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Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Photography home page
I did some work on the Photography page last night, and made some use of the flickr badges (thanks to digital ramble) to have a random selection of images. I've also reused the del.icio.us link code I mentioned before to get the list of latest photography links.
Labels: photography
// posted by Jane @ 8:40 AM 
Comments:
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Interviews: Questions
Following on from my Interviews: Technical Tests post of the other day, I thought I'd write a post about interviewing in general. I've been involved with the interview process on numerous occasions, at a couple of different companies over the past 5 years. In the last couple of years I have been involved with interviewing on my own, or being the driving force of the interview, and I've learnt a lot from the experience.
When preparing for my first interviews alone, I read relevant sections of a couple of books. The first was one of the articles in Joel Spolsky's The Best Software Writing I. The second was a book I've made a lot of reference to over the past couple of years, The Instant Manager: Tools and Ideas for Practical Problem Solving. From these I gained some interesting pointers, and drafted my initial set of questions. These have obviously changed according to the job being offered, but in general they are questions like:
I'm generally looking to see what makes people tick, what they are enthusiastic about, and trying to guage whether their enthusiasm matches what the position I'm offering will provide. I'm yet to find anyone who has answered question 5 with anything other than a "No, but I could do" but this question is only a probing question to enquire about attitude to sharing information. Question 7 is my final question, and gives the candidates an "elevator pitch", which surprisingly few are ready for. The most memorable answer to date has been "Well obviously I'm gorgeous", which made me laugh, but didn't get the candidate the job.
Then, as posted a while ago, there are my new 4 questions to add:
As preparation for my recent interview I went through my questions, as well as some found online. I hunted out some more team leader/lead developer type questions as well, and found questions focusing on motivating a team, recognising motivators, dealing with difficult team members, what makes a good manager etc. I received some excellent advice from one of our project managers which was to always use scenarios and give examples. That makes your answer less theoretical and more practical changing the tense from "I would" to "I did".
Anyone coming for an interview with me in the future can learn a lot from this post, and will be given bonus points for research if you mention it during the interview :-)
When preparing for my first interviews alone, I read relevant sections of a couple of books. The first was one of the articles in Joel Spolsky's The Best Software Writing I. The second was a book I've made a lot of reference to over the past couple of years, The Instant Manager: Tools and Ideas for Practical Problem Solving. From these I gained some interesting pointers, and drafted my initial set of questions. These have obviously changed according to the job being offered, but in general they are questions like:
- Tell me about your current job? What do you do on a day to day basis? What have been the biggest challenges? And your biggest achievements? And of course, why are you looking to move on?
- What has been your favourite job up until now and why?
- Which project that you have worked on has made you feel the proudest and why?
- What is the most recent skill/tool/technology that you have learnt and what drove you to learn that?
- Have you contributed any code or writings to the wider community?
- How would you define "healthy" code, and what do you do ensure your code is “healthy”?
- As I’m going to interview other candidates, what would you like me to remember about you in relation to this position?
I'm generally looking to see what makes people tick, what they are enthusiastic about, and trying to guage whether their enthusiasm matches what the position I'm offering will provide. I'm yet to find anyone who has answered question 5 with anything other than a "No, but I could do" but this question is only a probing question to enquire about attitude to sharing information. Question 7 is my final question, and gives the candidates an "elevator pitch", which surprisingly few are ready for. The most memorable answer to date has been "Well obviously I'm gorgeous", which made me laugh, but didn't get the candidate the job.
Then, as posted a while ago, there are my new 4 questions to add:
- When was the last time you read a trade/professional journal or book related to your work? (can substitute "attended an industry conference or took a course")
- Name at least two of the key people in your field
- If you had to, would you spend your own money to buy tools or other materials that would improve the quality of your work?
- If you did not do this for work, would you still do it (or something related to it) as a hobby?
As preparation for my recent interview I went through my questions, as well as some found online. I hunted out some more team leader/lead developer type questions as well, and found questions focusing on motivating a team, recognising motivators, dealing with difficult team members, what makes a good manager etc. I received some excellent advice from one of our project managers which was to always use scenarios and give examples. That makes your answer less theoretical and more practical changing the tense from "I would" to "I did".
Anyone coming for an interview with me in the future can learn a lot from this post, and will be given bonus points for research if you mention it during the interview :-)
// posted by Jane @ 7:59 PM
Comments:
Monday, February 26, 2007
Brighton in the news
Via Will McInnes an FT article about the Brighton Digital community - Brighton cluster at new media cutting edge. Always good to see Brighton's New Media community in the press
Labels: article, Brighton, sussexdigital
// posted by Jane @ 12:26 PM
Comments:
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Can't connect remotely to SQL Server 2005 Express
I was experiencing an error attempting to connect to a SQL2005 Express database remotely earlier, and couldn't work out why. I checked the firewall for port 1433 and that was ok. I checked the "Allow remote connections" box on the properties for the database server, and that was ok. I then enrolled the help of a colleague and between us we discovered the Surface Area Configuration Utility.
All is now working happily - phew!
All is now working happily - phew!
Labels: SQLServer2005
// posted by Jane @ 5:44 PM
Comments:
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Interviews: Technical Tests
As part of the interview process that I've run here in the past few years, I've given my applicants a technical test. This has taken the form of a series of questions on VB, SQL Server and ASP (I haven't recruited .NET employees yet). These were then marked and scored and used as a reference for the interview. I didn't go through the results with the candidates, unless they specifically asked about it.
At my interview last Friday I was given 3 pages of questions, one on SQL Server, one on C# and one on ASP.NET. I completed the questions, and then we discussed my answers giving me an opportunity to explain verbally some of the concepts I was having problems writing answers to. This worked reasonably well, but I think it can be improved upon.
Obviously one needs to consider technical ability when doing the selection process, but I'm not convinced that the written test is the best way forward. Over recent months, I've been thinking of a better way to do tests, and so I think that next time I need to do technical interviews, I'm going to supply the candidate with a laptop, internet access and a problem in the appropriate programming environment. It needs to be a pretty simple challenge so as not to exceed the 30 - 40 minute period that the tests currently take. I figure I'd give the developer a working system, and ask them to make a few enhancements, maybe one to the database, one to the code. Once the time is up I'll sit with them and work through the code together to see how far they've got, and they can then explain to me what there thought processes were etc. This feels like a much fairer and more realistic way to determine the technical ability of a potential employee.
At my interview last Friday I was given 3 pages of questions, one on SQL Server, one on C# and one on ASP.NET. I completed the questions, and then we discussed my answers giving me an opportunity to explain verbally some of the concepts I was having problems writing answers to. This worked reasonably well, but I think it can be improved upon.
Obviously one needs to consider technical ability when doing the selection process, but I'm not convinced that the written test is the best way forward. Over recent months, I've been thinking of a better way to do tests, and so I think that next time I need to do technical interviews, I'm going to supply the candidate with a laptop, internet access and a problem in the appropriate programming environment. It needs to be a pretty simple challenge so as not to exceed the 30 - 40 minute period that the tests currently take. I figure I'd give the developer a working system, and ask them to make a few enhancements, maybe one to the database, one to the code. Once the time is up I'll sit with them and work through the code together to see how far they've got, and they can then explain to me what there thought processes were etc. This feels like a much fairer and more realistic way to determine the technical ability of a potential employee.
// posted by Jane @ 1:39 PM
Comments:
I think that your idea is a good one and it seems to be getting more common. Out of the 4 interviews I went for, 2 of them gave me tests where I was given a PC and told to write code. One of them was to write a small word count application and the other to write a small shop checkout demo.
What was interesting to me was that both times I was told to use a language that I felt most comfortable with - even if that language wasn't directly relevant to the actual job. I was very impressed because this showed an understanding on the part of the company that a good programmer might not necessarily know whether C# supports multiple inheritance or what the command line argument for enabling XML documentation is.
I was offered both of the jobs and accepted one of them.
What was interesting to me was that both times I was told to use a language that I felt most comfortable with - even if that language wasn't directly relevant to the actual job. I was very impressed because this showed an understanding on the part of the company that a good programmer might not necessarily know whether C# supports multiple inheritance or what the command line argument for enabling XML documentation is.
I was offered both of the jobs and accepted one of them.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
"End of an era" or "A fresh start"
On May 18th the Crowborough office of Glass's Information Services will be closing. This news was officially confirmed on Thursday, after our 30 day consultation period. So, this leaves me wondering what to do next. Although permanent opportunities are available at the Weybridge office, the (at least) 3 hour round trip isn't appealing, and I have decided not to pursue them. I've been thinking about contracting/freelancing as an option, and this does hold quite a lot of appeal, especially in the short term. To be honest, I've felt a lot of frustration in my current role over the past year due to a number of reasons, not least the feeling of a lack of product strategy, leading to very reactive decisions on projects rather than a sound and stable rationale. (The article Hamburger-Management-prone organizations may be born, not made makes the point better than I can.) The idea of contracting and being uninvolved with the politics feels like it could be good for me.
However, permanent opportunities are also presenting themselves and I feel that I'd be foolish not to follow up on them. Our former CTO has moved on to RBI and has kept in touch with all of us with regards to possible opportunities. I received confirmation yesterday that there is a Lead Developer role going at East Grinstead, and as my CV was already in the RBI network (as I've heard good things about the company in recent months), I've got an interview there on Friday. This is going to be interesting, as it will be the first time I've been interviewed since attending management training courses and being more actively involved in the recruitment process. I'm not sure whether this is a positive or negative at the moment, but I'm sure it'll be a learning experience.
And just in case anyone reading this has a Brighton based (preferably) opportunity, then my CV is available as HTML or PDF.
However, permanent opportunities are also presenting themselves and I feel that I'd be foolish not to follow up on them. Our former CTO has moved on to RBI and has kept in touch with all of us with regards to possible opportunities. I received confirmation yesterday that there is a Lead Developer role going at East Grinstead, and as my CV was already in the RBI network (as I've heard good things about the company in recent months), I've got an interview there on Friday. This is going to be interesting, as it will be the first time I've been interviewed since attending management training courses and being more actively involved in the recruitment process. I'm not sure whether this is a positive or negative at the moment, but I'm sure it'll be a learning experience.
And just in case anyone reading this has a Brighton based (preferably) opportunity, then my CV is available as HTML or PDF.
// posted by Jane @ 8:28 PM
Comments:
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Photography blog split
I've split out the photography stuff from the technical/day job stuff to make it much easier for me to manage. So, I'm pleased to unveil Jane's Photography Stuff to accompany Jane's Technical Stuff.
At some point, I'll probably divide the site into 2 halves, one photography, one technical/development/management. This is just the first step...
At some point, I'll probably divide the site into 2 halves, one photography, one technical/development/management. This is just the first step...
Labels: photography
// posted by Jane @ 2:27 PM
Comments:
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Article - Don't ask employees to be passionate about the company!
There is an excellent article over at Creating Passionate Users, Don't ask employees to be passionate about the company! which examines the differences between people who have a passion for their employee and a passion for their work. I think I might involve the simple 4-question test into any interviews I do in the future as it is a good match to some of the questions I already ask ("Have you contributed any code or writings to the wider community").
I've always been interested in recruiting team members with a passion for their trade, who are keen to learn and show their ability. Hopefully these questions will help me to achieve this in the future.
- When was the last time you read a trade/professional journal or book related to your work? (can substitute "attended an industry conference or took a course")
- Name at least two of the key people in your field
- If you had to, would you spend your own money to buy tools or other materials that would improve the quality of your work?
- If you did not do this for work, would you still do it (or something related to it) as a hobby?
I've always been interested in recruiting team members with a passion for their trade, who are keen to learn and show their ability. Hopefully these questions will help me to achieve this in the future.
Labels: article, Development, interview
// posted by Jane @ 2:33 PM
Comments:
Monday, February 05, 2007
Eclipse and SQL Explorer
At home I use the eclipse development environment and so, after my introduction to Ruby on Rails on Saturday, I started reading up on RadRails, a Ruby on Rails IDE which plugs in to eclipse. Through reading up I discovered the eclipse SQL Explorer plugin, which (with a little help from Richard and from a tutorial) is now working on my mac and which looks like a great interface to many different databases.
Labels: Development, eclipse, ruby on rails, SQL
// posted by Jane @ 9:26 PM
Comments:
Brighton Technical Community
Sometimes I forget how fortunate I am to live in a city which is so full of technical and new media focussed people. We have a vibrant community of technologists, both in the real world and in the online world.
Mainly online with occasional meetups:
Mainly meetups:
Hopefully SkillSwap will return as well in the near future to the benefit of all again.
I'm sure that this isn't a conclusive list, but it does go to show how much of a technical community there is down here. What a great place to live and geek :-)
Mainly online with occasional meetups:
- Brighton Bloggers - obviously top of the list as I maintain it :-) It is A site listing all the bloggers in Brighton (that I know of) - currently running at 268 entries.
- Brighton New Media - mailing list offering on topic and off topic conversations, covering topics from development, design through to tradesman recommendations. Be warned, its pretty busy!
Mainly meetups:
- Sussex Geek Dinner - Simon organises the Geek Dinner for Sussex, and the last 3 or 4 have been based down in Brighton, offering speakers as well as conversation.
- Brighton Girl Geek Dinner - In its infancy, but if the 1st event is anything to go by this could be a really successful venture.
- Brighton Ruby - user group for Brighton Ruby developers
- Brighton Farm - a networking group for web designers, developers and people with related new media skills who live in Brighton and the surrounding areas
- Coding Dojo - in the two hour session, up to twelve developers take turns solving a programming problem
Hopefully SkillSwap will return as well in the near future to the benefit of all again.
I'm sure that this isn't a conclusive list, but it does go to show how much of a technical community there is down here. What a great place to live and geek :-)
Labels: Brighton, Development, sussexdigital
// posted by Jane @ 11:57 AM
Comments:
Saturday, February 03, 2007
WebDD Overview
I had a great day at WebDD today and attended some good sessions - which I'll go into more later. The Scott Guthrie sessions were hugely over-subscribed, but were recorded so I hope to get a chance to see them at a later stage. Initally not a lot of swag, but I got to leave with a copy of Expression Web as well as a pen and some magazines.
The sessions I attended today were:
And so there ends my first ever conference, I'm not sure why but I've never managed to attend one before. I'm definitely hoping to attend the next WebDD event, and also probably the DeveloperDeveloperDeveloper! events too.
The sessions I attended today were:
- Expression Web - an excellent introduction to a tool which looks great
- Doing it in style: creating beautiful sites, the web standards way - a bit too much content for the hour, so I'm hoping to see the slides to review the bits that were skipped over
- Quick and dirty Usability tests - one week, no budget, and no usability facility - an interesting overview of usability testing - something I've never experienced
- Ruby On Rails for .NET Developers - excellent presentation, great looking tool and framework
- Unobtrusive Javascript with Rails - graceful degradation of javascript
And so there ends my first ever conference, I'm not sure why but I've never managed to attend one before. I'm definitely hoping to attend the next WebDD event, and also probably the DeveloperDeveloperDeveloper! events too.
Labels: conference, Development, WebDD
// posted by Jane @ 9:37 PM
Comments:
Friday, February 02, 2007
Mobile eMail Test
An experiment in email blogging sent using SnapperMail via wifi on a Sony
Clie PEG-TH55
Clie PEG-TH55
Labels: mobile
// posted by Jane @ 8:56 PM
Comments:
WebDD Schedule
WebDD tomorrow, and I'd read through all the sessions at the weekend and planned my schedule only to discover that it has been updated, and so my initial plan needs revisiting. Now I find that Glenn Jones clashes with Scott Guthrie :-( A re-plan is in progress...
Labels: Development, WebDD
// posted by Jane @ 1:58 PM
Comments:
Thursday, February 01, 2007
.NET and SQL Server - retrieving blobs
The database for my current project stores pdf documents as images within the database. I needed to write a quick rough and ready program to retrieve all pdfs which meet a certain set of criteria.
The main key is remembering that a binary, or image comes back as an array of bytes. This enables us to make use of System.IO.File.WriteAllBytes which takes in a string parameter filePath representing the path to the file, and a byte[] parameter representing the file.
I set up a data set, and defined a TableAdapter MyQueryTableAdapter to have a parameterised query as MyQuery to extract the relevant fields, and then used:
MyProjectTableAdapters.MyQueryTableAdapter tableAdapter = new MyProject.MyProjectTableAdapters.MyQueryTableAdapter();
MyProject.MyQueryDataTable table;
to define table and tableAdapter variables.
These were then used to populate the table with data based upon myParameter.
table = tableAdapter.GetData(myParameter);
All I did then was loop through the table.Rows in the table and populate a byte[] myPdfDocument variable for each row. This myPdfDocument was then written using the above code.
Job done.
The main key is remembering that a binary, or image comes back as an array of bytes. This enables us to make use of System.IO.File.WriteAllBytes which takes in a string parameter filePath representing the path to the file, and a byte[] parameter representing the file.
I set up a data set, and defined a TableAdapter MyQueryTableAdapter to have a parameterised query as MyQuery to extract the relevant fields, and then used:
MyProjectTableAdapters.MyQueryTableAdapter tableAdapter = new MyProject.MyProjectTableAdapters.MyQueryTableAdapter();
MyProject.MyQueryDataTable table;
to define table and tableAdapter variables.
These were then used to populate the table with data based upon myParameter.
table = tableAdapter.GetData(myParameter);
All I did then was loop through the table.Rows in the table and populate a byte[] myPdfDocument variable for each row. This myPdfDocument was then written using the above code.
Job done.
Labels: .NET, Development, SQLServer
// posted by Jane @ 3:33 PM
Comments:
