Dan Q
- Address
- The Green, Eynsham Road, Sutton, Witney, OX29 5RZ, United Kingdom
- Phone
- +44 7795 100046
- cv@danq.me
- PGP/GPG
- B00A 55DA C3F5 9B51 7CA3 F64F 6342 1D24 3218 A6AC
In a Nutshell
A developer and "hacker" with a genuine passion for security, technology, and the Internet. I bring the best in standards, compatibility, and accessibility to web application development.
With 28+ years of experience of development on web and desktop and a dedication to lifelong learning, I'm proud to be a full-stack developer with a level of understanding as deep as it is broad. With mixed qualifications and a working history spanning a diversity of sectors, I bring holistic understanding and a wealth of perspectives to any team or project.
Outside of my work I'm a keen volunteer, with experience as a tutor to new developers, a helpline counsellor, and a charity trustee. I'm a regular speaker on my local conference circuit, sharing my love of the open Web with others. I perform magic and play GPS-based sports, though rarely at the same time.
Experience
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Automattic
Senior Software Engineer (WooCommerce)
—
- Responsibility for mission-critical ecommerce platform supporting millions of ecommerce websites worldwide.
- Development and project management in a fast-paced, entirely-distributed environment.
- Maintaining a focus on code quality, security, and technical compliance with legal, contractual and taxation issues.
- Key technologies: WordPress, WooCommerce, PHP, JavaScript, React, CSS, containerisation, accessibility, performance.
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Bodleian Libraries,
University of OxfordWeb & CMS Developer / Digital Manager
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- Development on a number of adapted and bespoke content management platforms.
- Overseeing a large redevelopment project spanning 40 public-facing websites.
- Implementing new platforms for blogging, digital signage, and interactive exhibitions.
- Designing and delivering training programmes including on security, TDD, and UX.
- Managing a small team comprising both technical and non-technical staff.
- Key technologies: Squiz, WordPress, PHP, Ruby, JavaScript, CSS, JSON, LAPP stacks, Electron, WebSockets.
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Freelance
Web Applications Consultant
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- Specification and delivery of software tools to a variety of clients, including a national charity, an insurance company, a defence contractor, an academic institution, and private individuals.
- Providing web application security training and consultancy.
- Working ethically and with integrity, often with confidential or sensitive data either on or off-site.
- Maintaining self-discipline and time management and a focus on efficiency and client needs.
- Key technologies: HTML5, CSS3, Ruby, JavaScript, Perl, web APIs, Drupal, pentesting/fuzzing toolkits.
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Three Rings CIC
Founder / Technical Director
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- Invented and realised a secure, flexible volunteer management system supporting tens of thousands of volunteers at hundreds of charities daily.
- Managing and training a team of volunteer developers of varying experience levels.
- Developing new features in an agile, test-driven environment with a commitment to accessibility and security.
- Producing a product designed to be suitable for users across the whole spectrum of computer confidence and physical ability.
- Key technologies: Ruby, Rails, accessibility, responsive design, Service Workers, Coffeescript/JavaScript, hardened configuration, SASS/CSS, LANR stacks.
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SmartData UK Ltd.
Software Engineer
—
- Involvement with the entire lifecycle of developing bespoke software.
- Responsible for managing small teams on some projects; working alone on others.
- Took the initiative in researching, training in, and introducing new approaches including the use of open-source technologies, the web as a platform, and automated testing.
- Primary responsibility for the company's Linux-based web, email, and database servers.
- Key technologies: PHP, ASP Classic, Perl, .NET languages, LAMP stacks, BIND, Java.
Education
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MSc Information Security and Forensics (Hons)
The Open University
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Certificate in Ethical Hacking
EC-Council
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FdA Counselling & Psychotherapy
Aylesbury College &
The Open University—
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BEng Computer Science with Software Engineering (Hons)
Aberystwyth University
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4 A-Levels
Preston's College
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Portfolio
I have been an active contributor to the open-source community and research into the evolution of the Web, some of which can be explored via my GitHub profile, my blog, and (for a more-eccentric overview) my "things" page. Projects include:
- FreeDeedPoll.org.uk, which has helped thousands of British citizens to change their names for free and without the need for a solicitor.
- The de-facto standard Ruby implementation of the MOTP authentication mechanism.
- Original security research and training resources covering topics such as EV SSL spoofing, mobile HTTPS interception, and ethical disclosure. Also, probably the Internet's easiest-to-follow intoduction to the fundamentals of SHA1 length extension attacks.
- Possibly the first public demonstration of what would later be known as HTTP 301 'Evercookies'.
- A Wordle-like game in which players try to guess the daily Dungeons & Dragons monster by its stats.
- Pre-filtered RSS feeds of BBC News sources, initially generated to allow me to skip the sports news but now enjoying widespread appeal.
- CapsulePress, a gateway to allow WordPress/ClassicPress sites to publish via the Gemini, Spartan and Gopher protocols.
- Twee2, a command-line compiler for the Twine interactive fiction engine.
- The original implementation of OpenID for WordPress.
- Various projects relating to museum interactive exhibitions both on- and off-premises, and creative applications of digital signage.
- Projects suitable for teaching probability theory (and lottery statistics), OTP cryptography, CSS steganography, screen scraping, reverse-engineering Flash for reimplementation in JS, websockets, mathematics, and decentralised and progressive web applications, among others.