I have been using ColdFusion since 1999 starting with version 4.01 ongoing to version 10 and have kept up with all the new functionality from the Allaire days through to the latest Adobe incarnation. If ColdFusion can do it then I've most likely used it, LDAP handling, Ajax Objects, JScript and Ext, extended components and functions, charting, image manipulation, Verity, XML, etc, etc, etc. I think ColdFusion is absolutely marvelous for rapid web service and application development. Not only that but it's easy to both teach and learn (see training below).

I have around 3 years experience in using C++. I hardly touched C for years then a requirement popped out of nowhere for someone having in depth knowledge of the MSIE certificate enrollment interface. MS changed their API a couple of times which made key generation, certificate installation and chain management a really tricky job. A good understanding of C++ is a good thing when you try and read the MSDN documentation. For C, I only really have standard library knowledge, and that's a bit rusty, but I have had to brush up on it as one of my tasks is to provide a system that runs in parallel to a C based signing engine, both of which access an Oracle DB and things can get quite intricate.

I have used Java in growing amounts over the last 10 years ranging from simple applet development in the 90's to writing an NT Service that used a multithread FTP class handling over 100Mb a day (back in 2001), accepting connections from specific IP ranges and implementing the required security (whisper: This was used by D*sney but don't tell anyone). I have also completed the Sun SL-275 programming course.

I've been writing Javascripts for over 10 years and it still makes me laugh when I see the average Dreamweaver/CS4+ rollover code. Web Designers seem to give you a glazed stare when you tell them it's rubbish and ColdFusion novices look at their generated source code with a gasps of astonishment at the 500kb of completely useless script they've managed to produce. Long live getElementByID() and CSS.

Why do we need EJBs? So that banks, corporations and other large organisations can have trackable RMI components, improved security and an average payroll for software engineers that would scare the living daylights out of NASA.

Ahhh, PHP. I currently code and maintain a small datadriven PHP site for the Belgian government in conjunction with Apache running on Red Hat AS 4.0. It's a very nice little project, multi-lingual too.

Not my favourite but we have to learn why we dislike things. My main gripe with .NET is that MS constantly changed the standard component set with each Windows release so the scripts were constantly having to be updated. I've created a few applications using .NET but don't particularly enjoy it.

Dynamic XML creation and object based data transfer are the name of the game in many respects these days. I wrote a multithread FTP NT service in Java several years ago that gave me a good foundation. Since then I've moved into XSLT and now more recently into XSD and schemas. The majority of times I've used recently it have been for writing APIs to ColdFusion web services and Oracle import/export routines. It's very good when it's well structured. But if it isn't... eeek!

All a bit old hat now but when I fisrt started playing with computers in about 1984 I realised how difficult it was to do simple things like create a nice screen output from a Spectrum/Amiga (remember "Depth Charge"?). Somethings never change do they? It would be fair to say that in the last 10 years HTML and all its dandy children have had me gazing at the ceiling wishing that the internet would just go away. It never happened so I've had to hone my skills for all browser types with an eager nod of the head to the W3C accessibility guidelines. This can be difficult when your trying to fulfil a request for dynamically generated realtime interactive video content for display on a Japanese Spec PDA.

Why CSS has taken so long to become the de facto standard layout control mechanism is beyond my ken. I'm a big fan. You may have noticed that most of this site's look and feel is achieved using CSS1. My next task is to make a version that is entirely compatible with the W3C usability requirements using CSS2, so you may hear me cursing the Mac Safari browser some time soon.

Hmmmm. The thing is I now work with the security object enrollment APIs for all the main clients and servers, and MS being what they are, VB is an absolute must if you want to work with older versions and have reliable request and certificate installation routines. Except on Vista of course....

I have been using Oracle since version 7i and I have considerable experience as an Oracle DBA. I recently created packages and procedures and carry out all usual day to day admin tasks for a database that in its production version contains around 2 terabytes of highly sensitive data. Other resposiblities include the RMAN scheduling, data modelling and performance tuning of 3x10g databases containing well over 100 separate schemas in a development environment.

Although I am chiefly interested in Oracle, I also have SQL Server and MySQL skills that are predominantly based around MS SQL Server from v7 to 2003. I have a great deal of experience in writing Stored Procedures with user defined function based error handing, T-SQL in financial transactions, Triggers, Constraints, DTS packages and relational database design.

I started using Linux in about 2004, since then I've taken the time to learn as much about it as I can. My main experience has been with Red Hat AS/ES v3 onwards, but I've also made extensive use of CentOS and Fedora as well as bootable Ubuntu and Knoppix for admin and security scanning. Both are good tools for securing websites. Other skills include Apache configuration for multiple secure virtual directories and domains, OpenSSL, Mail servers, DNS management, Vim, Grub... all the the usual stuff really.

Using the bash shell becomes a pleasure after a while. Creating automated scripts, cron jobs and file management routines for Oracle and app log maintenance gives a really good insight into shell scripting and it's a natural progression for anyone using Linux or Unix in anger (sometimes lots of anger, but elegantly controlled with proper error handling).

My most recent job requires a good knowlegde of PK encryption combined with a decent understanding of major cryptographic methods. SHA1/2, Diffie Hellman and AES make up the majority of my experience but I've looked into methods just out of interest. Just for the record, this isn't to say I'm a cryptologist OR a cryptoanalyst. OpenSSL and PK encryption are my day to day areas of interest.