Since this is my personal site and I'd rather not mess w/ design issues if I can afford not to, I've decided not to support IE6. I encourage you to check out another browser. Why not Firefox?

Biography

• Work Life

  My name is Peter Snyder and I am a computer programmer living in Chicago, IL. I program primarly in languages used in creating dynamic websites (PHP, Ruby, Javascript), but am also comfortable in C, C++ and Objective-C. In addition to working regularly with AIS Labs in Chicago and my own company ToughPixels I do contract work. If you are interested in hiring me or discussing a project, please contact me. For some examples of my work, please view my portfolio

  Aside from work I use my time pursing all the things that interest me.

• Bands I Perform In

  • Tough but Fair

    This group features me, my roommates, and another friend from college. We perform original songs and are excellent performers. My contributions sound like like Mark E. Smith (of The Fall) singing Violent Femmes covers. We're currently preparing to record our first album and hope to play some shows soon.

  • Sonic Weapon Fence

    We're a LOST themed band. We sing songs about the TV show lost. We might be the only band doing this in Chicago. We've even reached a low level of fame in the greater LOST community. I play guitar and sing someitmes in this band, and all three band memebers write songs. We've recorded a 6 song digital preview EP we're calling "The Oceanic Six" that people can listen to for free on myspace.

  • The Missed-Fists

    This group started off as a Misfits cover band, but is thinking about becoming something much bigger. Its so mysterious!

• Travel

  I like to travel and visit new places. I've taken two road trips around the US and Canada, one down Route 66 to Flagstaff and then up through Utah and across 88 back to Chicago, the other up through Fargo, North Dakota, through Saskachewan and Alberta, down through Montana, by South Dakota, and then home. I've also been to Japan (5 years ago I visited Tokyo and Osaka with a friend from college) and around Europe when studying abroad (I managed to visit Riga, Paris, Strasbourg, Frankfurt, Freiburg, London, Barcelona, Geneva, Luxembourg, Brussels, and Rome). I've had a good time most places I've visited, but I think my favorites so far have been Freiburg, Riga, and driving around the US in a borrowed car.

  Right now I'm developing big plans to go back Germany. I making a German podcast with my roommates, taking German language classes, and all that sort of thing.

• Running

  I don't like running, but I do it because its difficult. Whenever I have a difficult task in front of me, I think "theres no way this will be as bad as running a far distance" and that makes whatever task seem much easier. I'm currently training to run my first half marathon in Chicago this September