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I teach the paying public at Durham Technical Community College and The ArtsCenter. If you prefer more personalized training, tailored to your needs, we can do that too.

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Widespread public use of modern technology is only a few decades old — the first individual, portable personal computer was released to the public in 1973, the year after Texas Instruments patented the first filmless electronic camera (digital cameras). Protocols for the World Wide Web were laid before the public in 1991. Now, these information technologies touch our lives everywhere through the computers in our homes, offices, and pockets.

Many people learn computer applications as part of a distant class or by haphazardly picking up what they need to know when they must know it, leading to gaps and rusty areas in their knowledge.

Others purchase or are given technology (such as digital cameras) that they may find challenging ... or decide they want to use Web2.0 opportunities (to publish a book or podcast, for example) ... or want to develop an online presence....

These are the individuals I want to help.

What do you need to know?

... Email, the "killer app"

What's this email thing and how do I use it? How do I judge what is safe to click on — and what isn't? What's a "good" password and how can I create one? Why do my friends yell at me when I send them a picture from my digital camera? How come I can never open Uncle Jim's attachments? How can I hide the addresses of the people I'm emailing? What's a contact list / address book and how do I keep it?

... DIY technology

How do I use my new digital camera and the software that came with it? How do I create, maintain, and improve a basic Web site, blog, or social networking page? How can I publish a photo book or novel or image on a coffee mug using an Internet Print-On-Demand (POD) publisher?

... Concepts

Can you help me approach Help so that it's helpful and I get help? (Yes.) What are styles and how can they make my life easier? How do I find what I'm looking for on the Web without wasting half of my evening looking through millions of results? What's this 'resolution' stuff have to do with digital photographs and why can't I get the same red on the printout that I see on the monitor?

... Software

How do I make, modify, and best use spreadsheets ... word documents ... images, scans, and photos ... databases (e.g. collections of digital photographs) ... household accounting packages...?

... Just get it done!

Sometimes, you need an immediate, limited, task-oriented knowledge infusion.

Examples: learn just enough HTML, CSS, or Dreamweaver to modify content in existing Web pages (light Web editing); apply standardized templates or styles to Word, image, spreadsheet, or Web documents; resize digital images so they are email and Web friendly; prepare an Illustrator file for color-separated processing, etc.

(You must know the target software well enough to support the things you have to learn for the task at hand. If you've never touched a vector-based drawing application, for example, you can't expect to learn how to create Illustrator mesh gradients in a couple of hours.)

You can also pay me to do it for you!

How I can help...

The classes at Durham Tech are the more rigorous ones that I teach. There, you learn how to structure and present Web pages. However, you can leave The ArtsCenter WordPress classes with a basic, working blog and Web site, as long as you get your content ready to go early in the course! The ArtsCenter Illustrator classes provide a working introduction to this powerful drawing and design program.

Of course, I am available for individual and small-group personal training, as well as work for hire.

... In a formal classroom (DTCC)

Durham Technical Community College offers a non-credit Continuing Education (certificate course) in Web Page Design. Sometimes classes are held at the Orange County Center in Hillsborough, but we meet at the main campus in Durham more often. The 32-hour course covers HTML and CSS coding. It's fun. We consider how this Web page creation business relates to closets and boxes of chocolate.

... In a less formal classroom (The ArtsCenter)

The ArtsCenter in Carrboro has a very cozy computer lab which limits the number of students to 6 (7 if someone brings a laptop with all necessary applications loaded and ready to go). Search for "holroyd" on this course list page and avoid having to scroll.

... In a personal classroom

You tell me what you want to achieve. We work out a realistic schedule. I sit by your side and guide you to your goals.

(See my Price List.)

... for hire

• Illustration — technical, such as Patent drawings; designs and drawings for commercial use
• Digital Photography — per project, payment as agreed
• Design & layout — posters, playbills, CD packages; Web and blog pages and sites, as agreed; manuscripts for POD production (per project, as agreed)
• Web creation & starter package:
  • $500 for a 3-page site, live
  • $300 for a starter WordPress site + 2-hour lesson.
• See my Price List for specifics.

I do have knowledge in other areas, but it is either not to a master's level or it is old and somewhat dated. That doesn't mean I can't provide help with these items — it may be worth a try! (If I can't help, I won't charge.)

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