Services

Development Tools:
Ruby on Rails (RoR)
Flash (External Interfaces, XSPF data exchanging)
RJS (Ruby AJAX/DHTML/Javascript)

Application Features:
Building an application development platform for a proprietary OO (object oriented) database
Built a custom ActiveRecord adapter to interface to OO database
Applications built on the platform were accessible both online and offline, both locally and remotely through the use of a proprietary reverse proxy network service
OpenID application authentication

Hosting Infrastructure:
Leveraged Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service), SQS (Simple Queue Service) and EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) for a completely virtualized Development, QA and Production environment - Zero physical hardware

Development Tools:
Java Struts webapp on standalone Tomcat
MySQL RDBMS
JORAM JMS provider
JUnit Unit Testing Framework

Application Features:
Web application with both Web and WAP front-ends
Messaging layer for distribution of messages to users via conventional SMTP email, SMS over SMTP and SMS over SMPP
SMPP messaging transceiver for distribution and reception of messages to/from SMS aggregator
Distributed SMPP messaging transceiver for delivering messages at high rates based on priority (i.e. emergency alerts)
Parsing of inbound SMTP and SMPP messages for content

Hosting Infrastructure:
Linux web servers running Apache 2.0 / Mod_jk connector to Tomcat
Primary read/write and replica read-only MySQL server
Verisign SMS aggregation service

Development Tools:
Java webapp on Tomcat
Velocity MVC Templating Engine
JUnit Unit Testing Framework
Fitnesse Acceptance Testing Framework
MySQL RDBMS
JORAM JMS Provider

Application Features:
Distribution of news and information to mobile devices.
Near real-time delivery of baseball scores stats and standings.
Ability for mobile user to get traffic updates and driving directions
. Ability to find local restaurants and movie listings.

Development Tools:
Microsoft C++ / MFC
Microsoft XML / XSLT
Windows Active Server Pages (ASP)
Microsoft SQL Server

Application Features:
Accept real-time news feeds from hundreds of sources
Normalize news feeds
Enrich news content with automated categorization and meta-data extraction
24x7 high availability requirements
Distribution of custom news feeds to hundreds of customers using various formats and transports

Hosting Infrastructure:
Web servers running Microsoft IIS
Database cluster running Microsoft SQL Server
Cisco Network, Firewall, Routers and CSS load Balancer
Multiple ISPs using BGP-4
Co-location hosting facility in Dulles, VA - 24x7 managed by Nine Summer

Development Tools:
Microsoft C#
Microsoft C++
Microsoft .NET

Application Features:
Designed and developed Narrator, a text-to-speech utility for people who are blind or have low vision. Narrator reads what is displayed on the screen—the contents of the active window, menu options, or text that has been typed. Narrator makes use of Microsoft Windows User Interface (UI) Automation which is the new accessibility framework for Microsoft Windows. The Narrator application was also instrumental in testing the UI Automation framework. The project included writing managed code for the Narrator application and writing native interfaces for keyboard hooking and interfacing with the speech synthesizer.

Implemented a patent-pending algorithm for superimposing a "magnifying lens" above the mouse cursor for low vision users without the use of driver chaining or other fragile hardware-level hooks. Created several magnification modes that allowed pan-and-scan, magnifying glass, and cursor tracking.

Development Tools:
JBoss J2EE Server with embedded Tomcat Servlet Container
Velocity MVC Templating Engine
PostgreSQL RDBMS
Lucene Search Index
Microsoft Visual Basic for "fat" client

Application Features:
Hosted multimedia vendor catalogues
Photo uploads with automatic resizing and storage
Catalog items were searchable by keyword or by category, price, etc
Vendors were able to create multiple users and grant fine-grained access to their users for catalog maintenance, order fulfillment, reporting, and various other functions
Multiple "pricing sheets" could be maintained and individual customers could be granted access to special pricing
Win32 "Fat" client application for high-volume users

System Features:
State kept in the database
Supported a load balancer without needing sticky sessions
Catalog items were indexed in the background to maximize search performance

Hosting Infrastructure:
Red Hat Linux
Apache
JBoss
PostgreSQL database
Cisco Network, Firewall, Routers and CSS load Balancer
Multiple ISP's using BGP-4
Self-hosted in Connecticut data center - 24x7 managed by Nine Summer

Development Tools:
JBoss J2EE Server with embedded Tomcat Servlet Container
Velocity MVC Templating Engine
PostgreSQL RDBMS
JBoss MQ persistent JMS Topics with durable subscriptions

Application Features:
Template-based content creation (Newsletters, Promotions, Press Releases, etc)
"Microsoft Word"-style web-based editing interface for control of formatting
Automatic photo sizing and storage
Scheduled campaign delivery
Detailed campaign reporting; including Open, Bounce, Opt-out, and Click rates
Categorization of mailing lists into customer-defined categories
Hosted "sign up forms" to allow customers to directly gather email addresses into database

System Features:
State kept in the database
Supported a load balancer without needing sticky sessions
Distributed mail delivery engine using JBOSSMQ for cluster communication; Send rates of up to 100,000 emails per hour per server (scales linearly by adding more servers)
Automatic parsing and processing of bounced messages
Automatic processing of opt-out requests

Hosting Infrastructure:
Linux web servers running RHEL
Apache
JBoss
PostgreSQL database
Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service) for asset hosting
Sendmail for bounce processing
Cisco Network, Firewall, Routers and CSS load Balancer
Multiple ISP's using BGP-4
Self-hosted in Connecticut data center - 24x7 managed by Nine Summer

Development Tools:
JBoss J2EE Server with embedded Tomcat Servlet Container
Macromedia Flash MX
Velocity MVC Templating Engine
PostgreSQL RDBMS
MySQL
PhpBB Message Forums

Application Features:
"IQ" rating system learned a player's skill level based on playing performance and was highly resistant to intentional skewing by the player
Both real-time multiplayer and individual score-based tournament versions of the game
Ability to Create new Rooms and Tournaments
Email notifications when new Tournaments available and at the end of Cash tournaments
Cash tournament jackpots and prize payout based on number of player entries
Fine-grained back office control over game content, customer data, billing access, etc
Content management system for maintaining and automatically detecting duplicate (or similar) content
Message Forums for players to build a community
"Sample" feature to allow unregistered visitors to view and play against subscribed players but not have scores permanently recorded (up sell opportunity)

System Features:
Gaming Engine was responsible for: guaranteeing unique questions for a given game session, ensuring game fairness by appropriately selecting difficulty during each turn, and providing assurance that the player was not tampering with their session
Multiplayer Game Engine supported both direct TCP connection and HTTP Tunneling
Automatic credit card billing system (Payflow Pro and FirePay)
Very detailed logging of game performance, timing statistics, and individual question difficulty
Management reporting system and dashboard
State kept in the database
Supported a load balancer without needing sticky sessions

Hosting Infrastructure:
Red Hat Linux
Apache
JBoss
PostgreSQL database
MySQL database
Cisco Network, Firewall, Routers and CSS load Balancer
Multiple ISP's using BGP-4
Co-location hosting facility the Caribbean - 24x7 managed by Nine Summer

Development Tools:
BEA Weblogic J2EE Server
Java Server Pages (JSP)
Oracle Database
Sonic MQ JMS Message Bus
Sun Solaris

Application Features:
Robust Java applet for buying and selling products
Real-time updates on bids and offers
Numerous Buying/Selling strategies

System Features:
State kept in the database
Supported a load balancer without needing sticky sessions
Matching engine
Ability to maintain client to server connections via TCP or HTTP Tunnel
Back office for maintaining users, products, access levels, etc.

Hosting Infrastructure:
Sun Servers
Apache
Bea Weblogic Application Server
Oracle Database
Sonic MQ
Cisco Network, Firewall, Routers and CSS load Balancer
Multiple ISP's using BGP-4
Co-location hosting facilities in New York & London

Development Tools:
Initially developed on Windows/IIS and deployed on Sun. We then migrated to developing on Linux/Apache
Macromedia Cold Fusion Templating Engine
Oracle Database Server

Application Features:
Community Forums
Online Searchable price guides containing millions of Comics and Collectables
Online Portfolios (public/private) that allow users to track the value of their collections. Public portfolios viewable by all members.
Exchange: Sellers could post items for sale and buyers could make offers to buy. Buyers could also post items that they are looking for and sellers could search for potential buyers
Management reporting system and dashboard
Content management system for writers to submit stories and editors to stage & publish content
E-commerce Shopping

System Features:
State kept in client cookies
Supported a load balancer without needing sticky sessions
Data Import supporting massive updates to price guides
Home grown content management system
Credit Card processing for subscribers

Hosting Infrastructure:
Sun Web and Database servers running Solaris
Apache (StrongHold)
Oracle database
MySQL
Cisco Network, Firewall, Routers and CSS load Balancer
Fully managed hosting facility in Boston

Development Tools:
Java Application Server
Macromedia Cold Fusion
Microsoft SQL Server
Microsoft Visual Basic for in-house "fat" client

Application Features:
Classified ad order entry
Integration with credit card processor and ERP system
Photo content management
Micro-sites for car dealers
Win32 "Fat" client application for call center workers

System Features:
State kept in the database for Newspaper system and in cookies for Web system
Supported a load balancer without needing sticky sessions
New content is automatically staged and deployed for public viewing weekly

Hosting Infrastructure:
Web servers running Windows
IIS web servers
Database cluster running Windows and SQL Server
Macromedia Cold Fusion
BEA Weblogic Server
Cisco Network, Firewall, Routers and CSS load Balancer
Multiple ISP's using BGP-4
Co-location hosting facility in New Jersey - 24x7 managed by Nine Summer

Development Tools:
BEA Weblogic Java Application Server
Microsoft Active Server Pages (ASP)
Thunderstone Text Search Engine
Microsoft SQL Server

Application Features:
Person-to-person auctions with various auction formats and buy-it-now
Rating system similar to eBay
Integration with credit card processor and ERP system
Supported hundreds of private label sites that could be configured in 2 hours
Management reporting system and dashboard

System Features:
State kept in a proprietary, clustered Java application (client did not want cookies)
Supported a load balancer without needing sticky sessions
Category pages were cached by an application that continuously spidered the database and built web content automatically

Hosting Infrastructure:
Microsoft IIS web servers
Database cluster running Microsoft SQL Server
Sun Server running Thunderstone
BEA Weblogic Server
Cisco Network, Firewall, Routers and CSS load Balancer
Multiple ISP's using BGP-4
Co-location hosting facility in Boston & Chicago - 24x7 managed by Nine Summer