No, this isn't an elaborate costume; I wouldn't have the patience to endure the application of such detailed makeup. This is actually a digitally embellished image of myself. How did this come about? I'm glad you asked...

Last summer (the summer of 2000 actually), we had a bunch of team pictures taken for posting on an internal web site. These shots were the typical computer geek sitting in cube trying to look interested type shots. In a vain attempt to break the trend, I put on my best employee of the month smile. It should also be noted that I had just shaved most of my hair off in preparation for an upcomming trip to Scotland (didn't want to carry shampoo in my already bulging pack).

Upon seeing the resulting photo with mandibles front and centre, a co-worker elected to enhance the image using PhotoShop or some such tool and put a glint/flare on my teeth and a healthy red Satanic glow in my eyes. We all thought these touch ups did justice to the image of an almost hairless computer geek in a really messy cube; all save one individual who is an absolute artist with PhotoShop.

This individual (who I shall refer to as Greg because that's his name) spent the weekend playing with the thing and came up with the Dan Maul image. The image to the left outlines the transformation from computer geek to Sith lord.

Greg is a software developer but I think his second calling is somewhat more artistic!! In addition to retouching my visage, he also had some fun with some of the books and certificates piled in my cube. What was once the O'Reilly title Unix Systems Programming became a guide to Conquering weak minds and the Oracle certificate was replaced with that of the Sith.