Introduction

Particletree is the beginning of something. This place, this collection of knowledge, is a gathering of forces, a sharpening of skills. We believe both web applications and learning about how to create web applications can always be better. Because we know how hard it is to find information on the web that’s both valuable and lucid, we’re going to do our part to create and showcase ideas and resources that exemplify both.

We also understand that the next phase of online experiences, as encapsulated by the ideas collectively known as Web 2.0, will be built on the shoulders of others (both small and broad). And as such, we hope Particletree will be a unique and exciting voice that builds, extrapolates and gathers with respect to this shift in spirit.

There’s a lot of exciting stuff going on out there and we’re hoping to not only build upon it, but add to it with enthusiasm and generosity. In the end, we’re always going to give you our best and toss in a little fun while we’re at it. Simple and sweet. Good and excellent.

Your Hosts

Chris Campbell is obsessed with buzz marketing and customer evangelism. He’s not afraid to get out there in a gorilla suit and respond to every one of his emails as if it were from his mom. When he’s not resolving disputes between Kevin and Ryan, he’s our favorite PHP developer. Chris’s favorite weapon is the broad sword.

Kevin Hale is responsible for championing good user experience and brilliant interface design. As much as Kevin likes keeping things clean and reliable, he loves innovation. More than that, he loves asking for innovation in the middle of the night from his favorite two people, The Brothers Campbell. As a child, Kevin was the kid in class who ate a box of crayons for a dollar.

Ryan Campbell loves danger and by danger, we mean databases. Ryan’s list of likes include Javascript, dragons, technical support and bug squashing. Dislikes include large insects, large food portions and large jelly beans. Ryan knows why aliens must exist.

Alex Vazquez is a certified configuration king steeped in the art of the dreaded Java class loader. Alex likes to sip lattes and theorize on the value of the array. Having recently broken free from his J2EE shackles, he’s ready to face the worst that PHP and JavaScript has to throw at him with a stone-faced calm and a steely-eyed glare. Alex is a man who who’s been here, but hopes to get there.

Tim Sabat is addicted to code optimization, unit testing and all things object oriented. He fell in love with tech while doing desktop programming in the .NET framework. Tim knows how to write in the ‘M’ programming language—an arcane environment you can look up, but should never ever use. Tim is also very clever. One weekend, through a patented scientific formula, he used an Easy-Bake™ oven to make Easy-Mac™ and Easy-Cheese™ even easier.

Colophon

This site was built on steel and magic. You might know them better as XHTML, CSS and JavaScript. Kevin did the pretty in Photoshop and spackled it together using Textmate. The majority here prefers Safari and Firefox, but everyone is optimistic about the future. If you have to know, WordPress makes us strong and MediaTemple helps us fly.