welcome

it has been a long time since there has been the opportunity to revise this website, but its been worth the wait. this revision is focused towards something that i am technically and aethetically pleased with. however much like how plumbers have leaky taps and mechanics have the worst looked after cars, this site has had a little bit of neglect as of lately. lucky for everyone else its their projects i am spending my time working on, rather than this site.

portfolio

a picture is worth a thousand words, so here are examples of my some of the more interesting projects i have developed during my career. select any of the projects listed on the right side menu for a preview and a description.

the muses website

client: the muses graphic designer: clovegraphics web address: www.themuses.com.au originally the muses required a website that could be used to rapidly sell off stock at low prices to disguard stock that has not sold as expected. during the test phase the site rapidly became a complimentary service where the staff could sell the top eight products of the week. the website was developed with a content management system to allow management of the eight titles for sale. an online ordering process allowed customers to leave their details and the selected stock for further followup by staff.

la casalinga restaurant website

client: lacasalinga graphic designer: clovegraphics web address: www.lacasalinga.com.au la casalinga is one of adelaide's best kept secrets! home of the finest traditional italian food in south australia. la casalinga provides much more than just food, it is an experience which cannot be forgiven for making you feel you are sitting in the middle italy itself. the la casalinga website was developed with a dynamic content management system, allowing the client to maintain the menu information at regular intervals. the design called for simplicity, focusing on a comparitive style to restaurants in melbourne and sydney as a substantial number of clients attend during interstate travel.

downflow website

client: downflow graphic designer: internal web address: www.downflowband.com downflow are a small adelaide band with big dreams of conquering the world. this site represented a transition for the band in attempting to market to the greater audience of studio, radio and distributor representitives. design and illustration was included in the development without the use of a designer as minimising the overall cost was the key focus of the project.

the vip edge website

client: infovidual technologies graphic designer: clovegraphics web address: www.thevipedge.com.au the vip edge was a massive production, spanning six years and numerous releases. the application consists of a web interface, scheduled application processes and geographically distributed processing. a custom web framework was developed to support an extensive business layer which abstract most of the functionality. this allowed for rapid development of the 1000 pages contained within the website. membership of the website reached 150,000 during development, with 80 music stores using the functionality to market to their top customers. the system allows music distributors to analyse club members based on transactions, focusing marketing to those who would appeal to similar products.

infovidual website

client: infovidual technologies graphic designer: internal web address: www.infovidual.com.au the infovidual website was requested as a two day project to overhaul the existing released site. the process required a simplification of both the design and the amount of information that was available to provide a consistent message to customers. a very limited budget and timeframe ensured that the website was constructed within a strict environment.

snow n surf website

client: snow & surf graphic designer: clovegraphics web address: www.snowsurf.com.au snow & surf is one of the most well known surf retail shops in adelaide. the website was produced to provide information and links to the brands of products sold within the store.

the collectorsweb website

client: i. s. wright graphic designer: heidi rurade web address: www.thecollectorsweb.com with the collectable market becoming increasingly lucrative online, this website developed to became the face of i.s. wright within the world online. the website interfaced to the point of sale system at the store and to ebay management software, synchronising with an automated schedule.

edwards kart wheels website

client: edwards kart wheels graphic designer: heidi rurade and rams web address: www.edwardskartwheels.com.au edwards kart wheels were looking to project an image to match the funkiness of their product. a professional photo shoot was created to bring out the quality of the product and ensure its appeal to the customer. the site was a simple design with the entire catalogue being implemented in the online environment.

fresh 2 u direct website

client: fresh 2 u direct graphic designer: clovegraphics web address: www.fresh2udirect.com.au this website was developed as a prototype service for introducing fresh fruit and vegetables to cafes within adelaide. the site allowed customers to order the stock they would like for the next working day and have it delivered to their door the next morning. the website was composed of an administration console for product management, and ordering facility for customers and several flash presentations for marketing.

reward 5

client: h&l australia web address: www.hlaustralia.com.au h&l australia develops point of sale applications for hotels. the core application named sysnet manages sales and customers. reward 5 is a kiosk application that interfaces to sysnet to provide customers with a view of points collected throgh purchases. the application can be managed remotely, providing the ability to customise the advertising and manage prize and giveaway campaigns. customers use thier membership swipe card to find out how many points they have and to try to win prizes. the software can be configued for touch screens or via a passive monitor.

hotelweb

client: h&l australia graphic designer: heidi rurade and rams address: www.hotelweb.com.au hotelweb was started as a catalogue of hotels within australia. the aim, to collect information on each hotel so that users could search for a hotel based on relevant functionality, i.e. do they have a beer garden? searches can also be undertaken by clicking on the map provided, whereby a list of hotels is provided based on the type of services required and the geographical location. each hotel that is a customer of h&l australia received a free standard website, with the option to upgrade to a better website. the prairie hotel website in screenshots for this project provides an example of the websites on offer.

h&l australia website

client: h&l australia graphic designer: internal webaddress: www.hlaustralia.com.au h&l australia are the leading developers of hotel point of sale software. this website was the first professional website for the company during a transition from a small company to a nation wide institution. previously limited contact was made through the website, however as the company increased and the effectiveness of providing information over the web increased, it became much more important to expand the website. included in the site is a support area to disseminate product updates to divisions within other states.

adacel web framework

client: adacel technologies address: www.adacel.com in an attempt to dominate the e-commerce business to business market, adacel technologies required a framework for developing rapid e-commerce websites. the code base was implemented in visual basic and compiled into a dynamic linked library (dll), allowing use from both web environments (asp) and scripting environments (vbscript). after development completed, both government and private sector business clients had business to business web portals implemented based on the technology.

current projects

as always, im continually working on something new or different. here are a couple of projects that are worth mentioning, as their development is taking my focus somewhat. select any of the projects listed on the right side menu for a preview and a description.

resume

my experience in development has several different focuses of production. to give you some idea of the services i am able to provide, i have experience in engineering and managing development of large multi-tiered applications. i focus on simple and elegant design and easy to use environments, and my training has been in the field of providing architecure of software with a big picture that embraces these philosophies. on a technical level, my development knowledge focuses in the areas including: .net (asp, vb and c#) active server pages & html visual basic application development and activex com libraries windows scripting, visual basic scripting and vba scripting delphi application and java application development sql server, msde and microsoft access database development macromedia flash, shockwave and 3d studio max due to the synergy between application development and networks, in regards to network intrastructure i also provide the services of: securely configuring windows nt, 2000 and 2003 servers configuring microsoft exchange, small business server management and disaster recovery internet networking: dns, domain registration and payment gateway integration

mgmwireless

research and development manager / senior software developer 2005 - Current web address: www.mgmwireless.com mgmwireless limited (ASX: MWR) are the key provider in automated school attendance management solutions, through the use of SMS technology to alert parents that their children have not arrived at school on time. key highlights from this position: architect for applications designed and developed. managed all IT projects from inception to completion. implemented all networks and installation of live deployment servers. handled contract negotiation with music industry body.

infovidual technologies

senior software developer / project manager 2001 - 2005 web address: www.infovidual.com.au infovidual technologies is a marketing agency aimed at the music industry. the software developed, the vip edge, focuses on delivering music lovers information specific to their tastes by analysing patterns in music purchases and cross analysing them with filled out profiles and new market products. the application communicates to members using email and postal marketing, allowing distributors to directly market to actual music customers of music stores. key highlights from this position: architect for applications designed and developed. managed all IT projects from inception to completion. implemented all networks and installation of live deployment servers. handled contract negotiation with music industry body.

adacel technologies

software developer / system administrator 2000 - 2001 web address: www.adacel.com adacel technologies (ASX: AWR) is an engineering company focused on military software (fighter jet instrumentation) and airport simulation software. the company's strategy was to emerge into the business to business e-commerce environment being initiated by cost saving companies, and being fostered by the governments b2b grants schemes. key highlights from this position: developed web framework for basis of all future multi tiered web projects, saving significant development time. trained employees in Melbourne and Adelaide offices on web based application development. developed, managed and deployed web projects for customers. implemented various business to business strategies for both private and Government clients.

h&l australia

software developer / system administrator 1998 - 2000 web address: www.hlaustralia.com.au h&l australia is the industry standard in hotel point of sale software. with over five hundred clients within australia and many more in branching industries, the company has been undergoing significant growth over the last ten years. i was initially contracted to the company for web development on a project named hotelweb, and eventually took over system administration and software development as the company expanded. key highlights from this position: maintained web presence for communication between national offices. developed Reward 5 software for hotel patrons, including deployment and training of hotel staff. developed web portal for 500 hotel clients.

freelancing

ever since entered the field of IT, i have provided freelance services in the fields of web and software development. even while working full time for different companies, i still manage to maintain web and software development for many different clients. this helps me keep my skills current across different envrionments and diciplines, so that i am able to offer both customers and employers a well rounded development path.

education

2006: Graduated from the University of South Australia Bachelor of Computer and Information Science web address: www.unisa.edu.au 1995: Graduated from The Heights School, Modbury Heights

contact

i can be contacted via email from the following address. ben @ konniptionstudios.com

mgmwireless

working for mgmwireless, obviously im doing work on some projects in the realm of student attendance management. most of it is under wraps due to the commercial focus, so the less i say here the better. look at the mgmwireless.com website for technical release information to get an idea what i have done, or wait until the projects i am working on are publicly released.

miniracer

miniracer is more of a pet project of mine, amounting to nothing more than a useless pile of code. essentially its my first attempt at implemeting a directx environment. besides trying to put in perspective the fundamentals of graphics engines, networking, sound, AI and user input, it is also forcing me back to maths that i had learnt (and forgotten) a long time ago. im hoping to get something completed this year, which i would release on this website.