Zach van Schouwen1

A Brief Biography.

I'm a programmer, a web designer, and a guy who thinks that most things can be improved with good intentions and technology. I live in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, which is a fine place to be.

Travelblogue: Places That Don't Suck, Illustrated.

I was raised in Western Massachusetts, lived outside Boston for awhile, and got a BS in computer science from Columbia.

I also provide freelance genealogical research services. Find out more.

Contact Information.

The simplest way to reach me is always by email: zachvs at gmail.com. That's also the best way to get my physical address. If you sing into the wind, I may be there.

1 [IPA pronunciation: sχaʊεn] In English, say "skow-en", but sort of cough up some phlegm when you hit the "k", so it sounds like you're saying "so" but are also trying to get something unstuck from your throat. "Schhhhho," you say, spitting on the person next to you. Welcome to Dutch names.

Technical Efforts.

As an undergraduate, I developed Publicate, a piece of open-source web publishing software for print publications. It can be seen live on The Bwog, and at the Journal of Politics and Society.

I'm now working on Town Hall, an attempt to develop open-source administrative software that allows the cheap, efficient operation of local and municipal governments. Currently, the focus is finding a model town in which to start development.

I guest-wrote the Bwog cooking column twice with okra recipes. I make good Southern food, and a mean bhindi.

Myspace Substitute.

My roommate and I have a pretty awesome sound going. Would you like to hear an original song? We don't have any at present. But you can hear a Sufjan Stevens cover if you like. There's a really theatrical fake sigh at one point, but otherwise it's OK.

I have a blog on which I restage historic photos of Brooklyn.

While learning C, I wrote a decent I Ching client.

Photography can be found at Flickr.

Assorted Writing.

"They trip over their words to explain a new philosophy to an attractive young co-ed before dousing her in vodka and their prominent sexual failings."

—N Minus 1, The Blue and White, May 2008.

"Inez Dickens ... mentions "faces coming out of the woodwork, who in fifty years in the West Harlem community, [she'd] never seen before." Another council member points out that she's only 39."

—Manhattanville Slouches Toward Approval, The Bwog, December 19 2007.

"Of course, the problem could solve itself—by the time our kids want us to drop $800,000 on college, we'll have just finished paying off our student loans."

—"Is College Necessary?", Columbia Political Review, May 2008.

Interview with Charbel el-Khoury:
"On Lebanon, Syria, and the Secret Police."

—The Blue and White, October 2005.
(with the brilliant Brendan Ballou)