Who we are

Flying Saucer is a small web development shop in Portland, OR. It was founded by Chris Sessions and Seth Engelhard in 2008.

What we do

We use Ruby on Rails and Merb to build dynamically-driven web sites with custom content management systems tailored to each client's specific needs. We produce cutting edge XHTML/CSS and Flash elements that integrate seemlessly with the Ruby back-end. If you require a full-service web solution, we can hand-pick the best candidates for the project from our extensive network of designers, programmers, marketing experts, user experience experts and project managers.

Contact us

If you would like to discuss your project or get a quote, please shoot us an email or give us a call.

(503) 288-3432

Portfolio

Calvin Coconut Island ~ 2009

  • Facebook API Integration
  • Application and functional modeling
  • Ruby development with Merb + Datamapper
  • Flash & ActionScript 3 development
  • Linux server configuration and deployment

Calvin Coconut Island, a Webvisionary Award Finalist, is a tropical island simulation game for casual gamers. Fish, grow crops, stockpile goods, quarry stone, mine iron ore, and harness energy. Build attractions, and develop your own tropical paradise.

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BirdFellow Journal ~ 2009

  • XHTML/CSS markup
  • Ruby development with Merb + Datamapper
  • Linux Server configuration and deployment

BirdFellow is a social media website for bird watchers headquartered in Lake Oswego, Oregon. This journal is the first phase of new features being rolled out.

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Renfro Cuningham ~ 2008

  • Application and functional modeling
  • Ruby on Rails development
  • Flash & ActionScript 3 development
  • Integration of ruby back-end with flash front-end
  • Linux server configuration and deployment

Renfro Cuningham is the sister company of the Cuningham Group whose site we launched in 2007. This site is based on the same CMS and basic structure as the Cuningham site but was tailored to fit the needs of a smaller firm with fewer projects in their portfolio.

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SoundSafe ~ 2008

  • XHTML/CSS markup
  • Ruby development with Merb + Datamapper
  • Flash & ActionScript 3 development
  • Linux Server configuration and deployment

SoundSafe is a non-profit dedicated to preserving the San Francisco music and arts scene. SoundSafe.org is social networking site for the San Francisco music industry and musicians to promote, connect, find rehearsal spaces, and contact venues. Members are able to upload photos, music, post events on the calendar, and contact other users on the site.

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Big Citizen ~ 2008

  • Application and functional modeling
  • Ruby on Rails development
  • Flash & ActionScript 3 development
  • Integration of ruby back-end with flash front-end
  • Linux server configuration and deployment

Big Citizen was an internal project at Highly Evolved. The web site is a proof-of-concept for an fluid interface to a access and parse a large amount of complex data.

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Highly Evolved ~ 2007

  • XHTML/CSS markup and ajax functionality
  • Ruby on Rails development
  • Linux Server configuration and deployment

Highly Evolved is a small web marketing & production company based in Los Angeles, CA and Portland, OR. This site was built as a means to feature portfolio pieces, keep clients and colleagues updated, and allow prospective clients contact the company. It features a comprehensive content management system to allow the marketing team to keep the site up to date.

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Cuningham Group ~ 2007

  • Application and functional modeling
  • Ruby on Rails development
  • Flash & ActionScript 3 development
  • Integration of ruby back-end with flash front-end
  • Linux server configuration and deployment

Cuningham Group is an architecture firm with offices in Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Bakersfield, Las Vegas, Biloxi, Madrid, and Seoul. They wanted a site that was intuitive and fluid on the front end with a very heavy-duty content management system so that they could easily keep the content on their site up to date.

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Lindsay Ann Burke Memorial Fund ~ 2007

  • XHTML/CSS markup
  • Ruby on Rails development
  • Linux Server configuration and deployment

The Lindsay Ann Burke Memorial Fund is a non-profit corporation founded to honor the life of Lindsay Ann Burke, who was murdered by an abusive boyfriend. Highly Evolved provided this site pro-bono and Blue Box donated the hosting. It includes a very flexible content management system which allows administrators to add, remove and organize pages.

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I Love New York 2 Casting Site ~ 2007

(no longer live)
  • XHTML/CSS markup
  • Application and functional modeling
  • Ruby on Rails development
  • Third-part technology integration
  • Scalable deployment to linux server cluster

This was the official casting site for Mtv’s I Love New York 2. The site served up to 1.4 million pageviews per day and was deployed to 5+ app servers, a dedicated memcache/NFS server, and a dedicated database server. The site was built from the same codebase as The Real World casting site (see below)

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The Real World Casting Site~ 2007

(no longer live)
  • XHTML/CSS markup
  • Application and functional modeling
  • Ruby on Rails development
  • Third-part technology integration
  • Scalable deployment to linux server cluster

This site was built on a custom platform we developed using a Ruby on Rails framework. The site was so successful that MTV. MTV was extremely ecstatic with the site, and immediately asked us to take our platform and roll it out for their other reality shows including I Love New York, Flavor of Love, My Super Sweet 16 and I Wanna Be Paris’ New Best Friend.

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Acceptable.tv ~ 2006

(no longer live)
  • XHTML/CSS markup
  • Application and functional modeling
  • Ruby on Rails development
  • Third-part technology integration

This site was the online counterpart to Acceptable.tv on VH1. The premise of Acceptable.tv was instead of a television executive determining which pilots were worth watching, the site users were able to pick the shorts that deserved the right to be seen again, and which ones should get canceled. There was a robust profile engine, voting system, user moderation tools, content management system, and third-party video integration. Many of these solutions were used as a starting point for later Viacom sites such as The Real World Casting Site.

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Carl’s Jr. ~ 2005

  • XHTML/CSS markup
  • PHP development
  • Flash front-end development
  • Video compression and maintenance
  • HTML newsletter development and deployment

CKE hired Spacedog to develop flashy lifestyle sites for their quick service restaurants, Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s. The sites share a common codebase and have flash/html hybrid front-ends and PHP back-ends with a custom-built content management system.

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Hardee’s ~ 2005

  • XHTML/CSS markup
  • PHP development
  • Flash front-end development
  • Video compression and maintenance
  • HTML newsletter development and deployment

CKE hired Spacedog to develop flashy lifestyle sites for their quick service restaurants, Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s. The sites share a common codebase and have flash/html hybrid front-ends and PHP back-ends with a custom-built content management system.

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