Code Retreat UK, the first Code Retreat to be held in the UK, is happening in Glasgow, on the 21st November.
A Code Retreat is a full day session where developers work together to hone their craft by working in pairs to solve a problem. The pairs change every 40 minutes so that everyone gets to experience many different perspectives and ideas over the course of the day. We’ll be working in Ruby for this first Code Retreat, but Ruby experience is not required – we can pair Ruby newcomers with more experienced Ruby developers.
The event will be held at Caledonian University, lunch is provided and we’ve booked an evening space in a nearby tavern of hearty repute.
The event is free, but we are strictly limited to twenty places: if you want a place you’ll have to be quick.
You can book tickets here: http://coderetreatscotland.eventbrite.com/?ref=ecount
All posts by Craig Murphy
Job: .NET, Glasgow – Chunk are looking to hire a lead developer
If you are interested in this role, please send Chunk and e-mail – their address can be found at their web-site (noted in the Further Information section below).
As lead developer you’ll be responsible for architecting, specifying, documenting and implementing innovative, world-class digital projects within the .NET framework.
We’re looking for a minimum of 4 years experience of the complete cycle of .NET C# applications. You’ll also be experienced in leading and mentoring your team members, preferably in a digital agency where design and interactivity plays a big part. As part of an innovative company you should be eager to learn the latest technologies, inside and outside of the .NET framework and constantly develop skills which can be shared with other members of your team.
Main Responsibilities
- Lead specification, development and execution of new web applications
- Write and oversee a variety of applications and deploy them on various digital platforms
- Ensure conformance to architectural guidelines and development standards
- Create documentation necessary to brief the team and specify and substantiate the development
- Maintain legacy web applications
- Develop Content Management Systems
- Help maintain and administrate server environments
- Ensure strong attention to usability and design detail
Skills
- Superb understanding of the ASP.NET C# Framework
- Excellent grasp of OOP
- SQL Server 2000/2005, T-SQL
- Database architecture and design
- Web Services
- XML/XSLT
- Good understanding of XHTML/DHTML/CSS, web standards, cross-browser/platform delivery, JavaScript and AJAX
Other Stuff
- Understand additional disciplines such as Actionscript, mobile deployment, third party API’s, etc.
- Help develop reusable components to build a library of back-end tools
Further Information
www.chunk.co.ukFollow Chunk on Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/chunktwits
[OT] Tesco’s overuse of “Price Cut” signs!
Spotted in Tesco, Dunfermline, last month:
To think, they paid staff to put those signs up…in every single aisle. How long would that take?
Tesco: 4,984 more “Price Cuts” signs than Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons…put together.
DDD7…the videos! #DDD #DDD7
At last year’s DDD7 event, we were lucky enough to have a very professional bunch of guys record the sessions for us.
Finding somewhere to host the videos has been a worry for me / us. Then, the very generous Ben Nunney offered us space and a huge amount of bandwidth, which should solve our problem. The videos are about 300MB each. Huge thanks to Ben for sorting that out for us!
Wire in…go nuts:
A Developers Guide to Network Admin – Part 1_low.wmv
and A Developers Guide to Network Admin – Part 2_low.wmv – Dave McMahon
ASP.NET 4.0 – TOP SECRET_low.wmv – Dave Sussman & Phil Winstanley
ASP.NET MVC – Show Me the Code_low.wmv – Steven Sanderson
Concurrent Software in .NET_low.wmv – Nick Butler
How to Develop .NET on Linux using Ubuntu Distro_low.wmv – Toby Henderson
Implementing LINQ to Objects in 60 Minutes_low.wmv – Jon Skeet
Make the Most of Your Cores – Parallel Extensions for .NET_low.wmv – Ben Lamb
Microsoft Pex – The Future of Unit Testing_low.wmv – Ben Hall
Oslo, Microsofts Vision for the Future of Modelling_low.wmv – Robert Hogg
TDD and Hard-To-Test Code_low.wmv – Ian Cooper
The Bleeding Edge of Web_low.wmv –Helen Emerson
This One Goes Up to 11, or How to Write Scalable ASP.NET_low.wmv – Phil Pursglove
Top 10 WCF Tips_low.wmv – Barry Dorrans
Trust me, I Know What You Want!_low.wmv – Beverley Hatchard
Using an Inversion of Control Container in a Real Word Application_low.wmv – Mike Hadlow
Virtualisation for Developers – What, Why, Where_low.wmv – Liam Westley
Welcome to the Cloud – Chris Hay
WPF Tips ‘n’ Tricks_low.wmv – Sebastien Lambla
Video: Lean, Kanban and Theory of Constraints for Managers (@roblally at @epicenter2009)
Last month Rob Lally gave an excellent presentation at epicenter 2009 in Dublin. Rob on Twitter.
We managed to record the session, which includes an excellent practical demonstration that is well worth watching. Rob’s an excellent speaker, he fills 60 minutes with great content and humour.
The application of Lean principles, Kanban and pull-systems theory along with Goldratt’s Theory of Constraints revolutionised the manufacturing world in the second half of the twentieth century. Belatedly, the software world is waking up to the transformative effects these tools can have. There are still no silver bullets in the software world, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t improve our aim.
Having applied these principles and practices to many real-world, commercially-motivated projects, Rob speaks from the perspective of a practitioner not a theorist.
Although each of the three topics is a whole field of study unto itself, Rob’s goal is to communicate some of the key lessons from each, and have attendees leave with concrete ideas that they can use to improve their organisation.
No M&Ms were hurt in the making of this video, however some were eaten. Of course, if other confectioners wish to offer their “colour-coded” products for future demonstrations, please leave a comment here: but be warned, we will only deal in large quantities 🙂
Rob Lally @ epicenter 2009, Dublin from Craig Murphy on Vimeo.
.Net Developer, Competitive Salary, NetIDme Ltd, East Kilbride, Scotland #jobs
C#, ASP.NET MVC, AGILE, TDD : East Kilbride, Scotland, UK
We are looking for a lead C# .Net developer that wants to start working for a cutting edge, dynamic, fast moving company and join our team that develops exciting products in the area of online age and identity verification.
You must be able to demonstrate the following skills and experience:
- At least 3+ years development experience as a team lead
- C# and ASP.NET
- A strong grasp of object-oriented design
- A strong desire to produce quality code across all layers of an application stack
We work in a lot of exciting areas, so having demonstrable experience in any of the following areas will prove advantageous:
- OpenID Information Cards
- OAuth
- OpenSocial
- ASP.NET MVC
- TDD
- nHibernate
- Castle Project
- Objective-C
- Facebook API
NetIDme provides a suite of online age and identity verification solutions for businesses operating in Remote Gambling, iGaming, eRetail and Online Community markets seeking to establish robust automatic online age and identity verification processes to adhere to current and pending UK, European and USA legislation.
Interested?
Send your CV and cover letter to: recruitment@netidme.com
Please Note: All prospective employees must undergo a Disclosure Scotland check
NO 3RD PARTY REFERRALS PLEASE
4 * job openings in Edinburgh C# Dev, UX, SQL Server, SysAdmin
Money Dashboard are looking to fill four positions: C# Developer, UX Designer, SQL Svr DBA,
and SysAdmin.
I have the job specification for the C# Developer role, you can read it below. If you are interested in the other roles, please contact Money Dashboard direct – there’s an e-mail address at the end of the post, or there’s a jobs link on their web-site. Similarly, if you need to know more about the salary and benefits, please contact Money Dashboard directly.
C# .NET Senior Developer
We are looking for a pro-active experienced senior C# .NET developer, programmer, engineer and guru to help take our B2C application to masses and beyond. Our application uses the latest in development methodologies, technologies and infrastructure and is leading the way in Silverlight-based Rich Internet Applications. You will work with the rest of the team on rapidly developing our front end application as well as its complex framework, middleware and supporting systems while utilising input from product management and design. This is a lead role involving extensive collaboration with the rest of the business and with an opportunity to contribute to all stages in the development process.
This is a focused development role with an opportunity to get involved in all a broad range of technologies including the core Silverlight GUI as well as mobile, desktop and offline components.
You will be involved in…
- Lead developer for GUI, application, business and data systems.
- XAML and Silverlight 3+ integration with .Net and SDS for RIA solutions.
- C# and .Net 3.5+ using the latest WPF and WCF technology to build business and data solutions.
- Develops stored procedures, SQL and SSIS/SSRS as needed.
- Works closely with business and technical teams to understand, document, design and code processes.
- Works closely with technical and business teams to understand, document and design and code integration.
- Will lead the translation of concepts, requirements and source mapping documents into solutions.
- Design, develop, test, optimize and deploy .Net applications and SQL data components and related functions.
- Develop online, mobile, desktop and offline applications, controls and gadgets in support of the core application.
You should have…
- Candidate must have a deep understanding of application design, development, layout and presentation.
- 5+ years experience of .Net development, .NET web services and .Net principles and architectures including the concepts, designs and usage of software components, deployments and packages.
- Experience developing C# applications
- Extensive experience and sound understanding of in ASP.NET, XML (with some XAML experience highly desirable), Linq, Windows Forms, WCF, Silverlight and Windows Services and SQL/Stored procedures
- General experience with Javascript, CSS, xHTML and DOM.
- Must be able to Analyze requirements, design and specification documents, and provide instructions to other team members.
- Responsible for version and release management in development, testing, staging and production environments.
- Manage change control and configuration management for deliverables.
- Must demonstrate strong verbal and written communication skills and be able to interface with all levels of business and IT.
- Work well in a team-oriented environment managing multiple priorities, following a project plan and meeting project delivery dates.
- Highly organized individual with excellent decision making, analytical, problem solving and presentation skills.
- Excellent communication skills. Must be able to talk and understand clear English.
- BS degree in Computer Science or equivalent professional experience
Money Dashboard is an easy to use, secure and free online personal finance service that helps people manage their money more effectively.
We will soon be launching our service to the general public and are looking for a few key individuals to join our ambitious team who believes in excellence and hard work. What we offer is involvement in a cutting edge proposition, a great working environment, challenges and just rewards. If you think you’re up for the challenge why don’t you email us at jobs@moneydashboard.com
Epic @epicenter2009 offer! Buy one day, get two days free!
I’ve beaten the epicenter 2009 organisers up a bit and now have a special offer for five lucky people!
“Buy one day at €99 and get the other two days free”
To take advantage of this offer, buy one day via http://epicenter.ie/tickets.html then do one of the following, in order of preference:
- Using Twitter, tweet “@epicenter2009 #1558 two-days free please!”
- Send me an e-mail to the address on the right hand side of this page
Huge thanks to the epicenter 2009 organisers for this offer!
epicenter 2009: 26.08 – 28.08: Dublin: Microsoft, Open Source, Web and Java sessions!
What: epicenter 2009: http://epicenter.ie
epicenter is three days of software excellence – it’s a conference, it’s an expo, it’s a place to hang out! It’s for software architects, CTO’s and developers of all knowledge and experience levels.
When: Wednesday 26th through to Friday 28th August 2009
Those of you travelling from the UK, remember the 31st of August is a Bank Holiday: what better than a technical conference followed by a couple of days in Dublin over a long weekend? Ah go on!
Where: Trinity College, Dublin
Cost: €197 for all three days (Special early booking discount ends 6:00pm Friday 21st August. Online prices after this date: 1-Day €124.00 / 2-Day €183 / 3-Day €220.00)
The early bird discount does make it a very reasonably priced three-day event. If you attend for all three days, you can choose a free O’Reilly book!
What to expect:
The event has four streams covering Java, Web, Open Source and Microsoft. Each stream has two tracks (except Open Source): expect to choose from four sessions per track (i.e. eight per stream!)
Keynotes
Wednesday – Jennifer Condon / Enterprise Irelands 4yr strategy for software companies
Thursday – Prof. Barry Smyth / Co-Founder of ChangingWorlds
The Secrets of an Irish Software Entrepreneur
Friday – Colm Mulcahy / Cloud Evangelist, Founder & CEO of Saaspoint
Why Cloud will shape the Irish Software Industry
Microsoft
Marco Amoedo (MVP) / MS Dynamics CRM
Jon Skeet (MVP) / Google UK / C# / Code Contracts & Parallel Extensions
Robert Hogg (MVP) / Black Marble / OSLO / PM War Stories
Barry Carr / Independent / F# – What is Functional Testing?
Barry Dorrans (MVP) / Independent / Securing .NET Apps
Bob Duffy (MVP) / ProData / Microsoft BI / SQL Server Virtualisation
Keith Eccles / Oracle / Oracle & .NET Operability
Richard Fennell (MVP) / Black Marble / ALM with VSTS2008 / Visual Studio & TFS 2010 for the QA/Tester
Niall Flanagan (MVP) / Independent / SQL Server
Aidan Gallagher / Inish Technologies / Software Licensing for .NET Apps
Alex Mackey / Independent / Visual Studio 2010
Craig Murphy (MVP) / Independent / Introducing OpenXML
Phil Bourke (MVP) / Tipperary Institute / A Classic Games Portfolio
Iain Angus / Black Marble / Azure
Open Source
Francesco Cesarini / Erlang Consulting / Erlang
Jan Lehnardt / Independent / Couch DB
John Smedley / Ingres / Ingres CAFE / Ingres within Open Source Community
Helgi Thormar Thorbjoernsson / Websites Releases with PEAR / Migrating databases, just because MySQL sucks
Mel McIntyre / OpenApp / The Health Service Atlas – Python & Zope
Jeff Genender / How to & Being a Good Open Source Committer
Andrea Magnorsky / Monorail MVC
Java
Jeff Genender / Independent / The Rules of SOA
Eugene Ciurana / Independent / Google App Engine – A Java HOWTO
Doug Clarke / Oracle / Developing with JPA and JAXB / JPA 2.0 What’s New
Simon Cook / SUN Microsystems / GlassFish / Java & Java FX
Werner Keil / Independent / STEM (Spatio-Temporal Epidemiological Modeler) / JSR-275 Measures and Units
Owen Hughes / Oracle / Oracle Database Evolution
Barry Carr / Independent / Scala – What is Functional Programming
Kevin Noonan / Canibalizing the Google App Engine
Rob Lally / A Scala Web Framework / Intro to Lean, Kanban & Theory of Constraints for Software Managers
Ian Sutton / Visualizing and Measuring Emergent Design
Tim Hodkinson / Liberty IT / Agile Development with Scrum
Anthony Swart / SUN Microsystems / Sun’s Identity Management Products
John Meere / Sun Microsystems / Thin Client Computing Live Demo
Tony Jewtushenko / Product Innovator / Software Globalisation for Java Developers
Web
Marc Grabanski / MGL Consulting / JQuery Fundamentals / JQuery Advanced
Eugene Ciurana / Independent / Mission Critical Enterprise Cloud Applications
Barry Smyth / ChangingWorlds / Web Search 3.0
Paul Lynch / Hosting 365 / Cloud Computing: The Future Hosting ?
Robin Christopherson / AbilityNet / Don’t Make Your Web App a Web Wannabe
Helgi Thormar Thorbjoernsson / Echolibre / Coping with Cyber Monday
Dermot Daly / Tapadoo / Objective C for the iPhone
Damian OSuilleabhain / OS3 / Building iPhone Apps in an Hour
Romans Malinovski / &3% Less Fugly – the Making of epicenter.ie
David Rook / Realex Payments / Web Security #1 / #2
John Wood / iQ Content / Adapting the Agile Agenda to Interaction Design
Eoin Keary / OWASP / Application Security Verification Standard
Andy Gibson / Independent / Web Application Testing With Selenium
Peter Kovak / ESET / Malware, Cyber Law & Security Solutions in Practice
Urban Schrott / ESET / Cybercrime
Kevin O’Connor / Hosting 365 / A Market Overview.
Jonathan Forde / Realex Payments / Integrating into Realex Payments
Keep up to date:
Follow epicenter2009 on Twitter: http://twitter.com/epicenter2009 or on Facebook: http://facebook.com/irishdev
epicenter 2009 is kindly sponsored by….
UK – eBuyer have Windows 7 on their Deal Of The Day – sensible prices
Following on from my posts earlier this week, I’m pleased to report that eBuyer now have decent stock levels of Windows 7 for pre-order. And better still, they have them at decent prices too.
Windows 7 Home Premium is priced at £50, Windows 7 Professional is £89.99.
eBuyer also have some good information that might help you decide which version of Windows 7 is best for you. Click here if you are interested in reading it!
Windows 7 is also on eBuyer “deal of the day” and it’s coupled with a chance to win an iPhone 3G S: you do need to have a Twitter account to enter and you will have to augment your tweet in accordance with their rules in order to be eligible. More information can be found here and here.
Prices and stock levels were correct at the time of writing this post.
UK: Windows 7 – pre-order at sensible prices (< £50 or < £90)
It seems that some vendors have hiked up the pre-order price of Windows 7. I’ve seen Windows 7 Home Premium selling for nearly £75 and Windows 7 Professional for nearly £150.
At the time of writing Dixons had Windows 7 at sensible prices. Windows 7 Home Premium and Windows 7 Professional.
Sadly eBuyer have sold out of their stock of Windows 7, however they do have some good information about migrating to Windows 7, well worth a look-see. [eBuyer update 18.07.2009 – Windows 7 Home Premium is priced at £50, Windows 7 Professional is £89.99.]
If you have pre-ordered Windows 7 at the higher prices, I would suggest ordering via other stores then cancelling your original order. Wait until you are confident that your new vendor can deliver before cancelling your original order.
Other vendors are available, your mileage may vary, etc.
UK – Windows 7 – Pre-order starts at midnight 15/07/2009
Unless you’ve been living in a remote cave or under a poorly connected rock, you may well have heard a lot of pre-release marketing for Windows 7.
From midnight on the 15th of July 2009 until the 9th of August 2009, UK users can pre-order copies of Windows 7 at discounted prices. Granted the UK prices aren’t has attractive as the $-rate discounted prices were, however they do represent significant savings over what will become the Recommended Retail Price (RRP).
There are two editions available for pre-order at the discounted prices:
At the time of writing, Windows 7 Home Premium was £44.97 via this Amazon link – it may be pulled, it may not work, try it and see! Oh, and Windows 7 Professional was !
Now, it’s possible that you are wondering what the ‘E’ is for. Well, Windows 7 in Europe is going to ship without Internet Explorer. Why? Some goon at the European Commission thought that Microsoft was being anti-competitive by shipping its own browser with its own Operating System. We’ll see if the same goon picks up on the fact that Google’s Chrome OS will no doubt ship with their own Chrome browser: will Google ship Chrome OS without a browser? Anyway, that’s a rant for another blog post sometime soon! But if you are interested, here’s a lot more reading in that space.
The ‘E’ also means something else. It means that your copy of Windows 7 is actually a full version, it’s not an upgrade version. This may sound great, however what it does mean is that you will have to install Windows 7 “clean” and you will have to re-install and re-activate all your applications. The Windows 7 install process will place your “old” Windows installation into a folder called WINDOWS.OLD, so your profile information, My Documents, etc. will at least be safe and accessible. Of course, if you choose to format your hard drive during the clean install, your “old” Windows installation is as good as lost.
So, if you are buying Windows 7 for use on your sole desktop or laptop (i.e. you don’t have any other machines available), my advice to you is this: prior to installing Windows 7 visit this page and see if there’s a Windows 7 version of Internet Explorer available to download (make sure you download the whole product, not just the “setup” stub). Alternatively, many of the reputable offline computer magazines (those that still remain) often carry browsers on their cover disks – it may well be worth paying the High Street price if you’re stuck.
Which version do I need?
If you’re prepared to believe Wikipedia, there is a comparison chart available there. Into Windows also have a Microsoft-sourced chart available.
If you have Windows Vista Home Premium at the moment, the chances are Windows 7 Home Premium will be your edition of choice. Windows 7 Home Premium is seen as the “Standard consumer SKU, providing full functionality on the latest hardware, easy ways to connect, and a visually rich environment.”
Windows 7 Professional, on the other hand, is seen as the “Business-focused SKU for small and lower mid-market companies and users who have networking, backup, and security needs and multiple PCs or servers.” If you think you’ll need any of the following features, Professional might be for you: Location Aware Printing, Domain Join & Group Policy Controls, Remote Desktop Host, Advanced Back-up (Network & Group Policy), Encrypting File System or Windows XP Mode.
If you need in-depth information about what’s in Windows 7, you might find this comparison chart interesting. Similarly, this chart also provides some insight into what’s in each edition.
Whilst it is not discounted, if money is no object, there is Windows 7 Ultimate available for pre-order too:
Further information about the UK pre-order scheme can be found here.
Lastly, if you’re in any doubt over the need to move to Windows 7, I can tell you that it’s leaner and fitter than previous versions of Windows: it runs on entry-level netbooks like a charm. If you’re looking for more speed, more reliability, the “solid feel” of Windows XP combined with the freshness of Windows Vista: Windows 7 should be a good investment.
Technorati Tags: Windows 7, preorder, EC, European Commission