About Me

I'm a recent Computer Science graduate from Heriot Watt University Edinburgh. I grew up in London and moved to Aberdeen in 1999. From Aberdeen I went to university in Edinburgh and have since moved back to England to Warrington.

I gained my interest in computers while setting up my family's first desktop computer. More specifically whilst fixing something I'd broken. I found the process of recognizing the symptoms, researching the fix and implementing it very satisfying it. Whilst I'm less interested in IT now my thirst for solving problems has not yet been quenched by software development.

My main passions in computing are mobile development and web/server/cloud technologies. I don't think we'll see the death of desktops anytime soon. My hope is to aid the transition to what ever comes next (I don't think it's a simple as mobile/tablet technologies).

Now that I've graduated I far prefer the business environment to the academic. I find solving real problems and working on systems that people actually use, immensely satisfying. 

I also enjoy driving, cycling, movies and video games. I like keeping up-to-date on all the technology news and learning about new technologies.

About This Site

This site is a hover domain with Squarespace hosting.

You might ask:

"James, you're a developer, specialising in web technologies, why didn't you just write your own site?"

to which my answer would be:

"If I were to write this site from scratch it would be a never-ending process. As a tinkerer I would be constantly fiddling with the mechanics rather than working on the content, which to a lot of people is more important. I see web design as a balance, you can make an amazingly clever site but still not get your meaning across. I'd rather have something functional and clear than technically impressive, ambiguous and devoid of any content. Squarespace allows me to publish my content in an attractive fashion without the logistics getting in the way. Which is what I'm all about."

This is probably a longer answer than you would be expecting.