About
This is a page dedicated to me. Yes this all might seem a little egotistical but at the end of the day this is BarryFinlay.com and if your here is it because you want to know more about me so here we go.
I am a bit of a geek, no particular field of geekiness just a general computer and technology geek. I have always been fascinated by computers ever since my dad got his first computer which I really can’t remember what it was. The first computer I remember actually using was a commodore VIC20 which to be honest was mainly used for playing games. Next came the Commodore 64 again mainly used as a games machine. When PC’s became more common in the home my dad got a Pentium 268 running Windows 3.1 which at the time was rather high spec’d. From then on there have been many systems in between plus the introduction of the Internet.
For me the Internet has been an amazing revolution for mankind. The ability to share information has made life much easier but at the same time we all appear to be really dependant on this convenient availability of information. I am sure everyone reading this has been without an Internet connection for a short period of time and you felt like your life had came to a stand still. We always need to remember that at the end of the day technology and the Internet are merely tools to aid using our everyday lives and we can’t loose sight of the bigger picture. You might have 5000 friends on your Facebook profile but what good are they if you are needing someone to look in the eye and hold when your feeling like life is getting on top of you? You can only take so much comport from a smiley face on a computer screen =)
My fascination with computers led me into various careers where computers and technology were the primary focus of my job. At 16 I left school and got a job working in a local factory where I worked in the quality control department initially as an administrator but over time I became the main source for I.T. support for the companies network and standalone systems.The network ran on an AIX platform running PICK for the manufacturing software which ran the business. During my time there the company let me study part-time and I completed a HND in networking support when I was 17. This was the end of my formal education apart from the odd training courses scattered over the next 14 years.
After 6 years in the factory I decided it was time to move on as I had went as far as I could in that company and I needed a new challenge. A good friend happened to be involved in an exciting new start-up trying to introduce 3d laser scanning to the UK and Europe. I went for the initial 3D spacial awareness tests then an interview. I got the job then spent the next3 years using state of the art 3D scanners scanning a plethora of objects from turbine blades to full size Egyptian mummies and their priceless artifacts. This was an amazing time in my life but the company was poorly managed and went bust after 3 years which left me out of work.
Due to the uniqueness of my skills it was difficult to get a job in the same field due to the fact that there were no companies in the UK doing anything like what I had been doing for the past three years. This sadly resulted in me being unemployed for 6 months before finding another job.
I took a job working for Her Majesties Revenue and Customs as an assistant officer in the tax department, the job was terrible but I had to pay the bills. This was the worst job I have ever had and the only good thing was that it was part-time and the people I was working with were really nice.
During my time at HMRC I also became self-employed as a freelance graphic & web designer. I had been designing web sites for family and friends for some time and decided that I would go legit and make a living from it. This was great as I was working evenings at HMRC which meant during the day I was my own boss doing what I loved.
Once my 6 month contract expired at HMRC I refused to sign a new one but the design business was still not generating enough income for me not to have another income stream so I had to come up with a plan. I was designing a web site for an Orthotics company who I knew were using3D scanners and what they were doing was unique in the UK at the time. The MD of the company called me in for a chat and I was thinking this was to do with the web site I was designing for them but instead he offered me a job with company heading up the 3D scanning aspect of the business. This was the opportunity I had been looking for for over a year and it finally came to fruition. That was back in 2006 and I am still with the same company driving the use of 3D Scanning in the orthotic field in the UK.
I still run my own business as a freelance designer. Over the past 12 months I have started to focus more attention to my freelance work because in the current financial climate everyone is looking to make more money because the cost of living is rising to fast and employers simply don’t have the funds to increase everyone’s wages. I will be my own boss in the near future and then I will be completely free from the restraints of working for other people.
I think I have covered everything, well everything I feel the need to share. If you want to know anything else please feel free to contact me.
You can also download my CV if you are curious or have an offer, I’m always looking for new challenges as life would be extremely boring if we stood still for too long.