Hi! I'm David, & I like computers.

I also like websites, open source, Mac, Linux, standards, accessibility, learning, teaching, typography, and a plethora of other geeky things. This is my home on the web.

What is all this nonsense?

The first thing you should know is that I'm a nerd. I play nerdy games like D&D, I do nerdy things like build websites and write computer code, and many of my friends are nerds. The second thing you should know is that nerds are actually really cool people. I should know; I am one.

This website is my personal playground, portfolio, and ball-pit. To my friends: please excuse the serious parts of the site. I have to look professional sometimes. To the professional-types: please excuse the silly parts of the site. I do have to be me, after all.

David Baumgold

http://davidbaumgold.com

NOSPAMFORbaumgold@brandeis.edu (remove capital letters)

Education

  • Student at Brandeis University in Waltham, MA. Class of 2010.
    B.A. in Computer Science and Psychology. Current GPA 3.42.

Skills

Experience

  • December 2007 to present
    Junior Systems Administrator (Guru)
    Assisted the Systems Administrator for the Computer Science department at Brandeis University. Helped manage, maintain, and upgrade the network of over 100 Mac and Linux computers. Performed routine support and assistance, and researched and implemented solutions to problems as they came up.
  • Spring Semester 2009
    Teacher: "Website Creation and Design"
    Taught a class to other Brandeis students as part of the Brandeis Communiversity program.
  • 2008-2009 academic year
    Undergraduate Department Representative (UDR)
    Facilitated communication between students and faculty in the Brandeis University Computer Science department. Planned and executed several events for the student body.2008-2009 academic year.
  • September 2007 to present.
    Webmaster
    Designed, created, and maintained websites for several student clubs at Brandeis University, including Company B, Proscenium, and A Cappella Etc.
  • Summer 2007
    Intern
    Assisted in psychological research investigating how humans learn and recall music. Worked at American University in Washington, DC under Professor Zehra Peynircioglu.

Interests

  • Music: Currently sing with Company B and Proscenium, two student-run a cappella groups at Brandeis University. Also sung with many award-winning choirs throughout high school.
  • Theater: Performed in multiple theater productions throughout college and high school. Also participated in the Cappies, a high school theater critics program. Some of my theater critiques were published in local newspapers.
  • Hypnosis: Practiced amateur hypnosis on willing friends for roughly a year.

Projects

Websites

  • A Cappella Etc, an organizational group for the a cappella groups at Brandeis University. Designer, webmaster December 2007 to present.
  • Company B, a co-ed a cappella group at Brandeis University, with a classic hits theme. Designer, webmaster September 2007 to present.
  • Proscenium, a co-ed a cappella group at Brandeis University, with a musical theater theme. Designer, webmaster September 2007 to present.

Plans

  • I want to make a cross-platform music composition program. Something along the lines of Finale or Sibelius, but written in Python, with an interface that's fun and easy to work with. I'd also like it to be cheap or free, so that students can use it.
  • I want to participate in an open source project, because I've benefitted from open source so much, and I want to give back to that community.
  • I want to work more with Lisp, Python, and Django: I think they're useful, modern, and beautiful languages that aren't getting enough use in the world.
  • I want to learn modern, popular programming languages, such as C, C++, Perl, Ruby (and Rails), and Cocoa. I want to see what all the hype is about, and I want to be a more flexible programmer.
  • I want to learn how to better use image editing programs like GIMP and Inkscape.

Tutorials