Parallels Business Automation Standard (PBAS) is a complete hosting solution and domain registration software for several TLDs (.com, .net, .org, etc.). There are several companies that offer integration plugins for this solution, but at the moment there's none capable of dealing with BR domain registration. Therefore, I started studying PBAS solution's API to work for this client and learn how to develop with a new computer language for me, PERL. Project owner Alexsander Ruiz (aruiz@sul.com.br) helped me a lot to achieve the objective, which was developing the plugin entirely.

At first, I had to do the basics: create a virtual machine so I could install CentOS 5 (32 bits) and install a third-part library on it called libepp-nicbr, provided by nicbr - Registro Br (so I could test protocol commands from shell and know how these commands actually worked). After that, installing a trial version of Parallels Business Automation Standand 4.3 became priority for me.

Done with all the preparation phase, including the installation of additional PERL libraries in the virtual machine, I finally started the development of the registrar plugin.

For me, it was a huge challenge to learn and deal with so many new technologies and specially, the brazilian version of EPP (yes, this protocol have been followed and implemented all over, despite TLDs). I should also consider that working from distance for Alexsander Ruiz was also difficult, because SULBBS company is located at Curitiba city - Paraná State. And despite all challenges and difficulties faced on this project, I managed to handle the job and finish the plugin development (if you're interested in, please don't hesitate to send me an email).

Food Design, a company focused in food quality related trainings, has presented itself as a work opportunity to me from a friend of mine, who at the time was working there. There was some changes to be done in the company's website and that's why I contacted Ellen Lopes (ellen.lopes@fooddesign.com.br), business owner and Ph.D responsible for the trainings. Basically, the website is composed by 2 parts: one with public access and another acting as content management application.

Initially, I started doing simple project tasks, such as adding Google Analytics to it and some other minor changes to the website features, until Ellen herself decided asking for more complicated ones to be done. Every project task has always been calculated by hours, agreed between me and Food Design's team, before being aproved and ready to go.

I've done several works in this project, but the one I consider the most important is the website layout makeover. Ellen Lopes wanted to start improving her website, but had a tight budget (pretty reasonable for the time with the economic crysis): I accepted the challenge and started improving all website pages, avoiding html repetition with PHP Template Inheritance.

The reason to do so is that PHP Template Inheritance does not require a specific syntax or language, you can use standard PHP language to achieve the same results as others, like Smarty and so on. In other words, beside the significant visual improvements, structural improvements were made as well (without a template library, pages constantly repeated html content, including basic layout). And others that I also consider important, such as updating the homepage flash component and a whole new website training feature for creating and promoting them.

For me, the challenge was learning again a language and technology I had never been used to working on a daily basis (my graduation project was made using PHP, but that happened in the late 2008).

The Corisco 3 platform for digital repositories is basically a solution composed by several other applications, created to facilitate digital media administration, propagation and release. As a project, it also involves the development and effort to create new features on it or putting together non-original components. The platform is composed by DSpace 4.1, its main component, and others like the Linux OS, PostgreSQL database, NetBeans and pgAdmin III.

In other words, besides being a digital repository platform, it's a development platform too. The project itself began with the necessity to update Corisco v2 platform. Some components of the old platform needed to be updated, mainly the DSpace (version 1.6 to 4.x).

My work on the project consisted by many research activities and tasks. Of course, its real applications too. For example, our development team needed to code in an organized manner, using the proper tools, because Corisco v2 platform documents offered an excelent way of how to install it in a production server, but it didn't work as a development platform (really important for the project).

Then, these project necessities became project tasks for me. Google Docs was chosen to help us and I created 2 online documents (only portuguese): Developing with DSpace and Installing DSpace 4.1. While in Rio de Janeiro city to meet the IPHAN team (actual project owner) so both teams get to know each other, I saw the opportunity to offer a virtual machine with only the DSpace 4.1 installed, to see if they could start getting accustomed to the digital repository. Until the present moment (MAY 2014), you can access it through this link.

As a way to promote my work, Google Docs also provides editing history for its online documents, which I consider very useful.

All platform components, except for the operating system, are opensource and therefore, free to use. To help other people, I also decided to turn those 2 documents above public, so everyone can see and appreciate them. Over the past few months, the project had suffered some changes, reflecting the university political changes. Although it started as an entire project, involving Brasiliana library site construction plus the new digital repository platform, today it remainded only as a digital repository platform, funded by BNDES and IPHAN.