About the Author

This is the personal and professional website of John Feminella. I'm a software developer based in Virginia near Charlottesville.

I'm actively involved in the local and broader technology community, where I give talks every so often on various topics of interest. I'm pretty passionate about evangelizing good software practices, especially in corporate settings. There's enough bad software out there already -- we don't need more! On a rotating basis, I also teach short courses on personal finance and investment at the University of Virginia. Finally, I enjoy playing golf and tennis in those rare moments of free time.

I hope to use this space to share some of my thoughts, ideas, and practical solutions on an variety of topics. If it can in any way be construed to fall under the umbrella of miscellaneous geekery, it's up for grabs.

Occasionally, I'll invite my friends, partners, and colleagues to post their own insights here too, so this isn't completely a solo endeavor. Speaking of which, if you've got an interesting topic or question for me, do feel free to drop me a line. Other than that, most of the time it'll just be you and me, kiddo.

Also, as outlined here, any statements we make here represent our own thoughts and not those of our employers or clients.

Colophon

Back in the old days, when men were men and an Internet was a great fishing tool, a colophon was added to the end of published works. These brief summaries gave the curious reader some extra information about what was going on between the covers.

This cutesy and mostly self-serving tradition has persisted across the ages into the digital medium. In an age of rapid change, this seems like one thing worth preserving, so we present it here for your approval and consumption.

Under the Hood

Distilled Brilliance is an amalgamation of the best parts of Movable Type and some plugins to get the job done.

Web Standards

We strive for valid CSS and XHTML.

Hosting

Hosting is provided by the absolutely spectacular FusedNetwork. They are highly recommended if you're looking for a place to set up shop.

We've never had the pleasure to deal with such talented and dedicated support staff. It's pretty refreshing to be able to talk on a technical level with your support team, instead of getting the e-mail equivalent of dumbfounded stares when you ask for Apache access logs.

Images

Most icons are from the excellent Silk set by Mark James. The lighthouse image is a slightly edited version of this Pigeon Point Lighthouse picture by Tyler Westcott.