About MobKool

It is named for my favorite quote: Cicero’s assertion that nothing is more uncertain (or unpredictable, if you prefer that translation) than the mob. Nihil est incertius vulgo in the original Latin. To which I always rejoin, that the cool are even more unpredictable. Add the two together and you get MobKool. I use the K, because Kools are cool, and it’s more memorable. Plus, the domain was available.

Avocation

Currently, I manage technology for the business sites of CBS Interactive. Our three brands are BNET, TechRepublic, and ZDNet. In addition, we have recently added FindArticles to BNET. I also do some consulting work. Most recently for Defense Procurement News and Mass Events Labs.

Previously, I worked at Newmediary.com, which was purchased by CNET in 2002. NewMediary was a platform for creating online RFP directories. Here’s a story that appeared about NewMediary in 2000. One result of the work we did at NewMediary is this patent.

I consider myself a language/platform agnostic, but my favorite language is PHP. I’m a member of the San Francisco PHP Meetup, so if you are looking for me; look there. If you’re looking for a PHP guru; look here.

My love/hate relationship with computers really began in a unique high school program at Lincoln-Sudbury High in Sudbury, Massachusetts. The program was run by Brian Harvey, who is currently at Berkeley. Here’s his description of the program. Later, I attended UMass Amherst, UMass Boston, and Clark University. Over the years, I have devoted as much time to history as to computers, but I always come back to computers.

Creation

I have a blog (you are on it), but I post a lot more on twitter. If you are interested in what I have recently read, look here. Here’s all the stuff I’ve published over the years, and here’s a list of all the presentations I have given. I don’t get mentioned much, but there is the occasional reference. So, here’s some shameless self promotion.

Recreation

I’m a recreational fencer. Here’s some links to my latest (lack of) results:

• Veteran’s Challenge 2007
• Bay Cup 2007
• Veteran’s Challenge 2005

To the extent I can currently claim a fencing home, it is Cardinal Fencing.

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