Current Research

I am currently working on the following projects and hobbies:

In Information Science:

Raritan Valley Community College

I’m in charge of the Interface Design & Web Development (IDMX) program over at RVCC which is comprised of an Associate of Applied Science (AAS), Associate of Science (AS) degrees as well as a Certificate. If you end up there doing anything Interface, Web Dev, or Game Design related, you’ll most likely bump into me teaching some of the following courses:

  • IDMX114 – Interactive Multimedia
  • IDMX208 – Interface Design & Human-Computer Interaction
  • IDMX225 – Web Page Development I
  • IDMX268 – Web Page Development II
  • IDMX291 – User Interface Programming
  • IDMX298 – Interface Design Capstone
  • IDMX299 – Digital Portfolio
  • GDEV290 – Advanced Game Development & Design

The Napuletano (Neapolitan) Language

Before the instatement of Standard Italian as the official language of Italy, Napuletano – a separate Romance language very similar to Italian – was the language of the southern half of the peninsula. Today most southern Italian families are bi-lingual in Italian and Napuletano, and this was the language of my family before immigrating to the United States back at the turn of the century. It has no standardized spelling system or official status in the country today, and it is very slowly being replaced by Standard Italian altogether. My research interests are in collecting works written in Napuletano and building a lexicon that is able to handle non-standard spellings.

In Aramaic Studies:

Aramaic Designs – Aramaic Translations

Aramaic translations for hire, as it were. I specialize in translations for tattoos, art pieces, and screenplays. However, now I’m only working on special projects.

The Aramaic New Testament

AramaicNT.org is my old blog that I still keep going which showcases all of my old work. I’m not doing much with it these days, as the IDMX program is my main focus.

Miscellaneous:

Various Local Mycological Curiosities

Every year this blog becomes my mushroom journal, cataloging my hobby work in amateur mycology, specializing in varieties local to Central New Jersey. Click on any of the Mushroom links in the menu bar to learn more.

Old Stuff (Not Really Active):

Horology

The field of Horology (clocks). I was bit by the bug after inheriting and repairing a pocket watch that belonged to an ancestor of mine (Julius Martin, the former captain of the Johnson & Johnson Raritan River Ferry), I am repairing and restoring all sorts of timepieces and documenting what I learn along the way.

“New Jersey Tea” (Ceanothus americanus)

An effort in “archeo-botany” to uncover and recreate how the New Jersey Tea plant was used as a tea substitute during the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, as well as explore how the plant could be made commercially viable. As of the spring of 2013 I have had 4 ceanothus specimens in my garden.

The Biblioblog Reference Library

After being taken down due to the changing rules of my webhost, I’m currently in the midst of re-organizing The Biblioblog Reference Library: A website that at it’s peak cataloged 15 gigabytes worth of biblioblog archives.

Translating the Mandean Book of John

Working with Dr. James McGrath of Butler University, Dr. Charles Häberl of Rutgers University and Dr. April DeConick of Rice University to translate the Drashia D-Iahia into English for the first time. Funded by a $130,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Numismatics

General interest in American coins with a focus on counterfeits and counterfeiting. On and off I’m posting my work on counterfeits over at The Black Cabinet. This was another endeavor inspired by a piece I inherited from my late grandfather, Frank DeMatteis. He was an avid numismatist, and was curious if one of the pieces he acquired was a counterfeit. In the few years after we lost him, I was also able to put that question to rest.

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