Welcome

Hello, I am Andrew Barnett. Welcome to my humble home online.

I make websites

I am a front-end Web developer with a focus on content. I code clean, semantic and standards-compliant HTML and CSS; also a little Javascript and jQuery.

I am available for hire for freelance, contract or project work from .

Disambiguation

I am the Andrew Barnett in Melbourne, Australia who is a front-end Web developer and was an Oracle database developer. I am not the Andrew Barnett who is a breast-augmentation surgeon, nor the one who runs forex-trading seminars, nor any of the other undoubtably excellent fellows around the world who share my name.

Read more about me

Miscellanea

This site is a place to play with stuff that interests me. Expect, therefore, periods of stasis punctuated by wholesale change.

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Professional profile

Summary

I am a front-end Web developer with a focus on content. I code clean, semantic and standards-compliant HTML and CSS; also a little Javascript and jQuery.

I worked freelance for several years alongside my day job as an Oracle developer, mostly building WordPress and Zen-cart sites. In June 2010 I made the switch and began work at a major bank as a front-end Web developer.

More information

I am not a visual designer but I know about grids and vertical rhythm and I know good design from bad. I can code from PSD, follow a style guide, and I will notice and care if something is a few pixels out of line.

I am not a Web-application developer but I have built 20,000-line corporate database applications in SQL and PL/SQL. I can read and make minor changes to most code and I grok principles of encapsulation, loose coupling and DRY. I prefer an Agile approach to development.

I write clear, grammatical and well-structured English.

I have worked as a business analyst. I communicate equally well with both business and technical people.

I had a long career as an Oracle database developer, specialising in enterprise data warehousing. I am skilled at data analysis, migration and transformation.

Technical skills

Key products & technologies

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Availability

I am available from for freelance, contract or project work.

I live near Melbourne, Australia and can work in the CBD, Docklands and North-West suburbs. Since I take an active role in caring for my children, I prefer to work either part-time at your office, or full time from mine.

Contact me

A cartoon of an old bear with a walking stick

About me

I live in Sunbury, about 40km North of Melbourne, Australia, with my wife Nathalie and my two children.

I lived in Fiji as a child, near Suva from roughly 1968 to 1973, and in England near Reading from roughly 1974 to 1978. I have lived in Sunbury since.

I graduated from the University of Melbourne in 1988 with a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Philosophy and English.

I am: a proud and hands-on Dad; an enthusiastic-if-limited cook; a creative and random thinker; INFP; agnostic; a bit old and fat, mostly bewildered…

I like: my family; Web publishing and design; sustainable living; growing food; cooking; wine; aircraft; residential architecture; landscaping; writing; photography; Apple computers; flexible frameworks; email, SMS and Twitter; time with family and close friends; time alone…

I dislike: ideologues of all persuasions; inauthenticity; bad food and wine; thoughtless architecture and design; fixed and arbitrary rules; telephones; operating systems that are not UNIXy…

Colophon

This site is a mix of static HTML5 and CSS for the home page and a minimal PHP script—which I must learn to recode in Python or similar—to serve the articles. It is variously sprinkled with a little jQuery, jQuery Tools and Google Font. I made it by hand using TextMate on my Macbook Pro.

The typeface is Molengo. Text sizes are all browser default except for h1 being a little smaller. I tweaked margins to adhere to a 24px vertical rhythm.

The site seeks to express semantic markup and accessibility. I continue to learn and I know that I can yet do better.

The minimal design reflects both my aesthetic preference and sad lack of any visual-design ability.

The old-bear portrait was drawn for me to use as a Twitter avatar by the clever and talented Mr Onthemoon.

Hosting is a rock-solid Joyent Accelerator, running OpenSolaris Joyent SmartOS.

Contact me

Email me at andrew@andrewbarnett.net

Call me or send me SMS during business hours Australian Eastern Standard Time on 0418 522 421 locally, +61 418 522 421 internationally

View my résumé