summary
I’m Alan, nonfiction author and founder of DamnInteresting.com. I have been researching and writing articles about science, history, and psychology since 2005. I’m also an editor, illustrator, full-stack web developer, designer, and voice actor.
bio
My career has been an interesting intersection of writing, editing, coding, and graphic design. I have been writing software since Hypercolor shirts were a thing. I started by making lo-fi games on my trusty TI-82, then moved on to bigger and better computers, coding Perl, Java, and LAMP-stack, both front and back, on Windows and Mac. I also enjoy researching and writing true stories from science and history. Probably too frequently. Yes, that sentence was 100% adverbs. This sentence no verb. Perhaps most importantly, I am one degree from Kevin Bacon. Sizzle?
skills
Professional Writing & Editing
18+ years
Web Development
26+ years
- LAMP/PHP web development
- MySQL, MariaDB
- Front-end design and dev (HTML, Javascript, CSS/LESS/SASS, etc)
- WordPress themes, plugins, etc.
- Experience with AWS, Shopify, and Stripe
- Python + Flask
- Responsive design for phones, tablets, and other devices
- Automation tools
- RESTful APIs
Graphics Design/Illustration
27+ years
- Hundreds of illustrations in a variety of styles (see artwork samples page)
- Print media (posters, invitations, business cards, product packaging, etc)
- Logo design
- Skilled with Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator. Some experience with InDesign.
Interactive Design & Development
25+ years
Podcast Audio Production
10+ years
- Podcast narration
- Adding music, audio clips, and sound effects (sound design)
- Composing atmospheric music for episodes
- Sample track
Browser Extensions
3+ years
- Extensions for Chrome and Firefox web browsers
Project/Personnel Management
25+ years
- Lead Web Developer at a non-profit educational research institute
- Founder and managing editor for a high-traffic website
- Organized a collaborative book (published by Workman)
- Acted as a team supervisor for a tech support call center
experience
DamnInteresting.com
Founder, Managing Editor, Developer, Designer
September 2005 - Present
- Managing Editor and primary author
- Ultimately responsible for copyediting, artwork, and podcast production
- All design and development work, based on WordPress
- Podcast narration, sound design, and music composition
- Social media engagement
- Maintains detailed author/editor guidelines
- Leader of an international league of authors
- See samples page for more information
Freelance Developer/Designer
February 2002 - Present
- Custom website design
- Custom Logos
- Dozens of custom WordPress themes
- Developed a geolocation-aware search engine for finding nearby businesses
- Developed a Bayesian Classifier for automatically sorting messages based on their content (“spam” vs. “ham”)
- Created website security tools to prevent many types of exploits
The Healthy Internet Project, Incubated at TED
Full stack web developer
October 2019 - September 2021
- Development of browser extensions
- Python-based API
- Database design
- Cloud data management (AWS)
Midwives College of Utah
Full stack web developer
July 2012 - July 2021
- Sole developer and IT individual for distance-learning non-profit
- Maintenance and improvements of proprietary software
- Integration with third party apps and services
- General website development (PHP+CSS+jQuery)
- Server administration/IT
Stotion - Design Agency
Full stack web developer
May 2016 - October 2019
- Converting designs into interactive websites
- WordPress themes, plugins, etc.
- Web server administration
- Shopify templates
Waterford Research Institute
Full stack web developer
January 2012 - July 2012
- Managed web developers in foreign office (Romania)
- General website development (PHP+CSS+jQuery)
- WordPress themes, plugins, widgets, and shortcodes
- Usability improvements
- Web server management
Eli Kirk - Design Agency
Full stack web developer
November 2010 - January 2012
- Building custom WordPress themes based on provided designs
- Tailor-made WordPress themes, plugins, widgets, and shortcodes
- eCommerce
- Eli Kirk is now known as EKR
CodeNutrition.com - Startup
Full stack web developer
December 2007 - March 2010
- Developed a system to analyze DNA samples and assign nutritional supplements based on the results
- Developed the customer-facing website
- Created automated software to generate custom DNA reports, printed materials, shipping manifests, etc.
8one8 - Startup
Full stack web developer/designer
January 2006 - November 2008
- Designed and developed BounceBase, an experimental consolidated search engine (no longer maintained)
- Developed an API called “MixedResults” for third parties to use Bouncebase’s consolidated data
(Some older positions omitted)
recent recognition
hobbies, etc
Apart from the above, I enjoy cooking, drawing, music-making, technology-tinkering, and I love a little alliteration. I am married and living in Salt Lake City, Utah with a delightful young daughter. I was also the Time magazine Person of the Year in 2006.
contact
Please feel free to drop me a line at alan@alanbellows.com.
If for some reason you need to send a physical object, I can accept letters and parcels at this address:
Alan Bellows
PO Box 16551
Salt Lake City, UT 84116
I do have a profile on LinkedIn if you’re into that sort of thing, but it’s mostly centered around my technical/programming skills.
As a last resort, dialing 801.876.0892 will cause my phone to ring, though I might be startled at the unusual noise.