Technology Articles

I’ve written well over a hundred technology articles for a dozen sites. I contribute regularly to the ADC Website including articles on Mathematica Supports 64-bit Addressing and Optimizing Your Applications with Shark 4. I also wrote a monthly column on Core Java Technology Tech Tips. Other articles included a commentary on Outsourcing Java SE and a teaching article on Extreme Teaching: Introducing Objects.

Conference Coverage Articles

I love covering conferences. It’s what brought me to the world of online writing in the first place. I met some of my closest friends while covering the early JavaOne Conferences with a team from JavaWorld Magazine. More recently I have covered Macworld 2007: 1984 All Over Again, The Three Faces of Steve: WWDC 2006, and Telling Stories at JavaOne.

Extreme Software Engineering

Extreme Programming made sense to me from the moment I saw it. The practices resonated with me. I didn’t know if they made sense for professional programmers, but they certainly made sense in the classroom as a way of learning to program. Publisher Alan Apt thought so too and signed me to write the Extreme Software Engineering book for “Uncle Bob” Martin’s series. Dan Palmer allowed me to test the principles on students at John Carroll and co-authored this book.

Zero Configuration Networking

When I first saw Steve Jobs demonstrate Zero Conf on stage during his WWDC keynote I was a believer. I think Stuart Cheshire has invented a great piece of technology and made sure that it remained what it was meant to be. I was honored to co-author the definitive guide on Zero Conf with him. This is the book that explains the thinking behind and the best way to work with the technology that Apple now calls Bonjour.

Voice Work

I am often hired to provide my voice for podcast and broadcast programs. I voice the intro for Derrick Story’s Inside Aperture podcast (you can hear a sample in the Joe Schorr program) and the audio and video series of Web 2.0 presentations produced by Good Company Productions (as an example, listen to A Conversation with Jeff Bezos). In addition, I worked for many years as an air personality at radio stations in a variety of formats including Smooth Jazz (WNWV), Adult Contemporary (WMJI), Urban Contemporary (WDMT and WZAK), and Album Oriented Rock (WERI).

Conference Coverage

Conference organizers can extend the reach and impact of their events with audio. I have recently produced audio interviews from Eclipse Con (including conversations with Robert Lefkowitz and an engineer from NASA’s JPL) and the No Fluff Just Stuff tour (including Neal Ford on Domain Specific Languages and Jay Zimmerman on Five Years of No Fluff Just Stuff). Distributing the Future also showed the power of editing down hour long keynotes to 10 - 15 minute excerpts.

Custom Content

Photographer James Duncan Davidson and I teamed up to produce a series of nine developer profiles for the Apple Developer Connection. Duncan provided both the pictures and the page design for the ADC Developer Pavilion feature which included interviews with Robin Frost, Eddy Martinez, and Will Thimbleby.

Original Programming

Our weekly podcast Distributing the Future looked at the people and ideas behind emerging technology and how we use it. The theme derived from William Gibson’s quote that “the future is here it just isn’t evenly distributed yet.” The program was produced for a little over a year for O’Reilly Media. Shows include A Brussels Walkabout, Playing with Location, and Emerging Telephony and Podjacking.

Online Editing

I have had a wonderful string of editing positions for Java websites. I was the founding editor for java.net which is now in Chris Adamson’s capable hands. I also edited O’Reilly’s ONJava.com and the IBM developerWorks site the Java Zone.

Everyday Scripting with Ruby: For Teams, Testers, and You

Brian Marick set out to write a book that was targeted at testers. Maybe he has. We pushed him to retitle his book to Everyday Scripting with Ruby because reviewers kept telling us it was a great way to learn Ruby and a collection of great techniques for scripters - even those who weren’t testers. This was the first book I edited for The Pragmatic Programmers.

TextMate: PowerEditing for the Mac

James Edward Gray II has done a wonderful job with the TextMate book available from The Pragmatic Programmers. I enjoyed editing this book as it forced me to delve into the nooks and crannies of TextMate and find out how little of its power I was taking advantage of.