Hi! This is a personal site for Thomas S. Phillips.

I am a computer scientist and polymath, who, like many of my ilk, have numerous interests spanning both the creative and the technical. By creative, I mean implicated in the creation of novel works, some aesthetic and some not. By technical, I mean describing or derived from formal systems. My primary interests are language, computation, representation, and music.

I am a hacker, in almost every sense of the word, and tend to be busy with side projects all of the time.

Professional

I have been fortunate to have had a very diverse career spanning decades, serving in both technical and managerial roles. My education includes doctoral studies in education, graduate studies in public administration, M.S. in computer information systems, B.A. in Psychology, and undergraduate and graduate studies in computer science. My professional work experience includes:

  • Founder/cofounder of four startups
  • Over 20 years experience with the U.S. Department of Defense and intelligence community
  • Technical management for multi-million dollar programs for the Department of Defense, including an ACAT I program
  • Executive producer for over 25 education and entertainment products
  • Served in the U.S. Marines as a Russian linguist, and in the U.S. Army National Guard repairing communications equipment
  • Decades of experience in computer programming and system/network administration

I currently work as the Chief Technical Officer at Ridgeback Network Defense, Inc., a cybersecurity company that focuses on deception technology and interactive defense. If you like the idea of autonomous security systems and have a knack for hacking, feel free to contact me at tom@ridgebacknet.com.

LinkedIn

Presentations

  • Phillips, Thomas. (September 2021). Crossing into quantum: A practical approach to adopting quantum computing computing for cybersecurity. ATARC Presents.
  • Phillips, Thomas. (June 2021). Threat detection in graphs: Using quantum computing to calculate vertex covers. Second Cyber Bytes Foundation Executive Briefing.
  • Phillips, Thomas. (April 2018). Machine Learning: Too smart for its own good [presentation]. BSidesSF 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3aG3XUH5OA
  • Phillips, Thomas. (May 2016). Network situational awareness with tcpdump [presentation]. MiniCon at Unallocated Space.
  • Phillips, Thomas. (April 2016). The value of deceiving attackers [presentation]. BSidesCharm 2016.
  • Phillips, Thomas. (May 2016). Network situational awareness with tcpdump [presentation]. MiniCon at Unallocated Space, Severn, MD.
  • Phillips, Thomas. (January 2016). Introduction to deception technology [seminar]. Ridgeback Network Defense, Inc.

Bibliography

  • Phillips, Thomas. (2019). Cryptogram Stories: What Remains of Wiglaf. Independently published.
  • Phillips, Thomas. (2019). Cryptograms: Substitution Puzzles with Words of Motivation and Inspiration. Independently published.
  • Phillips, Thomas. (2019). Cryptograms II: Substitution Puzzles with the Secrets of Wealth and Wisdom. Independently published.
  • Phillips, Thomas. (2019). The Terrible Story of the Terrible Curse of the Terrible Ham. Independently published.
  • Phillips, Thomas. (2019). Word Search Book for Ebook Readers Volume 1: Tongue-Twisting Word Maze Puzzles You Can Do Without Hands. Independently published.
  • Phillips, Thomas. (2019). Word Search Book for Ebook Readers Volume 2: Awesome Alliterative Word Maze Puzzles You Can Do Without Hands. Independently published.
  • Phillips, Thomas. (2019). Big Book of Word Search Wisdom Volume 1: Mark Twain Word Maze Puzzles. Independently published.
  • Phillips, Thomas. (2019). Big Book of Word Search Wisdom Volume 2: Benjamin Franklin Word Maze Puzzles. Independently published.
  • Phillips, Thomas. (2019). Big Book of Word Search Wisdom Volume 3: Henry David Thoreau Word Maze Puzzles. Independently published.
  • Phillips, Thomas. (2018). Aesop’s Fables Word Maze Puzzles: A Simple Storyteller’s Sagely Sayings. Independently published.
  • Phillips, Thomas, Phillips, Evan. (2018). American Presidents Word Maze Puzzles: Leaders of the Free World. Independently published.
  • Phillips, Thomas. (2018). Benjamin Franklin Word Maze Puzzles: Sage Advice from a True Renaissance Man. Independently published.
  • Phillips, Thomas. (2018). Henry David Thoreau Word Maze Puzzles: Insight from the Hermit Saint. Independently published.
  • Phillips, Thomas. (2018). Mark Twain Word Maze Puzzles: Wise Words from America’s Greatest Author. Independently published.
  • Phillips, Thomas. (2018). State Capitals Word Maze Puzzles: The State Capitals and the State Birds. Independently published.
  • Phillips, Thomas, Phillips, Rhianwen. (2018). Beautiful Birds Word Maze Puzzles: The Bluebird of Happiness Endorses This Book. Independently published.
  • Phillips, Thomas, Phillips, Rhianwen. (2018). Clever Cats Word Maze Puzzles: Purr-fect Puzzles About Our Feline Friends. Independently published.
  • Phillips, Thomas, Phillips, Rhianwen. (2018). Delightful Dogs Word Maze Puzzles: Plenty of Puzzles About Man’s Best Friend. Independently published.
  • Phillips, Thomas, Phillips, Rhianwen. (2018). Fabulous Fish Word Maze Puzzles: You’ll Get Hooked on These Puzzles. Independently published.
  • Phillips, Thomas, Phillips, Rhianwen. (2018). Happy Horses Word Maze Puzzles: Gallop Your Way Through 102 Puzzles. Independently published.
  • Phillips, Thomas. (2018). Christmas Carols Word Maze Puzzles: Get into the Singing Spirit with Word Maze Puzzles. Independently published.
  • Phillips, Thomas. (2018). Have a Funny Punny Christmas Word Maze Puzzles: Seriously Funny A-Mazing Holiday Jokes. Independently published.
  • Phillips, Thomas. (October 2018). D-Wave Tutorials (various tutorials for programming the D-Wave Systems quantum computer). https://github.com/ridgebacknet/dwave-tutorials
  • Phillips, Thomas. (April 1994). Approximate string matching, The C Users Journal, CMP Media LLC.
  • Gertler, Janos, Bennani, Ahmed, Phillips, Tom. (1989). A parallel implementation of model based on-line failure detection and isolation, Proceedings of the 1989 American Control Conference.
  • Phillips, Tom, Michael, J., Abuhamdeh, Zahi. (1988). Microcode generation for the control of a massively parallel computer, Proceedings of the 2nd Symposium on the Frontiers of Massively Parallel Computation, IEEE Computer Society Press.

Patents

Executive Producer for Released Products (Games)

  • Baker and the Big Blue Truck (iPhone, educational)
  • Bamboo Bunch (PC/Mac, educational multiplayer online game)
  • Bugs on the Run (multi-platform HTML5, educational)
  • Color Words (iPhone, entertainment)
  • Cryptogram (Kiosk, educational)
  • Cypher Express (Kiosk, educational)
  • Hard-A-Port (iPhone, entertainment)
  • Navajo Code Match (Kiosk, educational)
  • Outer Space Molecule Chase (multi-platform HTML5, educational)
  • Scribble’s Luck (iPhone, Android, early reader plus games)
  • Starface (iPhone, entertainment)
  • The Little Pine Tree (iPhone, educational)
  • The Sailing Squirrels (iPhone, Android, early reader plus games)
  • Ursa Minor (iPhone, entertainment)

Executive Producer for Unreleased Products (Games)

  • Beach Ball Birds (PC/Mac, entertainment)
  • Buckaroo Bovine (PC/Mac, entertainment)
  • Chubby Shinobi (PC/Mac, video game for research in neuropsychology)
  • Game Blueprint Course: Puzzle Games (PC/Mac, educational course on building video games)
  • Goat 591 (iPhone, Android, educational arcade)
  • Interview Trainer (PC/Mac, business training)
  • Iris (PC/Mac, video game for research in neuropsychology)
  • Leaps and Bounds (PC/Mac, video game for research in neuropsychology)
  • Sidecar (immersive video game installation)
  • The Sigil of the Squirrel (iPhone, Android, young adult reading plus games)
  • Trouble at Dickory Docks (multi-platform HTML5, educational)

Discography

  • Phillips, T. S. “Falling Asleep.” Spooky Soundscapes, Bloch Sphere Records, 2009, track 1.
  • Phillips, T. S. “Bare Bones on Wood.” Spooky Soundscapes, Bloch Sphere Records, 2009, track 2.
  • Phillips, T. S. “Duex Ex Machina.” Spooky Soundscapes, Bloch Sphere Records, 2009, track 3.
  • Phillips, T. S. “Cave of the Lich King.” Spooky Soundscapes, Bloch Sphere Records, 2009, track 4.
  • Phillips, T. S. “One Little Kiss.” Spooky Soundscapes, Bloch Sphere Records, 2009, track 5.
  • Phillips, T. S. “Neuer Grund.” Unreleased, 2003.
  • Phillips, T. S. “Smoke the Duck.” Unreleased, 2003.
  • Phillips, T. S. “Technical Difficulties.” Unreleased, 2003.

Past Projects (circa 1997)

  • Anturian Mines (multiplayer web-based game)
  • Datasome (role-playing game)
  • Feycraft (online multi-player text adventure)
  • Lines of Force (unreleased card game and multiplayer web-based game)
  • Milanda (role-playing game)
  • Mystic Conquest (unreleased multiplayer web-based game)
  • The Martian String (role-playing game)