John Foster

One person for the whole problem.

I’ve designed, installed, and run multimillion-dollar IT infrastructure for businesses, kept cinema projection and sound working, and built applications people use.

I build software.

Web applications and AI tools, from the database to the screen: Next.js, TypeScript, PostgreSQL, AWS, PHP. I ship LLM features and automations, and I run local models on my own GPU workstation when data can’t leave the building.

I run the infrastructure.

Networks, firewalls, Wi-Fi, cameras, backups, POS, audio and video distribution, projection, lighting automation. I’ve pulled the cable, racked the switch, and been the one who answers when it breaks.

I take the jobs nobody owns.

A locked Bitcoin wallet. Fifty years of hand-lettered artwork and seven thousand pages of notes to digitize. A century of county records to trace. If it’s technical and strange, I’m interested.

Selected work

Seven Seats

In private use

I designed and built a writing-review application that gives a draft several independent AI readings. Writers choose their panel, compare feedback tied to specific lines, and follow their revisions over time.

Design and engineering notes

Independent reviews, then synthesis. Each AI reader responds separately. An optional moderator brings the reviews together, showing where readers agree and where their interpretations differ.

A workflow for returning to a draft. Saved panels make a set of readers reusable. Line-specific margin notes connect feedback to the writing, and version history lets writers compare responses across revisions.

An interface built around the panel. I used a visual seating arrangement to make choosing readers tangible, with draft submission directly below it. Novelists and grant-funded philosophy writers use the application.

Seven Seats reader-selection panel, with seven reader portraits and an optional moderator. — Reader selection View the full screenshot

yetrise

Website design & development

I rebuilt a speaker’s website around a cinematic introduction, a chaptered personal story, and interactive race records. Writing, fundraising updates, and speaking enquiries give it a purpose beyond the first visit.

Design and engineering notes

Cinematic storytelling, readable in chapters

The homepage opens with a cinematic sequence. The story page shifts to a reading layout with chapter navigation, photographs, and expandable detail. Visitors can follow the narrative or jump to a particular chapter.

I paired large serif headings with direct navigation and a restrained color palette. The visual identity carries through from the opening to the reading pages.

The closing frame of the yetrise homepage’s cinematic introduction.

An interactive race archive

I brought scattered race results into a consistent interface. Visitors filter by race type, open splits and placement details, read race stories, and follow links to official results.

Writing, newsletter signup, fundraising updates, and speaking enquiries connect the story to ongoing activity and give visitors clear next steps.

yetrise race archive with marathon results filtered and race details expanded.

Designed for the screen in hand

On phones, the introduction and portrait stack into a single column. Navigation, chapter links, and expandable records keep the longer pages manageable on a small screen.

The work combines visual design, information architecture, responsive layouts, and interactive front-end development.

The yetrise story introduction and portrait arranged for a phone screen.

yetrise story page with serif typography and an arched portrait against a deep blue background.

Name Meanings

Private research workshop

More than 5,000 artworks scanned. Nearly 7,000 pages of notes digitized.

I scanned more than 5,000 artworks and rebuilt the research, design, and publication workshop as one application. I also digitized nearly 7,000 pages of separate research notes, categorized the material, and extracted the information into the workshop’s database.

Research and engineering notes

A working archive. The collection spans 50 years of hand-lettered artwork. I brought the scanned artwork and digitized research into the online workshop, turning a paper archive into material researchers and artists could use for research, design, and publication.

An entire workshop in an application. I replaced the brick-and-mortar office with a private workspace usable on a laptop, phone, tablet, or desktop. Researchers and artists can collaborate across geographic locations rather than needing to work in the same room.

Extraction with human review. A vision model extracts catalog information from artwork scans, and a person reviews each entry before publication. I built the workshop and storefront with Next.js, TypeScript, PostgreSQL, and AWS.

Tracing mineral rights

4 generations · 77 Oklahoma counties · 200+ archived PDFs

I traced a family’s mineral-rights ownership through more than a century of deeds, wills, and court records, then built a private research website to make the findings usable.

Research and engineering notes

A systematic search. I worked through available online records across all 77 Oklahoma counties, following maiden names, married names, initials, and spelling variations across four generations. The archive contains more than 200 PDFs, with indexed records dating back to 1912. Search logs track findings, dead ends, and gaps requiring offline follow-up.

From documents to a working tool. I built searchable family relationships, an interactive timeline, property views, and a fact ledger linking findings to their sources. Separate family and attorney views make the same research useful to different readers; citation exports in CSV and BibTeX and print-ready source notes support further work.

Clear next steps. I reconciled conflicting records and organized ownership, inheritance, and royalty-payment questions into a documented handoff for the family and legal review.

Recovering a family’s digital assets

A Bitcoin fortune recovered in about a month

In about a month, I recovered a widow’s access to her late husband’s Bitcoin wallet and the fortune inside it.

Different settings. The same responsibility.

I’ve managed restaurant staff, cinema managers and supervisors, and an ophthalmic team, and built software for robotics education.

Moni’s Pasta & Pizza Running the restaurant

I owned Moni’s and served as general manager and front-of-house manager. I ran daily operations and service, including hiring, training, scheduling, budgeting, payroll, purchasing, and vendor management. I grew annual sales from $450,000 to $1.3 million and led a team of 36.

I also built and ran the restaurant’s technology: more than 20 cameras, a 48-port switch, a UniFi gateway and firewall, four wireless access points, four Roku feeds across 12 TVs, zoned audio, event projection, and automated lighting that dims over 45 minutes to match the sunset.

Flix Brewhouse Keeping a cinema and brewery running

I was Assistant General Manager at Flix Brewhouse and acted as GM when the GM was away. I led the managers and supervisors, hired and trained staff, and repaired projection and sound as the on-site service technician. During a 10-day kitchen and hallway floor replacement, we kept the venue open every day.

Mercy Ships Supporting a surgical team at sea

I managed an ophthalmic team aboard the Africa Mercy in West Africa. I hired and trained the team, managed supplies and logistics, and worked with government health officials. The surgeons needed people, equipment, and processes they could rely on.

The 21-person team completed 827 surgeries in four months.

KISS Institute for Practical Robotics Software for robotics education

At the KISS Institute for Practical Robotics, I built websites and real-time scoring software for Botball tournaments. I also ran regional competitions and designed materials for students and teachers.

Camp and broadcast Camp crews and live broadcasts

At Pine Cove, I led seasonal staff through food service, maintenance, and logistics. At SoonerVision, I mixed live audio, operated cameras, and set up equipment for sports and studio broadcasts.

The person behind the work.

I live in the Twin Cities and work with teams anywhere.

Outside of work, I raise funds to support rehabilitation for people with traumatic brain injuries in Tulsa through the Brain Injury Recovery Foundation, which operates DEFY Neuro Rehab.

Portrait of John Foster, smiling, against a dark studio background.

Let’s chat.

Send a note here or email john@mrjohnfoster.com. I read every message and reply personally.

Technology & operations · Based in the Twin Cities

john@mrjohnfoster.com

Prefer email? Write to john@mrjohnfoster.com.