Tim Twinam – Web Developer
Pre-Magnetic Media - Paper Tape
A reluctant immigrant to “the Colonies,” web developer Tim Twinam has been writing code since code was invented (literally). His first job as a programmer involved tiny little holes punched into rolls of paper tape.
As a kid, Tim wanted to be a doctor, but he was born into the Exclusive Brethren (a secretive, tyrannical cult), and as such was not allowed to attend university. His second choice was to be a policeman (a Bobby, Copper, or Peeler in English). The cult forbade television, radio, and movies, of course and Tim did not see a movie until he was 16 when he sneaked in through a cinema back-door to watch Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. So much for Tim’s second career choice.
Without university education, Tim bounced around Sevenoaks (20 miles south of London) in various administrative jobs until he tried computers – a night job processing North Sea oil survey data (at a time when BP meant “before petroleum”). One night he discovered an error on one of the paper tape programs and by picking up a Fortran software manual, Tim managed to resolve the problem. His software career had begun.
Tim Twinam, veteran coder!
Among his more recent achievements:
He escaped the Exclusive Brethren.
He created a multinational network system for Island Records before the Internet existed. His first use of a code generator, this project was successfully completed on time and on budget by four people rather than the previously required 40.
Still tanned from the Islands sun and thrilled with code generation, he designed his own code generator for the freshly launched IBM PC. It was called Pro-C and was very successful. Tim was nominated for the prestigious PC Magazine Technical Excellence award in 1988.
He designed the first web-based mental health electronic medical record and mental health diagnosis web application for SecureHealth, a Vermont company that did not survive the high-tech crash of 2000/2001.
More recently, Tim was “the voice on the phone” at Union Street Media where he provided technical support, blog and content management system training for hundreds of real estate website clients.
In 2004 Tim launched Peebs.net – a website designed to educate and help trapped Exclusive Brethren cult members escape. He built community forums, created a worldwide network of safe houses, operates a 24/7 Emergency facility and has effectively harnessed social media to free the oppressed. Tim continues to develop ways of using the internet and social media to help trapped cult members escape.
A master of empowerment, Tim has a way of making the most obscure technology comprehensible to those who might otherwise faint at the sight of a CMS. He does it with a certain brilliance and sense of humor that equips even the most technophobic clients to take control of their own content.
Written by Jane
