Ken Coar
Web Software Developer, Author,
Sanagendamgagwedweinini1,
Apache Software Foundation, <BigCo Employee>
Last updated:
- Ken says:
-
"I've been involved with the World-Wide Web since 1992,
and a member of the Apache Group since 1997.
I'm no longer active in DECUS (the Digital Computer Users'
Society). I stopped in 1999 when it became clear that
DECUS (and its successor EnCOMPASS) was a lost cause, mired
in bureacracy and politics. The acquisition of Digital by
Compaq, and then Compaq by HP, did nothing to improve matters
that I can see -- but the roots of DECUS' demise stretch
back to the 1980s when the volunteer organisation was
destroyed by the Board. Grr.. Never mind.
"I started participating in the
Internet Engineering Task Force
at IETF-43 in December, 1998. I'm working on the
CGI RFC project, which is trying to formalise
the Common Gateway Interface from the collection of fairly loose
descriptions at NCSA
into a fairly tight and complete specification. We're not an IETF working
group (yet?), but it's fun. I also follow the
WebDAV (Distributed Authoring
and Versioning) and related working groups, and the HTTP working
group to a lesser extent.
"I teach sessions and seminars around the world on the topics of
computer/network security and the World-Wide Web.
Some of my presentations (like the
sessions I gave at Eureka98 in Paris) can be found
here.
I'm also the author of the 360-page
Apache Server for Dummies
(published February 1998), one of the lead authors of
Apache Server Unleashed
(published March 2000), and co-author of
Apache Cookbook
from O'Reilly & Associates.
I have a suspended book project entitled
Apache Module Development in C
(meaning that the project got cancelled, but I'm still working on
it).
I also
write Amazon.com reviews about books I've read and videos I've seen.
"I keep online copies
of some of the presentations and seminars I give.
This is by no means an exhaustive list, but I am trying to
bring it up to date.
"Check out my
list of favourite books
if you're looking for something to read in a lighter vein.
And if you haven't seen it yet, I can highly recommend
The Wizard of Speed and Time.
"I discovered Advogato
in 2000, and I think it's a brilliant idea. Sort of a self-selecting
SlashDot, focussed on open software,
only without as many trolls.
"In addition to the stuff I write for formal publication, I ramble
on a bit about various things as I feel compelled. If you're
truly bored, you can find some of them in my
'Ken's Musings' area. When it comes to purchases,
particularly online ones, the
CONSUMERMAN Files include opinions and
impressions of products and services that are being made available
to the online community as a public service.
"I keep my genealogy work concerning my family name at the
Coar.Org site, but I do have some
stuff online about my immediate family.
If you're looking for photographs of our cats, that's where
you'll find them.
"I own several firearms and enjoy shooting them. I'm an NRA
certified firearms safety, pistol,
and rifle instructor, and I hold several expert marksmanship
ratings.
"If you're at all interested in becoming an author and writing a book,
I've compiled some notes based upon
my single experience with the process. I can also recommend
Philip Greenspun's
online story
about his experiences, and the
Studio B Web site and
mailing list.
"You can occasionally find me online in real-time in the
#apache IRC channel at IRC.FreeNode.Net."
Acknowledgements
I owe a lot to a lot of people. Here's a partial list, in no particular
order. I've forgotten hundreds of people, I know, but I'll add to this
list as I remember them.
- My wife Cathy, first and foremost. She has managed to put up
with me for more than 16 years now, and has even helped me become
a better person.
- AMD (Advanced Micro Devices), who
donated a truly terrific 700MHz workstation system to me for my
open-source development work. Murli Kotteyil was instrumental in
making this happen, and has my undying gratitude.
- SoftQuad, makers of what I
consider to be an excellent XML editing tool, XMetaL.
- Brian Behlendorf, who gave my name to the organisers of the
nascent Apache team at <BigCo>.
- Chris Beckett, Yen-Ping Shan, and Sandra Johnson -- all
at <BigCo> --
who saw fit to hire me for <BigCo>'s Apache development effort.
- Rasmus Lerdorf, who let me pester him daily with questions about
PHP while he was in the office next
to mine. He since moved out of the office and left <BigCo>,
but I'm not
responsible for that. I don't think.
- Neil Salkind and Peter Weisz, agents at the
Studio B Literary Agency, who
helped me overcome my writing cafard and found me projects on which
to work.
- Paul Dudley, who first caused me to take a look at Apache.
- Trish Gagnon, who brought order out of Digital's chaos when it
came to DECUS conferences.
- Judy Mulvey, who managed to cause the DECUS logistics to actually
work and make sense. Well, work anyway.
- Did I mention my wife?
Writing, reviewing, and other publication stuff
I've written a book about the Apache Web server software
(Apache Server for Dummies), co-authored another
(Apache Cookbook), and contributed
several chapters to another
(Apache Server Unleashed),
written a number of articles for magazines and Web publications,
performed proposal and technical reviews of various books, and
contributed here and there to other books about Apache, open-source, and
the Web.
I have written articles about Apache for
ApacheToday.Com; some of my earlier
articles for Internet.Com can be found on the
LinuxPlanet.Com site.
I'm open to suggestions for future projects.
I am available to do reviews of book proposals and TOCs; my standard fee
for such is US$100 apiece. Depending upon the deadlines and
time investment involved, I am also available for technical reviewing and
editing projects, at rates negociated on a case-by-case basis. Contact
my agent (see below) for more information.
I'm represented by
Neil Salkind at the
Studio B Literary Agency;
please contact either Neil or
myself about potential opportunities.
Ken Coar on the Web
Here are some links to pages about my various participations:
Out of curiousity, I occasionally scan the search engines to see into
what weird byways of the Web my name has found itself. Here are a
few, by way of credentials if you like:
- Ken Coar on the formation of the Apache Software Foundation
- A RadioNet interview with Ken Coar at ApacheCon 2001 (3MB)
- Ken Coar's keynote at Atlanta Linux Showcase 2000
- Ken Coar (et alia) on Apache 2.0
- Ken Coar's listing
on the Google Linux OS Personal Pages (used to be the Yahoo
Award Winners page, though I have no idea how that got listed!)
I receive a significant number of requests for referrals -- for
job openings, article or book writing, and so on. I receive so
many, in fact, that I have had to institute a fee schedule in order
to keep them from consuming an inordinate amount of my time.
Therefore: If you want me to provide you with the names of people
whom I think might be interested in or well-suited for an opportunity,
I require an up-front fee of at least US$250. If any candidate
referral I make is actually chosen to fill the opportunity, I require a
finder's fee of at least US$1000. (These fees are obviously waived
if you're approaching me personally about the opportunity. :-)
Sound greedy, mercenary, or money-grubbing? Before you judge, allow
me to point out that my time is valuable to me, if not to
the people who are asking me to spend it on their behalf. And by referring
someone, I am staking my reputation (or at least some of it) on
the opportunity being a worth-while one. If these fees result in
no more referral requests, then I'm not displeased -- the lack
represents time I can spend as I wish, rather as someone else
would like. And if someone is willing to pay the fees, they get
the very best referral effort of which I'm capable.
-
Ken A L Coar
MeepZor Consulting
7824 Mayfaire Crest Lane, Suite 202
Raleigh, NC 27615-4875
USA
Voice: +1 (919) 254.4237
Facsimile: +1 (919) 254.5250
Ken.Coar@Golux.Com
coar@Apache.Org
privacy and other personal freedoms,
tae kwon do,
firearms,
riflery,
encryption,
quality assurance,
customer satisfaction,
user interface design,
Java,
the Book of Mormon,
hats,
French,
Dungeons & Dragons® and
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons®,
digital electronix,
science fiction,
computer grafix,
security (physical, computer, and information),
the World-Wide Web,
software architecture and design,
BLISS,
Internet use,
the Information Superhighway,
chemistry,
C,
process analysis and automation,
motion study.
Travelling
I'm going to try to keep track of all my trips. I am doing so
on Dopplr, but I keep
forgetting to update the maps..
- 1 Sanagendamgagwedweinini
- Loosely translated, Ojibwe for 'man who asks difficult
questions.'
coar
Copyright © 2001 by Ken A L Coar. All rights reserved.
