About Me

PBX I'm Paul Bissex, and e-scribe.com is my consulting business. I build web applications using open source software, especially Django. In the '90s I did graphic design for newspapers and magazines. Then I wrote technology commentary and reviews for Wired, Salon.com, Chicago Tribune, and lots of little places you've never heard of. Feel free to email me.

Book

I'm co-author of "Python Web Development with Django", an excellent guide to my favorite web framework. Published by Addison-Wesley, it is available from Amazon and your favorite technical bookstore as well.

Colophon

Built using Django, served by Apache and mod_wsgi. The database is SQLite. The operating system is FreeBSD, on a VPS hosted at Johncompanies.com. Comment-spam protection by Akismet. Vintage topo imagery from the Maptech archive. The markup engine is Markdown.

Pile o'Tags

Stuff I Use

Akismet, bitbucket, del.icio.us, Django, Emacs, FreeBSD, Git, jQuery, LaunchBar, Markdown, Mercurial, OS X, Postfix, Python, Review Board, S3, SQLite, TextMate, Ubuntu Linux

Spam Report

At least 102345 pieces of comment spam killed since January 2008, mostly via Akismet.

This Spartan Life

You can be FPS-illiterate like I am and still be fascinated by This Spartan Life, a talk show staged inside the Halo multiplayer game world. Guest and host (and "camerapeople") attempt to have a cogent conversation while running around trying not to get shot by interlopers. Right now there's one episode posted, divided into six segments, including interviews with filmmaker Peggy Ahwesh and multimedia innovator Bob Stein. The Stein segment is my favorite for its combination of substance, humor, and visual antics.

A surreal viewing experience and a nice introduction to the world of machinima.

Friday, August 19th, 2005
fun