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== Education ==
== Education ==
Derek holds two bachelor degrees (a B.Sc. in computer science and a B.Sc in Pure Math) from the University of Waterloo, a school well-known for its scientific accomplishments. He is generally considered to be the brightest mind in the Elite; in addition to his stellar academic career, Derek has a history of competing in intellectual competitions. He has represented Canada on numerous occasions for a variety of competitions, including the[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Puzzle_Championship World Puzzle Championships] (every year since 2000) and, as a high school student, at a Math Olympics event in India. Additionally, Derek competes in programming competitions, a style of competition where participants are given a set of descriptions of problems, and they must code robust solutions to as many programs as possible within a time limit. Derek is highly regarded as one of the best coders at [http://www.topcoder.com/ TopCoder], earning multiple big paydays through contest wins. He has also served as a judge at the prestigious [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ACM_International_Collegiate_Programming_Contest ACM-ICPC], and has even written questions that have been used in the finals.
Derek holds two bachelor degrees (a B.Sc. in computer science and a B.Sc in Pure Math) from the University of Waterloo, a school well-known for its scientific accomplishments. He is generally considered to be the brightest mind in the Elite; in addition to his stellar academic career, Derek has a history of competing in intellectual competitions. He has represented Canada on numerous occasions for a variety of competitions, including the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Puzzle_Championship World Puzzle Championships] (every year since 2000) and, as a high school student, at a Math Olympics event in India. Additionally, Derek competes in programming competitions, a style of competition where participants are given a set of descriptions of problems, and they must code robust solutions to as many problems as possible within a time limit. Derek is highly regarded as one of the best coders at [http://www.topcoder.com/ TopCoder], consistently ranking in the highest percentile and earning multiple big paydays through contest wins. He has also served as a judge at the prestigious [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ACM_International_Collegiate_Programming_Contest ACM-ICPC], and has even written questions that have been used in the finals.
== Gaming Accomplishments ==
== Gaming Accomplishments ==
* '''Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask''' - Derek was the first to conceive that the game could be completed in as few as 6 in-game days (referred to as the 6-day challenge; only resetting the game clock on the one mandatory instance). His initial strategy and video paved the way for a community around the 6-day challenge.
* '''Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask''' - Derek was the first to conceive that the game could be completed in as few as 6 in-game days (referred to as the 6-day challenge; only resetting the game clock on the one mandatory instance). His initial strategy and video paved the way for a community around the 6-day challenge.
* '''Donkey Kong Country''' - Perhaps Derek's most famous speedrun is his DKC1 100% run in 50 minutes, breaking the old record by a substantial margin (though new tricks since discovered have helped others to barely beat this time). Derek also has a 101% run of DKC2 in 1:33, a record which stood for several years on SDA.
* '''Donkey Kong Country''' - Perhaps Derek's most famous speedrun is his DKC1 100% run in 50 minutes, breaking the old record by a substantial margin (though new tricks since discovered have helped others to barely beat this time). Derek also has a 101% run of DKC2 in 1:33, a record which stood for several years on SDA.
* '''Prince of Persia''' - Derek completed a very fast speedrun of PoP1 (2:10, single-segment) for SDA; perhaps his most downloaded video. Derek also thoroughly slaughtered the sequel, Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, by beating the previous time on SDA (which was done on easy difficult) by over 20 minutes, all while playing on Hard, single-segment, and acquiring the "good ending", none of which the previous run had done. Derek considers this his best speedrun.
* '''Prince of Persia''' - Derek completed a very fast speedrun of PoP1 (2:10, single-segment) for SDA - perhaps his most downloaded video. Derek also thoroughly slaughtered the sequel, Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, by beating the previous time on SDA (which was done on easy difficult) by over 20 minutes, all while playing on Hard, single-segment, and acquiring the "good ending", none of which the previous run had done. Derek considers this his best speedrun.
* '''Ikaruga''' - Derek played this game competitively and exclusively for several months while training for an Atari-sponsored competition. By the end, he was ranked 4th, and was the 2nd best non-Japanese player to submit a score, completing the (extremely difficult) game without dying and chaining nearly every level in the game with ridiculous high-end strategy.
* '''Ikaruga''' - Derek played this game competitively and exclusively for several months while training for an Atari-sponsored competition. By the end, he was ranked 4th, and was the 2nd best non-Japanese player to submit a score, completing the (extremely difficult) game without dying and chaining nearly every level in the game with ridiculous high-end strategy.
* '''Ninja Gaiden''' - Quite possibly Derek's biggest videogame achievement, he was [http://www.famitsu.com/game/event/2004/09/25/h-264_31448_DSC_1616_furu0001.jpg.jpg flown to Japan] to play in a Tecmo-sponsored Ninja Gaiden tournament at the Tokyo Game Show after winning a tournament which spanned several months of intense competition. He finished in second place (due to some rule confusion), and won a signed ninja sword from Itagaki, the game's creator. For the full entertaining story, visit [http://www.geocities.com/snapdragon64/ his website].
* '''Ninja Gaiden''' - Quite possibly Derek's biggest videogame achievement, he was [http://www.famitsu.com/game/event/2004/09/25/h-264_31448_DSC_1616_furu0001.jpg.jpg flown to Japan] to play in a Tecmo-sponsored Ninja Gaiden tournament at the Tokyo Game Show after winning a tournament which spanned several months of intense competition. He finished in second place (due to some rule confusion), and won a signed ninja sword from Tomonobu Itagaki, the game's creator. For the full entertaining story, visit [http://www.geocities.com/snapdragon64/ his website].
* '''Xbox Live Arcade''' - Since the release of the Xbox 360, Derek has spent most of his gaming time devoted to getting achievements on each game released for Xbox Live Arcade. He enjoys the challenge of mastering a new game (or two) each week, and currently has 200/200 Gamerscore on nearly all of the 200+ XBLA games. He has had the #1 Gamerscore over all XBLA games numerous times, and continues to play each new release each week.
* '''Xbox Live Arcade''' - Since the release of the Xbox 360, Derek has spent most of his gaming time devoted to getting achievements on each game released for Xbox Live Arcade. He enjoys the challenge of mastering a new game (or two) each week, and currently has 200/200 Gamerscore on nearly all of the 200+ XBLA games. He has had the #1 (legitimate) Gamerscore over all XBLA games numerous times, and continues to play each new release each week.
* '''Myst''' - While living in Calgary, Derek and [[Infil]] beat all five games in the canonical Myst series, an adventure series known for its well-designed, difficult puzzles, consecutive and FAQ-less. Derek and Infil are, in particular, quite proud of beating Riven and Myst IV without using a FAQ.
* '''Myst''' - While living in Calgary, Derek and [[Infil]] beat all five games in the canonical Myst series, an adventure series known for its well-designed, difficult puzzles, consecutive and FAQ-less. Derek and Infil are, in particular, quite proud of beating Riven and Myst IV, two exceedingly difficult games, without using a FAQ.
== Miscellaneous ==
== Miscellaneous ==