Polymath
Portland, Oregon Area
- Current
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- Writer at Self-Employed
- Captain at Team Snout
- Past
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- Web Applications Engineer at Google, Inc.
- Webmaster at Palmsource
- Webmaster at AT&T Labs
- Software Engineer at Internet Media Services
- Education
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- Stanford University
- West High School
- Recommended
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6 people have recommended Curtis - Connections
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124
connections
- Industry
- Entertainment
- Websites
Curtis Chen’s Summary
I am not an aardvark.
Curtis Chen’s Specialties:
Poor code commenting makes the baby Jesus cry.
Shell scripts are very finicky about single quotes, double quotes, and back quotes. Silly shell scripts.
Does this well-formed XML make me look fat?
Everyone writes bad poetry in high school. You either get better, or you stop. I like to think I've gotten better.
I'm good at a lot of things. I don't get paid for most of them.
Curtis Chen’s Experience
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Writer
Self-Employed
(Entertainment industry)
November 2005 — Present (3 years 9 months)
Graduate of Viable Paradise XII. Attended Sitcom Room 3.
Current projects:
- 512 Words or Fewer (new flash fiction every Friday)
- FREEFALL (hard science fiction serial)
- novel rewrites
- original screenplays
- personal blogging
Complete bibliography: http://snout.org/stories -
Captain
Team Snout
(Think Tanks industry)
May 1996 — Present (13 years 3 months)
We are a loose, unincorporated association of like-minded individuals who gather for the purposes of both participating in and organizing puzzle hunts. We don't do this for fame or fortune. We do it for the love of The Game.
Since 2007, we've also helped put on the annual Game Control Summit in the San Francisco Bay Area.
More info: http://www.snout.org/game -
Web Applications Engineer
Google, Inc.
(Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; GOOG; Internet industry)
October 2003 — January 2008 (4 years 4 months)
As part of the OSO Engineering team, I helped develop internal web applications for various Online Sales and Operations groups. My primary focus was infrastructure: building and maintaining back-end systems to support our users' ever-growing needs.
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Webmaster
Palmsource
(Public Company; PSRC; Computer Software industry)
July 2002 — October 2003 (1 year 4 months)
A roller coaster ride of highs and lows. I started working here with the worst boss I've ever had, and ended up with one of the best bosses I've had, only to leave to pursue a better career opportunity.
It was a tough choice, because I'd been a loyal Palm device user ever since buying my first "pilot 5000" way back in 1996, and also because I was--at the end--working with a great group of people on projects that mattered. But the bottom line was, I didn't belong there. I hated to leave, but it would have been worse if I'd stayed. -
Webmaster
AT&T Labs
(Public Company; T; Telecommunications industry)
September 1997 — February 2002 (4 years 6 months)
Clever fellow that I am, after my start-up experience, I opted for the stability of a large company. It was very instructive to watch how the scientists in the R&D arm worked with the salesfolk and businessmen (hint: not always well). I saw a lot of innovative projects that never got off the ground--they weren't necessarily ahead of their time, but at a company so old that its ticker symbol is a single letter, the future is not as close as it appears.
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Software Engineer
Internet Media Services
(Internet industry)
June 1995 — August 1997 (2 years 3 months)
This was my first job after graduating from Stanford, and it was a crash course in real-life software engineering, sysadmin, and client relations.
Notable firsts I experienced while at IMS:
- patching Solaris (repeatedly)
- killing SMTP (only once)
- billing clients by the hour
- managing an intern
- asking for a raise (nicely)
- being on the wrong end of a lawsuit
- dining in the Pope Room at downtown Palo Alto's Buca di Beppo
The company name and assets were later bought by a new owner, but he still uses the same domain and lists many of our original clients on his site: http://www.imservice.com/clients.htm
Curtis Chen’s Education
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Stanford University
BS , Computer Science , 1991 — 1995
Developed first version of DCC web site. Performed in dorm theater productions of "The Wizard of Oz" (Kimball, 1994) and "Painted Faces" (Okada, 1995); also wrote and directed one segment of "Painted Faces."
- Activities and Societies:
- Sweet Hall Distributed Computing Consulting (DCC), air.unix Survival Movement (ASM), dorm movie nights
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West High School
1987 — 1991
Valedictory honors; co-founded Science Fiction Club in freshman year and remained President though senior year; edited SFC newsletter "Beyond The Edge;" produced competition videos for CJCL Latin Convention in junior and senior years, winning second and first prizes, respectively; performed in school productions of "Fiddler on the Roof" and "Guys and Dolls."
- Activities and Societies:
- National Honor Society (NHS); Latin Club; Science Fiction Club; marching, concert, and jazz bands; Aristocracy choir; drama productions
Additional Information
Curtis Chen’s Websites:
Curtis Chen’s Interests:
*
Curtis Chen’s Groups:
Stanford Alumni Association, Stanford Alumni in Entertainment, The Richter Scales (alumnus), Silicon Gulch Browncoats (former), Viable Paradise XII, Sitcom Room 3, PDX Browncoats
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Stanford CS Alumni -
Googlers & Xooglers -
Xoogler -
Stanford University Alumni -
PDX Technology Professionals - Portland Oregon
Curtis Chen’s Honors:
NaNoWriMo 2005 Winner
NaNoWriMo 2006 Winner
NaNoWriMo 2007 Winner
Script Frenzy 2007 Winner
NaNoWriMo 2008 Winner
Script Frenzy 2009 Winner
Curtis Chen’s Contact Settings
Interested In:
- consulting offers
- new ventures
- expertise requests
- reference requests
- getting back in touch
