Travels and Experiences

I'm fortunate to have had some amazing experiences and travels. Here are some I'll share:
During my fourth year of university, I took a year off to teach English in Moscow, Russia! It was an incredible experience, and one that's given me some life-long friends and great perspective on our world. Another was traveling to Thailand and Burma as part of a trip with a group from our university.

After I graduated, I left my home state of Washington, and moved to Colorful Colorado. Three years on, I still love Colorado, and love the summer and winter activities that are some plentiful here. I'm now self-employed as a startup owner, doing custom programming, web technology, and Linux support.

If you'd like to see photos of the places I've encountered and friends I've made, checkout my photo galleries.

Kaskadia

I'm the co-owner, director of US operations, director of engineering, and a software developer for Kaskadia Software Studios.

Recent projects that I've done with Kaskadia's client include Wordpress site design, Ruby-on-Rails programming, and AMX home automation programming.

Kaskadia was founded in March 2009, and has been growing ever since. Kaskadia provides full service web technology consulting, including web design, web programming, database driven applications, e-commerce solutions, online advertising consulting, and more. See http://www.kaskadia.com for more details.

Software Development

Favorite Language: Python. Programming is far more of an art than a science or mathematical process. There are many ways to reach an objective, but Python gives a programming artist a beautiful set of brushes and canvas to fulfill his craft with. Ruby also has a special place in my heart as well. I enjoy programming in Ruby as well.

Most Used Language: PHP. PHP is [likley] the most common web development language. It's very useful, there are a lot of jobs available for it, a huge collection of tools and applications are available for it, and while it allows for some very sloppy code to be written by any 15 year old (I was one of these once!), PHP 5.3 and a good MVC framework can greatly improve the experience of writing and maintaining PHP applications.

What I'm Working On

Currently I am staying busy with my startup, Kaskadia, mainly doing various types of web programming and site design. I have also recently launched, 2010 version of ArthurK.com, featuring a new look, and more of a professional feel.

In November, I spent most of the month working in Aspen, Colorado, doing home automation software development, which involves specialized systems used to control TVs, media players, BluRay players, lights, and HVAC, using custom interfaces on touchpanels, iPhones, or iPads.

I'm also working on Klassica Classified Ads, a classified ads platform designed for universities and business campuses. It derives from my senior project at WWU, and is a well loved application there. I'm planning an Open Source launch of the project soon, as well as debut of Klassica 3.0.

Outside of work, I've been Reading Neil DeGrasse Tyson's "Death by Black Hole", and "Classic Feynman" by Richard Feynman.