Don't have a whole lot of time at the moment, so this is the Cliff's Notes version...
ExtremeProgramming saved my life.
Let's just say that I was at a point in my career where the thought of being a professional dishwasher seemed more appealing than spending even one more 16-hour day developing software that didn't work. ExtremeProgramming turned that around for me, and I enjoy writing software once again.
I was the sole developer for a very small, delivery intelligence company. This didn't stop me from incorporating ExtremeProgramming best practices wherever possible. Since I was the only developer, I've even tried such (possibly wrong-headed) experiments as PairProgrammingWithMarketingTypes. This has actually been an incredibly "interesting" and valuable experience - I have to believe that I'm not the first person to have tried this. Of course, you never know...
I'm an avid musician; my primary focus for the last 19 years has been the bass guitar, but I'm also pretty keen on the guitar, drums, keyboards and really, I'll play anything that makes noise (why restrict yourself to officially recognized instruments, when doing so would deprive you of the joys of playing, say, a well-tuned, stainless-steel, coldcase-insert?).
I also write and arrange catchy pop songs. Some of my songs are available free on IUMA [http://bsharp.iuma.com] - these songs are a few years old, but there's a whole new batch coming soon: stay tuned.
I own Bruised Muse Productions. BMP is an attempt to bring a modicum of uniformity to my otherwise scattershot interests. What do we produce? Anything falling under the intentionally vague umbrella of ArtAndTechnology?.
I can be reached at mailto:BenjaminSharp@gmail.com.
Pages I'm reading: