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About Me

I am a senior software developer for the University of Maryland Libraries, in the Digital Systems & Stewardship department. I am the project lead for the Libraries’ Fedora Digital Repository project, and work on a number of other projects as well. Prior to that, I was a web programmer at the National Foreign Language Center, where I was the technical team lead on the STARTALK project. Before that, I also worked on the LangNet project.

I have a Masters degree in philosophy from the University of Southern California. My philosophical interests center around cognitive science. I have undergrad degrees in both lingustics and philosophy from the University of Maryland. Prior to going to USC, I spent a year working as a web programmer for the UMD College of Arts & Humanities.

I am the official sponsor of the song “Drown” by ilyAIMY (on their album the fifth circle). My musical tastes run the gamut from rock and metal (including death and doom metal and some post-metal) to folk and traditional music (with a healthy side of Irish punk and gothic Americana) to goth, EBM, neue deutsche härte, and trip-hop, as well as some even stranger stuff.

Theatre and Film

I also do a bit of acting, primarily Shakespeare. My main troupe is The Rude Mechanicals, and I have also done shows at the Greenbelt Arts Center and Laurel Mill Playhouse, among others.

In addition to performing on stage, I have also acted in or been part of the crew for eleven 48 Hour Films, as part of the award-winning Cavegirl Productions team. These include APERTURE, FELT: Tearing the Fabric of America (technically, this was for the National Film Challenge, not the 48 Hour Film Project, but it was a very similar set of rules), HATCH, FICKLE FORTUNE, MOTIVATION, tHERAPY, RESTRAINT, PRESENCE, SPYCE, and most recently, EXTRACTION.

I have been known to dress up as Rob Zombie for Halloween.

Computers and Programming

In addition to my professional programming work, I always have several personal programming projects going, and I have a couple Perl modules on CPAN. I am a devoted user of the command line, and command line and console-based tools. I eschew webmail for mutt, desktop instant messenger clients for mcabber, and web or mobile app tweeting for oysttyer. And of course, my editor is vim. I run Ubuntu Linux on my desktop and my laptop.

Travels with Tybalt the Bat

At this point, I have driven cross-country four times: In August 2005 when I moved from Maryland to California, in May 2006 when I returned home to Maryland to visit for the summer, in July 2006 when I returned to California, and finally in June 2007 when I moved back to Maryland. Tybalt the Bat has been my roadtrip companion on each of these.

In March of 2007, while I was still living in Los Angeles, over my spring break I drove north to Seattle and back again.