sylviobelcourt.com
sylviobelcourt.com
I was born in Mauritius on the 11th December 1946. I left the island in 1967 to migrate to New Zealand and after one year moved to Melbourne, Australia where I have lived since then. I speak three languages, namely French, English and Creole (The native language of Mauritius).
I retired on my 65th birthday, 11th December 2011 and never looked back.
Up to now, I've had a very busy life, never a dull moment.
Sadly, marriages have been my life biggest failures. But I'm resilient and very determined to never let the past affect my future.
Who am I?
I'm an artist, a creator, an inventor, a pilot, a musician, a writer, a photographer, a dancer, a philosopher, a computer programmer, a movie maker.....
I'm also a DIY enthusiast, a mechanic, an electrician, a plumber, a builder, a gardener, a decorator.....
I'm not good at cooking but I enjoy going out to restaurants tasting succulent dishes from all cultures.
Although I have a large garden at the front and rear of my house, I don't like gardening. Someone has to do it and it's me.
I do not have the patience for fishing. I prefer to do something that keeps me active.
I do not follow cricket. I have no idea of the rules.
Footy is not for me. After years of living in Melbourne, I heard of Richmond, St Kilda, Collingwood etc and I was asked who I barrack for. I replied Glen Waverley. What an idiot!. I though barrack meant, where I lived. I still have no idea of who plays who on Grand Final day. Ask me about the players. Answer, "I don't know". To date, I have absolutely no idea about the round or oval balls they use.
When it comes to sports, I play tennis, I swim, I sail, I walk.....I have not yet tried bowling, golf....
Be Inspired
I hope than I inspire others to be creative, positive and always be happy.
I have been criticised all my life. I hope they never stop because I always learn from them.
Quote: “You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life.” ― Winston Churchill
Career
Setting up my various websites was interesting and challenging. No doubt that the knowledge I acquired over the years about software development along with PHP, Java and MySQL helped.
My professional career is one my greatest achievement. I started work as a draftsman in Port Louis, Mauritius (where I was born) before living for Auckland NZ and later Wellington. There I studied and did many manual jobs such as factory work, cleaning parks, waiter and singing/playing the guitar and piano in restaurants to earn a student income. A year later I moved to Melbourne and studied Cobol and RPG programming at IBM. From there, I worked in many industries and eventually move to System Analyst. My career went from strength to strength and eventually I achieved the position of IT Manager. I then took on the challenge of leaving the workforce to run my own business Microprogramming, which was about importing components from Taiwan and assembling PCs. Software development became a major asset to the business and I spend three years developing my own Accounting Software MPS (MicroProgramming Software), a complete package consisting of General Ledger, Debtors, Creditors, Inventory Control. Purchasing, Payroll and Job Costing. Many small to medium side organisations used the software which kept me very busy with support and custom modifications.
In the early 80's, at the Exhibition Building in Carlton, Victoria, my then company Microprogramming was the first to ever display a voice recognition computer in Australia. I designed and built the system from Z80 CPU, diodes, resistors, capacitors, TTL chips on a hand made printed circuit board. Using a microphone, a human voice could direct the computer to do basic tasks.
Artificial Intelligence System
I started studying AI in the early 1980. I learned the computer languages Fortran, Pronto, C ++, Java, Lisp, Prolog, Python and R. I wrote an article in 1978 in June edition of PC Magazine that one day machines will talk like humans. The title was Man, Machine and Voice. Little did I know.....
Louis Sylvio Belcourt and my company then, Artificial Intelligence System Pty Ltd (AIS) are listed in the forth edition of Debrett's Handbook of Australia.
Moving On
Difficult and stressing times along with "The recession we had to have" eventually forced me back to the workforce. Project Manager, Crystal Report Writing, Book Keeping and many other small jobs kept me active for years and my last one before retiring was working as Office Manager/Financial Controller for a manufacturing company.
Over the years, I obtained many additional certificates from various colleges to enhance my knowledge and I’m still learning new skills.
Description of some of the certificates:
My Hobbies are:
New Destiny
On July 2018, I moved from Mornington, VIC to Bairnsdale, Gippsland.
I love the country lifestyle, the lakes and the people.