About the Site & Technology

Iserloh.com is a site that serves a dual purpose. It is a weekly/semi-monthly depository with columns on technology, noteworthy finds from the Internet and other stuff. It is also a personal portfolio site with material on chemistry, photography and essays written by Uli.

The principal is Uli Iserloh. Uli is a designer from Hoboken, New Jersey. Uli needs a place to play, a place to vent, and a place to publicize. What better forum for one who works on the web than a site of his own? And that’s where you find yourself. Poke around. There’s plenty to see.

Associated Sites

• SkinnyChef.com, co-developed by Jenn and Uli Iserloh. It contains creative works authored by Jenn Iserloh, and covers food, wine, yoga and travel.
• IserlohDesign.com, is the business extension of this site. ID offers web and print design, as well as IT consulting.

Creation and Maintenance

Hosted on a Linux/Apache platform by 1and1.com, iserloh.com was powered by plenty of static files for the first ten years. During July/August 2005, a content-management system based on WordPress was added that allows for automatic generation of RSS feeds and easy maintenance. I’m loving it!!!

WordPress comes with plenty of default layouts - yet as a firm believer of quality photography and design - I just had to take a crack at the layout and come up with my own version. Let me know what you think…

 

Random Facts About Uli

 

Name

Uli Iserloh. No one ever spells it right on the first try, and when spoken it’s invariably mistaken for “Willy.” Even though it can’t get any more German, I’ve met other people named Ulrich mostly here in the U.S., which is a strange coincidence, since my name has no real historical origins beyond Germany. Does that imply that all Ulrichs are emigrating to the US?

Age

Yep, well past 30 now. My birthday is in November. That makes me a Scorpio, but I have too scientific a mind to even begin to believe in astrology.

Home

New York Metro Area. The city that never lets you sleep. Although I moved to NYC more than four years ago, it still has much to offer. Take restaurants: Every year, about 300 new ones open. How can you ever catch up? As for bars, this is one of the GREATEST cities on earth. Bars that you won’t find anywhere else.

The List

Upon arriving in NYC, I set out to try at least 5 new bars every weekend. What I was looking for is this special place, low-lit, artsy, cool, away-from-mainstream, definitely not sports-bar, no-cover, one-of-a-kind bar that you’ll only find in NYC. Of course, maybe only one of those 5 bars would make it to the “list”, my ultimate collection of bars. But I’ll share, so download my pocket-guide to NYC bars.

Origins

I moved here from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where I spent about five years on graduate studies in chemistry. Before that, I resided in Marburg, Germany. Marburg has one of the oldest universities in Germany (established in the 1500’s) and every-day life is very much dominated by its students. I grew up in a small town in Northwestern Germany (yes, that was always part of West Germany).

Work

Synthetic organic chemist by day, digital designer by night. It is amazing that one can spend eight years en route to a Ph.D. degree in chemistry, then voluntarily opt for another two years of postdoctoral training. But, working with the best people in the field is an awesome experience worth the effort, especially if it means living in New York City. Currently employed by one of the larger pharmaceutical companies.

Notable Traits

“Pathological Newspaper Reader” is what my wife would say. My obsession with news, and especially newspapers started at the early age of 7 when I got up an extra 30 minutes before school. Crazy, isn’t it? I read everything from start to finish - politics, culture, news from all over the world. Throughout the years, the newspapers might have changed but not my commitment to news coverage. So much so that whenever I am sitting on the subway, I start reading the newspaper of the guy sitting next to me.

Else

Yoga. Argentine Tango. Enjoying my wife’s culinary works. All addictive once you start learning from the true masters. And NYC has many masters. We’ve been dancing since Spring 1998 - for the longest time strictly standard ballroom. After a while, you migrate to Salsa, before finally evolving into an avid Tangero. It’s like chess: once you’re good at it, why bother going back to checkers?