Mark "Monty" Montague

( pronounced mon-tayg, for historical reasons )
Monty's Smiling Mug (Includes Cheez-EE-Grin(tm)

Status

Right now, I'm looking for a job, consulting or long term. Please consider looking at my resume.

Former graduate student and staff member of the Computer Graphics Group of the Caltech Computer Science at Caltech in Pasadena, California.

Recently, I had been graphics group staff, working part-time on my physically based modelling work, part time helping with other research, and part time doing system administration. Unfortunately, the graphics lab suffered a funding crisis, so my funding was lost.

I am available for consulting. Email me for info. or look at my resume. In a nutshell, I can do graphics, coding (C, C++, Java, LISP, Perl, FORTRAN, PostScript, whatever...), simulation, numerics, and system administration. I prefer unix, although I don't mind cross-developing. I don't do windows (unless very well paid). I might do hardware and/or configuration if asked. I fix cars, houses, and locks, too.

Formerly (1985-1989 90 91 92 93) a Caltech Undergrad ( in Blacker House(see also gdbg) and a social Rudd), hence I have a pointer to Caltech UGCS and Alumni(ae).

I was a TA for CS174 for several years.

I tend to go to the SIGGRAPH conference every year.


Contact Info.

If you want to find my house (what are you, a stalker or something?), use your favorite mapping site(s) for directions: google maps or MapQuest or Yahoo Maps

I'm also on some assorted blogging and social/business networking sites- I'm interested in adding people I actually know to my connections/ friends lists at most of these, but not random strangers: orkut is where I put the most effort into collecting a bunch of friends, livejournal is where I participate the most since I have a lot of friends that post there, but most of my stuff is either random or personal, friendster I see as similar to orkut, but for a while was so slow it was unusable... it seems to have gotten better, but I haven't bothered to set it up or use it much, I made a myspace account because it's the hip and trendy place, but I have no idea if I'll do much with it, since most of my friends aren't hip enough, or whatever, to be there, I have a frappr map account because there were a couple of opportunities to add myself to groups there, and because the Caltech Alumni Association pushes linkedin for business networking, I have an account there. Oh, and as a Cephalapod nut, I'm a frequent participant over at TONMO.

[ASIDES: If you are looking for the other "Monty" who is a Caltech undergrad type, you want fowlkes@ugcs.caltech.edu to mail him, or http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/~fowlkes to see his web page.

Also, there is another "Mark M" in Al Barr's group now: Mark Meyer, who he can be reached by email at mmeyers@gg.caltech.edu.]


I occasionally do work for my dad's consulting company. In particular, I helped him put his book online.

I also have my own consulting vision, Gnowhow.


Academic Interests

Computer Graphics, Scientific Visualization, Neural Networks, Artificial Life, Modeling and Simulation, Shape Representation, Generative Modeling, Animation, Physically Based Modeling, Strutured Modeling, Rendering, Neural Control of Locomotion, Algebraic and Implicit Surfaces, Mathematical Modeling, Contact Mechanics, Image Processing, Mathematical Kinematics, Vision, Computer-Human Interaction, Marine Biology, Models of Thought, Cephalopods, Evolutionary Natural History (check out the UC Museum of Paleontology)


Other Interests (a.k.a. Thesis Avoidance Behavior)

Hiking/backpacking, skiing (downhill snow), sailing, Running (but I really need to get back in shape), auto (esp. mustang) mechanics, scuba diving, making things, assorted sophomoric philosophy, toys, chocolate, hot tubs/ hot springs [aside: clothing-optional hot tubbing, etc, is an interesting social issue... look at the Yahoo list of "naturist", or read an essay by an Esalen member, or some body image art. On the other hand, there is some reason to be concerned about some aspects of it.I don't completely agree with any of these references, but I do think that our society is pretty confused about this.], weird spirituality, Linux hacking, interesting communities, Love & Rockets, Joe Jackson, Cowboy Junkies, The Tubes, Blade Runner, Buckaroo Banzai, Alan Moore's Watchmen (and his other comics), Matt Wagner's Mage and Grendel, Sam & Max, Thieves and Kings, Thomas Pynchon, Playwright Tom Stoppard, J.R.R. Tolkien, Sheri S. Tepper, David Gerrold, Findhorn, Esalen, Shannon Wheeler's Too Much Coffee Man, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Kodo, Emergency Medicine, Hao Style Tai Chi and Hsing-I.

Personal History

Before Caltech, I went to Menlo-Atherton High School which has a reasonable alumni page for 1985 and for M-A in general. There is also a very sparse commercial Alumni Registry I found on the web some time ago, but which may have some addresses the newer official one doesn't. There's another commercial one here but it costs money to actually look at the profiles, so my "free login" just lets me see that there are around 20 people from M-A 85 signed up. I suggest using the offical, free site I mentioned first (I get a lot of junk email and junk US mail by people pretending to be affiliated with M-A who are really just giant AlumniCorp registries trying to get people to give them money.) Robin King (nee Glick) seems to have taken the initiative as the class records-keeper, so she's probably the best person to contact if you found my web page looking to track down M-A 85 folks (not sure if she'd want me to put her contact info, but I bet you can find her in google or at the alumni page above).

I was born on 10/2/67, and grew up in Menlo Park, California.

I also went to Camp Tohkomeupog in New Hampshire when I was a kid, and would recommend it for anyone looking for a boys' camp. My parents also have a house in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, so I've spent some time there as well.

And, for something completely different, I spent several months at The Findhorn Foundation in 1992, working on the Building Program.

New Favorite Math Book

Visual Complex Analysis by Tristan Needham. Had I had this book when taking AMa95, I would have enjoyed it much more, gotten much better grades, and been much more interested in following up on the details later. This book is wonderful for anyone who is a visual thinker and who is interested in understanding how many fields of mathematics intertwine. It's aimed at college students with advanced calculus, but I think that since it introduces things in such clear language, it is accessable to everyone from advanced high schoolers to professors.

Linux

I have a number of computers running the Linux kernel, mostly using the Debian GNU/Linux distribution. I find that between the APT package management tool, the file-rc package to eliminate brain-damaged SysV linking in the rc.d dirs, the philosophy, the non-commercialization, and my overall experience, Debian is the best distribution for me. YMMV.

I also have occasionally done development for XFree86, but I haven't really done much more than beta testing and small bug fixes, and not lately.

My Car

my '67 mustang. I (sometimes) drive and (need to) maintain a 1967 Mustang 289 4-speed. It's a work in (slow) progress; I've done the automatic to stick conversion as my crowning achievement, but now I need a new engine, since I sucked a valve/ threw a rod/ disintegrated a piston in some unknown order (covering less than 5 seconds on the Pasadena Freeway). Anyway, I have gotten so far as to remove the engine, but now I've just got to find the time and money to put a new engine in.



More Pictures (extremely dated)


Some Quotes


Miscellany