All About Gil

On days where I was sick and had to stay home from school, I would dump my boxes of Legos on the floor and proceed to turn my entire room into a Lego city. My grandmother always thought I'd become an architect, and she wasn't that far off.

I was also crazy about business. I didn't waste any time: at 12 I was known for pushing my lawnmower up and down the street to cut neighbors' lawns. I also washed cars, worked on a shrimp boat, and refereed soccer games.

We subscribed to AOL, and I was hooked. I split my free time equally between video games and learning how to write code. I had a Geocities page and decorated it with Javascript and Perl apps. Ahh, those were glorious times.

Two years later, desperate to begin making money but horrified at the thought of menial labor, I decided to apply my knowledge in computers. A friend told me of a local computer store that might be hiring, and my grandmother drove me there to meet them. They had no idea who this kid was, but I made it quite clear that I wasn't leaving without a job. It worked.

Immediately I knew this was my passion. For the next few years I was a sponge, soaking up everything I could learn about technology and business.

After my year long incubation period, I began working for a local web development firm. Here I felt most at home, and I got my first opportunity to work on major projects for large companies. I honed my craft, learning new programming languages like PHP and configuring servers to securely host web sites. I became a critical resource for the company's really hard technical problems, and soon I was known as giltotherescue.

After graduating high school it was time to branch out, and I began my own freelance technology business.

I treated my business as a homegrown college education, and I diligently studied and applied new skills in business financials, taxes, marketing, customer service, communication, and sales. I often pushed myself out of my comfort zone, mingling at networking events with people twice my age and pitching executives several times my senior.

I started a second company called EmployApp which developed fantastically simple, streamlined hiring management software for large companies like hospitals. I learned quite a few lessons with EmployApp, chief among them that the enterprise market is built on relationships, not superior technology (oops).

I love every aspect of computers, and am one of a rarer breed with experience in both hardware and software.

And that's how I happened into the most interesting job I've ever had: building a communications network for a fleet of tugboats. The company, which operates a few dozen tugboats along the Intracoastal Waterway in the Southern US, was in desperate need of a modern system to replace their aging satellite-based communication tools. Rather than calling in IBM for a multi-million dollar solution, I was chosen for my wide range of skills to lead the technical portion of the project.

The first task was to throw out the ancient (not to mention unreliable) satellite modems and fax machines, and to experiment with a new system based on 3G digital mobile phone technology. The 3G system proved ideal as a cost-efficient means of internet access with an acceptable range of coverage (it's a given that tugboats don't always travel in areas with great wireless reception). Armed with PC Cards from our mobile provider, we pieced together a few additional components to improve our coverage and achieve near 90% uptime along the shipping lanes.

Moving along, the next step was to find the right combination of PC hardware that would be highly durable, easy to use, and space and power efficient. The latter was an especially difficult task, considering that up until recently most ship designers had not considered the possibility that a computer (along with GPS and so many other electronic gizmos) would need to fit into the wheelhouse.

After nailing the hardware, it was time to start configuring the machines. I developed a rigorous series of security procedures to ensure that the computers were not tampered with, and an exhaustive step-by-step checklist to ensure the setup procedure was identical during each installation. I was also charged with developing a complete software intranet to make communication between the tugboats and their home office as simple and efficient as possible.

All the above was par for the course, but what made this job particularly interesting was the final step: catching up with a few dozen constantly-moving boats, installing computers and comm equipment on each, and (most importantly) giving boat personnel a crash course in basic computer skills.

Over and over, what kept me going was the requirement for absolute simplicity. The Keep It Simple Stupid (KISS) philosophy helped:

1) reduce long-term costs by using cheap, off the shelf wireless communications technology
2) minimize costly repair trips by utilizing a minimal component, rigorously tested hardware system
3) get boat personnel up to speed right away by developing software that was designed to match their existing communications process as closely as possible

For a guy destined to spend his entire professional career in an air-conditioned office, the days spent drilling holes, erecting antennas, and running wires in the 90 degree summer heat, along with the general feng shui required to find space for all the required computer equipment, was a welcome change of pace. If I had to do it all over again, the only thing I'd do differently is make sure I took at least one picture of myself wearing a mechanic's outfit, drill in hand, swearing like a sailor.

The 6 month project was a complete success, and the system I built is still in use today on twice as many vessels. I learned a lot along the way, and for now I can't help shake the feeling that this was the most interesting job I've ever had.

In October 2005, freshly minted as a hurricane refugee, I came across Seth's blog and discovered that Squidoo was hiring for its first engineer. I applied online and clicked right away with the team; a week later I was living in Irvington, New York, and putting in serious overtime hours to help launch the beta version of Squidoo.

By December our private beta was released, and I took on the reigns as lead PHP developer and MySQL architect. These days I focus on operations: scaling to meet growing traffic demands, fighting spam and hackers, and generally making sure Squidoo is up and running smoothly. I also take pride in serving as a voice for the community, speaking frequently with fellow lensmasters to learn about goals, fears, habits, and concerns.

In December of 2008, my girlfriend and I made a huge transition: one day living in the heart of Midtown Manhattan, pretty much the nexus of the universe, and the next day in Boulder, a comparatively small town on the edge of the Rocky Mountains.

Although living in New York City was amazing, all good things must come to an end, and Boulder had tons to offer: gorgeous mountains, healthy lifestyles, and large tech influences.

In Boulder you could usually find me biking, snowboarding down mountains, climbing back up them, eating healthy, local food and finding new off-road trails.

As I get older, my cultural and culinary tastes become more and more refined. After a few years in Colorado, we were ready once again for a change of pace. The time seemed ripe to visit one of the historical centers of Western civilization: Italy.

Without hesitation, my girlfriend and I packed up all our belongings, put them in storage, and spent three months traveling through Italy. This was NOT a vacation, but an immersion in local culture. I maintained an American schedule, exploring Italy in the mornings and signing on to work from 3pm to 11pm (9am to 5pm eastern) each day.

During our trip we spent time in Rome, Venice, Florence, and the Tuscan countryside. You can read about our adventures on my travel blog.