Computer Related and Other Experiences

The information given here is in subject order. You can also view it in time order.

General Skills

• fast, autodidactic learning of new concepts (e.g. PHP, Java, Python, X-Windows, HTML-authoring, accounting) from manuals etc.
• composing and decomposing of complex systems (e.g. programs) by using a layered "black boxes" approach
• questioning users in a structured way to expose the real problem (which may well be outside the scope solvable by computers)
• finding cheap, unconventional solutions (e.g. with MS-Works, Zope)

Organisational and Project Tasks

In the current job (DGD)

Basically: keep the computers and the people working with them within the DGD e.V. happy. This includes

• looking for applications where the (new or changed) use of computers would be helpful to optimize the work
• specifying and buying new systems (hardware, software, networks) - a typical phone conversation starts like this: "We want to buy a computer, which one do you recommend?" "What are you going to do with it?"
• planning, implementing and managing local networks - mostly Linux and Windows NT, but also Unix (SCO, HP) and Novell. A few ISDN WAN links are already active.
• planning, selecting and implementing e-mail (user@branch.dgd.org) and WWW activities
• organizing the process of procurement, introduction and operation of specific software, e.g. for homes for the elderly, in close cooperation with the future users and the management.
• consulting to user departments for their own EDP projects, e.g. introduction of a new accounting package
• specifying, programming and maintaining application specific software (e.g. for donation accounting, asset management, pension fund management, electronic bank statement processing), using mostly MS-Access or Clipper (for older applications). I prefer small solutions that are understandable by the end user, but still do 90% of the work, e.g. with MS-Works.
• training end users (individuals and classes)
• being the hotline for all those systems

Previous Organizational and Project Experiences

supervising students

(1990-91) during the dissertation in university (seminars, "advanced practice", diploma thesis)

introducing X-Windows R11V4 in a university group

(1990) starting at the end user level, within a few days I learned the concepts and compiled and installed the new X-Windows release (about 60 MB of C source code, a few adaptations to HP-UX were necessary)

diploma thesis on tree layout (1987-88)

using C on an ATARI-ST

programming for the telex box (1987-88)

eventd driven programming in C, HP-260 Basic and Quick Basic, including compile-time support for different user languages, firmware languages, serial drivers and special versions (e.g. 4 quasi simultaneous lines and special logging for an insurance company); also simple servers were realized, e.g. for distributing copy-protection keystrings.

reorganising the toy importer (1986)

in close cooperation with the management, I rewrote the user interface of the order entry system, then the interface to the accounting package, gathering of statistical data, storage management

"advanced practice": an information system

(1985-86) on mathematical function libraries available at the computing center of the university, to be programmed in Turbo Pascal. We used a hypertext-like approach with separate menu and data pages.

exploring circuit simulation programs

(1982-83) in Japan for determining the capabilities and limitations of the computing equipment in the department. Simulated integrated CMOS transistors and circuits.

Operating Systems

Linux

communication servers (email, Internet access/firewall, fax, remote dial-in) and file servers (samba). Mainly using the SuSE distribution, but also some experience with RedHat and Debian.

MS-Windows

in all variations from 3.0 to NT Server, as they are the standard platform in the DGD. Includes setup of hardware, software, networks, tracing IRQ-conflicts etc.

Novell Netware

in the work at the DGD, set up versions 2.15 to 4.10, some of them also running IP and internal routers.

KA9Q NOS

a nice little internet-server capable of connecting entire LANs to the email world running on as little as a 286, 8MHz, 640kB RAM, 20 MB HD, Modem, ISA network card - perhaps even less, but I didn't try...

MS-DOS

in all variations from 2.11 to 6.22, as they were (now it's windows) for many years the standard platform in the DGD. This includes setup of hardware, software, networks, calling interrupts from self made programs etc.

ATARI TOS

I owned an Atari-ST and did the diploma thesis (tree layout) on it

Unix

various flavors, including SCO-Unix (DGD), HPUX, SunOS, Apollo, DEC Ultrix (all during the Dissertation), UTS (mainframe based, university)

CP/M

basic teaching in university

Panafacom

Japanese minicomputer 1982, batch oriented

ROM BASIC Interpreter (e.g. PET 2001, HP 260)

Networks/Communications

TCP/IP

At the DGD, TCP/IP is used for sereral purposes:

• to interconnect several branches fro remote administration purposes
• to interconnect unix minicomputers with Desktop-PCs running a terminal emulation, coexistent with Novell Netware client software.
• to connect a payroll-database on an NT-server with PC-clients (WfW 3.11, Win 95)
• to provide email-services (POP3, SMTP) with Pegasus mail (at the desktop PC client) and Mercury (on the Netware servers) through Linux email servers, interconnecting sites via dial-up modem lines (PPP, SMTP).

since 2000 setting up and maintaining a Linux based firewall system for a mission organisation with high security needs in England

1989-1991 during the dissertation work, user experience (remote shell commands, news, mail, irc) with the internet/intranet of the university, including setup of X-Windows, NFS and a new service (XLISP).

NETBEUI (Windows NT)

Installed to run the new accounting system in the headquarter of the DGD. Multi-protocol operation together with TCP/IP.

Novell Netware

in the work at the DGD I've set up versions 2.15 to 4.11, some of them also running IP and internal routers.

Novell Netware Light

in the work at the DGD I've set up 2 small (2 and 3 machines) networks with this.

Windows for Workgroups

in the DGD set up 2 small (2 and 3 machines) networks

Modems/ISDN

in serveral varieties (from the 300 baud acoustic coupler to 28.8kbps V34 Modem, ISDN cards) installed, used and troubleshooted.

Telex

programmed software (realtime dialogue, automatic transmission, also time shifted, group tansmission, message editor) for a telex box for PCs and the HP260; also learned a lot about RS-232 wires

Amateur Radio Licence

passed the exam in 1976, including hardware knowledge, some electrical and electronics background, morse code. Additional experiences in later years: 2-way satellite communication, teletype, packet radio (AX.25 and pactor)

Shortwave Radio Listening (since 1972)

Programming Languages

PHP

group calendar solution

customization of the web shop of the DGD's bookstore branch

Python

web site generation (used to be at christus-treff.org)

Java

first experiments

MS Access

currently used for custom programming at the DGD, e.g. pension fund management (KZVK), deaconess database (including automatic replication by email), interfacing an external FoxPro-program to our accounting system, time tracking/address lookup/to-do-list management

Clipper (Summer 87)

formerly used for lots of custom programming (bank statement processing for the pension fund, donation accounting, inventory and asset management, address tracking, deaconess statistics) at the DGD. To ease the creation and modification of screens, I created a form compiler.

various shell and scripting languages

unix sh, csh, awk, sed; MS-DOS batch, macro-languages for Word, Excel, MS-Works, File Express etc.

HTML

a few websites where I did design and coding:

• marion-stut.de (static)
• Sanda Fellowship Christian Church (Typo 3)

several websites where a designer created the design an I did the coding:

• marburg-sued.de (Typo 3)
• gott-will-alle.org (Typo 3)
• emo-wiesbaden.de (static)
• naturfoto-haubner.de (static)
• designbuero-oetjen.de (static)
• leben-hat-sinn.de (static)

LISP, Prolog

used somewhat (prolog only a little) in the dissertation; learned the basics of object oriented programming with XLISP.

various macro expanders

inspired by the C macro handling, I created one for HP 260 Basic. For version control (some people dont't want some features or have different data structures but should have the same source code) in Clipper programs, I regularly use M4.

MS Quick Basic

used for programming the telex box control program, including interface to special serial drivers

HP 260 Basic

(structured programming, recursive functions and procedures, global variables, database interface, form generator, report generator) used for programming for the toy importer (order processing etc.)

C

learned in university, used in the diploma thesis 1987/88 (graphical tree layout, 3 versions of about 40 printed pages of code each) and in the dissertation 1989-91

8086 Assembler

used in university to teach us assembler in general. Largest training application was a simple round robin multitasker (preprogrammed tasks).

PASCAL

the main teaching language in university, used also for the "advanced practice" (function library information system)

FORTRAN

used for circuit simulation in Japan. The largest self developed program was a general circuit simulator with about 600 lines of code, the largest program dealt with was a 2-dimensional transistor simulator with about 10000 lines of code.

Simple BASIC

learned and tried a bit on a Commodore PET 2001 (8kB RAM, audio tape recorder), did lots of programming on a japanese NEC PC-8001 (Z80, 16 kB RAM, audio tape recorder, 80 character screen), e.g. learning japanese vocabulary, a recursive planning tic-tac-toe; a chess program was severly limited by memory

6502 Assembler

on a Commodore PET 2001 (8kB RAM, audio tape recorder), wrote a disassembler in BASIC

Programmable Pocket Calculators (1977-1980)

1977 self study of a 72 step programmable pocket calculator. Since 1978 TI-59 (1 kB, magnetic cards), used for astronomical calculations (e.g. the height of meteorites watched by seperate groups of astronomers), orbit tracking of amateur radio satellites.

Application Programs

This list can only give a small part of what I've used up to now in my life.

MS-Office Professional

Application programming with Access, day to day word processing and calculation with Excel, including some macro operations.

MS-Works

One of my favourite packages, with its very flexible, yet simple, database part. It suffices for most jobs in small offices, including mailings to 4000 addresses, reservation, operation and accounting of small retreat homes, and even calculating pension requests of deaconesses from former east Germany.

Senior

an administration program for homes for the elderly, created by Gebrüder Jung Informationssysteme, Bad Kreuznach, Germany

Winfax Pro

HoTMetal

HTML Editor

Corel Draw

WordPerfect

TeX/LaTeX

Turbo Pascal

SPICE

(1982) circuit simulation package, those days only available on a mainframe

Hardware

LAN cabling

planned and supervised the installation of several LANs (10Base2, 10BaseT, 100BaseT)

IBM-compatible PCs

changing hard- and floppy disks, installation of peripherals, finding I/O-ports, IRQ-levels etc.

Unix Workstations

most notably HP 9000 (had one at the desk during the dissertation)

ATARI ST

I owned one

HP 260

rack mounted minicomputer serving 2-16 screens (serial or video connected) with interpreted BASIC programs. Used at the toy importer (1985-88). 16 bit CPU, 0.5-2 MB RAM, IEEE 488 (aka HPIB) bus for peripherals (hard disks, printers etc.)

Microcomputers

built in 1981 a very small computer on my own (8051 CPU chip, 256 Byte RAM chip, adress latch, some TTL chips, buses etc. to be soldered wire by wire)

Electronics

built in 1974/75 from the separate capacitors, coils, diodes etc. small radios (detector, audion, with LF-Amplifiers), from 1976 also some analog (Op-amp) and digital (TTL) circuits

Outside of the Job

web site administration

mostly the technical design and programming - graphical design was done by other people. All these sites use a static CMS programmed by me using awk and m4.

• a Marburg church www.christus-treff.org (1997-2004) including PHP/MySQL-driven event database and a multi-level static CMS (python/m4)
• my current church in Marburg www.marburg-sued.de (2005-) including PHP/text file-driven event database
• the office service of my wife www.marion-stut.de (2004-)
• telephone counseling Marburg www.telefonseelsorge-marburg.de (2004-2006)
• Nature Ptotography Friedrich Haubner (beautiful pictures with German text) www.naturfoto-haubner.de (2007-)

telephone counseling

(1994-1999) trying to help desperate people on the phone, doing the bookkeeping of the local telephone counseling organisation (another e.V.)

co-leading a teenager group in the local church (1986-91)

mathematics tutoring (1979-1988)

co-founding an astronomer's club (1978)

co-organizing chess tournaments

(1978-1981) in the local chess club

Home | Christian Missions | Christustreff Marburg | Pictures of Marburg | Job | Remote Communications | Linux OS | Psion page | Contact

Last updated: 17.01.2009 15:03:28 Martin Stut, email: , Marburg, Germany
URL: http://www.stut.de/compexp.htm