I seek out any opportunity in which I am given the freedom and responsibility to creatively problem-solve. Challenges of all kinds are what grasp my interest and keep me engaged. In a perfect world my career would involve a continuous stream of new and exciting obstacles, not all of which need be technical in nature.
While in school I worked at Sears as a PC Technician and at a company called NowDocs doing technical trouble shooting for their online document printing and delivery suite. These positions both helped to cultivate a strong technical background, and to guide me toward a customer service oriented way of thinking.
After graduating from the University of Texas at Austin in 2002 I decided to stay on campus and develop my programming skills. I worked the majority of my time in the Purchasing Department working on the procurement system which supported not only the 27,000 employees for our campus, but also 9 other component institutions. My main focus was web development - and I was routinely called on to develop and maintain new (then) Web 2.0 applications and to develop policies for moving the University out of the dark ages of terminal-based programs.
I left the Univesity in 2007 looking for more diversity and a stronger challenge; I found that challenge at Blue Coat Systems developing their next generation monitoring application for large networks. The system was driven by a strong Java application which could monitor thousands of devices and provide data on their status. The JavaScript application that we developed provided views of this data in numerous dimensions along with system configuration and user management.
I have been creating web sites for small to medium businesses on a contract basis since 1998. The organizations have ranged in both size and requirements, from personal sites for individuals to thousand-user plus web applications for mid-range organizations. I enjoy the relative freedom that this contract work provides, and also the opportunities to work on new ideas that it offers.
I am currently working on TripLittle which I am the founder and lead developer on. We are using PHP and jQuery primarily in the development of this application.
I am the creator, founder, and lead developer on TripLittle, the most complete online travel planning and organization tool. This web application allows users to create and manage trips with multiple people, including planning an itinerary, creating a budget, and even sorting out a shared packing list.
My development of jQuery plugins grows from necessity. When I need a specific functionality that seems to be generic (that is, not specific to the current application I am working on) I look for an existing plugin. If one does not exist - or if the existing products seem overly complex or inadequate - then I will create my own.
I have created and currently maintain five of these plugins:
You can see descriptions and examples for each of these by following the links above.
While this section changes from month to month, I would like to tell you a little about the core areas that I am interested (and thus, work) in. I am a web developer primarily. The tools of my trade (and the areas that I would consider myself an expert in) are XHTML, CSS, and JavaScript on the front end and PHP, Perl, and MySQL on the back end. I have worked in Java and Natural/ADABAS (although they are not my favorites) and I dable in a number of other languages.
I create most of my projects with the help of frameworks which ease the workload and provide for better cross-browser (and -server) stability. On the client-side I have used Dojo, jQuery, Prototype, and a little YUI (and investigated many more). On the server I have used Struts, Stripes, and Pear (none of which I like).
Aside from those technical skills I have also studied agile methodologies, most notably practicing a modified version of Scrum with some XP thrown in. I am also well versed in web server administration and am very comfortable on Linux, Windows, and Mac.
I try to give back to my community at least as much as I get out of it. The "camp" series of one-day conferences try to engage the community by offering free access to some of the great local minds across the country. I have helped to plan and run these events and have spoken at some.
Open source software (OSS) provides a huge basis for much of the web today, and I try to make that environment better by providing bug fixes and extensions for some web frameworks. All of these efforts are provided completely for free, including supporting the users of my fixes and extensions.
When I find the opportunity, I try to offer my services to organizations who need it, and who could substantially benefit from the work I can provide. I have created web sites for various organizations in California, Texas, and Tennessee and I provide free web hosting to some of them. In the Summer of 2010 I participated in a "Design-a-thon" which was for the benefit of a Nashville non-profit. This is a wonderful example of how a group of dedicated individuals can come together to create something extraordinary.
After completing high school in Southern California with honors I attended the University of Texas at Austin. I graduated in 2002 with a Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics and a Computer Science certification.
Beyond the university I have attempted to continue my education by attending numerous conferences on topics ranging from more server-side languages such as Java and Natural, to more client-side technologies such as JavaScript and Flex. I also regularly attend technology-agnostic events such as South by Southwest Interactive and local (smaller) one-day events such as BarCamp.
My ongoing learning process also involves taking short courses on various technologies and other topics and also reading as much as possible on apropos new developments in the industry.
While working for the University of Texas at Austin I developed and taught a series of professional development courses on web development topics. The courses included XHTML, CSS, JavaScript, and jQuery. These topics were provided both for professionals in other technical positions and for the community at large.
I have also spoken at conferences about web security, the importance of standard-compliant development practices, and on agile methodologies.
Aside from working on various side projects I enjoy reading (auto)biographies, the ocasional video game, playing in the yard with my dog, and swing dancing.
You'll find me out socializing in Nashville at various networking events - some for the professional networking and some just to see friends. I also enjoy leaving Nashville from time to time to see the country and the world. Traveling abroad is core to my personal life and relaxation plan; if you would like to see a map of everywhere (almost) that I've visited, check out this Google Map.
Please feel free to use this site to explore my previous work history, educational background, and any other information you may be looking for. I do not have a downloadable version of my resume, but if you are interested in one it will be provided.
If you have an interest in talking with me further, you can
send me an email
or connect with me on
Twitter 
or
LinkedIn 
.
My favorite color is probably green, although that changes from year to year.
You won't find many pictures of me ... online or off, and my favorite comic book character is Hobbes (of Calvin & Hobbes fame). You'll find more pictures of him.
I have been with my wife from over 10 years, we met in college, and while dancing.
I have a german shephard/black lab mix named Vincent. He likes to eat sticks.
I'm terrible with names, so I apologize in advance if I ever forget your name.
Not sure what this is? Or what to do? Well hopefully this will help. This web site is my online resume and profile. You can use the search box to ask a question and find information about me. Try asking things like "what is your work history?" or "how do you relax?" You'll see a list of topics that you can click on an item (or use the up and down arrows on your keyboard) to view a specific topic. You can close a topic by clicking on the "X" in the corner, or by pressing Escape on your keyboard.
If you would like to contact me, try the envelope link in the top-right corner of the screen.
If you're interested in reading my ramblings and odd thoughts, by all means check out my blog. I haven't been terribly good about updating lately, but maybe if you read it I will.
For the most part my blog focuses on various trials and tribulations of web development with just a hair of sarcasm and a dash of humor.
Please feel free to
send me an email
or connect with me on
Twitter or
LinkedIn .
I'm currently located in Nashville, Tennessee and would be happy to meet with anyone to discuss just about anothing. So what're you waiting for? Contact me.
