About
I’m your average web developer/scuba diver/blacksmith/sword-fighter/ENTP/warcrafter/activist, and I currently work as the Director of Information Architecture (and occasional programmer) at a creative agency in New York City.
If you want to hear more of what I have to say, follow me on Twitter. (You may want to check out my warning about following me on Twitter, and my caution on why I may not follow you back on Twitter if you’re a wanker before following, though.)
I’ve been lucky enough to do some cool stuff in my thirty-something years. Some quick and interesting tidbits:
- I worked with tigers and lions (no bears, oh my) in 2003
- I co-authored a few books on PHP/MySQL
- I study the Israeli martial art of krav maga
- I am currently learning Japanese for no good reason other than I have always wanted to
- I am a PADI certified advanced open water diver, and have been lucky enough to dive the Blue Hole in Belize
- I was featured in People Magazine in 2004.
- I was one of the 10 finalists in the Animal Planet Hero of the Year contest in 2006.
- I was recently named one of Wired Magazine’s Top 100 Geeks to Follow on Twitter,
- One of my tweets is immortalized in the screenshots for the Twitter client Spaz, where I’m threatening to poop in the koi pond of a Dave & Busters.
- I was a guest on the Angry Mac Bastards podcast in August 2009.
- Snipe.Net was featured in Web Designer Magazine in July 2009.
- One of my Twitter comments was read to Kato Kaelin on Comment TV in response to his (idiotic) new web project, IT Chicks. (See around 2:20)
So I guess I’m doing something right, if offensive, angry geek rants are your thing.
My Other Sites
If you decide to follow me on Twitter, you’ll realize I’m quite… prolific. I write a lot, and Snipe.Net isn’t my only web baby. These are a few more of my online projects – be warned that many use language that some may consider naughty.
Twitter-Related
- SocialMediaDoucheBag.Net - a satirical commentary on the direction social media has been heading in.
- DoucheNuker.Com – a free Twitter blacklisting service spawned from the same frustration as that which inspired the above mentioned parody site. Also on Twitter @DoucheNuker.
- TwitCommandments.Com - a kinder, gentler version of my thoughts on good Twitter behavior, aimed at people who act like dumbasses on Twitter but honestly don’t know any better.
Poetry-Related
A combination of Twitter and a grueling 4.5 hour commute spawned these two sites. More background and some choice picks here.
- GeekHaiku.Com – geek poetry, in 5-7-5 – on Twitter as @geeksenryu
- CrankyHaiku.Com – angry poetry, in 5-7-5 – on Twitter as @crankyhaiku
Activism-Related
- EverydayActivist.Com - everyday things everyday people can do to save the earth
- Pet-Abuse.Com – my non-profit org, a online database of criminal animal cruelty – more info on that in this article from Animal Sheltering Magazine.
Also tons of fun is TehAwesome.Net, which is where I highlight all of my favorite things on the internet.
So, that’s me. In a nutshell, which is probably an appropriate receptacle. But please, if an article you’ve found here has helped you in some way, take a moment to leave a comment. While I pay attention to my website stats (out of curiosity more than anything else), your comments are really what makes this site worth having, and they carry far more weight to me than site stats ever will.
If you’ve got a project for which you think I might be a good match, get more info on hiring me here. I tend to keep myself pretty busy though, so availability is limited.
The Cloud is a Lie
Posted on March 3, 2010 by snipe in Web Development
Okay, the cloud (or grid or whatever they’re calling it now) isn’t exactly a lie, but at least on a retail level, it hasn’t held up to the hype.
This is not going to be an overly technical article, mostly because I’m tired. I expect to get some nasty comments because I’m not citing specifics. Luckily [...]
Use Your Own Domain for OpenID Logins
Posted on February 21, 2010 by snipe in Featured, Tips & Tricks
I’m a big fan of OpenID, and the concept of a unified login system, but the implemention of OpenID on many of the websites that use it is often miserable. This article can simplify your OpenID login experience.
NOTE: If you want to skip all my chatter and explanation and just get to the code, check [...]
Sexy, Cheap and Easy: Not Your Mom, Your Wireframes
Posted on February 6, 2010 by snipe in Featured, Web Development
I’m a planning whore. It’s true. I’m one of those weirdos that really enjoys creating data flows, use cases, wireframes, and functional requirements documents. My bizarre predalictions aside, wireframes are a critical part of planning any website or web based application.
Spending the time to plan your project out well at the very beginning may seem [...]
An Open Letter to Rackspace Cloud Hosting
Posted on January 28, 2010 by snipe in Featured, Web Development
I just received an automated email from Rackspace that made my brain melt. It’s no secret that a lot of websites have been hacked lately.
One thing they seem to have in common is that they’re all running Wordpress, and a lot of them are hosted at the Rackspace Cloud.
Dear Alison,
Since we host hundreds of [...]
When Your Wordpress Blog Gets Hacked
Posted on January 25, 2010 by snipe in Featured, Web Development
It happens to most bloggers at some point – your Wordpress blog gets pwned, and you’re not sure where to even start. I’ve gone through this process enough times, helping friends restore their blogs after a hack that it seemed like it might be helpful if I wrote an article about it.
This article will deal [...]
TehAwesome.Net Back Online
Posted on January 24, 2010 by snipe in Featured, Misc
Okay, so this is a bit of a shameless plug — oh godammit. PLUG. I said shameless PLUG. That’s it, I’m firing my image editor.
Anyway, this is just a quickie post to let you know that I’ve brought TehAwesome.Net back online, with a slightly different style and purpose. It was always meant to be a [...]
Unclutter Your Facebook Feed: Set FB Lite As Your Default
Posted on January 7, 2010 by snipe in Featured, Life Tools, Tips & Tricks
Whether you’re on Facebook for fun or for work, chances are your newsfeed is crammed full of inane application notifications that make it hard to actually find the real content you actually want to see from your friends.
Your Facebook friends are total tools with entirely too much free time on their hands. So are mine. [...]
Fixing Comment Count Bug in Disqus on Wordpress
Posted on December 31, 2009 by snipe in Web Development
My final post for 2009 should probably have been more climactic. If I had planned it right, the Death in the Digital Age post should have been my last for this year. Oh well.
I mentioned in a previous post that I was switching the comments system on Snipe.Net to Disqus, and although I’ve been overall [...]
Final Fail of the Year
Posted on December 31, 2009 by snipe in Misc
This is just a quickie to let you know that I haven’t been receiving notifications from Disqus about new comments pending approval. This is my own fault for reasons I’ll explain, but I’m working on replying to them all now.
I had a problem with Disqus when I was out of town for the Microsoft Web [...]



