The Geek Talk

Who is Wynn Netherland?

I’m a Christian husband and father who can’t believe he gets paid to do what he truly loves to do – coding on the front-end of the Interwebs.

Do you have a personal Brand?

If you’re online, I suppose everyone does these days. Mine is a mashup of my design and development backgrounds, usually fronted by my cartoon avatar, courtesy of Joe Romero, and my ‘pengwynn’ handle on sites like Twitter, Facebook, and Github. For me it’s about connecting with others who share my passion for design, code, and mashups without taking any of it too seriously.

How do you find idea inspiration for a new project?

It may sound cliché, but usually from scratching my own itch. As developers, we’re an inherently lazy bunch who will go to great lengths to build tools that keep us from doing real work. Adam and I started The Changelog Podcast because we wanted more in-depth coverage of the projects we use everyday than we were getting from most news-oriented podcasts.

Similarly, we built TweetCongress.org because we were looking for our Congressfolk on Twitter and figured others were, too. In the huge Twitter frenzy of early 2009, a simple idea turned into a Web Award at SXSWi.

What does your typical day look like?

I’m up early, typically around 6AM and like to spend an hour or so studying before the kids are up. I normally hit the home office around 8:30. My workday is a mix of billable client work and open source projects (it’s great when those intersect). I usually knock off around 5PM and spend some time with the wife and kids. My weeknights are often filled with podcast interviews or blogging after the kids are in bed.

What do you do in your free time?

With small children, it seems there’s less free time than there used to be. When I do get some time to myself, I enjoy picking my guitar and songwriting, riding my bike around the lake, or hacking just for fun.

Current favorite apps?

YouVersion, GoogleChrome, CloudApp, LaunchBar, Vitalist

What OS do you prefer?

OS X, Snow Leopard until the next cat pounces.

Small picture for your Workplace?

Favorite: Tools, Language, JS Framework?

Firebug, Sass, Titanium Appcelerator. Ruby followed closely by JavaScript. jQuery and Underscore.js

Name something that has inspired you recently?

I live at the intersection of design and development and am constantly inspired by people who create truly innovative stuff. On the design front, I’m blown away by anything Jake Stutzman creates. He keeps me motivated to keep pushing my design skills.

On the code side, I really am inspired by bright folks like Jeremy Ashkenas. His work on Underscore.js, CoffeeScript, and other DocumentCloud projects are truly remarkable.

What do you prefer (and why)? Freelance work or full time employment?

I love freelancing because of the freedom. For the most part I get to choose my own projects and I can set my own schedule and travel when I want.

What are your personal projects and goals for 2010?

The first goal is complete – my first iPhone app is pending in the App Store (details to follow on the blog once it’s available.) A second goal is to publish a book on Compass and Sass (in progress). I’m also shooting to release another hosted app that is almost complete. It’s an app that’s sure to make a ‘splash,’ so stay tuned.