smorty71

Biography

I am the co-founder of Profilactic.

I have over 10 years of web product development experience conceiving, designing, building and testing large-scale sites and web applications for companies including CNET Networks, Office Depot, Yahoo! Shopping, Sony, HCA Healthcare and Kemper Insurance.

Up until March of 2008, I managed a product development team for CNET Networks that was focused on social media and community initiatives. I was with the company in several different roles since July 1999.

In addition to web product experience, I also have extensive professional writing experience. Most recently, I wrote a gadget and consumer electronics blog for CNET's TechRepublic called Practical Gadgetry. I have also written articles on web development for CNET's Builder.com on topics including CSS, XHTML and accessibility.

Other writing and press credits include an appearance on the local NPR program State of Affairs to give an introduction to blogs and blogging, an interview for WIRED to discuss Netflix, a ZDNet Whiteboard video on tagging, an interview for Online Community Report on online community trends and an interview with Louisville's Velocity Weekly about Twitter.

I am active in the Louisville startup community and participate in the Social Media Club's Louisville chapter and Forge Louisville.

I live in Louisville, KY with my wife (Amy) and 4 children: Mahlon (10), Miles (7), Mira (4) and Maddox (almost 1). Aside from spending time with my family, I enjoy tinkering with technology and playing video games.

I grew up in Charleston, WV and attended South Charleston High School (Class of '89). I got my B.A. from Marshall University in Journalism and Advertising (Class of '93). I received an M.A. in Film & Video Production from the University of Memphis (Class of '97).

I have maintained a personal blog at www.smorty71.com since 2004.

Interests

Family, Home Theater, HDTV, TiVo, HTPC, XBOX, XBOX 360, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii, Personal Technology, Pop Culture, NFL, Fantasy Football, Movies, Filmmaking, Web Development, CSS, Design, Blogging, Online Communities, Social Networking, Mustaches, Consumer Electronics, Guitar Hero, Social Media

Music

Pixies, Queens of the Stone Age, Urge Overkill, Afghan Whigs, Twilight Singers, Possum Dixon, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Distillers, The Clash, The Hives, Morrissey, The Roots, Cibo Matto, Prince, Bjork, A Tribe Called Quest, The Cure, Weezer, White Stripes, At The Drive-In, Arctic Monkeys, Wolfmother, Eagles of Death Metal, Fiona Apple, Faster Pussycat, L.A. Guns, Bulletboys, Jeff Buckley, A, Beck, Belle & Sebastian, Cinderella, Breeders, The Cult, Faith No More

Movies

Superbad, Slacker, Glengarry Glen Ross, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Manhattan, Crimes and Misdemeanors, Barton Fink, La Jette, Pee Wee's Big Adventure, Stranger Than Paradise, Being John Malkovich, The Big Lebowski, Living in Oblivion, Star Wars, Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, Raise the Red Lantern, Boogie Nights, Metropolitan, Michel Gondry, Woody Allen, Coen Brothers, Richard Linklater

TV Shows

24, Arrested Development, Pee-Wee's Playhouse, A-Team, Entourage, The Real World, Reno 911!, Seinfeld, Chapelle's Show, Six Feet Under, Penn & Teller: Bullshit!, Brady Bunch, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Lost, Survivor, Rollergirls, Heroes, Ugly Betty, The Amazing Race, Project Runway, Top Chef, Top Design, Damages, Rescue Me, Chuck, Dirty Sexy Money

Books & Authors

The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, The Dirt : Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band, Envisioning Information, The Life and Death of Andy Warhol, Keith Haring Journals, Blink : The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, The Way of Zen, Malcolm Gladwell, Alan Watts, Edward Tufte

Sports

Football, Hockey, Rollerderby, Skateboarding, Soccer

Video games

XBOX 360, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS Lite, Sega Dreamcast, Sega Genesis, N64, Halo, Halo 2, Elite Beat Agents, Burnout Revenge, Gears of War, Wii Sports, Rockstar Table Tennis, Tony Hawk's Project 8, Mario Kart DS, The New Super Mario Bros, Brain Age, Earthworm Jim, Tecmo Bowl, FIFA World Cup 2006, Guitar Hero II, Wario Wares: Smooth Moves, NHL 2K7, Virtua Tennis 3, FIFA 07, Halo 3, The Bigs, Rock Band, Guitar Hero III, FIFA 08, Guitar Hero Rocks the 80s