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Email: dcarrera@gmail.com

Masters at Lund University


Current and Recent work:

  • Dark Matter & Binary Stars (Thesis).
  • Planet Stability.
  • Observational History of Multiple Planet Systems.
  • Fortran 2008 and the GFortran compiler.

Working with:

  • Melvyn B. Davies.
  • Ross Church.

Interests

  • Software development:
    • Scientific computing (Fortran 2008).
    • AJAX and web applications (jQuery).
    • Revision control (Mercurial, Darcs, Bazaar).
    • Functional programming languages.
    • Software security.
  • Astrophysics (esp. simulations) and space exploration.
  • Cycling, hiking.
  • Social responsibility.
  • Reading:
    I mostly enjoy reading technical articles and papers.
    I do read the occasional fiction novel. Some of my
    favourite fiction books include:

    • The Wheel of Time (14th book expected in 2012).
    • Harry Potter series.
    • Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley.
    • Several books from Isaac Asimov including the Foundation series.
  • Writing:
    I enjoy technical writing. Since 2010 I haven’t had as much time to write as a hobby. I have written unpublished articles on space transportation, space colony design, alien life, etc.

    I have experience writing software manuals. I co-authored the Point and Click OpenOffice.org with Robin Miller, and also Getting Started with OpenOffice.org, the OpenOffice.org Draw Guide and the OpenOffice.org Writer Guide.

    Everything I know about technical writing I’ve learnt from my friend Jean Hollis Weber, author of the Technical Editors’ Eyrie.

Work and Education

I have a degree in Math and Physics from the University of Toronto. Most recently I worked as a web software developer, mainly working with PHP, MySQL and AJAX. I quit my job to start a Masters in Astrophysics at Lund University. Going further back in time, I spent many years working as a teaching assistant or course instructor (Mathematics).

Languages and travel

I am Venezuelan by birth and Canadian by choice. I have enjoyed living in seven countries (Venezuela, Canada, Hong Kong, USA, England, Germany and Sweden) and I prefer to think of myself as a citizen of the world. I am fluent in Spanish and English. I know intermediate German and very elementary Swedish.

Miscellaneous Articles

Charity
Social Responsibility
Finance
Personal Finance Software
Software Development
PHP Framework Comparison
Choosing an Ajax toolkit: part I, part II

Perl 6
Brainfuck interpreter in Perl 6
RPN calculator in Perl 6
Perl 6 and the Josephus problem
Embedding Parrot in Perl 6
Security
Monotone Security