Week six review
Apr 18th
Most of this week has been spent working on my secret new application. It is coming along well and I think I have a realistic timeline in place. I have started using Redmine for managing features and timelines. It is very cool, much better than trac. I haven’t managed to get SVN intergration working yet though.
I also spent a day playing with Alice. I was using it on Ubuntu and could get everything set-up but I couldn’t get playback to work. So I ended up using it in a windows vm which worked ok. I am not sure if it is the best introduction to programming though, it is kinda cool to see objects move around the screen and to change camera angles but it is quite a bit of work to get that going and I am not sure if that is suitable as an intro. I have come across another game building app called Game Maker so am going to give that a go. Also I think Alice might be a bit abstract. There doesn’t seem any real purpose for it, whereas with Game Maker it seems pretty clear that you are going to build a game. I think purpose is important here and I am sure building games will appeal to teenagers!
Other news is that I found out my tax bill is going to be a LOT less than I initially thought. This is going to give me a lot more freedom and I am going to have to have a rethink about how I approach the next few months.
Switching development to mono
Apr 17th
Last week I started writing a new application using FluentNHibernate and ASP.NET MVC. Initially I was working on it in my windows vm as I was having trouble getting the latest version of MonoDevelop to work. That is all fixed now so I decided it was time to checkout the code and see if it worked.
So first thing does it compile. Yes!
Next I tried to run my tests. Nup didn’t work. I get the following exception “System.TypeInitializationException: An exception was thrown by the type initializer for NHibernate.Cfg.Environment”.
I spent forever digging around to find out why. Another lib I am using is MvcContrib and I am using the TestControllerBuilder class. It turns out that if you create an instance of this class BEFORE configuring NHibernate then you get the exception, create it afterwards and it works fine. Argghh. Frustrating. I took a look at the TestControllerBuilder class and I can’t see what it is doing to cause that.
The next problem was that SQLite doesn’t work so well on Mono and you need to use Mono.Data.SQLite instead. This required writing a custom Driver for NHibernate which is no big deal – but another step nonetheless. I have submitted a patch to the NHibernate team here and the FluentNHibernate team here
Ok so run the tests again and everything is working now.
Yay, it is kind of exciting to get this working. I am going to try and do all my development on linux now.. MonoDevelop is not as nice as VisualStudio + ReSharper though so I am not sure if this will last!
Week five review
Apr 11th
Well a short week this time and not so much to update with, The most major news was that the application to Learning Launchpad was not successful. Not a problem though there are plenty of other grants to apply for like this one which is all about inspiring young people, sounds like a perfect fit to me.
Other than that I have been working on an application I am going to sell online. It is going pretty well so far and at least it now seems much more feasible. I am hoping to have a version ready for private testing by the end of April.
I haven’t done any billable work this week which is a shame but I have been fielding a lot of calls from agents, so I might pick up a contract for a while. That will relieve some financial pressure and make things a little easier while waiting to see what happens with funding.
Week four review
Apr 4th
Another fairly good week, didn’t do as much as I would like but it has been pretty good nevertheless.
After a marathon two day editing session and with a lot of help from my friend Sara, I finished writing and submitted my first funding proposal to the Learning Launchpad. I will find out in a couple of weeks whether or not I get through the first stage of screening, if so then it is off to interviews which will be fun! I normally like interviews but that is usually job interviews. We will see how this goes!
I also got a big chunk of work finished for Simon. More excitingly though I have been working on some ideas for products to launch. One idea is pretty much complete and am going to start work on it this week, the other I am still talking with a friend about but could be quite an interesting!
Week three review
Mar 28th
Well this week started with disaster! I spilled water on kate (my laptop, yes I realise it is sad and slightly disturbing that she has a name) and after leaving her to dry out she wouldn’t start up! I have sent her off off for repair now and it is going to cost a lot to fix. I lost a little data (a video of my trip to Japan that I was putting together) but most of it was safe thanks to Jungle Disk. It also sent the start of my week into turmoil as I had just gotten all the software set-up so that I could start work. Luckily I still have my old laptop – now pushing six years old. So Monday I spent getting everything set up on this computer. Everything is working well now, but it is so slow which can be frustrating.
Tuesday I met with three organisations that work with youth in Newcastle and got an absolute wealth of information. From experiences working with the youth to how to raise funds and how much to expect. Everyone expressed support of what I was doing and were keen to work with me once we are up and running. It was a very encouraging time and it is quite likely that I will get referals from these people so I can get some youth into my course!!
I have also spent a lot of time on the funding proposal I have been writting with Sara. It is looking pretty good now, still a few more tweaks to make before the Tuesday deadline. As well as this I have written some briefs about the company and one of the products we are going to launch. I am working towards getting a website and material together in order to promote what we are doing.
It hardly seems possible but I also managed to get a lot of work done on an application I am building for Simon and am rediscovering my passion for programming. It has been a lot of fun!
Well looking back I have actually achieved a lot this week. At the start it hardly seemed possible. In fact I had a brief moment when I felt the weight of everything and I thought I wasn’t going to cope. At this point I realised I had a choice about how I was going to approach the week. I decided that the cirumstances around what were happening were not going to stop me from completing my mission. I know I am in the place that God wants me and with his strength I am going to complete the task he has assigned. I have never felt so empowered in my life. This is going to be an amazing year!
Week two review
Mar 21st
Had some good progress this week although not as much as I would have liked!
I decided to start applying to get some funding, up until now I was sceptical as to whether it was a good idea. I guess having little money come in changes that perspective! So this week I have spent a lot of time trying to nut out exactly what it is that the business is going to be doing and putting that into words. It is an interesting learning process and some of the things that the funds are asking for are things I hadn’t considered before so it is good to think about those things. I am very lucky to have meet Sara who is going to help me get the application all sorted, she has done this kind of thing a lot before which is great because the more I look at it I realise I have no idea!
Apart from that I have spent a lot of time looking up and contacting organisations that work with youth. The plan is to find one that would be a good fit to work with. So far it has been quite promosing and next week I have a couple of meetings to discuss what we are doing.
It is great that everything is progressing nicely, but the big push for next week will be to actually do some paid work as I did none this week! I am hoping to get around 30hrs in, possibly more if I work all night 
Week one review
Mar 14th
Today sees the completion of my first week in Newcastle. I thought I would take the time to document what I have achieved this week. In part to keep myself accountable and so that in the future I can look back and see the progress.
I arrived here last Friday, I spent the weekend looking at flats and went to a couple of churches, notably Tyneside Vineyard where I met some wonderful people.
On Monday I was very anxious about my flat situation, there were a lot of options, some cheap some expensive, that I could have gone for and I didn’t know the right move. I asked God to sort it out and he reminded me of a place that I had seen that I had written off as it didn’t precisly fit my criteria. I called the agent and put in a ridiculous offer. She took it to the owner and five minutes later called me back to confirm I had gotten it. It turns out that this was a very good option and what I have for the price is and amazing blessing.
I moved into the flat on Tuesday. I was so glad to finally have somewhere to stay. After nine months on the move I really needed some stability. The next few days I spent getting things I needed and sorting out paperwork, utilities etc. I also started work on some paid work as well as planning out the next few weeks.
I am feeling much more organised and ready to tackle the tasks ahead. It has been a good week!
Moving Cities
Jan 22nd
Recently I went on a bit of a tour of northern England with the purpose of meeting people and finding a city where I could start my business.
One place I went really captured me. Newcastle. The people are really friendly, the city is really bustling and there is a really good atmosphere there. Not only that but it is a really attractive city. Really! The buildings, and the Gateshead area are just gorgeous. I took a few photos while I was there, you can view them here.
I also met some great people in Newcastle who were very supportive and excited about what I am doing. They offered me a tonne of advice and have sparked several ideas and approaches to take which has been invaluable.
There are also a lot of business resources to draw help from. I have started collecting links to them here.
I am quite excited about the move. I am doing a little travelling over the next few months, but when I get back I will be moving up there, should be sometime in April.
Inspiring ideas in the Sandbox
Jan 17th
A few weeks ago I introduced the idea of the Sandbox, at the time I was struggling to think of ways to engage with the kids. I have been making good progress however, and now have a few more ideas. One of the things suggested to me was to use Alice to create games and introduce the idea of programming to the kids. After having a play with this it looks really good. Quite simple to get working but also teaches some of the basics of programing. I think it will make it less intimidating when they actually come to write a line of code.
As well as Alice I have come up with another couple of things that will hopefully pique their interest. First of all Lego Mindstorms. This is a great platform that lets you create robotic type devices that are (wirelessly) connected to a computer and can be programmed to do different things. I think using this will be a great way to get people interested in programing as it provides a tangible link between doing something on the computer in an almost virtual environment and the effect that it can have on the real world.
Another idea which needs some research (because I am not sure how feasible it is) would be to use Digital Scalextric sets and hook them up to a computer and write a program that drives the car. It would take input from where it is on the track, corners and overtaking lanes coming up, where the competitor is etc. It could then use that information to make the car run at its top speed and overtake all without crashing. We could then race different programs/cars against each other. I am sure it would start out an absolute disaster, but with some tweaking of the programs I think it could be quite exciting.
So it seems there are a few more options. I am keeping my eye out for other things as well. Something football related would probably go down well. Maybe some kind of fantasy football?
Teaching Themes
Jan 15th
As I have mentioned previously I have been working on the curriculum I will be teaching to the kids on the program. It has been really challenging to sit down and work through all the topics that need to be covered and how to cover them in an engaging way. What is interesting is that as I did this I lost sight of what I was originally thinking would be a good option and after numerous attempts at writing down how it is going to work I have come full circle back to my original thinking. Slightly frustrating given the amount of time I put into this, but at least now I have explored other options and found them wanting.
All I have as a reference point is how I learnt so I am drawing a lot from that. When I started programing it was purely out of necessity. I needed to build an e-commerce website for a venture I was planning. Turned out that I wasn’t equipped to get the idea off the ground. Through that process though I learnt a heck of a lot, and it was what really got me started in my programming career. What I was building was going to enable me to revolutionise the way goods were sold on-line and make me a lot of money and that gave me a real sense of purpose.
So getting back to how I am going to teach. After the sandbox (which has also seen some exciting developments) kids will go into this teaching phase. At the start we will talk about a project that they may want to do. Something interesting and relevant to them. Social networks are hot topics these days so maybe something along those lines – if the kids are really creative maybe we will even get a new concept out of them! In the first session we will work through some of these ideas and turn what they want to build into a series of stories that, well, tell the story of how it will work. Subsequent sessions will work through the process of how to build it. At each step a new concept will be introduced that they must grasp. These are some of the fundamental elements of programming and understanding these concepts will, I believe, set them up to be able to take on almost any programming task they will encounter in a normal business environment.
