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Hello,

My name is Machtelt Garrels, aka Tille, and Dru invited me to join this
list.  Why?  For the last year, I have been Translation and Vendor
Coordinator for LPI.  My contract was suddenly ended because of a
reorganization, so I'm looking to spend my time on other worthwhile
projects that support Open Source and freedom.  As the experience I gained
over the past 13 months is very specific to the certification business,
the BSDCG caught my attention.  To give you an idea of what I can
contribute to the project, please allow me to sum up the tasks that I
performed for LPI, the Linux Professional Institute:

- - Review and delivery coordination of the computer based tests in
six languages to the test center vendors (Vue, Prometric and NTT),
creation of PDF for the paper based tests in six languages (FR, DE, PT,
ES, ZH and JA) and delivery to LPI main office, according to the
publication schedule.

- - Communication with translation vendor and test center vendors: finding
sore points in the communication, addressing communication problems by
adjusting procedures.

- - Store files sent to and received from vendors in an encrypted library,
organizing the data, provide LPI staff with the documents they need;
assembling packages for vendors and reviewers (librarian function).

- - Finetuning the creation process of computer and paper based tests:
debugging database output, defining the output formats, debugging foreign
language output, documenting the processes, uniforming the look and feel
of the exams, developing a process for paper based test creation based on
XML source files.

- - Development of a uniform answersheet for use with teh paper based
tests, using Iris scanning software.

- - Coordination of translation reviewers, planning publication of
translated tests, debugging input of translations into the database.

- - Optimizing security procedures: physical security and encryption are
very important given the sensitivity of the data.

I also learned a great deal about psychometric analyzing methods, how
psychometrics and security go hand in hand, about cut scores and when and
how to set and raise them, and so on.  I have good contacts at the test
centers, as I dealt with them directly.  I know what file formats they
need, how to customize exams for each vendor and I have a fair idea of
publication costs and how to decrease those.  At LPI I was at first
assigned to be Translation Coordinator because I have a solid technical
background, so I can help out the translators and reviewers if things are
not clear to them, and I speak Dutch (mother tongue), French, English,
German and understand Spanish and Portuguese.  Chinese and Japanese is a
bit too much for me, but I have acquired experience with oriental fonts,
when to use which and how to troubleshoot rendering problems, garbled
characters and other problems related to Chinese and Japanese exam
development.  Plus I learned a great deal about a variety of cultures in
the world and how to deal with regional, cultural, economical and moral
differences.

Sorry to brag on like this.  I think the more you know about me, the more
you will all be able to tap the resources that I am bringing.

Before you ask if it is not strange to switch from LPI to BSDCG just like
that, and if people over at LPI are going to like it: my managers assured
me that I did not have to go because of performance issues, on the
contrary.  The replacement of the exam development team is purely for
organizational purposes and we all get excellent references.  Strange,
isn't it, but let's not speculate too much over that.

And finally, even though I am a Linux fan from the first moment, I've been
running FreeBSD on web, ftp, backup and mail servers before, and I
recently switched to iBook and PowerBook for laptop hardware (don't
shoot).

Looking forward to get to know you,

Tille.

- --
My Penguin, my freedom.         http://tille.xalasys.com
Books:                          http://writers.fultus.com/garrels
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