The Author:
- Hi, my name is Shahram Shimi and I am the author of this site. As graduate of a British engineering university ( university of Aston in Birmingham), I worked for 20 years in Canada and overseas in my own professional field of civil and structural engineering, before the recession of the early 90's caused the collapse of the construction industry rendering a longer than expected redundancy in my line of work in Toronto area where I live with may family.
As this bleak outlook persisted and the Information Technology
with Internet at its core was beginning to take off, I was prompted
to make a radical career change in the direction which not only
heralded the wave of the future but also demanded computer literacy
as well as opening a window of communication with the world,
three exiting and challenging propositions highly akin to my
nature which I could not ignore.
While my long time engineering practice coupled with recent professional upgradings provided a solid background for handling the more technical aspects of the IT, I also discovered a niche for creative computer generated graphic design which proved to be central to the creation of web sites including all the graphic elements and effects.
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- The sites:
- With a firm hold on most aspects of design and publishing
of Internet related material, I posted my first web site in 1995
and soon after registered a personal domain (shimi.com) where
I shared my deeply rooted pluralistic views, showcased my graphic
designs and promoted my Internet services under the commercial
name of Netshell.(site not currently operational)
- Soon after it became clear that in order to remain marketable and competitive a more professional approach was needed.
- Pageposter.com
grew out of Netshell and was registered as a domain and small
business. As such, it offers fully customized Internet services
to individuals, businesses and corporations who consider their
web sites as their front yards projecting the looks and feel
of their intended personalized images.
- Shimi.ca
took over from Shimi.com in May of 2001 rendering it open for
a new design and content. It was also considered that although
unprofessional on the surface but there was no harm in mixing
the personal and business aspects of the sites as long as the
quality of the professional work was not compromised, this format
was considered even preferred by both parties in cases where
highly personalized and customized sites demanded extensive interaction
and exchange of general and personal information and psychology
between designer and the client.
Shimi.com therefore,
while reflects in earnest a professional sample of a personal
web site and graphic designs, it also functions as a hub integrating
various facets of the site in one easily navigable location.
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The design:
- The front page design itself is set in three radically different
environments, a proverbial and literal brick and mortar adobe
wall provides the backdrop to the scene, and while the veneer
of shapes and colours please, displease, direct or divert attention,
the presence of the solid base-wall remains either unchanged
or with protruding effect, never totally submerged by the acquired
effects and masquerades.
The
colourful design renders merely an eye candy with no functionality
until it is set in motion through the power of the next layer
which remains invisible therefore non-existant to the untrained
and superficial eye but crucial and central to the performance
of the site as it is intricately and meticulously devised and
programmed to operate as desired.
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- The metaphor:
- The design elements and subjects of the home page are so
chosen to best represent a metaphoric manifestation of a page
in the human genesis, whereby the fundamental bare blocks
of our existence depicted by the brick wall, provide the innate
and predisposed characteristics which dictate the backdrop to
our future development albeit no control over its construct and
content can be exerted. The painted veneer signifies the important
early nurturing environment in which different areas of talent
can be developed and present themselves while influenced by the
projection of the ubiquitous underlying structure.
- The whole scene will come magically alive when strung together
by a string of zeros and ones called a program specifically
written to link, organize, expand and execute masterfully and
indefatigably as desired, epitomizing the instructions for production
of a single protein within the cell as coded by four bases known
by their initials as A, T, C, and G, on a finite segment
of the DNA called gene.
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- The subject matter of the site at its core however, remains
a vocational vent, a means of expression, a billboard of my inner
voice and passion to make a scant attempt in promoting the simplest,
the most obvious and yet effective solution to the most complex
and tragic problem facing mankind. I hope that by raising awareness
I will be able to make a difference in minimizing the horrendous
disparity between the extremes of wasteful wealth and abject
poverty among the children of the same family of mankind who
can all prosper by sharing a plethora of available resources.
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- The message:
- It is regrettable that as nature plays dice in giving its subjects their defining combination of genes and early nurturing environment, those of us who score poorly on both cards become its inevitable casualties and must pay the price while robbed of a choice and a voice. This unfortunate but familiar scenario of mother nature's work gone awry can only be remedied through a pluralistic view and collaborative effort of all mankind as member of the same family or metaphorically as members and parts of the same carnal body.I look forward to the day when all humanity utter the following words in their hearts when addressing the poor, dispossessed and disenfranchised--My simple recipe that can make us all winners.
I know that you are desperate and
your dignity is compromised, but I also know that this is not
your fault as you are the victim of unfortunate circumstances
beyond your control just like the fortunate ones which benefit
me. So don't worry, if nature has been mean to you It has been
generous to me, and as part of you, I will reach out and hold
your hand so that together we can share both the stumble and the
smile. And I can't thank you enough for giving more than receiving
by affording me the opportunity to experience true bliss, live
a meaningful life and make a difference through deeds with lasting
value."
- My wife and I are proud parents of our two sons, Shahriar and Shahdad, a dental surgeon and a lawyer respectively-- See photos.
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