I’m Dan. I live in Brighton Heights, a neighborhood on the North Side of Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania, USA), with my son Owen and daughter Elaine.
Professionally speaking, I write software for an international AAC firm called Tobii DynaVox. I also do a bit of odd-jobs computer consulting on the side, with work ranging from MySQL database mangling, through a bit of WordPress/bbPress enhancement, to credit-card processing software written in C#. Jack-of-all/master-of-none is certainly an apt description for my programming skills.
Since spending all day sitting in a chair in front of a glowing screen is bad for my physical, intellectual, and moral health (have you SEEN what’s on the interwebz these days?!? I was so shocked I almost couldn’t right-click the images!), I also futz around with more corporeal things on occasion. I do light fabrication of varying sorts (3d printing, powdercoating, sheet metal, welding, woodworking, etc.); I’m not at a professional level at any of the above, but I’m not afraid to tackle things that push the bounds of my skill set.
When I can, I enjoy pedaling bicycles over distances that might seem a bit extreme to many people…I am a founding member of the local randonneuring group, maintainer of the FAQ for the underground Crush the Commonwealth bike race, and have thoroughly enjoyed events such as the Calvin’s Challenge 12-hour race and the Endless Mountains 1240K grand randonnee.