Introducing Paul Anthony – Cloud mixer author.
Written by: Paul Anthony | September 20, 2009
About Moi!
Evenin folks,
I’m Paul Anthony, a twenty something web developer from sunny Northern Ireland. More precisely – Omagh Co. Tyrone – a rural agricultural village slap back in the middle of the province.
Its a priviledge to be amongst some of the most talented writers, technologists, designers and digital marketers here on cloud mixer.
I guess I started tinkering properly with Pc’s when I was pretty young. I got my first PC (the Amstrad CPC 464) when I was seven. Not content with just playing the various games which came free with that badboy – I started playing with the computer code provided in the back of the manuals, teaching myself BASIC – and writing the odd program. I was fascinated by the fact that I told it what to do – and it did it. I guess early on, I was wired with the autodidactic gene through and through.
How the web found me
My own background is that I was about 13-14 years when a friend introduced me to the web, it was instant addiction from that moment on. I used to collect free internet trials from PC magazines, connecting to the web at the archaic speed of 32kbps, and tying my home phone line up in the process. In comparison to today’s broadband speeds this built a certain patience when browsing the web, and in learning how to optimise sites for speed.
For me the opportunity to reach an audience just by publishing a document online, and getting it found by search engines, and millions of others became a geeky obsession. I started teaching myself HTML, and used the web to feed my craving to learn more. I found free trials of Dreamweaver on said cover magazines, and built a few applications, including a website for a local nightclub in my home town of Omagh. The programming I’d picked up through the years translated easily in classic ASP, and database programming. I’ve always strived to pick something up myself if I needed to know it, and read everything I get my hands on about it.
I gave university a spin for a while, but was later financially encouraged to drop out by a local company to come work as a web developer. Which was nice.
Developing for the web
From that point forward, I knew I was going to be heavily involved with the web, and I’ve developed sites for companies locally, nationally and internationally. My own site has been referenced from major online publications such as the Guardian, About.com, Sitepoint.com, WebdesignDepot to mention but a few, and I’ve developed and sold software in France, Italy, India and the US.
Ok – that’s the self-obsessed writing done for now – here’s to staying tuned, and reading some articles of more educational benefit as the days go on. I have to say I’m looking forward to seeing how successful Cloudmixer becomes, and hope it goes on to bigger things.
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Posted on 20 September 2009 by Paul Anthony
Paul is a multi-disciplined individual, although he currently works as a software developer for an independant e-commerce provider in Northern Ireland.
Over the past fifteen or so years he's taught himself the fundamentals of at least two programming languages, the jedi art of SEO and web marketing - and showcases these skills in a personal capacity on his own website - Webdistortion.
During the little spare time that he has - Paul has taught himself to play guitar and occasionally enjoys rocking out with his proverbial out. He's also currently trying to master the Saxophone.
You can connect with Paul on Twitter - or via his own blog on Webdistortion.
Paul Anthony has written 5 articles for Cloud Mixer
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FrankKnipschild
