Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events;
Small minds discuss people.
-Eleanor Roosevelt

A rolling bag I could see myself using Sep 23, 2008

Stackable seating with zero defects Sep 18, 2008

Stackable seatingI don't geek out about furniture, but this is the exception. Beautiful stuff with zero defects due to a philosophy called "six sigma".  Perfect against concrete walls.  (Maybe I just like concrete walls)

I got my name on Slashdot! May 12, 2006

I really want that MacBook Pro. And I've been a faithful reader of slashdot.org. So I jumped at the chance of getting to redesign the site, AND winning a new Mac. With all the designs ranging from beautiful to fugly, I decided I was going to submit a design with 3 goals in mind: 1) Simplify. (cutting out clutter and noise) There's so much going on with slashdot that it becomes too daunting for first-time users. 2) Improve readability (adjust spacing so that text gets breathing room) 3) Don't re-invent the wheel. One thing I learned from the redesign of Newegg.com was that tech people hate change! I didn't want to have to make users relearn everything about a site they visited every day. Web designers don't like hate mail and death threats. I'm very proud to say that my design made the cut! It didn't win or anything, but it had some interesting elements. Anyway, getting on to Slashdot was a thrill for me... Now I'm off to get round 2 of the designs done.

Who I am

I'm Derek Chin and I'm very happy to be here. Life is a journey and an adventure, and I tend to be the "Big Picture" guy. (I ask silly questions like: "How does this help me and society in the long run?") I have lofty ideals and goals, and I'm willing to do whatever it takes to make it happen. This is a personal blog, so please excuse the tangents I go on, or the type of language I use once in a fucking while. I enjoy making music, doodling, and movie-hopping. Yeah I do.

What I do

XHTML/CSS/PHP/JS/MySQL/Ruby(on Rails) is the name of the game. I've had a great experience at very different companies and environments.

  • Opposing Views
  • SoulCast
  • Newegg.com
  • LA Times

Here is a complete list of my work. I am currently available to take on projects. Contact me.