Xylax.net*Me: my past, my present, my thoughts, my services and my software
My Past
In the past ten years or so I've studied astrophysics, taught software courses, technical-managed an ISP,
created and run my own software consultancy business, seen the dot com bubble come and go,
taken my business into voluntary liquidation, and worked as team leader for a software company.
My Present
What would you like to know? I am in my early thirties, I'm British and I live in the UK
with my partner and our cat.
As well as code, I have a strong interest in Life/Business Coaching and
Psychotherapy. I've been involved in individual and group psychotherapy for more
than five years now and am constantly learning more about myself which is both a
joyous and painful process. More recently, I've gained a strong interest in
Non-Violent Comunication which excites me through
its life-changing possibilities. I have a side interest in family history: I have
traced my ancestry back 11 generations on my father's side and 8 generations on my
mother's.
Right now I'm in the process of taking more responsibility for my life by heavily
reducing my outgoings and possessions: the sports cars have gone, the big house is
sold, the gadgets are gone, and I've thrown away enormous amounts of stuff. Soon we
move into a new, much smaller and cheaper house, and in the near future I will be
leaving salaried employment and taking up a portfolio career which I plan to be a
mixture of software, coaching, and writing. It feels like an interesting mix
and this is an exciting time of change. I am currently working towards a certificate
in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP).
My Thoughts
I've always had writing in my blood. At the age of 17 I wrote a novel (unfinished and
never published), and wrote short stories to all my family as Christmas presents. So to
provide a fresh outlet I've started writing short non-fiction articles. I've set myself
a 500 word limit for each one.
My Services
I am actively looking for new opportunities in both life and work. At the moment my
focus is on software, coaching and writing. I am currently developing a description of the
skills and services I can provide. I will soon have two CVs available, one from a software
perspective, and one from a coaching perspective.
You can contact me at: tom at xylax dot net.
My Software
I aim to write my own software in the near future. When available, details will appear here.
Back in 2002, I produced a brief guide to some of the
persistence mapping relationships in Hibernate, a Java
persistence layer. Although this has never been updated, I am still getting positive
feedback from it, so it can stay for now.
*Xylax is a made-up name, intended to be pronounced "zz-eye-lacks". It has no particular
(intended) meaning but it was a short name that wasn't already taken. Contrary to some
beliefs, it is not a medicinal product or brand name! I suppose I should come up with
something better, but I've had it several years and it seems to have stuck.
(C) Copyright 2005, 2006 Tom Sedge. All Rights Reserved. Last Updated: 12th February 2006