jo'el: (n). wife, two kids, well travelled but now based in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. Self-confessed computer geek since 1982, Internet user since 1986, Unix user since 1991. Contract software developer, musician, photographer, journalist, part-time designer, amateur lampy & AV engineer, pretentious foodie, generally fun bloke. Been on telly a few times. See also evil scumlord. Bends well, apparently.

Need A Contract Developer? Hire Me!

Principal skills: PHP 5 (12+ years experience), MySQL (15+ years experience), Javascript (14+ years), AJAX, jQuery, project management, perl, telecomms, database, web stuff, eCommerce, general Linux sysadminery (principally Debian and Ubuntu). Lots of experience linking to Twitter, Facebook, Paypal, Datacash, Flickr, RSS, all that stuff. Click to get in touch

My CV can be downloaded here, together with information for recruiters. Please note I don't do fixed-price work, just daily/hourly rate on contract.

I am available from 31ST MARCH 2013 for contract work throughout the UK (long term in Yorkshire, Lancashire, Humberside regions; short term (2 months max) worldwide).

Note to potential employers/agencies: If you're after me doing some work for you, or you are an employment agent, please contact me for the latest version of my CV: the one up here may be a few months out of date and does not contain employer names or full contact details.

Current things I'm working on:

• Work:

  I'm a bit of a media agency gun-for-hire: PHP, jQuery, MySQL, all that shiznat and have worked with huge projects for blue-chip clients: folks like Eurostar, Panasonic, Team17, Barratt, Dandara, Gossard (the wonderbra people), Fischer-Price, Damart Thermawear, Aquafresh (GlaxoSmithKline), Sage, BBC North, NaturalMotion, Pace plc, pretty much every property developer on Jersey, etc.etc. I started writing software for the web back in 1994 and eventually ended up writing control-panel type stuff for SaaS/hosted services.

  I still turn up working for media agencies around Leeds and London, mostly doing LAMP stuff, HTML, bits of graphical and Flash work (although it's not my forté) fixing projects after previous staff have left or been poached, and writing a kick-ass CMS system based around object-oriented PHP 5 using __autoloader (since copied by many frameworks). Lots of the OO modules show up in projects since, including a lot of high-profile sites for everyone from e-commerce vendors through to major broadcasters' programme support sites.

  I've also done stuff for public service organisations involving statistical analysis, simulating incidents, doing lots of rich-media e-learning type stuff but with a lot more fun bent than just plain e-learning, and also some statistical analysis work for the NHS.

  I'm a crap web designer though; you probably worked that out from this site.

  Looking for help regarding Fotopic? Read this first.

• Photography:

  I do a lot of gig photography: local and national music, theatre, concerts, live events. Many of my images are available to licence at www.joelphotos.co.uk - in the past I've photographed acts as diverse as Metronomy, Paleday, Franz Ferdinand, Jimmy Somerville, Glasvegas, The Cribs, Mumford & Sons, Dolly Rockers, Scooch, East 17, Rick Astley, Bananarama, Gary Stewart, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Fiona Bevan, Tight Fit, ABC, Dr Feelgood, Chew Lips, Tom Robinson, John Cooper Clarke, Mark E Smith & The Fall, Pet Shop Boys, Eureka Machines, Dr Blue, ZZ Eliminator, Heather Small, Pop Will Eat Itself, Jesus Jones, The Levellers, Citizen Fish, Mike Read, Get Cape Wear Cape Fly, The Tracks, Gillian Christie, The xx, Penguin, Hjaltalin, Kal Lavelle, Runaround Kids, Rosie Doonan, The Spills, Dead Sea Strategy, The Passing Fancy, Urban Strings, Telegram Sam, Jonny The Firth, Antonio Lulic, Shrood, Piskie Sits, Emmy The Great, Darwin Deez, I Like Trains, Dinosaur Pile-Up, Shrag, Sissy And The Blisters, The Saturdays, Scouting For Girls, More Than You'll Ever Know, Soundgirl, The Mend, Untouched, Mark Morriss, Ryan Spendlove, Chris Helme, The Wonder Stuff, Freschard, The Wedding Present, Benson, Middleman, Steve Lamacq, Urban Cookie Collective, Delorean Drivers, Paul Morricone, Shrood, Laura & The Tears, Royal Showdown, Brown Hound James, Arthur Rigby & The Baskervylles, Treecreeper, Allo Darlin, The Bambinos, Vessels, West Yorkshire Symphony Orchestra, and lots more.

  I've done events including four years of Pride London (and a pile of other Pride events) under an official press pass, and you'll find my work appearing in regional and national publications such as The Independent, The Times, Wakefield Express, Leeds-List, Leeds Guide, Yorkshire Post and NME as well as local fanzines and music mags.

  Lots of examples of my work on my official photo library and my Flickr page. If you want to hire me, drop me a line. I don't do weddings.

  Sort-of related, I write the occasional article for Leeds-List.

• Classic (Retro) Computing:

  I have an unhealthy interest in BBC Micros and other 8-bit Acorn computers and maintain a BBC Micro Domesday System, one of only eight (known) remaining working setups. I've also demo'd working Econet setups and toured a talk among the geek groups on new projects for the Beeb (including USB, flash, ethernet) called "Teaching Old Micros New Tricks" - you can find out lots more by clicking here.

• Music:

  From 2008 I have been working on the periphery of quite a few music organisations, probably most notably Wakefield Music Collective who for over 20 years have promoted Wakefield music both inside and outside the region. They're probably best known for Clarence Park Music Festival which takes place annually in Clarence Park, Denby Dale Road, Wakefield. I also promote bands and evangelise (not always with great success, but a man can try) and present the popular Wakefield Music Collective Podcasts.

  I've written music in tons of genres stretching from pop to indie to classical to showtunes. For a while much of my music ended up being performed by the group Obvious Pseudonym: our mega non-hit featured on Have I Got News For You, Never Mind The Buzzcocks, and apparently was used as a theme tune for a programme about Mr Cheggers some time back as well. We released an EP, got stymied by lineup changes, and it went back onto the shelf in mid-2012 just before our song Dad Dancing was used in an episode of Come Dine With Me (series 25).

  Since then I've been producing and writing with other artists - projects on-the-go at the moment include the splendly named Wonderfolly which is a collaboration with urban bluesman Scott Anthony Wainwright, a not-sure-what-it-is-yet project called Hot Frenzy, and the ever-present Bored Housewife Project which may see the light of day at some point. I miss performing live, but occasionally get drunk enough to grace the stage at The Hop for Open Mic on a Monday night.

  I also write incidental music for TV and film, and themes and jingles for adverts. I'd link to my showreel but I haven't got one. Never mind.

  Contrary to popular belief, I am not 'fanatical' about disco.

• Local History & Urbex:

  I'm an occasional contributor to cinema history websites such as cinematreasures.org, and take lots of photos of derelict cinemas.

Looking for older stuff? Click here for things I've been involved with in the past.