About Me
I’m a London-based freelance PHP developer and web consultant with experience in top London web agencies and social media. You can read all about my career type stuff on my CV and portfolio pages. Hopefully on this page you’ll be able to learn more about me than you’d find in any resumé – If you have any questions, feel free to get in touch.
A sense of identity
I first started dealing with the web back in 1996 at a time when everybody was creating their own little space on the web to promote themselves and their hobbies. You could get everything from Terry Pratchett fan sites to computer game walkthroughs but crucially there was very little actual business. This, of course, quickly changed and the web went through a period of marketing hype before the inevitable burst of the “dot com” bubble. We then had the re-invention of the internet into that awful phrase “web 2.0″ and I watched the focus of the web swing back again to the individuals that make it and again to creating a sense of identity; your own little niche on the information super highway (another great clichéd phrase). This time, rather than learning HTML and trying to decide if a <MARQUEE> tag (yes it was uppercase in those days) is what you need to stand out, we are instead witnessing the birth of the “lifestream”; a syndication of our identity on multiple social networks.
Below are a list of a few of the websites I use regularly. Hopefully you will be able to piece together my online identity from the segments scattered on each site.
- Twitter – The micro-blogging service that I believe will implode on itself and kill Web 2.0 – This is where the bubble will burst… but you can follow me there until it does!
- Flickr – I’ve become a bit of a keen photographer so you can find all of my shots here. I occasionally upload artwork I’ve done as well.
- Del.icio.us – Interesting websites I’ve bookmarked whilst browsing the big ol’ interweb.
- Upcoming – Events I’ve been to, going to, and thinking about going to.
- Last.fm – My musical interests (you can also see what I’m listening to right now)
- Good Reads – Books I’m reading and books I’d like to read!
- Facebook – The worlds largest social network (maybe) serves as an aggregator of all of my other sites for some of my less geeky friends from school and university. I also play a few of the online games there!
- LinkedIn – If you want me for business, this would be the place to see my full employment history, recommendations, and ambitions.
- Wikipedia – The online encyclopedia which I occasionally edit articles on. This page will show you which articles I’ve edited recently and therefore what subjects interest me.
- Firefox – I’ve made a couple of extensions for the Mozilla Firefox browser which you can look at here. You can also see details on my extensions page.
- Microformats – I’m a big evangelist of the microformats movement. You can see some of the microformats I use on this site!
Please feel free to “friend” me on any of the websites above or send me messages, recommendations, etc.
Trivia
I thought it might be fun to have some random facts about me so I’ve added them below for your delectation.
- I am a massive Doctor Who geek.
- I have a first class marksmen award for rifle shooting.
- For some reason, I find playing Pokémon very soothing when I’m stressed.
- I’m very musical – I play the piano, organ, and sing bass. I also write my own music (including an hour long opera based on The Fall of Troy)
- I am a complete and utter Apple Fanboy although not in a militant way! You can use Windows / Linux if you prefer, I like my Mac
- I nearly became an Air Traffic Controller in the RAF although I had the aptitude to be a pilot – I am able to fly 4 seater aircraft.
- I spent 9 months directing a production of Gilbert & Sullivan’s “Iolanthe” at the Northcott Theatre for a week long production.
- I ended up studying Politics at Exeter University but was originally meant to do Psychology.
- On a project I did with some friends (@carlgaywood & @andykent) at Hack Day London, Yahoo! rewrote their Maps API for us.
- When I was around 7 years old, I dreamt of working as a croupier.
Videos
On the 6th December 2007 I was asked to appear on BBC Televisions Working Lunch program to talk about error messages on e-commerce websites. I’ve also given them various quotes for later programs including a report on online cashback schemes. You can see an excerpt below (you’ll need Adobe Flash player).