My principal focus is maintaining the GraphicsMagick image processing package. This seems to consume every free cycle of available time. Also, check out the Magick++ C++ API I developed which provides a powerful programming interface to GraphicsMagick and ImageMagick. Long ago I developed the WebMagick software package which helps put images of all kinds on the Web. I also assist with maintenance of GNU libtool, libtiff, and libjpeg.

I am currently working as a consultant specializing in Unix, TCP/IP networking, and image processing areas. Potential partners or employers may want to review my resume. Please note that this resume is at least five years out of date!

There is also a light-hearted overview of my professional career to date.

About Me

I have been published! I have written a number of articles for Magazine including the April '95 article entitled Building Your Own WWW Server , the November '96 article on WebNFS: A File System for the Web , the April '97 article entitled " Expect Offers Unix Scripting ", the November '97 article entitled " Autoconf Makes for Portable Software ", the February '98 article entitled " Writing JavaScript Applications " and the July '98 article regarding the POSIX Real-Time APIs. Unfortunately, BYTE was purchased from McGraw Hill by CMP, all staffers were immediately fired, and the magazine was discontinued as of the July '98 issue. The article on Web servers was one of the first articles in a major magazine to introduce the term "Intranet" and to recognize its importance. Given that the article was actually written in mid '94, maybe someone should give me a medal or something. :-)

I served as an expert reviewer for the late W. Richard Stevens' Unix Network Programming Volumes I and II as well as for several other fine books. W. Richard Stevens will always be remembered for his selfless contributions to Unix programmers and his willingness to respond immediately to almost any question.

Vital Statistics

My hobbies are developing GraphicsMagick, shooting my air rifles, programming in C, C++, and PERL, exploring UNIX, searching for the software flywheel , and thinking about working on my old ('78) Jeep CJ5 while I polish my '91 Toyota MR-2 (see fantastic MR-2 web site ). I like to think that I hike and 4WD as hobbies but unfortunately I only get the opportunity for this about once a decade. Several years ago, I built a first-class home theater with HDTV in my living room.

My primary computer is a Sun Blade 2500 with dual 1.2 GHz SPARC processors, 8GB RAM, 144GB SCSI disk, and a 24” flat panel display. This web site is served off of a Sun Ultra-30 with 38GB disk, 12X CD-ROM, 768MB RAM, Creator-3D graphics, and a 20" flat panel display. Also in residence is a Dell dual 2.4GHz Xeon server system with 4GB RAM running FreeBSD. The Sun Ultra-30 and the Dell server reside in a small air-conditioned "telecom" room which also contains an ADSL modem, Netopia router/firewall, and Ethernet switch which provides 100BASE-T ethernet connectivity over Category 5e wiring to every room in the house (except for the bathrooms).

Why is my email address so strange? I have been using the simple.dallas.tx.us mail domain since 1992. Unlike people who take up residence at AOL, Yahoo!, or Hotmail, my email address is stable and is capable of following me regardless of my current Internet provider. The addresses bfriesen@simplesystems.org or bfriesen@graphicsmagick.org will also reach me.