About Me

My name is James Cooper, and (these days) I think of myself as a security-interested software developer. I currently work as an Application Developer at New Zealand telecommunications provider 2degrees. Before that I was a Security Developer (i.e., a software developer with a focus on security) at a small Australasian company named Cosive. I doubt it needs to be said, but it’s worth being explicit anyway: This blog has nothing to do with my employer. Any opinions expressed here are mine and mine alone (if anyone’s), and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer. All material is prepared in my own time, without use of employer resources.

I also have a significant academic background. I hold a PhD in Computer Science, and Honours degrees in Commerce and Science, covering Accounting, Commercial Law, Computer Science and Logic & Computation (which for me was basically more CompSci…). All of these degrees are from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. I also have published some papers in Computer Science, and one in Commercial Law back years ago (adapted from my ComLaw Honours dissertation). My doctoral dissertation ended up in being primarily in the area of Membrane Computing (also known as P Systems), though that hadn’t been my intention at the start. Besides Membrane Computing and Application Security, I also have a keen interest in Programming Languages and Computer Vision (though, to be frank, I’m certainly not the world’s greatest in either). I’m not currently active in research, though I quietly aspire to return to engaging in it to some degree. Perhaps even just on weekends, completely outside of paid work.

Just in case you’re curious, these days I mostly spend my time working at paid employment (or, while unemployed, some personal projects I’m tinkering with, some of which are described in the blog), or reading computer science/programming/software development textbooks.¹ To prove I’m not completely boring, I used to be fairly heavily involved with NZLARPS, but stepped back when I got too caught up in my doctoral studies. I do still attend a weekly tabletop roleplaying game, thanks to the Auckland Roleplaying Guild. Wait, that might not be proof non-boring-ness…