Samples of My Work

Anything originally written for this website, or for which I retain exclusive rights after first publication elswhere, is © Derek K. Miller, but is also free to redistribute non-commercially, as long as you give me credit. See the license for details. Anything written for clients usually remains their property.

Several of the following files are Adobe Acrobat (PDF) documents. For those files, if you do not have the Acrobat reader and browser plug-in installed, you can download the package from Adobe Systems now. Movies require QuickTime, and audio will also work with it.

Right-click (Windows) or click and hold (Macintosh), then choose "Save As..." or "Download..." to save those files to your local disk. Click normally to view directly from the Web server if you have the Acrobat or QuickTime plug-in installed.

Ongoing updates

I'm always writing new stuff on my home page, so that's a good place to start. I created this entire site from scratch, marking up the code by hand with a text editor, and creating all the logos and photos.
Also check out my contributions to the TidBITS-Talk technology industry mailing list, and to the Risks Digest mailing list as well.
I occasionally write reviews at Amazon. They appear on my Canadian and U.S. review pages.
I designed and maintain the websites for my band, The Neurotics, and for the Adam Woodall Band. I'm regularly involved in updating the site for Navarik Corp., and provide web consultation for Razor Enterprise and other organizations.

Past projects

The most recent items appear first. This is far from a complete list, since much of my contract work is not for public release. I also haven't updated this page since the beginning of 2004—I'll get to it eventually.

2003:

(WINTER 2003) - I've added a number of articles to my essays page, as well as to the Editors' Association page.
(FALL 2003) - I provided search engine promotion for Jolly Goods Candy, which is now the #3 result when you search for British Candy in Vancouver (and that's what they sell).
(SUMMER 2003) - TidBITS, a respected tech newsletter, published my analysis of an attempted PayPal e-mail scam.
(SUMMER 2003) - I put together the website for the Editors' Association of Canada's 2003 Conference in Ottawa—in English and French.
(SUMMER 2003) - LINK magazine published my article "The Walled Garden" (Acrobat PDF file only) in its Summer 2003 issue. I've republished it and my earlier pieces from LINK in HTML as well.
(SUMMER 2003) - After posting a number of original articles on this site and republishing some others, I've set up a separate index of longer articles, which I'll continue to update over time.
(SPRING 2003) - I've posted a very detailed tutorial on wireless networking with old Apple PowerBooks, which I researched while getting my own PowerBook 1400 online using Wi-Fi/AirPort/802.11b networking. The article also features my first donation link—an experiment to see if anyone wants to leave me a tip for the work I post here. (No obligation, of course.)
(SPRING 2003) - After giving a presentation at the Editors' Association of Canada B.C. branch meeting in January (an audio transcript is available), the Association (to which I belong) asked me to design and mark up the website for its 2003 Conference—in English and French. Alas, I'll be unable to be there in June when it happens.
(SPRING 2003) - I'm helping my friends at Navarik as they rework their website to have more frequently updated news and information.

2002:

(WINTER 2002) - EventLogik, an American firm with Web development, event management, and staffing services divisions, has had me write much of the material for its newly launched website.
(WINTER 2002) - Sierra Wireless, Inc. has contracted me as a writer and editor on the team preparing documentation for the AirCard 750 wireless network card (for laptops and PDAs) and the forthcoming MP750 rugged wireless modem (for police and utility vehicles).
(FALL 2002) - TidBITS published my chronicle of an editing project in its November 2002 issue. It has since been republished elsewhere too.
(SUMMER 2002) - I posted three galleries of fireworks photos, from the Vancouver 2002 Celebration of Light fireworks competition in August, to my photo essays section. They join a number of other photos I have on the Web.
(SUMMER 2002) - LINK magazine published my article "The Ultrawide, Roll-Up, Mind Control Future of PCs" (Acrobat PDF file only) in its Summer 2002 edition. I'll have another article in LINK next year.
(SUMMER 2002) - Returning from Toronto in June, I took some aerial photos of Vancouver, which I posted as my latest photo essay. I've also added links to other photos I have on the Web.
(SUMMER 2002) - For the second year in a row, I created the daily newsletters for the Canadian Paediatric Society's Annual Meeting, this time in Toronto.
(SPRING 2002) - Another photo essay, collecting some of the prettier pictures my family and I have taken over the past few years. (You can also see my daughter drumming, plus other stuff.)
(SPRING 2002) - TidBITS published my article about editing digital video in March 2002.
(SPRING 2002) - I digitized, edited, and posted a promotional video for my band, The Neurotics.
(SPRING 2002) - I wrote the text and took the photos for the original versions of Sierra Wireless's AirCard 710 and 750 Installation Guides during my summer 2001 contract there. I also prepared a simplified manual for the AirCard 300, to be translated for the sale of that wireless modem in China.

2001:

(WINTER 2001) - LINK magazine featured two of my pieces (about e-mail and wireless computing—both PDF files) in its Winter 2002 edition.
(FALL 2001) - I put together a page of video clips for the Shagadelics, an Austin Powers party band. I didn't shoot the video, but I cut the clips, prepared them for the Web, and built the page.
(FALL 2001) - TidBITS also published my piece about word processors for Palm organizers in November 2001. It was later reprinted in the January 2002 newsletter of the North Coast Macintosh Users Group in California.
(FALL 2001) - Take a look at a video of my October 2001 TV appearance.
(SUMMER 2001) - Photo essays on bicycle commuting in Vancouver:
- Burnaby to Richmond (August 2001)
- Burnaby to Downtown Vancouver (August 2001)
(SUMMER 2001) - I was the writer, editor, designer, and general hack for the daily newsletters of the Canadian Paediatric Society at its 78th Annual Meeting, Vancouver, B.C. (I did all writing, photography, design, and layout onsite, one newsletter per day).
(SPRING 2001) - I compiled and edited the CDPD Primer (517K PDF), an introduction to and overview of the cellular digital packet data (CDPD) wide-area wireless networking standard. The document is now available online from Sierra Wireless, Inc., a Vancouver-based wireless modem manufacturer. Although somewhat technical, it is intended for general readers.

2000 and earlier:

(FALL 2000) - Before being jettisoned in massive layoffs in January 2001 at Multiactive Software Inc., I wrote almost all of the content for Multiactive's complete website overhaul in October 2000 (here's what it looked like then—beware, load times may be slow).

I was also the writer and editor for the monthly newsletter from 1997 through 2000, with a brief break in 1998-99 when I managed the website instead (and it looked like this).
(SUMMER 2000) - Some of my photos are available as free desktop pictures from MacDesktops.com.
(SPRING 2000) - In 1999 and 2000, I was a columnist for MyMac.com, an online Macintosh-focused magazine. Here are my old articles. (On this site, I did only the text, not the HTML formatting.)
(FALL 1999) - The Rubber Pallet Revolution - Summary of company business plan for Envirokare Inc. - 128 K PDF
(SUMMER 1998) - Doing Business Online with Maximizer was an e-commerce guide for general readers from Multiactive Software Inc. - 1.4 MB PDF
(SUMMER 1998) - I wrote the Maximizer 5.0 Tutorial, part of the Maximizer User's Guide, also from Multiactive - 496 K PDF
(FALL 1997) - "Relief Map" was an article about the best public restrooms in downtown Vancouver, appearing in Vancouver magazine's annual "Secrets of the City" issue.
(SUMMER 1993) - Way back in the early '90s, I wrote an introduction to the Internet before most people had heard of it.

E-mail me if you'd like more information, or call +1 (604) 836-0752.

Top of Page

Page BBEdited on 27-Oct-05

You may use content from this site non-commercially if you give me credit, under the terms of my Creative Commons license.