Isolationism

I’ve been laying low these past few weeks with good reason: more layoffs at work, and greater pressure from head office to deliver the finished product (including a drop-dead date I’m pretty sure we’ll miss). I’ve still got plenty to do, but all the critical-path items are up to the developers.

It seems like now would be as good a time as any to branch out and look for a few more contracts. Anyone looking for a UI architect? Specialties are XHTML, CSS and usable/accessible design (I’ve consulted as a Section 508 expert including staff training); I’ve integrated/worked with Perl, PHP, Java, JavaScript, C#, XML/XSLT, Python, XMLFO, and Coldfusion, and do plenty of scripting for UI framework support using Python, imagemagick, Tidy, CSSTidy, and a handful of other tools (especially anything I can run on the shell). I love working in Xara X, Photoshop and ArtRage but I’ve used a wide variety of graphics packages (both of the commercial and open-source varieties) and have done  3D work as well (chiefly interior-architectural in 3DS MAX and the now-defunct Lightscape). I’ve worked on everything from small-business to enterprise-class systems. I have a fine-arts and graphic design education. I run Linux on the desktop and on several servers on-site (but I’m perfectly comfortable with Windows and OSX), and have been a contractor for eight years now. I get along very well both designers and programmers, and have earned a reputation for delivering on time and above expectation.

Professional half-joking aside, I’ve been thinking about how to spend my “slack” time—whether to join some existing project and try to make some connections there, or to try to build something on my own (or with a small group of other like-minded individuals). I’m very interested in CherryPy and Cheetah right now; I’d love to put something together with those technologies in a start-up business environment (very nearly my dream-moonlighting job).

I haven’t forgotten about Boodler, though.

I had contacted its creator, Andrew Plotkin, some months ago about a few ideas I had for the software—chiefly to try to help boost its popularity and encourage further development (things like opening up a more attractive and comprehensive website in its honour, hosting the source on SourceForge or a Trac installation or something, designing a new release so we could make a bit of fanfare, that sort of stuff).

Unfortunately for me (and for Boodler), Andrew politely replied with a message not unlike my plea above: He was looking for work, and Boodler was about the last thing on his mind (unless I knew—or was—someone who wanted to pay him to work on it). I hope Andrew’s found someone suitably appreciative of his skills who, unlike me, can afford to reward him for his efforts.

I don’t have the nerve to bug Andrew again, but I can’t help thinking that with a bit more publicity, Boodler could shake off the cobwebs and grow again: With projects like freesound out there picking up steam, and the popularity and ease-of-use of Python, I think there’s an audience that would embrace it if only they knew it existed.

I’m still digesting how best to do it (if I do it at all). If you’re a Boodler user, or a Boodler designer/developer, please don’t be shy—Leave a comment or send me a private message to let me know you’re interested in seeing Boodler flourish, and if you have any thoughts on how we might be able to make it happen.