Who is @ajfisher?

If you're interested, here's a bit more about me.

My job

I am the founder of technology research lab and consultancy, Rocket Melbourne. Here, I get to explore some of the future ways in which Internet technologies and individuals overlap and get to spend my time peering into the future as well as creating a very small part of it as well. Most of my work with clients is focussed on how they deliver incredible customer experiences by leveraging design, technology and data into a cohesive whole that lives up to customer and brand expectations.

Up until recently I was the Global Director of Technology for Aesop, a large, international cosmetics retail business that was bought by L'Oreal for $3.7Bn in 2023. Working at this business for 7 years was an immense privilege given its strong brand and commitment to ethics.

Finally, I am the Co-Founder and Chief Product and Technology Officer for LoyPal, an Australian digital startup focussing on customer growth for marketing and customer teams for direct to consumer brands using advanced data processing capabilities. This team is some of the best I've ever had the privilege to work with and the product being built is transforming client businesses.

My projects

I have always contributed to Open Source communities and projects, though more recently I've tended to focus on areas that are pushing at the boundaries of physical computing and web technologies.

NodeBots - Johnny Five

I am a core team member of the NodeBots group, where we help design ways for JavaScript to be able to work with physical hardware more effectively. The main output of this work is the Johnny Five project - a JavaScript library that allows developers the means to rapidly integrate hardware with web technologies.

Interchange

Interchange provides the ability to extremely rapidly flash and configure physical hardware with known firmware. This is designed to be able to get developers to use compenentised hardware more effectively rather than reinventing the wheel for hardware projects. I was the creator and am lead maintainer of the project that continues to see active development and provide utility to the wider NodeBots community.

The package itself is at NPM and to find out more you can read the post I wrote about it.

Node Pixel

The Node Pixel project provides a common interface to LED "pixels" such that they can be interacted with from NodeJS quickly and intuitively. I was the original creator and continue to be lead maintainer of the project.

You can see more about the library at GitHub.

My history

I have been interested in technology as long as I can remember. I started programming as a kid and never stopped (and that's a few decades ago now). I've worked for digital agencies and for various clients since the dawn of the web (in spite of University professors telling me it would never take off) and had the pleasure and privilege to work with amazing people and develop some fantastic applications and services that have lead to the growth of our great medium across the retail, music, leisure, government and finance industries. If you're really interested, check out my details on LinkedIn.

My Communities

I am part of several online and physical communities.

• Connected Community HackerSpace - The original HackerSpace / MakerSpace in Melbourne where I'm a member as well as run regular workshops.
• NodeBots AU - A slack and meetup community that looks at ways to bring the web and physical computing together

My networks

I don't use Facebook, I use Twitter as well as Instagram to answer messages. You can connect on LinkedIn and Google as well.

My opinions

That's pretty much what this blog is about but in a nutshell here's what you get from me.

The state of and future of the Internet and the Web, lots to do about mobile technology and in particular how the mobile Internet changes our lives and the way we interact with the web. You'll see some rants about why certain things haven't been implemented well, but always with a recommendation for how they should be in order to spark debate.

I also talk a lot about Open Source Software (having been a Linux user since the 90s and a Unix user before then), Cloud Technologies (one of the most disruptive shifts for business since the Internet) and Physical Computing / Ubicomp (where the web meets the physical world).

My future

I love technology, I live it in every part of my life. I am always looking at new ways technology can be used to enhance our existence and to empower people and businesses to reach their potential. I can't see a time when I'm not guiding or developing technology to take us somewhere so, if you're doing something interesting let me know.

Contact

The best way to contact me is good old fashioned email. I'm ajfisher.td [at] gmail

Failing that @ajfisher me on twitter will usually get a response too.