The Long and Short of It
yup, that's me
I am a Web & UX Developer with over 15 years of experience in front-end coding, design, and usability. I want to make the Web a more beautiful, usable place.
I relocated to California from NY in 2010. I love it out here.
A Little History
I built my first web site back in 1996, based around an online game that I used to play. In retrospect, it was a hideous creation (that is now safely buried on my hard drive), but it set me on the path to where I am today. I had found my passion.
It's been a long journey from those heady days of <blink> tags and mindnumbing animated GIFs. From designing in Photoshop to programming in PHP to understanding what constitutes good design and usability, I learned everything on my own. And I enjoyed every minute of it.
Then somewhere along the line, someone took notice of what I loved to do, and suddenly, this hobby turned into a career.
Working It
I've worn lots of different hats during my career, which has led to experiences in many different areas of development. At the NYU Stern School of Business, I held such roles as project manager, designer, programmer, and information architect.
More recently, I've worked as a Front-End Web Developer at CheapAir, an online travel agency with over 1 million visitors monthly, and at Schoolnet, the leading provider of data-driven education software in the U.S.
I've even been the "IT Guy" at Michael Antonio, a fast-growing fashion footwear company where I was responsible for revamping their Web presence and handling any and all matters related to their IT infrastructure.
I consider myself incredibly lucky that my job has never been just work. It's actually something that I genuinely love to do. I really enjoy the creative process of crafting a better user experience, and I love being able to draw on my business and marketing backgrounds to see projects from incubation through birth.
Standards Matter
I'm big on standards. I believe that user interfaces should be intensely intuitive. Nothing spoils great content or an awesome application faster than poor IA.
I'm obsessive about writing clean code and separating content from design and functionality. I <3 XHTML, CSS, and jQuery. I derive more enjoyment out of hand-coding than is probably healthy.
I will do a happy dance when HTML5 and CSS3 become fully supported.
Beyond the Web
If you don't find me tinkering with computers or the Web, I am probably busy cheering on one of my favorite teams. Sadly, this includes the Mets and Knicks. But at least I have the Rangers and Giants!
In my spare time, I like to read, write, and travel as much as possible. I love to see the world and experience the vast diversity of cultures and peoples. It's my personal goal to visit every continent (well, except Antarctica maybe). I still have a ways to go.
My geekdom also extends to business and finance. I blame my business degree from NYU. It's probably why I'm a spreadsheet junkie and will use one for practically anything.
My wife and I are huge dog lovers, and we're proud parents of our pack of furry rescues.