Software engineer · Founder · Photographer
Christian
Müller-Planitz
“I build software that makes complex technology useful.“
At CMP-Soft, I develop software spanning internet security, consumer applications, and digital media. The Android app PhotoGuru Media Player has been downloaded almost 500,000 times and brings my professional expertise together with my personal interests in photography and filmmaking.
01 / Photography and filmmaking
Photography and filmmaking complement my work as a software engineer, combining technical precision with creative judgment and provide a perspective beyond the screen.
02 / Experience
From research
to real-world software.
My career connects distributed systems research with the design and development of software for everyday use. I have worked as a researcher, founder, and technical leader, turning ideas into products used by individuals, businesses, and large service providers.
CMP-Soft, LLC
Founder
At CMP-Soft, I develop internet and software technologies with a focus on practical applications. This work includes the PhotoGuru family of digital media tools, bringing together my interests in software engineering, photography, and film making.
EarthLink
Lead architect · Consumer protection
As lead architect, I worked on Pop-Up Blocker, Toolbar, and ScamBlocker, helping turn internet security technology into consumer protection products. These tools were deployed to EarthLink’s five million customers and licensed to financial institutions, extending their reach beyond the company’s subscriber base.
Failsafe Technologies
Co-founder · President · Chief Technology Officer
As co-founder, president, and chief technology officer of Failsafe Technologies, I combined company leadership with hands-on technical development. Our work included GuardWall, also known as Guard-IE, an internet security product acquired by EarthLink in 2002.
University of Utah & Hewlett-Packard Laboratories
Research
My research at the University of Utah and Hewlett-Packard Laboratories in Palo Alto explored agent-based distributed management systems. This work examined how independent software components could cooperate to monitor and control complex systems, forming the foundation for my later work in software architecture.
03 / Selected work
Software built
for everyday use.
01
PhotoGuru
PhotoGuru brings my software and visual-media interests together. Its applications support viewing, managing, and backing up digital media, while PhotoGuru Media Player brings photos, videos, and slideshows into a dedicated viewing experience. The focus is on making a media collection easier to enjoy and use.
02
Internet security
My internet security work spans privacy, browsing, and consumer protection—from GuardWall / Guard-IE to EarthLink’s Pop-Up Blocker, Toolbar, and ScamBlocker. These projects addressed practical problems people encountered online and brought protective features into everyday browsing.
Privacy · Browsing · Protection
03
Distributed systems
My doctoral research explored visual programming and autonomous agents for distributed measurement and control. The CWave 2000 Visual Agent Workbench brought design, simulation, and management into a visual environment, investigating how complex systems could be developed and understood more effectively.
04 / Education
Ph.D., Computer Science
University of Utah
M.S., Computer Engineering
North Carolina State University
Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Electrical Engineering
FH Bielefeld, Germany