Skills

Almost all of my web-related skills are self-taught. I've learned by doing, and I've been lucky enough to be surrounded by incredibly talented people, from whom I've absorbed all sorts of tricks, ideas, and knowledge. From humble gray-background pages with centered text to graphics-intensive commerce sites with JavaScript and PHP to Flash games, each site I've built has brought a new set of lessons and tools.

Web-Specific Skills

I hand-code all of my HTML, and I can code pretty much any site design put in front of me in standards-compliant CSS/XHTML. I also know Perl, JavaScript, ActionScript 2.0, PHP, and MySQL. My scripting/programming experience ranges from simple JavaScript image swappers and form validation to database interaction in Perl and PHP and intricate multi-language setups to drive dynamic content, as well as Flash-based games.

I have worked extensively with Wordpress and have created several custom themes and plug-ins, and have customized 3rd party plug-ins to provide new and improved site features.

I have built quite a few e-commerce sites using Intershop 3, SoftCart 4, and osCommerce. I've extended the functionality of Intershop and osCommerce quite a bit using Perl and PHP, respectively.

Graphics Skills

I'm extremely adept with Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Macromedia/Adobe Fireworks, Macromedia/Adobe Flash, and Macromedia/Adobe Dreamweaver (despite my insistence on hand-coding). My typical site creation process begins in Photoshop, where I create a mockup of the site that is then cut up and compressed. Once I have all of the component parts, I use UltraEdit (an excellent plain text editor) to put it all back together.

I'm proficient in 3D modeling, primarily using Autodesk's Maya.

Usability Skills

I am familiar and experienced with the steps involved in usability-conscious development, including flowcharting, lo-fi mockups, paper prototyping, user testing, and the principles of usable graphic design and layout. After attending Nielsen Norman Group's Usability 2001 seminar in Washington, D.C., I was delighted to learn that most of the assumptions I operated under as common sense are also accepted and documented usability wisdom.

Computer Skills

I'm comfortable with most common operating systems and computing environments, including Windows 98/NT/2000/XP/Vista, Mac OS 7-X, and many Unix/Linux variants. I have home-built several computers for myself and for others, including Red Hat Linux-based web servers, and I perform all of my own troubleshooting and maintenance.

Miscellaneous Skills

As I mention in the interests section, I am an avid writer. While I prefer writing fiction and other creative stuff, I have been called upon a number of times to write documentation. When MindSpring needed to train customers in the use of Intershop's tools to manage their sites, it was discovered that Intershop's own manuals were hard to follow and riddled with errors. The task of creating a more client-friendly guide fell on me, and I like to think I did a pretty good job.

I consider my ability to pick up new concepts and skills quickly to be my most important skill. I enjoy learning new things, and I will actively seek out better ways to solve a problem. I also make really good brownies.