About Craig Simon
Craig Simon is a database application specialist and independent scholar living in Dania Beach, Florida.
Database Application Specialist
I began working as a freelance computer consultant in 1988, assisting firms integrate WordPerfect Corporation applications on Novell Networks. I in the mid 1990s, I transitioned to building custom dataabase applications with Delphi. I currently work with various flavors of SQL, preferring .net tools for desktop apps and PHP/Javascript for the web.
Since 2007 I have put a great deal of effort into building a web-based application intended to "build better tools for better democracies." Initially hosted at Indaba.org, and later at ChoiceRanker.com, the most recent operational prototype is a Facebook application called WeVote.
Craig Lyle Simon. Ph.D.
In 1987 earned an MA in International Studies from the University of Miami. My thesis investigated the impact of technology transfer on US-Soviet relations. I reached ABD 1988, but put aside academic work soon after that. Nearly a decade later, however, various individuals within University enticed me to return. I picked a new research area, and worked on it intermittently until late 2005, when I cut back my consulting practice and dedicated myself to completing the Ph.D. My dissertation concerned the administration of the Internet's core resources and the implications for global politics, focusing on the privatization of the Domain Name System as a case study.
The Indaba project is a direct outcome of insights I gained while completing the dissertation.
Following these links for my curriculum vitae and a statement about my current research.
About flywheel, gitis, rkey, and indaba
I'm a charter member of the Freestyle Players Association, and I currently serve on its Board of Directors. I still compete sometimes, but my official ranking is descending steadily as a new generation of European players rises in the sport. I got involved while living in beautiful Santa Cruz, California, a frisbee mecca on the Pacific coast between San Francisco and Monterey. That's where I learned to brush and delay, to catch gitis, phlaud, and chair, and to throw lots of zees. I toured with the Flying Aces during that time, and wrote a book, Frisbie: Beyond Catch and Throw.
The first domain name I owned was flywheel.com. I still use the moniker flywheel as my webname at various blogs and social networking sites. It wasn't available for Twitter, though, so I use gitis there. The name rkey is just a self-coined word. I was looking for something as short as possible with the phrase "key" in it. Indaba is Zulu for "important meeting." I had recommended using it as an acronym for "Internet Delegations and Assignments Board," during the 1998 discussions lead up to the creation of a new Internet oversight body, but the title Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) was chosen instead. The idea of a web-based Indaba continues to intrigue and inspire me.