Development: software engineer with a wide depth of knowledge and experience, collaborative spirit, positive personal energy, and great team skills.
Music: I thrive on creating great music with interesting people, and we have fun doing it. I love to organize large-scale projects and see them through to fruition. I write, play, sing, music direct, work with singers, arrange, and smile.
Business focus: creating new lines of communication, finding out what users really need and getting that information to developers, breaking down the walls.
Software skills: PHP, HTML, XML, VoiceXML, CSS, Javascript, JQuery, AJAX, Linux, Apache, MySQL, C++, Visual Basic, SOAP and REST webservice integration, Smarty, CVS, SVN, Git, Drupal, Prototype, UNIX shell scripting, object-oriented programming. Some experience with node.js and Coffeescript.
I crave challenges, I live for new experiences, and pick up new technologies rapidly and on the job.
Ads Solutions Engineer @ Helping our largest ad clients and our sales team create innovative ad solutions. From September 2014 to Present (1 year 2 months) New York, NYCustomer Solutions Engineer @ From August 2014 to Present (1 year 3 months) New YorkBandleader @ I recently started this indie pop band with friends. Our first recordings spread rapidly across the Internet, and we soon found ourselves playing international festivals and have twice toured in Europe. Our music is released by labels like Elefant Records (Spain) and has been heard on radio stations and web shows from Brazil to Greece, as well as international television. From January 2009 to Present (6 years 10 months) Brooklyn, NYFreelance musician @ Composer, songwriter, musical director, pianist, keyboardist, vocal coach. From July 2001 to Present (14 years 4 months) Software Engineer @ Full-stack developer working on AMP - the CMS and platform powering sites such as StyleList, Engadget, and Autoblog. I’ve fixed numerous bugs and introduced many new features. I also function in a product role, soliciting feedback from developers and editors, determining what new features we can create to meet their needs, writing up requirements, and often making the changes myself. I’ve also presented various AMP features to product managers, editors, and management. Additionally, I’ve worked to connect people from different teams and to introduce new lines of communication across the company. From July 2013 to August 2014 (1 year 2 months) New YorkSoftware Engineer @ Helping make nytimes.com happen! You can see my work across the Sports, Theater, and Movies sections and in various search and autosuggestion features. I also worked on special features for the 2012 Olympics. Currently I'm working hard on improving and expanding our new Crosswords; for example, I recently rewrote the archive at http://www.nytimes.com/crosswords/archive, and I wrote the code for the Scorecard you see at http://www.nytimes.com/crosswords. I am also leading a project to generate original music for any article on the site. And I'm intensely involved in efforts to enhance internal communication, encourage innovation, and clear roadblocks everywhere! From January 2012 to June 2013 (1 year 6 months) Greater New York City AreaComposer @ I wrote the music and lyrics for "Cinderella's Mice".
Then, in 2010, Susan DiLallo and I wrote "Angelina Ballerina, the Musical," based on the book and TV series, which played to consistently sold-out houses at the Vital Theatre and is currently touring the country. In 2011, we wrote a holiday sequel! From September 2005 to March 2012 (6 years 7 months) New York, NYFreelance Web Developer @ I've solved problems for and created websites for a variety of companies and individuals. From March 2008 to 2012 (4 years) New York, NYWeb Developer @ Sole back-end and front-end developer on various projects integrating automated telephony and web interfaces. Designed databases, created and tested user interfaces.
Created VoiceResolve system integrating automated speech recognition with web-based input from live agents under a MVC paradigm. Created complex AJAX- and Javascript-based controller that processed events from a Java server, using Yahoo! API to create tabs and autocompletion, Flash and other libraries to provide calendar popups and allow playback of audio files. Accessed mySQL database through object-oriented PHP backend controller. Created all HTML, AJAX calls, Javascript, PHP, and database for administration UI using JQuery framework. Created XML schema for callflows and PHP script to generate VoiceXML from them.
Built telephone-based applications for banking and healthcare clients in VoiceXML and PHP, leveraging SOAP and REST webservices to access external data.
Created front-end web interface for tour making application, using Javascript and JQuery to implement draggable elements and other advanced UI features, creating design and all CSS and HTML.
Built PHP-based system integrating REST webservices to allow callers to receive real-time transcriptions of spoken utterances texted to a cell phone. From January 2008 to June 2011 (3 years 6 months) New York, NYWeb Developer @ Sole front-end and back-end developer on project integrating social networking with Google custom search, creating web spiders to gather information from search engines in real time. Used PHP in conjunction with Smarty templates. From July 2007 to December 2007 (6 months) New YorkAssistant Professor @ Created and won faculty approval for new courses in a new music curriculum.
Designed and secured funding for new Macintosh-based production studio.
Independently organized classes and activities for hundreds of students.
Served on numerous planning and admissions committees. From July 2005 to July 2007 (2 years 1 month) Bronxville, NY
PhD, Music Composition @ University of California, Davis From 1994 to 2000 B.A., Computer Science with Breadth in Music @ Harvard University From 1987 to 1991 Ben Morss is skilled in: PHP, CSS, jQuery, Music, JavaScript, MySQL, Git, Advertising, Online Advertising, HTML, HTML5, Joomla, Drupal, C, SOAP, REST, XML, Smarty, Linux, Composition, Musical Theatre, Piano, Musical Direction, Indie Rock, Jazz, Endometriosis, Web Applications, AJAX, Subversion, Recording, Web Services, CMS, VoiceXML, Node.js, Google Adwords, Sales Engineering, Web Development, DoubleClick, Quilting, Jump Rope, synchronized swimming, Beekeeping, Eggplant, Recycling, Bodywork
Websites:
http://www.infiniteorchestra.com,
http://myspace.com/chariotsoftuna