Learn everything you didn’t want to know about me.
The BasicsTo state the obvious - since I can’t think of any other way to start this page - my name is Teddy Hwang. I’m a 24 year old web designer living in Calgary, Alberta, Canada where I was born and raised. I work for a company called Spheric Technologies. I do what I can to contribute a little eye candy to the websites that our Ruby on Rails team makes. We make websites for a variety of clients and we’re building some cool apps as well. I have a Bachelor of Science from the University of Calgary and though my academic credentials have nothing to do with my career, those crucial years have helped me find my passion in web design.
A Little HistoryUnlike a lot of people in my industry, I wasn’t always a computer buff. There was always a computer in the house since I was in elementary but I wasn’t curious enough to take it apart and put it back together - a common story I hear from fellow computer geeks. I was in my last year of high school (2002, for the mathematically challenged) when I started asking questions about the Internet and computers in general. I learned a lot about how computers work and I eventually found my place in web design during the middle of my studies.
By the time I realized that this was what I wanted to do, it was a little too late to change my degree in University (I was in my last year). The fact that web development wasn’t (and still isn’t) up-to-date in academia didn’t help. I spent a lot of time teaching myself standard-based HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP and Photoshop. Having built some mock websites and having done some work for family and friends, I decided it was time to step out into the real world (cyber, or otherwise) and try some freelance work. I built a decent portfolio for about a year and eventually found Spheric to do some contract work for. I joined them as a full-time employee in November, 2007.
ColophonThis site is a personal blog where I can discuss and rant about subjects that are meaningful and interesting to me. It’s also a center for my online portfolio. I enjoy building WordPress themes and plugins, exploring new JavaScript frameworks, playing with other CMSs, learning new programming languages and experimenting with various CSS tricks. This site helps me share the experiences, creations and frustrations on any of those activities.
Content Management
I’m currently using WordPress to power this blog and manage the pages within this site. WordPress is a popular, free, open-source blogging platform. I’ve been using it for several years now and though I do appreciate other CMSs, such as ExpressionEngine or Mephisto, WordPress is more than enough for this site. You might also be interested in some of the themes and plugins that I have created for it.
Tools and Credits
This site is using the Scriptaculous JavaScript library that powers most of the effects on the site (try to leave a comment on a post if you don’t know what I’m referring to). I use Cabel’s fantastic FancyZoom to zoom images inline. The following is a list of plugins that I use in WordPress to help power this site:
Browser Support
As an advocate of web standards and the latest CSS attributes, this site gives limited support to Internet Explorer 6. If you are using IE 6, I recommend you choose any of the many, and better, alternatives including Safari, Firefox, Opera or even IE 7. Though I still have quarrels about IE 7, upgrading from IE 6 will be a step in the right direction.
