View source for User:ThePlaz

{{Main_Page:About}}

==Resume==
{{:What I do}}


==Biography==
{{:ThePlaz's Biography}}

==Personal Info==
===Activities===	
*[[H-Vision]] (sound and anchor)
*[[Haverford Robotics Club|Robotics Club]]
*volunteer in [[People's Light]] lighting department
*develop [[Tecker]]
*run ThePlaz.com
===Interests=== 	
*Computers ([[wp:GUI|GUI]], coding, [[wp:PHP|PHP]], [[wp:MySQL|MySQL]])
*Technical Theater
*Academics
*Leadership
===Favorite Music===
*Soundtracks Mostly
*Some Pop
*Some classical (while working)
===Favorite TV Shows===	
====Involved In====
*[[H-Vision]]
*[[Tecker 911]]
====TV Mainstream====
*[[wp:The Amazing Race|The Amazing Race]]
*[[wp:Survivor|Survivor]]
*[[wp:Avatar:The Last Airbender|Avatar:The Last Airbender]]
*[[wp:Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide|Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide]]
====TV Niche====
*[[wp:How It's Made|How it's Made]]
*[[wp:Beyond Tomorrow (TV series)|Beyond Tomorrow]]
*[[wp:The Screen Savers|The Screen Savers]]
====Computer====
*[[wp:TWiT.tv (network)|tWiT]] Network [[wp:Podcast|Podcasts]]
*[[wp:DL.TV|DL.TV]]
*[[wp:CrankyGeeks|Cranky Geeks]]
===Favorite Movies===
(Don't get to watch too many movies)
*[[wp:The Incredibles|The Incredibles]] and all other [[wp:Pixar|Pixar]] movies except [[wp:Finding Nemo|Finding Nemo]]
*The [[wp:Harry_Potter#Films|Harry Potter]] Series
===Favorite Books===
====Non-Fiction====
*[http://www.amazon.com/Branded-Nation-Marketing-Megachurch-Museumworld/dp/0743243471/sr=8-1/qid=1161464468/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-8190287-5052756?ie=UTF8 Branded Nation] (& others by James Twitchell)
*[http://www.amazon.com/Fast-Food-Nation-Eric-Schlosser/dp/0060838582/sr=1-1/qid=1161464523/ref=sr_1_1/104-8190287-5052756?ie=UTF8&s=books Fast Food Nation]

====Fiction====
*[[wp:harry Potter|Harry Potter]] Series
*[[wp:Alex Rider|Alex Rider]] Adventures
... and more

===Favorite Quotes===
See [[Quotes]]


==Accounts on other sites==
*[[wp:User:Michael180]] on [[wp:Main Page|Wikipedia]] (and some other wikimedia sites)
*[http://digg.com/users/theplaz/dugg ThePlaz on Digg!]
*[http://www.43things.com/person/michael180 michael180 on 43 Things]
*[http://www.43places.com/person/michael180 michael180 on43 Places]
*[http://flickr.com/photos/77179348@N00/ theplaz on Flickr]
*[http://www.bookmooch.com/m/inventory/theplaz theplaz on Bookmooch]
*[https://register.facebook.com/r.php?invid=1464390298&key=4bf7500f1c&a=1 Facebook]
*[http://youtube.com/theplaz theplaz on YouTube]
*[http://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelplasmeier LinkedIn]
*[http://gpsed.com/user/Theplaz GPSed] GPS Tracks

==From my Governor's School Application==
''See [[Governor's School Application]]''; this is from 2008
===GridView: Successful FB Application===
As I detail on my resume, I run several web projects of varying types and of varying successfulness.  [[GridView]] [http://apps.facebook.com/gridview], my application for Facebook, is my most successful project.  It has between 30,000 and 60,000 users a day.  GridView is a great opportunity to get my work seen by thousands of people and also to learn what it is like to run a web business.   I recently sold 25% of it to someone who became my partner in return for his advice (he is also the director of ad operations at a major social network) and a small investment.  Together we think that GridView is worth more than $125,000.  This is a great opportunity for me to receive some funding to cover the costs, learn how to run a business, and make a profit from my skills.  However, I have learned a lot about building scalable websites and Linux server administration.
===Tecker 911: Leadership in Community Television and Podcasting===
[[Tecker 911]] [http://911.tecker.net] shows my leadership skills.  I am the producer and director of the show and organize everything from the people to the equipment to the editing.  Each episode takes about 4 hours of my time in total.  I organize all of the ideas, assign writers to brainstorm episodes, set up shoot times, as well as borrow the necessary equipment.  During the shoot I host many of the episodes and direct the other hosts in their hosting style (as I point out in my resume, I have years of theater experience and also host my school<nowiki>’</nowiki>s morning news show).  I also created all of the branding and editing standards for Tecker 911.  This all pays off by helping to educate my community in something I know well, technology.  Because the show is shown on our cable network, many people from my community recognize me from Tecker 911.
===SeniorQuoter: Leadership in Free Software Coding and Project Management===
I am also the project manager and leader for [[SeniorQuoter]] [http://seniorquoter.org].  I founded SeniorQuoter to help my yearbook, but I chose to make the code freely available to everyone under the GPL license.  As I detail on my resume, I also lead a [[SQ Class|group study in my school]] in PHP and MySQL.  For the group study, I outlined the jobs and delegated them to my programming team I trained earlier in the quarter.  I then supervised their work and helped them when they needed it.  This was a great experience for me to work on my instructing and managing skills.
===So Much More Than A Coder===
Although I am the primary coder for my projects, I have also created all of the logos, branding, and user experience.  I see myself more interested in human-computer interaction and project management than being a straight programmer.  I mentioned that I do all of the branding and design for my sites.  People have told me that superior design is the reason they use GridView over its competitors.
As the director of my projects, I also think about the broader implications of technology.  Technology is also at the point where it is turning around society.  The worries about privacy on Facebook hit home for me, as I must protect the data of hundreds of thousands of users.  My favorite topics in school revolve around human interaction, as the letter from my AP Economics and American Studies teacher indicates. <small>(Also I did an [[Globalization|extensive paper and video on Globalization]])</small>
===In Summation===
So, it is critical that I attend the Governor<nowiki>’</nowiki>s school because the topics being discussed are critical to me now.  GridView<nowiki>’</nowiki>s hundreds of thousands of members demand not only server up-time, but a cohesive and engaging user experience which fits into the framework of Facebook.  I am not only a programmer, but a designer, project manager, and on-air personality.  I have extensive experience in managing teams of people, both for coding and television production.  I know how powerful technology can be.  Thus, I feel that I would be an asset to the Governor<nowiki>’</nowiki>s School in Technology.

==My {{SITENAME}} Userboxes==
:''See also my [[wp:User:Michael180#User_Boxes|wikipedia]] user boxes.''
{{MCM Club Member}}
{{User HHSRC}}
{{User HHS}}
{{Tecker Employee}}

==Contact Me==

''[http://theplaz.com/wiki/index.php?title=User_talk:ThePlaz&action=edit&section=new Leave Plaz a (public) message] [[Image:File_icon.gif]] or [http://theplaz.com/wiki/index.php?title=Special:Emailuser/ThePlaz send me a (private) e-mail.]  [[Image:Mail_icon.gif]]''
[[Category:Me]]