About Me

Snapshot

I currently live and work in Washington, DC area of the U.S. I manage web development for the editorial division of Science Magazine, based in the heart of downtown.

Since 1996 I have worked in the web industry, primarily as a designer and consultant. I am an experienced interactive designer, specialising in web design, user-interface design, web production (HTML/XHTML, CSS, Javascript/jQuery), multimedia and usability/accessibility. I do not regard myself as a hard-core programmer, but I have a practical understanding of enterprise-level application development and a working knowledge of many popular languages and platforms such as PHP, Drupal, WordPress.

My work and personal interests regularly involve me dipping into producing podcasts, video filming and editing, creating CD-ROMs or interactive Flash applications. One of the reasons I love this industry is that there is always something new to learn or a new way to do an old job. A more efficient approach to consider - or a new gadget to try out!

In my spare time I enjoy watching movies, photography, film-making, cycling, music and tinkering with technology in general. I have been involved with the local public access TV station for a few years now and have helped on a number of shows.

I have a pet cat called Hedley - who still hates me for dressing him up as Frankenstein last halloween!

Heritage

I was born near the once small and quaint village of "Hoo St. Werburgh" on the "Hoo Peninsula" nestled in a nook of North Kent near Rochester in England. I grew up and went to school in the area before heading off to study physics at university in the beautiful Roman city of Bath. After four years of study I completed my degree and worked for a year and a half as a research scientist.

After this, I was drawn to the bright lights of London town. I spent the next few years putting my growing interest in computers and digital arts to good use at Pinewood Studios working as a digital effects designer and 3D modeller. When this this came to an end I decided to once again spread my wings and moved to the stunning city of Edinburgh in Scotland. For some reason I am drawn to unique, interesting and beautiful places to live. I took a job at the University of Edinburgh developing multi-media teaching tools and also setting myself on a path to becoming the web professional I am today.

I worked at the University for 4 years and loved my time in the city. Edinburgh is such a wonderful place - if only the weather was a little less bleak in the winter! I have some fantastic friends from my time there, and also, most importantly - it is the where I met my wife!

Currently I live, work and play in Washington DC. My office is a short distance from the Whitehouse, and I'll often spend lunchtimes exploring the local landmarks and sights.

Hobbies and Interests

When I'm not building Web sites I like to spend my time on a wide range of hobbies. Which occasionally feels a little too wide! I am a keen photographer and can often be found snapping away and filling up the endless storage space in my Flickr account. I love watching films... all sorts of films. I enjoy international films and hollywood blockbusters alike, it just depends on my mood. Sometimes you want to see something intellectual, other times, a good old romp on a spaceship attacking a hoard of scaly-nosed aliens will do it for me.

For the past couple of years I've become more interested in making films. I've taken a number of classes at the local public access television station, taught myself how to use the AVID editing equipment, bought myself a mini-DV camera and now can regularly be found with a tripod, furry microphone and a gorilla suit prowling neighborhoods making short films or music videos!

I have taken part in the Washington DC, 48 hour film competition a number of times. Up to 70 teams of film-makers are given one of 12 randomly chosen genres, a line of dialogue and prop and then scuttle off to write, shoot and edit a complete short movie in just 2 days. The experience is tremendous fun, if a little exhausting. In the two years I've taken part I have directed (yes that's me on IMDB!) "Snapshot" and "Unraveled".