You can read about me on the wiki here:
http://wiki.pirateparty.ca/index.php/User:BtrowerThere is a link to my resume there. I have skills and experience in many things. Not all are on my resume. For instance, I have some experience working in election campaigns and as a scrutineer at the polls.
Take the stuff below with a grain of salt. It is true, but do not make overmuch of it. More than one member of the party would likely have better skills in any one area. I can help with a variety of specific things, but I think that what is most valuable is the breadth of my experience. I know a little about and have done a little of almost everything.
Of immediate note may be my background in computer security and data encryption stuff and my former job as 'Networking Professor'. I can speak to issues of network architecture, bandwidth issues, and the logistics of protecting privacy and file security, amongst other things. In as much as people would like to have the party get specific with respect to things like the CRTC, I have looked into this in the past. Actually, I looked into it quite a bit when I sued one of the major telecoms (I settled, to my advantage, out of court).
I am familiar enough with the legal system to press a claim in court by myself.
I have written and published a small amount of open source (MIT license) that has gotten wide use all over the world. I have participated, off and on, in the public debate on matters of Copyrights, Patents, Trademarks and related issues.
I have done a lot of the writing, project setup, project management, and related tasks for many projects, large and small.
I have helped design marketing tests. I have done and presented the analysis of results to senior management. I have advised on the marketing responses to our research.
I have done research in social networking. There is some peculiar math there. It could help us to gain 'critical mass' very rapidly.
I make stuff. It can be physical stuff out of wood or metal or it can be software and related stuff. I was 'streamed' academic and eventually got a B.Sc. as an adult. However, I like having demonstrable skills. I therefore took three years of Industrial Arts when I was in middle school and high school. I can cut and shape stuff using all types of saws and cutting equipment. I can (or could anyway) use things like lathes and brake presses. I can weld metal using various types of welding equipment.
I no longer hunt, but can shoot a gun or use a bow and arrow. I still fish and my fishing license is paid-up until 2013.
I have administered Internet servers for more than a decade.
I have, for what it is worth, 'Secret' Security Clearance with the federal government.
I run an R&D program now, have done so several times in the past, worked in a research laboratory and have written a fair number of research reports and helped companies respond to research audits. I have a notion of both the theory and practice of Science and Engineering with a particular focus on Security and Network/Web and privacy issues.
I have worked doing chemical analysis in a commercial laboratory and worked on a grant-funded biological research project. Like most things, wearing a lab coat rapidly loses its charm.
I know a little about voting. I designed a secure voting system. The design is free. Tools will be open source. One tool is already in use.
In response to discussions with the mint, I designed a way to make counterfeit-proof bills using low-quality equipment. The design is public domain.
I have stuff on the web. For instance, I could do things like provide free 'Google Office' accounts for the party executive. This would allow party members to work together even if the PPC site goes down.
I cannot act on the front line, but can be a backup resource for the PPC site and back-end. I have not used the 'simple machines' software, but I am familiar a little with most types of web-based stuff such as blogging software, BBS stuff, CMS stuff, website management stuff, backend database stuff, etc. I use Webmin on one of my local Linux boxen and Plesk on most of my Internet servers.
My posts can be turgid and a little rambling. However, I write well. I know about Flesch grade levels, why to avoid passive sentences, etc. I am a 'so-so' proofreader -- better than most and good enough to know I am not 'good'.
I am 'literate' in terms of letters. This is less common than most people think. I am also 'numerate' (literate in terms of numbers) and this is more than a little uncommon. Unlike many, I can actually *do* the math. [Note, though, that we should have someone with greater skills encompassing research design and Multivariate analysis]. Beyond that, I have some understanding of the social, legal, political and technical aspects of the issues that concern the Party. I also helped with the old Programmer's Guild Code of Ethics, so I have an idea of how Moral, Legal and Ethical concerns must inform technical skills.
I have a fairly wide general knowledge base and a sense of history. Narrow expertise does not necessarily result in good stuff. It can lead to errors that defy common sense. It can lead to time wasted re-inventing 'wheels'. I am a 'post formal' thinker. I see when things hold logically, but also when they hold 'true' -- logical or not. I do not fall apart when confronted with a dialectical proposition.
I know more than a little about psychology, the sciences and math (I have a B.Sc.).
I trained as a teacher, taught at Sheridan College in Toronto and St. Lawrence College and have developed training stuff for others in the past. I recently served as an advisory board member for the St. Lawrence/Laurentian University bridge program. I have the skills you would expect for these tasks.
I am a generalist. I work at '30,000 feet'. I am a 'big-big picture' kind of person. For some things, such as systems architecture and software development, I am also expert with details and specific tasks.
I have run a small business since 1992. My target market is small business. If it involves small business I probably have at least *some* general knowledge. I have also worked in management in very large companies like IBM, Microsoft, most of the Canadian Banks as well as a big U.S. bank and most Canadian telecommunications companies. I have twice worked on projects involving budgets over a quarter of a billion (with a 'b') dollars.
I come originally from British Columbia, have traveled across the country, have lived and worked in a variety of large cities in North America, including both the capitals -- Ottawa and Washington D.C., so I have a bit of a 'feel' for how people in various regions differ and how they remain the same. I grew up in large cities, but have lived in a small town for more than a decade so I have a 'feel' for how these types of environments differ as well. I have lived and worked in the Southern U.S. and traveled in 'Yerp'.
Working cultures vary a lot. I am familiar with many. I can lend perspective to related discussions. I mention this because I have found that most have only worked in a few places within a single industry. They assume that the culture they know is the norm. It is not. There is no real norm.
I have worked in jobs on farms, in factories (twice as a union member), in offices large and small, in retail and service, inside and outside sales. I have worked in office jobs from the 'pink collar ghetto' through to senior management. I have worked as both owner and part owner of my own businesses. I have worked in very dirty and dangerous environments as well as some very nice ones. I have also done volunteer work in non-profit environments. I am sensitive to the issues that affect working people as well as business owners.
I am rusty, but I have a license to drive a tow-motor, if it comes up.
I have a lot of computers here running various types of Linux (both at several data centers and locally), Windows 2003 Server, Windows 2008 R2 Server (all with Terminal Services) Windows 98, Millennium, 2000, XP, Vista and Windows 7 32 and 64 bit. I installed, and maintain, all of them. I am not an expert (as such), but have a lot of experience designing and building small networks. I maintain services on a couple of client 2003 Server networks via RDP and have available a variety of 'cloud services' environments.
I have formal training as well as experience as a manager of people and projects.
I am a parent. If you have kids, you know what that means.
I have a wife (still my first!), kids, cats, a dog, a house and a mortgage, but I have also been a single adult 'yuppie' as well as a married one.
As you can imagine from my long posts, I type quickly and easily. I learned many decades ago, in the age of typewriters, long before it was fashionable.
I have a great love of music. I have (very badly) played guitar, flute, piano and guitar again. I can poke my way through written music, but very badly. This is not false modesty. I am far from a musician, but I understand why people find it so charming and why, for instance, someone would have more than one guitar.
I am comfortable with public speaking. I have a fair amount of experience at it. I have been on (just local cable) television and I am fine in front of crowd. I can help people to learn how to manage themselves in front of a crowd. For at least a significant minority of people, it is possible to learn to conquer stage fright. I can help with this type of thing.
Other than the above, I do not have much to offer.
Seriously, though, Canada is a very large and multi-faceted country. Our demographics are complex. A federal party has to represent many disparate interests. It is helpful, I think, to have some people that have not just expertise in a narrow area, but also experience in the many different aspects of life that concern Canadians. A big part of dealing with large organizations (Canada is one!) is being able to mediate between people with very different concerns. To do this, one has to find common ground. One has to build trust. One has to have genuine empathy. I have worked in factories with adults who left school in grade four and could not read or write. I have worked with people who could barely speak or understand English. I have worked with people who hold doctorates and are at the top of their game. I have worked with disabled people and with people who were professional athletes. I have worked with low-functioning adults and at least one true genius (by co-incidence, with a degree in aerospace engineering -- an actual 'rocket scientist'). I have worked with the very poor and the very wealthy. I have lived in ethnic and cultural ghettos. I have had friends from all types of ethnic and cultural backgrounds. I have buried friends and close family members; presided over more than one memorial and been in more than my share of wedding parties. I have been young and I have been old. I have been (a little) 'rich' and I have been (very) 'poor'. I know that rich is better. I have had great success and some very bitter failures. I held my wife's hand as we brought our children into the world. I was holding my dad's hand when he died and left us. Each Canadian has their story to tell, a life to live; and it is rich with substance. I think that, better than most, I appreciate and least partially understand the many concerns that people can have because I have often been there with them.
If I had the power, I would abolish much of the federal apparatus and create a new ministry portfolio called (informally, anyway) 'the department of the obvious'. Some of what goes on in the world is well beyond reason. The 'rules' often lead to the most bizarre injustices. Before we commit human and financial resources to things, those things should undergo a 'reality check'. The people doing this check should have enough knowledge, skill and experience between them to do the job. I could not do such a thing by myself, but I would be a great team member and I think I could at lead such an effort.
Although my time is limited, I think that I can contribute a lot in terms of doing some 'reality checks' on stuff. Some things, even if they are difficult to determine, have already been 'solved'. I would like to contribute by offering some of the simple answers to stuff that others might find complex. Some problems are simply stated, but exceedingly difficult or even impossible to answer. Some problems look difficult but are either simple to solve or, if difficult, have existing solutions.
Although I do not have the time to do all the legwork, I can at least point the way to the answers for many things. I can also give 'heuristics' for a lot of stuff that others might find difficult. For instance, 'great artists steal'. A lot of stuff as to party platforms, issues that concern people, urgent matters that require timely action, etc are available from government sites or the sites of other parties.
