Notes
In this section you can find notes, comments, clarifications and thoughts on my work with various companies, and of my homepage.
Philosophy behind my personal homepage
These days I am looking for work primarily in the HTML authoring/Web Design field, and it was suggested to me that it would look much better to potential employers if I posted my résumé on-line. So I did. And as long as I was doing so, I also posted some files for my friends for download from a central place. (It is unfortunate that my awful ISP won't let me run a small FTP server.)
I wanted to make the primary purpose of my page easy to get at. The default page is my résumé so a potential employer can just drop by and see it without having to remember navigation instructions, a longer URL, etc. If they want to see it on-line, they go here and that's it, it is there. The personal section is one click away, using a hyperlink that is at the top left of the page. It is unobtrusive, but obvious for those who need it.
It occurred to me that I am missing the point of the World Wide Web if I merely replicated my paper and ink résumé. So I used the mighty power of hypertext to enhance my résumé by hyperlinking each section of it to additional, potentially useful information. So if there is say, the name of a computer programme I can use that you might want to know more about, you can follow through on the link and learn exactly what that programme is about. Want to know all about my most recent employer, Microplay? Then just use the link where the word Microplay appears on my résumé. If I want to work as a HTML author/Web Designer type guy, I should be able to create a document that shows how the Web is different than a piece of paper. And I hope that is what I have accomplished with my on-line résumé.
Whenever I create documents for the World Wide Web, and I am able, I make sure that they are accessible, and appropriate for the internet. I do not use proprietary formats, or code created by a specific corporation for use on a single platform or product. If given the option I always go for Web pages that are compliant with internet standards and are universally accessible. I also try to keep in mind that time, money and convenience are at stake for people visiting my pages. With this in mind I do my best to create pleasing, informative, efficient, logical Web pages on the Internet, adhering to everything that means. Any type of connection, with any type of computer, Operating System or browser, should be able to read my pages.
With this in mind, I am very pleased by the development of Cascading Style Sheets. The World Wide Web Consortium has developed and approved a method of creating style sheets to control the display of information on a web page which is separate from its structure. Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), are simple ASCII documents, just like HTML, but they have their own commands and language which are used to change the look and position of various elements on your page. They allow fancy tricks and control over layout without one having to use incorrect HTML, or very bad design practices, such as using tables for layout. Now we can perform layout and more complex design on our HTML pages without imposing limits to accessibility or forcing people to use a particular computer platform or programme. A great thing, Cascading Style Sheets.
I have used Cascading Style Sheets on my pages. Not to a large degree, but a bit. The problem is that text browsers cannot utilize them and many popular web browsers have not fully caught up to the current CSS specification. This means that some web browsers will not display my pages as exactly how I meant them to be, but, and this is the important thing, everyone can still read them. A block of text may be found in a slightly different spot, an extra blank line may be added, etc, but absolutely everything will be, and can be discerned in a legible, understandable fashion in all browsers. I have used CSS to try and create a more pleasing set-up, and all the while only adding a few lines of text to the size of the documents. Mostly I have used CSS for positioning of a few elements, and for removing the traditional underlining of hyperlinks. Most graphical browsers underline all hyperlinks, and so much was linked that the underlining got out of hand. You can still tell if something is linked to another document by moving your pointer over it, or just by clicking on stuff you hope there is a link for.
Please contact me if your system has any problems accessing any of these pages I have done. Thank you.
Calgary Stampede Wrestling
Calgary Stampede Wrestling was founded in 1952 by Canadian wrestling legend Stu Hart. Hart went on to train many of the best wrestlers in the history of the sport, as well as father many children, all of whom either became wrestlers or married one. Stampede Wrestling's history is unparalleled in the world of professional wrestling.
In early 2002, a friend of mine got hired by Stampede Wrestling as a promoter, and when it came time to do new posters, he was kind enough to think of me. I have always done this sort of thing, and am familiar with basic concepts of graphic design, however, this was my first piece of commercial work, so I was most pleased by the opportunity.
My friend Roy wanted to take a new approach to wrestling posters. Traditionally, a wrestling league would produce advertising that showed pictures of the grapplers performing that night, labeled with their names. This is fine when you know of the wrestlers in question, but completely ineffectual for independent promotions who typically employ lesser known talents. The solution Roy proposed was to create posters that either told a story, or communicated a feeling such Stampede is cool, tough, exciting, whatever...
A good analogy to think of how movies from large studios are marketed as opposed to how movies from small, independent producers are promoted. A movie from a large studio is advertised as having Mel Gibson in it, and in much the same way, the WWE advertises that their next wrestling event features the Rock in the main event. An independent movie's producer does not advertise what actors are in it, they mention what critical acclaim it has, the clever writing, the pedigree of the actors training, etc. In a similar fashion we wanted the new advertising for Stampede to tell of the amazing history of the league, the storyline of the matches going on, the great feelings you get when watching the product.
I, of course, cannot claim that my posters are the sole reason, but soon after my designs went into print, attendance at matches increased significantly.
Examples of the posters and other artwork I created, can be seen by following this link.
Microplay
My most recent employer was the Sackville, Nova Scotia location of Microplay. Microplay is a video game rental and retail sales chain. Our store won franchise of the year in 2000. Number One in rentals for the whole chain, including locations in cities with millions of more people than are in Halifax. Very impressive if you ask me. At Microplay I served customers who come in looking to buy or rent games. I also took phone calls for support on issues such as installing games on computers, troubleshooting those computers, and hooking up new game consoles or their accessaries. With the next generation game consoles moving to networking capabilities, and PC games becoming even more multi-player focuses I also took calls and consulted in-store on choosing an ISP, and how to go about configuration for same. While at Microplay I negotiated a deal with the very helpful fellow, Doug, at SuperCity Internet Services to give our customers a free month of internet access when they bought a Dreamcast. It is too bad for the smaller companies that Sega is now setting up its own ISP, stepping over plans like this, but it was quite helpful when we had this arrangement. Even now I would suggest sending customers to that ISP as they are familiar with getting on-line using a non-PC device such as a game console.
Microplay uses their own software, Millennium P.O.S., which is very powerful and sophisticated point of sale software. It handles rentals, sales, tracks everything, contains customer and/or inventory records and generates reports of all types. It is as modern as retailing can get. It even lets you use a digital camera for taking photos of customers for rental accounts to increase security and convenience. Very impressive. Takes more effort to learn than a simple cash register but is easy to use for a computer programme, and can do so much more. Anyone can now purchase it for use in their own business now, too.
Microplay is a fast growing company, and there are many good things about having worked there. The franchisee I worked for, Greg Meicklejohn was a good boss to work for, and I got access to all the latest games and DVD movies. If you like video games or watching movies on DVD, please visit Microplay store #107 in Sackville. A well run place with great selection and knowledgeable staff. The number is 864-1105.
Due to the difficulty and lower revenues the whole video game industry experiences every time a transition to a new generation of systems occurs, combined with a new console launch that was fabulous for Sony, but probably the worst launch ever for retailers, profits at Microplay decreased significantly. I was laid off to cut costs during this transition period.
12 Wing Shearwater
Shearwater is a military facility in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Although I list it as Canadian Forces Base (C.F.B.) at the urging of the résumé experts who helped me, it is no longer a "base" and is technically a Wing. It was a base but budget cut backs reduced it to a Wing. It isn't even 12th Wing, or The 12th Wing, it is just "12" Wing Shearwater. The sign on the highway leading to it still says "C.F.B". Primarily an Air Force establishment, the integrated nature of the Canadian Armed Forces makes it a home to people in each branch of the forces.
This was the best job I ever had. It paid very well, had a flexible schedule, very helpful co-workers, and lots of nice high-tech toys to use. At first I was worried about going into such a formal environment, but the IT section was mostly civilians and everyone in Military there was professional but always human. It was a shockingly nice job to have.
I did do a public website for Shearwater. The contents were determined by the Public Affairs Office, and many requirements were set by the Federal Government and Military HQ in Ottawa. I had to place the DND logo and the Air Force anniversary logos on the page somewhere, and it had to be in both English and French. I made an introduction page that contained these elements and gave the user a language choice. They kept this design facet, but have changed it a lot since my departure. Many of the graphics still there were done by me as well. Blocks of my code are there, but really it has become someone else's as they have evolved it over time. The Commanding Officer of the base, Colonel Akitt personally approved my version of the page and quite liked it.
My main duties involved maintaining the base intranet. I would do up new pages for sections that wanted them, help users who called me about the website, and taught people HTML. We also ran a computer which was a node on a Canada wide, Wide Area Network called the Defence Information Network, or DIN. The DIN was accessible by any Canadian Armed Forces base. So we had the DIN, a Military wide intranet, and the base intranet. I cannot go into much more detail, and I cannot show any work from either of these networks, which is becoming troublesome in my search for a new webmaster related job position. All the information on those systems is classified. Approximately 95% of my work at Shearwater is covered by the Official Secrets Act. This is why I was investigated and given a Protected A security clearance.
I can, and will mention the following, though. The amount of data that went through there was tremendous. While there I managed many, many, many pages spread over two networks. The security requirements there were vastly beyond that needed by any private institution. This was an extremely valuable experience and I can assure anyone in the private sector that it prepared me for management, data traffic and security requirements in excess of anything you will be producing.
Atlantis Kobetek
Atlantis Kobetek is a computer store created when the Apple Dealership, Atlantis was purchased by an Amiga Dealership, Kobetek. Since the demise of Commodore Business Machines and the Amiga platform it evolved into a single store called Atlantis Kobetek or Kobetek for short. Kobetek is a Mi'kmaq word for "Land of the Beavers" which the immigrant owner of the store thought was very cool sounding. While there I served customers and did all the computer store type things. Giving advice on computers, explaining technology, giving support over the phone, making computer upgrades, etc. I also directed phone traffic quite a bit. We had an Apple authorized repair technician but even so I was the one who on more than one occasion, was asked to prepare specific computers for internet usage. I was hired because I knew enough about the MacIntosh to help customers with it, and I knew a lot about the Amiga and could assist the cable companies and other video production facilities who still use those machines, which was a first for the store in several years. When requested we also sold Windows based PCs.
It was a very hectic, understaffed place. A new owner runs the store, which is a good thing. They even have their own webpage now! :-)
You do a lot in a computer store, and therefore learn a lot, but nowadays I am glad, very glad, I am no longer there. Still, thankful to Sieg, Dimitri and Matthew for teaching me a lot and helping me learn even more about another non-windows facet of the computer world.
Homeworks
Homeworks is a business that tries to sell people anything and everything you could use in a home that is not considered a traditional need such as furniture. They will sell you things like satellite dishes, construct a special "computer room", and provide security services. The owner is an interesting fellow who dabbled in many things and had a powerful sense of community service.
He cleverly bought ad space from a company that sells ads on the covers used by thousands of real estate agents to contain standard real estate documentation. Basically, you got a folder full of stuff to convince you to buy a house and on the front and inside of that hard folder cover you would see the Homeworks ad.
I also designed this worksheet for the company so when someone went out to install or build something it would be logged on this new sheet which was, I hope, more efficient and clear, than the old one.
Sometimes I would be given a topic and asked to store all the information on the web about such a topic on a disk and hand it over. The topics would vary, and to this day I have no real idea why I was asked to look up everything on Hot Sauces located on the world wide web. However, I did and can find you the spiciest, hottest sauces out there are if asked. All this despite not being a much of a spicy food person myself. :-)
Tracey, the owner, also inquired about WAN network services from companies such as Keane and Newbridge and asked me to analyze what they could do for him. He didn't get too specific but had several rather ambitious plans for various Internet ISP services, and so forth. I did the analysis and even made suggestions of complementary business such as the set-top box market. Something I have been interested in for years and years, but is only now being done seriously by large companies.
Cybertime Computing Centre
Cybertime Computing Centre was a place where one could come in and rent time on networked computers with access to a printer, many games, and the Internet. The two owners and their one employee knew pretty much nothing about the internet and I convinced them that they needed help. I Informed them about many important aspects of the internet such as Usenet that they were unfamiliar with. Then I did up a homepage for them and installed their Windows NT web server. A first for me. Surprisingly, it went well.
After a while customers would come in looking to be told how to do a webpage and even offering to pay to have it hosted there. I was then asked if I could be the person that they made referral to for this purpose. I agreed. Unfortunately, the company went out of business before anyone committed to having me do their page.
Their old premisses is now a women-only gym.
Atlantic Animation House
Atlantic Animation House was part of the now defunct Marshal Media Group. They did animation mostly computer animation. They had this idea for a Television series originally called "Web World". Web World featured a human being named Bowser who got hit by lighting by his computer and got sucked into the virtual world of the computer and the Internet. (I have no idea either.) The creatures he meets such as 14.4, misunderstand him and call him "Browser". I was asked to come in, make sure it didn't come off as completely computer and net illiterate, and then with another fellow (A TV writer type) wrote a pilot episode. This was revised by Jim at Marshal Media Group and sent back to me for further comments and polishing. It did not really go anywhere, and at one point, it was even pitched to the local phone company as a way of creating shorts to promote the Internet and the phone company's Internet service. I have no idea of what happened to it between then and Marshal Media Group's demise.
Digital Image F/X
Digital Image F/X is a fascinating company started by Wayne Bell in the Mid 1990's. It specialized in Virtual Reality research, especially for training, but did everything high-tech to pay the bills while being at the forefront of a still emerging technology.
They even had an agreement with Dalhousie University to co-develop a virtual reality system for training surgeons.
Being there was great fun as I was always getting to do something new and interesting. Sometimes I was doing 3D animation, sometimes a web page for a client, sometimes helping other people in the same Building with their computers, sometimes I would be planning out a design for a multimedia CD-ROM product we were hired to due or creating the content for it, or implementing a Java applet on our homepage. Java was very new at the time and I was brought into the company when I expressed my interest in the new technology while visiting them. I learned about Java, and told Wayne what was going on in the world of Java. I was even a reader of Java World Issue Number One.
Stock's Eye
Stock's Eye is a movie effects production company that just decided to get into video games one day. They used the internet to track down potential employees and had people working in many parts of the world on their first game, Time Warrior. I took the opportunity and contact Bob Stock at the company. This lead to work for the game. I have been addicted to video games since I was young and now if you check the credits of Time Warrior you can actually find my name in the Graphics section. A real game that was actually on shelves. A strange, but good feeling. :-) My brother, Kris, and a friend of mine named Bill, did most of the art and graphic work for the game. My brother is still doing contract work for them. Makes me glad to know that even though it wasn't a lot for me, I landed a fairly large amount of work for my brother and friend. (Follow this link and check out Kris's portfolio. Hire him for traditional art and/or 3D computer graphics stuff.)
Computer Tutoring
One day in High School someone asked me to teach them how to use a computer. So I did. This happened a couple of times. Someone in one of my classes then changed this pattern by offering to pay me for same. This birthed an idea, and throughout the years I have instructed people on the basics of computer usage.
Sometimes this would be teaching my young cousin Logo, which I learned as I child myself. When I learned the language I knew all of my Junior High School Math before graduating from elementary school. It is truly amazing and should be mandatory for all schools to teach. (Please follow the above link to learn more.) Sometimes this would be teaching a high school teacher as part of an odd job during one of my summers when I was a university student. Once I answered an add and taught a woman who owned a real estate agency how to use her company's computers.
If it came up and I could garner some employment from it I would teach people how to use their computer, how to run the specific programme they wanted to use, etc. I always endeavoured to make them feel comfortable with the computer whether or not they knew what they were doing. Instilling a sense of psychological comfort was probably the most important thing I did for any of my clients, and the process of doing this taught me a lot that I could apply this to user/technical help situations.
Various Homepages
I cite several organizations that I did homepages for. Unfortunately, most have changed so much that I can no longer consider the page mine. However they certainly all deserve comment as a common question in the line or work is "What other pages have you done?" The proper response by the way is "Have you read that article on the Web Developers Virtual Library explaining that such a question is in an indication of indecision about your own site and a lack or originality and you should instead be asking `What ideas do you have for this site? Do you have a mock up?'" :-)
The Maritime Science Fiction Festival was a science fiction convention held in Halifax, N.S. for three years. The first year was the second largest event of its kind in Atlantic Canada and the largest in the previous 10 years. I did a page which just basically told everyone what was going on. It had to be updated frequently as our attendees were anxious for more news, and we tried to spread such news as quickly as it was available. Others did the page latter on as I was on the Festival planning committee and had other duties more time consuming and involving. Various others took it over, but all continued to use my background graphics. The Festival is now defunct so nothing is left for viewing. (Taking a moment to shameless plug myself; Want to help me create a new similar event? Then Contact me.)
The Abilities Foundation of Nova Scotia enables Nova Scotians with physical disabilities to enhance their quality of life by achieving their full potential. My mother, a polio survivor, knows the very nice people there and asked me to volunteer services for their website. I did, the design was basically exactly what they told me to, but I made sure it was as accessible as possible. I went to great lengths to teach the staff there how to update it themselves. I had some ideas to improve it and expand it, while streamlining it, but never had the opportunity to implement them. They apparently used the lessons I taught them or hired someone to make changes as it is a site with much more and organized better. The very nice woman I dealt with there, Faye Joudrey, sent me a thank you note and free t-shirt. That was very kind. I plan on politely emailing suggestions on how to make it less difficult for disabled computer users to use the current web site such as changing the unnecessary graphics which could be text into text, and removing the javscript menu.
The Word on the Street Book and Magazine Fair is a street festival held in several cities at once in order to promote literacy. I did a web site for them and taught some basics of HTML to the staff there, as well as an employee of the Halifax Regional Library. Nora Smiley, the head of the Halifax Word on the Street, was quite pleasant to work with. There were some troubles getting it on-line as they were using the local freenet for their Internet access and they had some bureaucracy to go through. It was finally up and then the national organization decided to centralize all the Word on The Street websites into one, so there is nothing to view for it. And please, do attend the Festival when it is held. (Follow through the link to go to their site to find out when/where details.)
Cybertime Computing Centre, as described earlier was business where people could rent time on networked computers with internet access. I did their homepage, which was relatively simple, but it emphasized the important things, and as game time was a big part of the business I had links to reviews and the companies related to each and every game. Also, I installed their web server. They went out of business so there is nothing left of my work from there to show.
Healthy Homes Consulting consults on the construction of buildings and homes with allergy related problems and environmental illness prevention in mind. They are also experts on sick building syndrome. It is run by my friend Robin Barrett, a very intelligent and extremely personable, interesting fellow. Robin asked me to do a page, which was largely based on his wishes for it to look like a word processor document he created. I did. I was requested by phone to make a few changes and I did. Told them to call me whenever they wanted me to do more and finish off sections we had discussed. Their host company was giving such a rough time to both them and me Healthy Homes switched over and the new people through in web design services with the package and they did a bunch of changes over time. It appears that the various blocks of texts and forums I created have been re-used.
The Internet and Bulletin Board Systems
Under the section entitled "Internet/BBS" I try to somehow summarize the idea that I have vast experience with just using the internet. This is difficult at best. I tried to chose specific incidences that demonstrated this, but I do worry that the idea has still not be brought across. With these notes perhaps I can expand on that idea.
I cite various things that can be explained easily and are more "tangible" indications of the fact that I have a lot of experience with the internet in general. However, I do not feel that the significance of this can be fully explained that way.
When I was young I got a computer and eventually we picked up a modem for it. I used it for various things such as connecting to local Bulletin Board Systems (BBS), and to friends computers just to enjoy the novelty of communicating by typing. This lead me to learn about the network of all networks, the Internet. When my older brother got to University he let dabble a bit with his internet account. (At the time practically the only way to get Internet access was to be a University student.) When I got to University I was very excited to have access of my own and signed up. This was in 1989, before the World Wide Web was invented. I learned all about the Internet by doing and questioning, and then as each new thing came along I learned about it. I adjusted my life to benefit from the conveniences of the Internet. I could not explain or even mention it to the average person, but communicating electronically with my friends, making new ones and learning about everything from the trivial to the profound was a normal part of life for me. It was part of me, and I was part of the Internet community/culture. Then one day millions of people unknowingly rushed in. The significance of this is best expressed by an analogy; I am a native of the Internet world. The vast majority of people who you might be considering for the same job are tourists.
They are all but gone now, but locally we once had a thriving Bulletin Board System (BBS) community. BBS's are like small scale computer networks. An individual will usually set-up a computer in his house with its own phone line and the run software on to allow others to dial-up that computer and then leave messages for each other or the whole board, upload and download files and possibly even chat in real time with the owner now and then. I called a lot of BBS's back in the day and served as Co-Sysop or Aide on many of them. (This was like being an assistant system administrator.) This required me to moderate, referee, and provide technical assistance. It also meant being dedicated to frequently checking on the status of each BBS I had responsibilities for. You learn a lot about different computers and a great deal about how electronic communication by text is truly different than a verbal conversation from this. I dearly miss the best of these forums/small communities, Entropy and Omnibus
Thanks
I hope these notes answered any questions you may have had about my work experiences. Please contact me if you need clarification on anything or have any other questions. It was my goal to provide both a simple résumé for quick reading and the ability to find out as much extra information as possible.