Christopher Charles Kinata

Skills

Technical writing, technical editing, book publishing. Awards for excellence in writing and editing from the Society for Technical Communication and the Computer Booksellers Association.
Web design: HTML, CSS, scripting, DHTML.
Visual Basic in Word, Excel, FrontPage, and Outlook.
POV-Ray Scene Description Language.

Work

Self-employed (1989–present)

Kinata.net Web Design and Hosting

Web design, writing, editing, publishing, and document processing services.

Author

Microsoft Word/Visual Basic, Step-by-Step, co-author with Michael Halvorsen.

Running Excel, co-author with Craig Stinson and Mark Dodge.

Microsoft Excel Companion, co-author with the Cobb Group.

Complete Guide to Microsoft Excel Macros, co-author with Charles Kyd.

Working With Word, author. The first book desktop-published to a digital phototypesetter solely through Word.

Writer

Visual Basic for Applications in Microsoft Excel, member of writing team in Microsoft Office User Education.

WordBASIC Developer’s Guide, Microsoft Corporation; member of writing team.

Editor

BattleTech Collectable Card Game, Wizards of the Coast.

Book Design

Spectral Synthesis Digital Studio Manual.

Microsoft Corporation, User Education (1988–1989)

Word Guru

Consulting, training, programming, troubleshooting, and moral support in the conversion of Microsoft User Education from a troff-based environment to a desktop publishing environment, using Word. Wrote PostScript code for achieving special typesetting effects.

Microsoft Corporation, Microsoft Press (1984–1988)

Special Projects Editor

Same as Senior Technical Editor, with the addition of redevelopment and extensive rewriting of troubled manuscripts.

Senior Technical Editor

Same as Technical Review, with the addition of project management duties.

Technical Reviewer

Manuscript review and correction; testing, correction, commenting, and formatting of code samples; preparation of graphics.

Crystal River Design

Design, manufacture, and component-level repair of biofeedback and other devices; design and layout of printed-circuit board patterns.

Waves in Space, conceptual art piece. Created a biofeedback/video system that converted brainwave data into various computer graphics representations. Installed at the Downey Museum of Modern Art, the Long Beach Museum of Art, and the Franklin Furnace Gallery in New York.

Education

University of California at Irvine

BA in Psychology, minor in Computer Science, 1976. GRE scores in top 1%.

University of Southern California

Honors Program in Biocybernetics, Department of Electrical Engineering.
Designed a program in electrical engineering, physiology, and psychology that became the undergraduate Biomedical Engineering curriculum at USC.

Quotes

Judy C.

“The successes we’ve seen are directly attributable to Chris and the ‘merry gang’ he led through the growth we’ve experienced in the last 6-12 months. Billg recognizes Chris as a special person with incredible talent. This is not to be taken lightly...”

Bill C.

“...everyone who has worked with him can appreciate the fact that even at Microsoft, he has one of the finest and most creative minds that most of us have had the privilege of working with. I think that what makes Chris so especially valuable are things other than intelligence...Chris has a deep, natural gift for teaching. He can immediately grasp the level at which others are at, and tailor his approach on the fly. And does this with the most infectious enthusiasm. And this enthusiasm is always genuine, and it’s always perceived by others to be genuine. Chris is a person of great personal integrity and unrelenting honesty...