Dave Strauss' Resume

This is the resume of Dave Strauss. Well, actually, this is the cover letter for the resume of Dave Strauss; the actual resume is here. This is a work in progress, so don't be surprised if it seems a little disjointed or if there are sentence fragments and unfinished thoughts lying around.

One of the problems with resumes is that they don't really convey much about the person they're supposedly describing. Admit it -- now that you've read my resume, you really have very little idea of what kind of a person I am. You can tell I'm a geek, but that was obvious already. You can tell I've worked a bunch of places, and that I've done a bunch of stuff, but (assuming you're looking for someone to do some work for you or your company) you don't know who I am.

Just to help fill things out a little, here's a short biography.

If you're looking for someone to fix a problem you have right now, then I'm probably not the person you're looking for. It's highly unlikely that I have the skill set and the intimate knowledge needed to dig you out of whatever hole you've managed to mire yourself in. For that, you'll have to look to the people who are working for you right now; for better or worse, they got you into this mess and they're going to have to get you out of it (unless of course you happen to need someone to work on Oak Technology's IPS printer software, in which case I am definitely the person you're looking for; after all, I've been working on this stuff for almost 15 years now, and I even wrote some of it. But if that's the case either you already know who I am or I already work for you).

If on the other hand you're looking for someone who can make solid contributions over the longer term, someone who can help you get your products successfully out in the market, I'm your man. I might not know all the ins and outs of your product or your markets or the tools and languages used to build it, but within 3 months I will know these things, and within 6 months I will be an expert at them. So if you're willing to make that 6 month investment in me, I won't disappoint you.

I consider myself an electronics engineer even though most people would think of me as a software engineer, and even though I've worked almost exclusively in software for the past 15 years or so. However, I discovered long ago that the thought processes involved in design and debug work are basically the same whether you're doing hardware or you're doing software; it's just that the toolset is a little different. So there's really no reason that I would classify myself as either a hardware engineer or a software engineer other than that my software skills are more current (in fact, I wouldn't mind learning a little Verilog; it would be something new for me and would be a nice complement to my other skills).

Here are some of the things that don't show up on my resume, mostly because they aren't directly related to my job or because they don't fit in a resume format:

Just in case you were interested, my oldest newsgroup posting dates from 1994. (I was in charge of, and wrote much of, the software for the Lexmark/IBM 4079 printer).
Also in case you were interested, I participate in several mailing lists, usually as a lurker but sometimes more actively. I'm currently subscribed to the following lists:
- The Linux parport mailing list. At one point a couple of years ago I actively contributed to the Linux parallel port work, and some of my submissions made their way into the parallel port kernel modules (I made changes to get ECP mode to really work).
- The Human Powered Vehicles mailing list. Despite the name this list is actually mostly about recumbent bicycles (and sometime tricycles).
- The MassBike mailing list. Very useful if you're a bicycle commuter as I am.
- The RedHat XFree86 mailing list. Very useful if you're trying to get X working properly on a notebook.
I've been known to do any and all of the following:
- Bicycling. Well, bicycle commuting actually. I'd rather be doing bicycle touring, but who has the time and money?
- Volleyball. I used to play in a pickup league in Needham during the school year. It's a little above recreational play but below C-league. Many years ago I played on a C-league team but it was too hard on my knees and I had to stop.
- Skiing. Well, skiboarding, actually. In case you haven't tried it (and you probably haven't) skiboarding is way more fun than skiing, IMHO. It's kind of like a cross between skating and skiing with a little bit of snowboarding technique thrown in. You should try it. It's fun (you may be able to tell I'm a fairly recent convert).
- Tennis. I'm a very occasional player. I'm OK but not great -- too inconsistent, actually. I would have to play more often to get better.
I occasionally write things and publish them on my web page.
I occasionally take pictures and publish them on my web page.

Yes, I write and maintain this website myself. And yes I wrote all the HTML myself. By hand. Web-page composition tools are for wimps.

Last updated 20 Aug 2004
Questions? Comments? Email me