Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from 2017

New Tech Startups born in 54 hour Sync The City event

From the moment I walked into the refectory at the Cathedral, ahead of the Saturday night pitches, I felt there was something special going to happen. It wasn’t until the pitches actually began an hour or so later, that I realised exactly what it was. I’m ashamed to say I’ve never been to Sync The City, despite it being in its fourth year. The idea behind the event it to build a tech based startup in just 54 hours and then pitch for funding at the end. It was these final pitches I had come to see. Twelve startups waited anxiously for Fiona Lettice, the Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the UEA, SyncNorwich and Sync The City organiser, to make her introduction to this year's event. She described Sync The City as The Apprentice crossed with Dragon’s Den, with all the tension and hard work compressed into a little over two days. With this, and the prize of £3,000 in funding on their minds, the twelve groups began their pitches. When I’d been in the refectory earlier there was clearly som

Event: How Norfolk Chamber of Commerce can help digital business!

How Norfolk Chamber of Commerce can help digital business When: Tuesday 5th December, 7.30am to 8.30am. Where: Maidshead Hotel, Norwich How much: £13.95 RSVP:   https://www.meetup.com/Norfolk-Developers-NorDev/events/qqwhznywqbhb/ 7.30 am Breakfast 7.50 am How Norfolk Chamber of Commerce can help digital business 8.30 am Finish Successful Norfolk entrepreneur Chris Sargisson was appointed as Chief Executive of Norfolk Chamber of Commerce in June 2017. Chris was educated in Norwich and lives in the city with his wife and two children. He worked in the 1990s shaping Norwich Union Direct before leaving to set up and launch its4me plc, one of the UK’s most successful online car insurance brokers and major Norwich employer. Chris also created House Revolution, one of the UK’s first online estate agencies, alongside running his own business consultancy practice which has helped organisations of all sizes across the UK. At the nor(Dev) breakfast,

Lisa Vincent Reconnects with her Comfort Zone at nor(DEV):biz.

My comfort zone had left the building. Heading out on a cold, dark, Monday evening to yet another Norwich networking event is not everyone’s cup of tea. It’s certainly not mine, and definitely not with the cream of the Norfolk tech sector midway through my first attack of a winter cold in I don’t know how long. We all do things we think might help us to build relationships in business and gain favours with those people around us that might help to push us in the right direction. Accepting an invitation to the November nor(DEV):biz dinner at The Library Restaurant in Norwich was one of those such occasions. I had worked opposite The Library for about 3 years and not actually made it into the building. Seeing as I have been known to travel many miles through the most challenging of conditions for some decent eats and beautiful architecture, I wrapped myself up and loaded with tissues, I braved the elements resolutely deciding to be back home and in bed by 9:30pm. I could get thro

What Makes a ‘Machine’?

Defining what it is to be a machine is tricky to say the least. In everyday terms a machine is something man-made that performs an automated function. Computers are often referred to as machines but they are much more than the limited definition above. Perhaps, instead of trying to pin down exactly what a ‘machine’ is in the 21st century, it would be more pertinent to define what a machine is to us. Isaac Asimov once described machines as ‘the true humanising influence’. In his mind machines would only be used to perform functions and carry out tasks that make life possible, leaving humans more time to do the things that make life worthwhile. Essentially through their ability to perform mundane but necessary actions, machines would allow us to indulge in every part of life outside basic functions, to allow us to enjoy what it is to be human. From a more modern writer’s point of view, machines have gone beyond their initial point of freeing us to taking us over. Stephen King focuse

W.A.S.P. Reidolize The Crimson Idol

If I had to give someone an album which was an example of heavy hetal, The Crimson Idol would fulfil the criteria. It is the best heavy metal album by any band ever and the second best album by any band ever. It’s not thrash, progressive or power metal. It’s just heavy metal. Right from the opening track it’s clear why WASP’s 1992 masterpiece is the ultimate heavy metal album. Line up changes have always plagued WASP and by the time of the Crimson Idol, long time guitarist Chris Holmes had left the band and only Blackie Lawless was left. Did it matter? No, Blackie writes everything anyway and on The Crimson Idol he played everything except drums and lead guitar. The first thing you notice is the the drums. They’re different and significantly better and more intricate than on any other WASP album. Then there’s the lead guitar work. Chris Holmes is good, but he’s no Bob Kulick (brother of Bruce who played with KISS in the early 90s). Of course you’ve got that signature BC Rich guit

Pattern: Single CrUD Transaction

Software patterns have their roots in architecture. In 1978, Christopher Alexander published a book called ‘A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction‘ (ISBN-13: 978-0195019193) about the patterns he’d discovered designing buildings. A pattern can be thought of as a tried and tested way of doing something which can be applied in different contexts.  Think about how the Observer or Visitor pattern is implemented across languages such as Java, Ruby and JavaScript, where the different language idioms dictate slightly different implementations of the same basic pattern. Software Patterns became popular with the publishing of the Gang of Four book, “Design patterns: elements of reusable object-oriented software” (ISBN-13: 978-0201633610) in 1994. It contains a number of patterns, most of which every developer should know, even if it’s to know to avoid the likes Singleton. However, these aren’t the only patterns! Indeed, patterns are not created, they are discovered and documente

Event: Burkhard Kloss on The Ethics of Software & Panel: Talking to the clouds

Event: Burkhard Kloss on The Ethics of Software & Panel: Talking to the clouds When: 6 November 2017 @ 6.30pm Where: Whitespace, 2nd Floor, St James Mill, Whitefriars, Norwich, NR3 1TN RSVP: https://www.meetup.com/preview/Norfolk-Developers-NorDev/events/239616865 The Ethics of Software - some practical considerations Burkhard Kloss @georgebernhard As Uncle Bob pointed out, software is everywhere, and without software, nothing works. That gives us great power, and – as we all know – with great power comes great responsibility. We have to make choices every day that affect others, sometimes in subtle and non-intuitive ways. To mention just a few: What logs should we capture? How does that change if we have to hand them over to the government? Are our hiring practices fair? Are we sure about that? Is there bias in our algorithms that unfairly disadvantages some groups of people? Is the core function of our software ethical? How about if it’s deliberately

A review: nor(DEV):biz October 2017

The idea “Networking” strikes fear into the heart of many techies, but Norfolk Developers Business or nor(DEV):biz is different. The idea behind the monthly meetings over dinner at the Library Restaurant is to get tech companies in Norwich and Norfolk talking to each other and referring business between themselves and from external parties. It’s not just about tech companies though, we also invite people from academia (City College Norwich was represented tonight and the UEA attended the very first event), those running complementary business (such as accountants, lawyers, recruiters, etc), those looking to engage software companies and even those looking to be employed by them. "It was relaxed and much like having a good dinner with a selection of your wittiest and most worldly wise friends !" - Chris Sargisson, CEO Norfolk Chamber Norwich has networking events coming out of its ears. nor(DEV):biz is different, not just because of the tech focus, but also because of

Norfolk Developers Magazine: AI

The first issue of the Norfolk Developers magazine (outside  of a conference) is out now and free to download ! This issue focuses on A.I., a topic we thought a good one to kick off with as everyone has an opinion about Artificial Intelligence, it affects our daily lives (see Dom Davis’ column about arguments with Alexa) and it gave us an excuse to use the awesome robot image on the front cover too. It is because of people like you that we have  such a thriving tech community in Norwich and Norfolk, a community that has turned our Fine City into a Tech City. Without this passionate and dedicated community, there would be no reason for writers to contribute to this magazine, there would be no market for local companies to place adverts for, there would be no events to report from. Mainly, there would be no one to read it so thank you

How much will my software cost?

The question we get asked the second most when speaking to clients and potential clients is “how much will my bespoke software cost to build?” This is extremely difficult to answer without lots of detail and even then the complexities of software development, the complexity of client requirements and clients changing needs over the course of a project make an accurate estimate challenging. For this reason, most software development companies shy away from including prices on their website. In fact we checked the websites of a number of our competitors and the closest we found was one who offers a range of fee options from fixed price to a daily rate and a couple who ask for your budget when contacting them for more information. As a client, until you get that first email response, phone call or face-to-face meeting you’re no closer to understanding how much your software will cost. Even then it may be some time before you are any the wiser. We can’t help you understand ho

My Fantasy Gig: Polish Death Metal

It’s no secret that I like death metal . Three of my favorite death metal bands are all from Poland. I’ve been lucky enough to see all of them at least twice individually, but never together. I’ve often wondered why they haven’t all toured together. I’ve never been to Poland either so I’d settle for seeing them all together in their home country. Decapitated Opening the show I’d have Decapitated a technical death metal band. Their style, as you would expect, is heavy and progressive. While currently the smaller and less well know of the three bands on this bill, Decapitated are growing in popularity and are poised to step into the shoes of metal titans such as Lamb of God . After getting into Vader and Behemoth I was really excited to read about another Polish death metal band and I wasn’t disappointed, especially as I also have a soft spot for progressive metal. Often with metal bands who have been around a while, their back catalogue is noisy and unpalatable. Not the c

A Review: Express in Action

Express in Action: Node applications with Express and its companion tools By Evan Hahn ISBN: 978-1617292422 This is another excellent JavaScript book from Manning. It contains a great introduction to Express.js and I wish I’d read it sooner as it explains a lot of things about Express.js and how to use it, as well as the tools surrounding it and Node.js, which I had previously worked out for myself. If you’re thinking of writing a web application, especially one in JavaScript, I recommend you read this book first. The book is far from perfect. It could have been a lot shorter. There is a fair amount of repetition and the chatty style makes it overly verbose and irritating in many places.  The author tries to cover too much and goes beyond Express.js unnecessarily in a few places. However, given that, it’s still not a huge book and quite easy to read.

A review: JavaScript the Good Parts

By Douglas Crockford ISBN: 978-0596517748 Every JavaScript developer with a pre-existing working knowledge of JavaScript should read this book. JavaScript is a powerful and varied language, but it was developed in a hurry and there’s plenty wrong with it. This book outlines the good bits of the language and highlights the bad bits and the bits you should just avoid. There’s also a fair amount about the author’s JSLint project in the appendices. This book was written in 2008 and probably needs updating. It’s hard going in places and the diagrams did little to nothing to help my understanding. I’ve come away still wondering about new and constructors, but I know I just need to review them again when I need them and it’ll get clearer.  I’m still not sure which function declaration syntax is best, but I’m not sure it matters too much.

Getting to the route of the problem

In 2016, Venkat Subramaniam wrote an incredible book called ‘ Test-Driving JavaScript Applications ’ which, along with JavaScript tools such as Mocha, Istanbul, Prettier and Eslint, have made me fall in love with JavaScript and Node.js (well for UI development anyway). JavaScript isn’t a proper language, right? For a long time I argued not, because the tools weren’t available to develop software with unit tests, static analysis and code coverage. This has changed and now I’m starting to take JavaScript seriously, even beyond jazzing up a web based UI. I’m almost over the lack of static typing. I’m currently using Express.js , a web framework for Node.js, a lot and Venkat includes a section on testing Express.js routes in his book. They’re a bit like controllers in the Modal View Controllers pattern: router.get('/', function(req, res, next) { task.all(function(err, tasks) { res.send(tasks); }); }); Venkat’s example test looks like this: it('should register

NorDev: JavaScript Starter Kit – Beginners Full Day Workshop

Date: 9:00 am to 4:45 pm, Thursday 5th October 2017 Location: The King’s Centre , King Street, Norwich, NR1 1PH Price: £50.00 per person Level:  Beginner Prerequisites: Laptop with wifi, modern browser, text editor RSVP: https://www.meetup.com/Norfolk-Developers-NorDev/events/242461849/ JavaScript is amazing. It is a powerful, simple, infuriating, elegant and sometimes irrational programming language which was born in a hurry and can now do almost anything you can imagine. It can make whizzy websites, speak to databases, and draw maps, it can fly drones, make games, and build apps. You can run it on your watch or on your phone, on any web page or on hundreds of virtual servers. And if you’re reading this you’re probably contemplating learning it. This day-long workshop aims to cover enough ground to give you a broad base from which to start your quest. We’ll use plenty of practical exercises to explore the language. We’ll cover some of the tricky parts which oft

Vacancy: Executive PA / Office Manager

Naked Element are a software development company based in Norwich looking to recruit a self motivated, outgoing, well organised person looking for variety in a small, yet progressive tech company. There is opportunity for the right person to grow into a more specialised role, based on your strengths, as the company grows. Salary: £18-20,000 per annum salary (depending on experience) Hours: 37.5 hours per week Location: New Patricks Yard, 2 Recorder Road, Norwich, Norfolk, NR1 1NR Application Deadline: 28th July 2017 Essential skills and qualities: Good client and communication skills Exceptional organisation Self motivated You thrive in a fast-paced office environment Competent user of email systems, document creation and management software packages Ability to prioritise Desirable skills and qualities: An Interest in Software, Technology, Development, or any wider part of the ICT industry Previous Administration and Office Management experience  A Level 3

Norfolk Developers Business Dinners Return

We are pleased to announce that Norfolk Developers Business (NorDevBiz!) is making a return. NorDevBiz is aiming is to increase awareness of Norfolk Developers member's businesses and stimulate internal and external referrals. Our second evening meeting will be on Monday 3rd of July 2017 at the Library Restaurant in Norwich at 7.30pm. Arrive is for 7pm for informal networking and a 7.30pm sharp start. The evening will (provisionally) be as follows: Informal networking (from 7pm) Introductions  - an introduction to the group from Dom Davis followed by a one minute introduction from each attendee (7.30pm) Main Course Spotlight -  Sean Billings will give a 10 to 15 minute introduction to his business and take questions Pudding Close - Dom Davis This is a business focussed event where we will learn more about each other’s businesses with the aim of generating both internal and external referrals. Most content will not be of a technical nature. Dress code is comfo

Node.js the Right Way: Practical Server-Side JavaScript That Scales

By Jim R. Wilson ISBN-13: 978-1937785734 Node.js the Right Way is a fantastic little book. It’s a small book (but then it’s Pragmatic exPress) and it doesn’t go into anything in much detail, but then that’s what makes it fantastic. It gives a useful and practical overview of writing Node.js server side applications and explains many of the tools and JavaScript patterns which will be useful to Node.js programmers. It starts off with examples of manipulating the local file system using Node.js. This struck me a little odd as the only thing I tend to use the local file system for is reading configuration files. If I need to write a file I tend to put it in Amazon S3. However, this is genius and looking at how to manipulate the filesystem gives some useful insights into Node.js programming. The book then goes on to look at networking with sockets, something which is often neglected in a world where we expect everything to be RESTful. There’s then a tour through scalable messaging,

Know your hammer from your screwdriver: The right tool for the job

As software developers, we at Naked Element , are skilled and experienced in a number of different programming languages and aware of many, many more. Choosing the right programming language for a piece of software is as important as choosing a hammer to knock in a nail, a flat headed screw driver for a flat headed screw and a cross headed screwdriver for cross headed screw. However with software it’s far more complicated as there isn’t always just one tool for the job. It’s also important to consider the skills you have at hand. For example, you wouldn’t usually ask a plumber to fix your electrics or an electrician to fix your plumbing. However, given enough time most plumbers could learn to do electrics and vice versa. Generally people with a talent for practical things can easily pick up other practical skills. It’s the same with software developers, but you have to consider whether the investment in new skills will return sufficient results in an acceptable time frame, or wheth

Sign on the Dotted Line – Why Contracts are Important

Contracts might seem like something only big business needs, and many small companies work without them, but if your work is important to you, it is vital to have a contract in place. A well put together contract can make a business relationship stronger and more successful, so it is worth investing some time and effort in getting a contract just right. When people think of contracts, they often seem daunting, filled with complicated language only solicitors understand, fine print made to confuse the signatory and seemingly endless clauses that only apply in the most unique of circumstances. Documents like this are off putting, and occasionally detrimental to the business process, especially at the beginning of a new working relationship. Contracts don’t need to be pages and pages long, or contain lots of legal jargon or penalties, the most important thing is that all parties understand the content of the contract and all are in agreement as to their own responsibilities. It is ver

The Kings of Leon

Sheffield is in the North and things, well people, are very different in the North. They’re friendlier than other places. They apologise in a friendly way when they knock into you and several people run after your ticket when it blows away in the wind after you’ve been through security. Given the recent events in Manchester security was tight at Sheffield Arena. There were plenty of police, some of them visibly armed. You weren’t allowed to take in a bag any bigger than A4 and everyone was searched before they could enter the arena foyer. Having said that, we had no problems parking (getting out of the car park was a different matter) and were through the security check in no time. Everyone there, including the security, was friendly! Even the armed police were posing for selfies and chatting at the end of the night. I’m not a fan of the Kings of Leon. They’ve got a few good songs, I mean who doesn’t like having their sex on fire? I find them bland, monotonous and a bit boring. L

NorDevMag: Call for submissions

After receiving such a positive response to the nor(DEV):con magazines at each conference, we’ve decided to release a magazine outside of the conference too! Each issue will contain tech articles, local features, news and interviews as well as tech events in Norfolk and further afield, but most importantly it will be free to download! But we need your help to make this a success. We’re asking for your suggestions and contributions for our first issue due for release in September. This first issue will be focused around different aspects of A.I. Contributions We need News – are you beginning or completing a project? Expanding into a new area? Taking on new staff/premises/tech? Have you won an award or achieved something noteworthy you want to tell people about? Events – are you planning or hosting an event between September 2017 and the end of January 2018? Are you attending an event over the summer you think we should review or take photos at? Articles – do you have

Coffee in the Mine: In Java I wish I could... part 1

I started programming in BBC Basic on an Acorn Electron in 1985. I then went on to learn and use commercially C, C++ (there's no such language as C/C++), C# and Java. When I was a C++ programmer I looked down on Java with it's virtual machine, just in time compiling and garbage collector. When I became a Java programmer I completely fell in love with it and it's tool chain. Not so with Ruby, especially its tool chain, a lack of a static type system and lack of interfaces. However, there are some fantastic features in the language and a few of them I wish I could use in Java. For example, in Ruby, you can put conditional statements after expressions, for example: return '1' if a == 1 return '2' if a == 2 Whereas in Java you'd have to write: if (a == 1)   return "1"; if (a == 2)   return "2"; which is more verbose and less expressive. Ruby also has the unless keyword, which Java lacks, so in Ruby you can do this: re

You Can't Do That

by Emma Roache ISBN-13: 978-1523989560 I sat next to Emma (complete with orange jumper) at a Norfolk Chamber breakfast in Great Yarmouth. We had the best table for the event and the conversation ranged from Trivium (modern Thrash Metal band) to the Kings of Leon. It’s incredible how, when you get away from business, the conversation flows. Of course everyone talked about what they did and I was delighted to hear that Emma was a coach and that she had a book! ‘You Can’t Do That’ is like nothing else I’ve read. It’s not science fiction or fantasy and it has absolutely nothing to do with software development or management. The style was easy and simple and very readable. This isn’t a self help book, it’s a travel diary. In most cases you have to read between the lines to see the personal issues which Emma is overcoming, they are in no way exaggerated or over played. Although I’m in no two minds about her dislike of spiders! Something came across loud and clear. Emma loves people.

Paul's Guide to Jazz

Hopefully you've read my guide to Death Metal. Death metal isn't the only type of music I listen too. In fact I don't only like rock based music, I like some other stuff too. Wikipedia describes Jazz as “...a music genre that originated amongst African Americans in New Orleans, United States, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and developed from roots in Blues and Ragtime. Since the 1920s jazz age, jazz has become recognized as a major form of musical expression. It then emerged in the form of independent traditional and popular musical styles, all linked by the common bonds of African American and European American musical parentage with a performance orientation. Jazz is characterized by swing and blue notes, call and response vocals, polyrhythms and improvisation.” As with my Death Metal guide, I'm going to run through the Jazz bands I feel are worth listening to, I have enjoyed and have made a difference to me.

You can go your own way - Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

There aren’t many sequels as good or better than the original (obvious examples are Aliens, The Empire Strikes Back, Lethal Weapon 2, etc), but Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is! It’s a totally different type of story, more in the classic sci-fi vein. Stories where you don’t have to start by building all of the main characters are often easier to get straight into. I had one, for me, huge issue with the film. They used Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain” in the most brilliant way for one of the action sequences, from almost the beginning right up to just before the bass lead section the BBC and Channel 4 use for the Formula 1 theme. Then the song stopped. Later on in the film they used it again and I thought “Great, we’ll get it all this time!”, but no, it finished too early again. Maybe this was a deliberate tease for the Fleetwood Mac fans and I’ve just fallen for it 100%. As well as all of the main characters, Kurt Russell was excellent. My other slight issue with the film was that th

Happy 5th birthday to us!

5 years ago today, on the 26th April 2012 Naked Element was incorporated by Matthew Wells , Chris Wright and our CEO Paul Grenyer . Over the 5 years Naked Element has successfully developed software for a wide variety of clients, helping them to improve their business processes and to increase their efficiency, saving them both time and money. A couple of most recent projects that we’re proud of: Fountain Partnership - An online marketing agency. “Naked Element’s software for Fountain reduces processing time by 95%.” Naked Element were chosen to build a script which would allow Fountain to manage one of their largest clients in Google AdWords. In simple terms a script was created that allowed the user to specify AdWords accounts, campaigns and ad groups and then to enter a search, replacing each with a phrase or word. IDSystems - Suppliers and installers of doors and windows. Naked Element developed a bespoke web application for IDSystems. The new application is designed