Chris Ward

I am Chris Ward (aka Chris Chinchilla). I am a technical writer, blogger, artist, video/audio maker and presenter who loves to explain cool tech to the World.

After 15 years as a developer I realized that my skills lie in helping others understand technical subjects. I achieve this through technical writing, blogging, networking and educating people through presentations and workshops.

I have crazy projects in progress and will speak to anyone who listens.

Below you can find my latest writing and appearances or contact me through a multitude of networks.

Why do you call yourself Chris Chinchilla? Yes it does sound silly doesn't it! It's a nickname I've had since 1997 after a passing comment at school, I've carried it through all my fanzine and music years and like it. For those who are interested, a Chinchilla is a small (and cute) South American rodent, a Small Town in Queensland, Australia and is a real name in South America.

My Latest Posts

Read all my posts.

  • IndiaStack - Disrupting the Second Most Populous Nation in the World
    On 11 Aug 2017, Chris wrote

    IndiaStack - Disrupting the Second Most Populous Nation in the World

    for dzone

    In the western world, we often forget that we are fast becoming a smaller part of Internet users than we might like to think. Despite lower internet penetration, India and China already have more actual internet users and this number is growing at an outstanding rate. I discovered IndiaStack at a meetup earlier in the year, and whilst you may not have plans for creating applications that target the Indian market, the example of such a large government creating such a platform is an interesting one to learn more about.

    Looking for more?

    India Developing World Government Government as a Service
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  • Scrimba - A New Way to Teach and Learn Code
    On 10 Aug 2017, Chris wrote

    Scrimba - A New Way to Teach and Learn Code

    for dzone

    Any of you follow my writing will know that one of my passions is explaining technical concepts and projects clearly and concisely. One of the common locations for starting these explanations is documentation, and as a majority of documentation is delivered as HTML, I am constantly encouraging developers and writers to embrace all that the format gives you. Scrimba is one of a handful of options I have seen over the past 18 months that integrates code explanations and examples into one cohesive package. It’s aimed more at screencast creators than documentation writers, but in my mind, anything that helps explain concepts to users is documentation.

    Looking for more?

    coding education learn to code
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  • On 28 Jul 2017, Chris wrote

    Heroku Logging and Coralogix

    for coralogix

    Coralogix released a new addon for Heroku. In this post we cover best Logging practices, how different cloud providers enable them, what makes Heroku logging special, and how Coralogix utilizes Heroku’s approach to provide it’s 3rd generation logging experience.

    Looking for more?

    logging heroku errors
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  • Podcasting 101 - What you need to get started on Mac
    On 26 Jul 2017, Chris wrote

    Podcasting 101 - What you need to get started on Mac

    for cultofmac

    Podcasting is undergoing a renaissance with listeners consuming on-demand shows at unprecedented levels, and creators enjoying surprising levels of success with their work. One thing that sets apart the amateurs from the professionals is good content, but the other is production values. Here are some of the things I’ve learned, along with recommendations on the hardware, software and techniques to get you started podcasting using your Mac.

    Looking for more?

    mac audio podcasting
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  • What affect is tech having on society? An interview with Yael Eisenstat
    On 21 Jul 2017, Chris wrote

    What affect is tech having on society? An interview with Yael Eisenstat

    for thenextweb

    Yael Eisenstat has an interesting past. She ‘came out’ as a long term CIA employee in January 2017 after Donald Trump delivered a poorly received speech in front of the C.I.A. Memorial Wall. She didn’t intend to be sensationalist or release state secrets like some previous ex-secret service employees who revealed their identity, rather she had had enough of Trumps stream of insults to her country and hoped that her actions could make a difference. She has advised vice-presidents and major corporate companies and now works at New York University as an adjunct professor. Whilst at the eccentric and eclectic Tech Open Air in Berlin, I spoke with Yael to discuss technology, its impact on society, and we, or tech companies can and should do about it.

    Looking for more?

    security politics news technology society
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