Interview: Jacob Gube

Well, well, well after our first interview I guess our ball got rollin’ and we are proud to present our second interview.

This time we got in contact with Jacob Gube who is the founder and maintainer of the Six Revisions weblog having over 35K RSS readers. Let’s hope we reach the same amount one day!!!

Jacob Gube, a web developer and designer who works with PHP, .NET, Flash/ActionScript, XHTML, JavaScript/jQuery/MooTools and MySQL, is the creator and primary author of Six Revisions – a weblog the provides practical, useful information for the modern, standards-compliant web designer and web developer.

** What projects are you currently working on?**

I’m working on a PHP/MySQL social news site start-up that’s self-funded. No release dates yet and there’s still a lot of work to be done! Also, I’m trying to finish up a JavaScript book.

What our the projects, blogs or websites you get inspired by and why is that?

I love Digg because I believe in the concept that you should let your users dictate what should be on the site: whether it’s what site features are needed or what content to display on the front page, and even what advertisements they want to see (which Digg is doing now) — otherwise, you’re just playing a guessing game with your UI and development teams.

I love Smashing Magazine because they provide great stuff on a regular basis and their writing style is in tune with my tastes: comprehensive, easy to understand, and visually appealing.

Projects that inspire me are apps released by 37Signals – they’re simple and minimalist, something that I admire since it’s easier to load things up with 100 useless features rather than create 1 or 2 that are absolutely well-done.

How did you get the knowledge you master today? Where there seminars, lessons, people, self education or other ways important to become who you are today?

That’s a question that can’t be answered in a brief manner since it’s been a long journey to get to a point where I am now. I’ve been a web professional for over 8 years, so as you can imagine there were a lot of trials and tribulations involved in that journey.

I’m mostly self-taught and I think that most of the people that innovate in this industry are self-taught or come from a discipline that is completely remote from web development. I like to use Eric Meyer and Jeffrey Zeldman whenever I talk about this topic: both accomplished book authors, creators of A List Apart, people who’ve contributed to the progression of CSS, HTML and web standards — Meyer got a B.A. in History, minoring in English, Zeldman got a B.A. in English (from the same university I went to, which I just found out just now).

Do you consider yourself a lucky guy or did you earn all your success because of yourself?

I think a combination of both. I work very hard, but there are times where you just catch a lucky break.

What environment do you work on and what applications are important to you?

Server: Preferably a LAMP environment, but I’ve worked in WIMP’s (MSSQL) and WAMP’s (Apache/MySQL).

Desktop: Windows Vista (just upgraded from XP this year), it’ll be Windows 7 soon when I get to upgrading. Applications I use are Notepad++, Dreamweaver CS4, and Photoshop, Firebug, Web Developer Toolbar.

Web Applications: Basecamp, Gmail, Freshbooks.

What would you do if this was your last day on earth?

Spend time with my family.

If you could start over again from the moment you left high school, what would you do different?

I would not have spent that much time raiding the Molten Core and Black Wing Lair in World of Warcraft.

** Do you have any special hobbies or interests?**

I like building computers – it’s an expensive hobby. I also do a bit of photography.

** What are your plans for 2010 or the future in general?**

I don’t believe in making plans – I let things develop on its own, to grow organically. I have goals, but I’m ready to change and adapt when things precipitate a different way.

** Quick answers, just answer in  max 5 words  when you read these words:**

1.    PHP – include(/it/in/your/projects.php)
2.   date() – JavaScript 2 will fix it (hopefully)
3.   Barack Obama – no comment
4.   Clowd **– Cloud computing with clowns
**5.   Windows 7 – They finally did it right
6.   Design – art and science working together
7.   Pair programming – it works with OOP
8.   Design patterns – quantifies effective user interfaces
9.   Delicious – great source of links

Thx a lot for this interview, greetings and hear you next time!!!