charlesroper.com

Hello. I am Charles, and I am lost. The lights at shore and on the cliff turn inward. Some remain faint and fading and kind. Maybe searching. But I’m too far. I set my bow to the hurricane, stern about the jaw, sad about the eyes. I stare hard into the darkening spray, and some beyond, and will to find a way.

I like:

  • Simple, ethical, user-friendly, and sustainable digital services;
  • The open web, resilient code, clear content, good causes, living nature, stimulating art, effective design, coherent systems, critical thinking, agile delivery, progressive energy, holistic strategy, healthy communities, relatable science, (counter)culture, and environmental vitality;
  • Being a better dad, son, and citizen;
  • Tottenham Hotspur¹.

Over the last three decades I have worked with an environmental education charity, wildlife conservation organisations, biodiversity data centres, a major theme park, globally famous tourist attractions, a performing arts festival, a high street bank, an arts and technology college, a local community centre, a London cathedral, and a spice island hotel in Zanzibar (among others).

I have worked as a digital services manager, a technical lead, a data engineer, a web developer, a graphic designer, a web designer, a biodiversity data manager, a GIS wrangler, a teacher, an IT technician, and a CIC director.

I am proud to be a digital generalist.

I am honoured to have served over two decades with charities and non-profits.

Fun facts: My first computer was a Sinclair ZX Spectrum 48K, which I received for my 10th birthday in 1985. I am GitHub user #176 and Stack Overflow user #1944. My greatest claim to fame is a letter published in issue 71 of Sinclair User magazine, February 1988. It's all been downhill from there.

This is a web page.

There’s not much here.

Just words and a few icons.

The words are marked up in HTML and styled with CSS. There's a smidgen of JavaScript and a webfont, too.

The web page was uploaded via FTP to a web server hosted in Lancashire, England.

You’re reading it wherever you are.

And that’s still pretty cool.