Disclosures

  • I am an employee of Levit & James, Inc., which is a Certified Microsoft Partner.
  • I am a contractor to TechRepublic, which is owned by CBS Interactive; sister companies include ZDNet, Bnet, CNet, GameSpot, and more. In this position, I write blogs and articles.
  • I am a contractor to OpenAmplify, which is owned by Hapax. My duties are to write articles, sample code, etc.
  • I am a contractor to OutSystems. My duties are to write articles, sample code, etc., as well as sometimes provide candid feedback to their internal staff. They have provided me with leads for contracting opportunities in the past and in the future. After establishing the relationship at this level, I restrict my coverage of OutSystems on TechRepublic and ForMortals to "strictly factual" such as walk-throughs and tutorials, and I try to ensure that my personal opinions and relationships with OutSystems are clearly stated.
  • I am a contractor to The Magazine Group. My duties are to write articles, particularly for FedTech Magazine.
  • I have established a relationship with Red Gate to write for their Simple Talk publication; at this time, I have not had any articles published and I have not received any compensation.
  • I have solicited and received "swag" to hand out at the Columbia Enterprise Developers Guild from the following companies:
    • Engine Yard
    • OutSystems
    • TechRepublic
    • Appcelerator
  • I have accepted "conference swag" directly from the following companies: Microsoft and TechRepublic.
  • I have accepted review copies of books, software, and other products (that normally would be sold to customers) from the following companies: Packt Publishing, Pearson Publishing (and their subsidiaries), Embarcadero, and OutSystems.
  • At one point (2008), I was under contract to MSDN Magazine to write an article; the article was written, but not published by mutual decision, and I was not paid for the article.
  • I have written content for Spiceworks' community site as a paid contractor; after this relationship was established, I no longer perform analysis or reviews of their products (I will still publish "strictly factual" information about Spiceworks, such as information regarding new releases of their products).
  • I have solicited and received donations/sponsorships for the Columbia Code Camp event from the following companies:
    • RedGate
    • Hapax/OpenAmplify
  • I have participated in various contests and won (or potentially won) prizes sponsored by the following companies, or have received "swag" for speaking at various events that was donated by the following companies:
    • Microsoft
    • Red Gate
    • JetBrains
  • I have been given small tokens of appreciation (under $25, for relationships other than my writing):
    • Microsoft ($5 Starbucks gift card every winter to User Group leaders)
  • The following applications were provided to me after reviews were written as a token of appreciation (no communications were held with the companies before the review was published):
    • WinPatrol
    • MailRelayer

If you have any other additional questions or concerns regarding potential conflicts of interest, please contact me.

Thanks!

Last updated: 12/17/2011

About Me:

I have loved working with computers since I was a kid. I specialized in software development, but I also do a lot of systems administration and some network engineering. Currently, my development interests are in C#, parallel processing, and exploring business usage of dynamic and functional languages. In addition to my day job, I write for TechRepublic, primarily in the "Programming and Development" area, and ForMortals. I am currently (when time permits) working on a book that aims to teach new developers everything about how to write software, other than how to program in and of itself. In addition, I do a bit of software development under the banner of my own company, Titanium Crowbar Industries

I love learning about history and philosophy (I doubled majored in those subjects in college) as well. The essays on this site regarding those topics were all written by me in college and high school. I also am extremely interested in physical fitness, and devote a substantial amount of my time to weight lifting. I am currently focusing on lifting heavy weights and I have participated in a few powerlifting meets. Currently, my non-technical readings have focused on various religious ideas and fitness. I am a big fan of Phillip K. Dick and Frank Herbert, and both of those authors have shaped my worldview greatly.

You can also find me on Facebook.