This web page is about Chris Harris, an eLearning designer who lives near Bristol in the UK.
Read Chris's blog.
I work for a company called SELEX Systems Integration Ltd where I design eLearning courses. Current projects involve safety best practice at nuclear power stations and maintenance training for large helicopters. I'm also investigating how virtual worlds and other technologies can support training programmes, brushing up on interface design and trying to expand my knowledge of current best practice in human-computer interaction. I find HCI fascinating, particularly because I'm amazed how often people get it so wrong, particularly on the web.
In my spare time I read a lot, occasionally draw cartoons (all the graphics on this site are done by me) and make music. Last year I upgraded my home recording gear to 32 tracks and I've been been doing some voiceovers for projects at work. This year I want to get back into making music and develop my songwriting skills, but there never seem to be enough hours in the day.
Lack of time notwithstanding, I'm still doing a lot of photography and I'm really enjoying using a wider selection of lenses for my Canon. You can see some of the results on my Flickr photostream. If all goes according to plan I'll be upgrading from the 350D to something new and shiny later this year and I've booked myself on a week-long photography course, so stay tuned!
As you may have realised (especially if you Google me) there are quite a few folks called Chris Harris about. So here are a few details to help you see if you've found who you're looking for.
No, I'm not the speedway rider. I've never been a Texas State Senator. The guy with the domain name is a Canadian wildlife photographer. Furthermore, I would like to state for the record that I have never, at any time, had anything to do with Radio 1's Chris Moyles. And of course there's a New Zealand cricketer, as if you didn't know. Finally, I'm not the Chris Harris who is the dame in panto every year here in Bristol - although every year some helpful soul will put up a poster for it in the office on the off chance that I just might be. If you're reading this, Chris, thanks a lot.
Chances are, if you're still here and you're looking for a Chris Harris who is male, likes skiing, draws cartoons, and is a bit of a film and music nut, you've come to the right place. This Chris Harris designs training materials for a living - mainly computer based training, or CBT for short. I used to work for BT, then moved on to a company called CBL Technology down in Bristol. They became part of the VEGA Group but these days we're part of a company called SELEX. I'm based at their office in Bristol.
And believe it or not, there is another Chris Harris working in the same building.
I was born in 1960 in the town of Lytham St. Annes, in Lancashire. Being born on 11th August meant that I got a total solar eclipse for my birthday in 1999, which was a once-in-a-lifetime experience in all senses of the word.
During childhood my family moved about a lot. If you were at school in the 1970s and you went to Burton Manor County Primary school or King Edward VI Grammar school in Stafford, or John Newnham High School in Croydon, you can find me on the Friends Reunited site.
I moved to Milton Keynes in 1986, working in BT's training department. For a while I was based at Bletchley Park, famous for its role during the war in breaking German military codes. I really enjoyed my time there. I met some great people while I worked at BT, and ended up marrying one of them. Sadly, life in the 90's wasn't as good and we split up a few years later.
I moved down here to Gloucestershire in 1995, and apart from a brief stint in Florida (it's a hard life) I've been here ever since. I live in a small village on the edge of the Cotswolds, a little bit north of Bristol. The Cotswolds are a range of hills which run across southern England from the Severn Estuary to just west of Oxford. That's how I explain it, anyway - everyone has their own ideas where the Cotswolds start and end. What everyone does agree on is that they contain some of the most beautiful countryside in Britain. The local stone is a warm, honey colour, and many of the local buildings are built from it. It has a warm, luminous feel to it, quite unlike anywhere else I've lived. I wish I'd moved here years ago. If you click here you can see the sort of view I've got within a few minutes bike ride from the house.
Hobbies
If I was to try and sum myself up in a single word, I like to think it would be "creative."
I used to draw quite a lot - cartoons, portraits and a little graphic design. I really enjoyed it; I even did some work for a few bands, including the heavy metal group Motorhead. For some reason people don't believe this, muttering things like "and he looks so normal..." but it's all true!
These days, I hardly ever seem to have time to dust off my Rotring pens, but I've managed to resurrect my drawing board and have started sketching again. I've put together a graphics page about some of the stuff I've produced.
I'm also heavily into films: some friends of mine once suggested that I'd had the Internet Movie Database surgically implanted. You can find out more on my films page.
I'm also a great fan of music, and love listening to all styles from classical to heavy rock, from pop to electronica. I've even been known to compose some music of my own from time to time, and I play several different musical instruments. These days I use a computer as well - my old Pentium machine had a wavetable sound card which still sounds better than some purpose-built synths I've collected over the years. On my music page you can find out a bit more about what I play, as well as what I listen to.
Then there's reading: in normal circumstances I can't go into a bookshop without buying a book, and my house is full of paperbacks and hardbacks. I read a tremendous amount of books. On the books page I go on and on about the fact, but I do also get round to recommending one or two books that I've quite enjoyed, and I hope you will too.
I also enjoy birdwatching. It's handy living where I do, because the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust reserve at Slimbridge is a few minutes drive from here. I joined the WWT in 1997, and I've been in the RSPB for over ten years. My parents live in north Norfolk, which is also prime birdwatching country. When I visit I go walking on the beach at Cley or Salthouse. There, you can see all sorts of birds - even the occasional Flamingo. After living inland for so long I'm still terrible at identifying waders and the like, but I'm getting better. My father is a very keen birdwatcher, and spots things straight away. My mum's great, too. She's the sort of person who says "what's wrong with that blackbird on the drive?" and when you look, it turns out to be a perfectly healthy ring ouzel. She attracts interesting stuff like that.
Photography is a big part of my life these days. You'll find lots of stuff about that elsewhere.
Real ale is still quite an interest, but I found I was piling on the pounds. What with growing a beard again and owning more than one woolly jumper, I was in serious danger of becoming, to use a term from round here, a bit of a "crusty." So the plan is to get the bike out, get fit, lose weight, and (hopefully) stay healthy.
Finally, as if you hadn't already realised, I spend more time than is good for me in front of my computer. Over the past year or so I've become an inveterate blogger. I've found it a useful outlet for the piles of trivia and other rubbish I come across from day to day. It also gives me a bit of a chance to be creative: something that doesn't seem to happen at work so much these days. The results of the blog are archived for you to have a look at, if you want. Mainly I'm trying to improve my writing skills; at the moment my public efforts only extend as far as running this website, but I have a number of novels and short stories on the go. One short story I'm working on right now is based on a somewhat disturbing dream I've had a couple of times; the story is pretty much writing itself, which is how it should be.
Chris