👋 Hi! I'm Carl

I love the moments when simple technology creates a feeling of wonder. I believe programming is a creative and aesthetic process. Technology mirrors its originating culture and environment.

I've been in the startup world for 20 years, as a programmer and ops nerd, a founder, an engineering manager, and an exec coach.

I learned to code by writing internet games at 14.

Insta · GitHub · LinkedIn · Mastodon · Substack ·

👨🏻‍💻 Work History

• Smallstep offroad engineer
• Trove co-founder. Built and led Trove's engineering team
• Zipcar engineer #1. Extreme full-stack engineer. Wrote the code that opens your Zipcar.
• OurGoods co-founder. Built a bartering network for creative professionals
• Software projects for The American Museum of Natural History, ITP@NYU, and others
• Mentor/EIR at Code for America fellowship, Singularity U and CCA Design Strategy MBA program

🎨 Side Projects

See my post The Power of Side Projects for a deeper dive

• CLI Guidelines is a guide to designing great command line applications. Written with Ben Firshman, Aanand Prasad, and Eva Parish.
• Multiverse generative art scripts for Adobe Photoshop — created with artist Petra Cortright for Rhizome's Seven on Seven 2018. Watch our 7x7 talk (22 min)
• Mousetrap lets you master keyboard shortcuts by selectively disabling the mouse in your favorite macOS apps.
• heal.lgbt queer healing resources 🌈
• Shuffle my Deep Work playlist ( Music) to reach peak flow
• Jackpot a Chrome extension that turns the web into a casino
• Mindfulness for Nerds an 8-week course on focus and flow
• I make mundane photographs
• Wine Flavor Wheel a visualization of how different wines taste
• The Flag of Equal Marriage a flag I designed in support of same-sex marriage in the US
• Visual metronome at Dynamicland, a simple adjustable metronome