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Resume and Contact Information
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News (a progress report on myself)Where I Update The User On My Latest Accomplishments, Training and Newly-Acquired Skill Sets, as well as future plans.Section 508 Compliance and Issues In May I participated in two seminars on Section 508 compliance and compliance issues. Very useful, especially for acquiring expert contacts on the subject. This is going to be very important for my current contract with the National Endowment for the Humanities EDSITEment website, where I am the Webmaster. The site is database-driven, and I'm excited about having landed this contract because of the experience it is giving me in this area of web production and development. On March 13-15 I completed a seminar at Rockwell University on the basics of Oracle and database management, working in SQL to set up and modify a database, and the functions and uses of Java (Java Servlets, Applets, etc.) I found the seminar extremely useful and informative. The sessions do not make me a proficient user of these applications, but they gave me a taste for, and understanding of, their power and uses. It is my intention to develop basic proficiency in these applications. However, my first set of priorities are to improve my skills in JavaScript, Flash and Flash Generator, and getting a good grounding in XML. These latter skill sets are currently closer in nature to my current skill sets. It looks like I'm going to be a perpetual student! I also attended a very useful seminar on server-side technologies and issues in April at CPCUG. On February 7th I attended a seminar on Portfolio 6 and Suitcase 10 by Extensis. I have a strong interest in good asset management, and have had some exposure to Canto Cumulus. Portfolio and Suitcase look like very good products for asset and font management. These products are on my future shopping list, along with Fontographer. On January 31, 2002, I participated in an online Macromedia seminar for Cold Fusion and developing dynamic databases. I did so because I need to expand my knowledge and experience with these kinds of products. I will acquire Cold Fusion when it becomes feasible for me to do so, and will develop a database-driven test site with it. My database software? Have to look into that. I do have Appleworks—which has database functions—and will investigate the feasibility of using that. On February 9th I went to a seminar about Web Developers Boot Camp, at Digital Division. The author, Heidi Swenson—who is also a principal of Digital Division—gave the seminar. I found it extremely useful, even though it was geared towards beginners. I found it useful because there are always gaps in one's knowledge, and long-time users can get complacent and get lazy on the fundamentals. One very interesting reminder was regarding Section 508 Compliance requirements for sites for the federal government as well as any other clients who require or request it. I am in the process of updating my JavaScript skills, I intend to demo my new level of proficiency by mid-July, 2002. I've been exposed to XML (while on assignment at the American Chemical Society), and have bookmarked several tutorial sites. I will use what I learn from these sites to build an XML-driven site on my alternate site, I don't currently have a timeline for this. I will tackle Premiere 6.0 (I have used earlier versions), and will post my results in the form of demos on my "testing site" (currently under construction—it will be linked to this site, hopefully by the end of August). After Premiere, I'll evaluate whether to go to LiveMotion or After Effects next. Most likely the choice will be LiveMotion because of its web uses. I have Final Cut Pro, but as of this writing can't use it until I get a camcorder. Asset Gathering and Asset Management I'm very good at what I call “asset gathering”—the art of pulling together not only all the assets needed for a project, but also the appropriate and designer friendly (i.e., an original layered 300dpi Photoshop file, as opposed to a 72dpi bitmap) version of the assets. I have found over the years that design and production service providers do not make as great an effort as they could to get appropriate assets from a client. As a result, many extra hours are wasted in developing the product because of additional design time. I have a knack for ferreting out the appropriate assets from a client by working with the client effectively (and diplomatically) to trace the sources of assets to get what I—and/or my employer—need to do the job effectively. A good example were the A-10 and F-117 rescue-training CDs I worked on for a previous employer for the U.S. Air Force. While we were supplied with myriad photos of the interior of the cockpits and the exterior of the craft, we lacked cockpit control schematics and aircraft blueprints, exploded views, and cutaways that would make for a much more accurate series of illustrations and animations for the projects. I was able to obtain these from a reluctant client once I explained the big benefits of releasing such assets to my employer. Unfortunately,I cannot show you the results of my efforts because these projects were classified.
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News
Sites I've Worked On: EDSITEment National Education Association
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