project we developed a custom Ruby on Rails application running on IBM Anyplace kiosk hardware. RecycleBank was very happy we were able to crank out a working prototype in a matter of weeks, thanks to the magic that is agile development. I also worked closely with the RecycleBank technical team to define an XML-RPC API (which the kiosks consume) that will allow RecycleBank to move to a true services orientated architecture and integrate future products into their recycling services.

The first production kiosks have been installed in select Columbia University dorms as part of their “Go Green Columbia” program. Columbia Television News recently had some coverage of the launch (story begins at the 25 second mark):

Expect to see more RecycleBank kiosks to begin popping up in apartment buildings throughout the northeast in the coming year.

UPDATE 2008-04-11:
Some coverage in Time:
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1730187,00.html

About a year ago my IBM practice started doing software development using Ruby on Rails. I can happily say I’ve been Java-free for a full year and it has been quite refreshing. Even though IBM is traditionally a J2EE shop there is larger trend happening in enterprise software development where people are realizing every job doesn’t require a super-sized hammer. Agile development methodologies and lightweight open-source software allow us to spend less time struggling with the plumbing of an application and more time focused on the customer-specific business logic. Projects are finishing on time, under budget and this leads to happy customers. Rails is also making our developers excited and passionate about coding again….remember that feeling?

We are also finding new and innovative ways to deploy these projects in production environments using old school IBM mainframe technology. On my current project our Ruby on Rails code is running on Apache, clustered Mongrel and MySQL deployed on z/Linux running on IBM zSeries 990 mainframes. The customer is overjoyed we are able to leverage their enterprise infrastructure with such cutting edge technologies.

For the first half of 2007 I worked as a developer on an IBM CCR project based out of IBM’s Chicago Innovation Center. We were tasked with creating a community-based web site for the newest Smithsonian Institution museum, The National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC). The museum was established on December 19, 2003, through federal legislation. The NMAAHC’s Wikipedia entry describes the project best:

The National Museum of African American History and Culture is the first major museum to open on the web before completing a physical structure and is slated to be finished by 2015. The main feature of the web based initiative is the memory book application which allows individuals to contribute to the website via pictures, a story, or audio application in order to spotlight unique experiences in African American culture in America.

It was my first full-blown Ruby on Rails project and one of IBM CEBUD’s first Web 2.0 projects.

A few of the project’s technical highlights include:

• Ability for users to attach media-rich memories (think comments on steriods) to any piece of content on the site. Memories may contain text, audio or images.
• Full tagging support on all site content and user memories
• Full automatic replication of NPR’s StoryCorp Griot audio content using the podcasts RSS interface.
• REST-based web services interface that allow the site’s front-end Flash widgets to pull data from the back-end RDMS.