What I Do In Real Life

Many people wonder what I do all day - or at least am supposed to be doing - so here's a link to an article in Wired that has done the best to describe what my project is all about. I'm a Web Production Specialist whose job it is to help get 500 courses online by September 30 - including about 87,672 PDF files.

BrainStream: So....I really am here. Just

So....I really am here. Just been busy. I'm mostly participating in mailing lists rather than blogging these days but to give you a little tidbit of why things have been so busy, I give you this article published today on Wired about the MIT OpenCourseWare project, where I am a Web Production Specialist.

I started as a Temp last August and worked to launch a series of 35 or so Internal courses for September 2002 classes. We then launched 50 courses to the public as a sort of pilot and ever since we've been working towards publishing 500 - yes, five-hundred courses on September 30th 2003.

Earlier this year, I was made "Temporary Permanent" until Oct. 31st. This week (and upcoming three-day weekend) will be my last repreive until the launch and things won't probably level out until the end of October when my contract ends. It's been a hell of a ride.

I've learned more than I ever wanted to know about TeX and PDF, been able to put accessibility at the forefront of our work (though it's been tough with 500 courses), and almost mastered the painful processes of Microsoft CMS 2002 (don't ask). I'm hoping to extend my contract beyond October and become a permanent part of the project. Who knows - I certainly won't be ready to leave.

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