Education:
Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, NJ
Highest Degree:
Master's Degree in Computer Science
Expertise:
Computer Programmer, Systems Analyst, Innovator, Project Management, Corporate Business Management, Problem Solver, and Writer.
Experience:
Computer systems programming and systems development in two major corporations (The corporate offices of Sears and Merrill Lynch) and over 35 years of managing my own business with the development of automated phone systems.
Currently:
I began writing educational articles online in 2009 and put more time into it after retiring from a professional career. In addition, as a web programmer, I created and continue to maintain this website.
Programming Languages:
Fortran, Cobol, C++, ASM Machine Language, 8080, Z80, HTML, PHP, CSS.
After earning my Master's Degree in 1974, I worked as a systems analyst for Sears and managed a software developers team to support retail systems.
After Sears closed their New York Corporate Office in 1978, I worked at Merrill Lynch developing computer systems to track and report client stock trading activity.
I built my own computer in 1977 and wrote software for it. When IBM introduced the Personal Computer in 1981, other manufacturers sought software for their PC clones. As a result, I licensed my software applications to major computer manufacturers.
That activity compelled me to quit working in the corporate world, and in 1982 I founded Stok Software, Inc., to focus on developing the following software tools:
My first software product was Stok Pilot, a screen-based menu system for controlling PC resident programs.
Morrow Design, an early pioneer of personal computers, included Stok Pilot on thousands of their machines under the name Morrow Pilot. I also licensed it to Sony Corporation in 1983 for their PC clone.
BackRest was a hard disk backup program I sold to many home computer enthusiasts. But more copiously, Gary Kildall, CEO of Digital Research, asked me to help develop parts of Concurrent PC-DOS in 1984. He was hoping to re-capture the Operating System market lost to Microsoft.
In addition, my BackRest app was included in Concurrent PC-DOS under license to Digital Research Corp beginning in 1984. And Sony Corporation also chose BackRest for its SMC-70 computer.
As I got into developing voice mail applications, I licensed my VBase/40 Speech Prompt Editor to Dialogic Corporation (later taken over by Intel) for resale to phone system manufacturers in 1985.
My Vbase/40 file structure (.VAP) became an industry standard. Companies such as Dialogic, Intel, Expert Systems, Compass Technology, Pika Technologies, Bitworks, Bicom, Cascade Technologies, and Voice Information Systems have chosen it for managing voice and prompt files in their applications.
I enjoyed developing the first talking classifies for a telephone dating service. News reporter Kathy Karpin interviewed me on WFAS radio in New York in October 1985 for an on-the-air discussion of Audio Date.
Contact Caller: was another product I created for voice mail systems. It was a programming toolkit for developing Interactive Voice Response (IVR) applications. I licensed it to many telemarketing firms to automate their message delivery of recorded announcements.
COMET was a full-featured PC-based voice mail, auto-attendant, and audiotex software system.
I sold COMET to many small businesses to automate their telephone systems. And it was also used by many Telephone Answering Service (TAS) bureaus nationwide. I also used it to run an automated telephone answering service business called Private Line in New York City.
COMET's success inspired me to focus on developing automated telephone systems for another 30 years.
VoicePro was a business telephone system with calling features such as call transfer, call forwarding to cell phones, voice mail, and message notification.
I also wrote a fully documented installation and programming manual to go along with the system which walked one through the setup process in easy-to-understand language.
Writing has always been in my blood. In the 1980s, I wrote technical articles for computer and software trade journals.
Then in 2009, six years before retiring, I began writing educational essays on science, health & wellness, relationship advice, business strategies, philosophy, and product reviews.
My articles are published on the HubPages platform, hosted by The Arena Group, and have reached an audience of over three million readers.
The Arena Group (NYSE: AREN) is a unified media platform for writers to publish and monetize their content on brands like Sports Illustrated, TheStreet, Parade, Men’s Journal, and HubPages.
My writing is a result of my research and life experiences. People say I have a knack for explaining things in an easy-to-understand manner. I received Level-3 Certification from the Yahoo Writer's Academy in 2013 and a Lifetime Achievement Award from HubPages in 2015. Over the years, I shared what I learned with other writers, and in 2017 HubPages chose me as The Most Helpful Hubber.
It was also an honor to have been invited to an all-expenses-paid trip to Canada to attend a Maven coalition conference when they purchased HubPages in 2018. Maven is now the Arena Group and is publicly traded on the stock market.
In 2019, I began writing content on Medium, an ad-free platform that pays authors revenue from subscribers rather than from advertising.
Before I began writing online, I completed three paperback books that are also available on Kindle. And in 2019, I published two children's books.
I'm continually motivated to write educational essays with answers and advice for online queries.
In 2022 I began creating video versions of a few of my articles for my YouTube Channel.
In 2023 I began making designs for printing on t-shirts and other merchandise. As a skilled designer, I use my creative talents to make visually captivating designs with thought-provoking phrases.
With a solid background in computer systems, my skills include a deep understanding of design principles and technology. This allows me to deliver visually appealing artwork for merchandise with designs that resonate and leave a lasting impression. Click here to see my items on TeePublic.
I may be retired now, but I never stop pursuing creative developments.
