# Declan Chidlow (@vale.rocks)

Profile: https://sifa.id/p/vale.rocks
Headline: Front-End Developer & Writer | Design & Implementation | HTML, CSS
Website: https://vale.rocks

## About

Front-end developer with a skew towards the front-of-the-front-end, specialising in core web technologies: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Paired with a proven track record of striking graphic design and high-quality technical writing for industry-leading publications.

## Experience

- **Freelance Front-End Developer, Writer, and Designer** (2024 – present)
  Applying technical expertise on contract basis for organisations ranging from small local businesses and indie studios to large global enterprises, such as bunny.net.
- **Doer of Assorted Things at Stoat Chat (Revolt Platforms Ltd)** (2023 – present)
  Assorted work at a user-first chat application, helping it grow and scale from under 100K users to over a million users.
  
  https://vale.rocks/portfolio/stoat
- **Tech Support at CapChord** (2021 – 2024)
  Established an independent tech-support business catering specifically to elderly and technologically inexperienced clientele. Services were offered both physically and remotely, with outreach via print advertising, which was optimal for reaching the target audience.

## Education

- **North Metropolitan TAFE** — Diploma, Information Technology (Front-End Development) (2024 – 2024)
- **Mount Pleasant College** — Certificate IV, Graphic Design (2023 – 2023)
- **International Institute of Business and Technology** — Certificate IV, Information Technology (2022 – 2022)

## Skills

- UX Design
- Progressive Web Apps
- Figma
- Writing
- Graphic Design
- Adobe Photoshop
- Git
- Web Development
- CSS
- Penpot
- Tailwind CSS
- SEO
- UI Design
- Adobe Illustrator
- WordPress
- JavaScript
- HTML
- Technical Documentation
- AT Protocol

## Publications

- Web Browsers on Augmented, Mixed, and Virtual Reality Devices — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/extended-reality-browsers)
- The Oculus Go — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/oculus-go)
- Web Browsers on PDAs — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/pda-browsers)
- Web Browsers on Video Game Consoles — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/game-console-browsers)
- Overview of Digital Accessibility Technologies — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/digital-accessibility-technologies)
- The Internet Is Going To Change Everything — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/internet-dreams)
- There Isn't A Microchip Under Your Skin Tracking You — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/tracking-implants)
- Lessons From Tech Support — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/tech-support)
- The $25 MacBook Pro — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/25-dollar-macbook)
- AI Terminology is Poorly Defined and Oft Misused — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/ai-terminology)
- It's All Just Trees With Web Origami — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/web-origami)
- The Regulated Reality of China's Gaming Industry — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/china-gaming)
- China’s Parallel Web Behind the Wall — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/chinas-web)
- Beyond the Square and Under the Rug — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/1989-peoples-movement)
- Stay Away From Accessibility Overlays — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/accessibility-overlays)
- The Death of Character in Game Console Interfaces — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/game-console-interfaces)
- Design Considerations for Moderation Tooling — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/moderation-tooling-design)
- My Opinionated CSS Reset — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/css-reset)
- Experiencing Zen in the Ratz Instagib Meat Grinder — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/ratz-instagib)
- You Can't Opt-Out of Accessibility — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/accessibility-importance)
- Frequently Asked Unicycling Questions — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/unicycle-faq)
- Strongly Worded Emails — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/strongly-worded-emails)
- On Writing for Publications — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/professional-writing-advice)
- Nootropical Notes — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/nootropics)
- Switching to Colemak-DH — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/typing-systems)
- Identifying AI Content Is A Fool's Errand — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/detecting-ai)
- Tea Reviews — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/tea-reviews)
- Biological Donation — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/biological-donation)
- Winter Rhapsody — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/winter-rhapsody)
- Allegedly I Have The Mark of the Beast — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/beast-implant)
- Wishes Upon My Demise — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/regarding-my-death)
- How I Configure Neovim — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/neovim)
- Advising Reasonable AI Criticism — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/ai-criticism)
- Creativity Came to Pass — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/creativity-came-to-pass)
- How I'm Using AI — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/ai-usage)
- My Writing Style and Mannerisms — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/writing-style-and-mannerisms)
- Why Video Isn't My Publishing Preference — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/why-not-video)
- Why I Write — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/why-write)
- The Analytics of This Site — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/traffic-analysis)
- Airports and Aeroplanes — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/airports-and-aeroplanes)
- Open-Source is Just That — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/open-source-entitlement)
- An Analysis of That's How I Beat Shaq — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/thats-how-i-beat-shaq)
- Build, Use, and Improve Tools — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/build-use-and-improve-tools)
- AI Model History is Being Lost — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/ai-model-history-is-being-lost)
- Respecting User Preference — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/respecting-user-preference)
- Strong Opinions on URL Design — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/strong-opinions-on-url-design)
- AI is Stifling Tech Adoption — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/ai-is-stifling-tech-adoption)
- Improving Early Kindles — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/improving-early-kindles)
- An Inventory of Lexical Loves — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/an-inventory-of-lexical-loves)
- The Flow State — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/the-flow-state)
- My Experience Biohacking — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/my-experience-biohacking)
- The Implementation of This Site — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/the-implementation-of-this-site)
- Media Review Reasoning — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/media-review-reasoning)
- Lorem Ipsum — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/lorem-ipsum)
- Building Sites With iFrames — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/building-sites-with-iframes)
- Technology I Use — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/uses)
- I Got A Flipper Zero — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/i-got-a-flipper-zero)
- JPEG XL and Google's War Against It — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/jpeg-xl-and-googles-war-against-it)
- My Code Formatting Guidelines — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/my-code-formatting-guidelines)
- Minecraft, Nostalgia, and Growing Up — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/minecraft-nostalgia-and-growing-up)
- Cybersecurity Superstition — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/cybersecurity-superstition)
- I Hate My Nokia — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/i-hate-my-nokia)
- Everything is Chrome — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/everything-is-chrome)
- A Year With The Framework Laptop 13 — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/a-year-with-the-framework-laptop-13)
- Prematurely Pulling The Plug On 3G — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/prematurely-pulling-the-plug-on-3g)
- "Halo: My Thoughts" — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/halo-my-thoughts)
- The Ultimate LibreOffice Setup — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/the-ultimate-libreoffice-setup)
- Connecting to Australian Public School Internet — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/connecting-to-australian-public-school-internet)
- The Design of This Site — vale.rocks (https://vale.rocks/posts/the-design-of-this-site)

## Languages

- English (native)

## Other profiles

- website: https://vale.rocks
- linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/declan-chidlow
- fediverse: https://fedi.vale.rocks/vale
- github: https://github.com/DeclanChidlow/
- youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@outervale
- tangled: https://tangled.org/did:plc:7qg6mz2xtzozxkgbcvf4pdnu
- hackernews: https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=OuterVale