Paul Grenyer

We'll use TDD to create a Terraform module which builds a Heroku app and deploys a simple React application. If you'd like to follow along, you'll need the following prerequisites Terraform installed Go 1.14 installed Heroku account - HEROKU_API_KEY added to environment variables. Git installed BitBucket account This meetup will be via Zoom:- https://zoom.us/j/902141920 Please RSVP here:  https://www.meetup.com/Norfolk-Developers-NorDev/events/269640463/

Something my first proper girlfriend said to me has stuck with me my entire life as I disagree with it (mostly).  She said that the best way to discover a new band was to see them live first. The reason I disagree is because I get most pleasure from knowing the music I am listening to live - most of the time. I’m a member of the Bloodstock Rock Society and their Facebook page is often a place of band discussion. Lots of people there were saying how good Insomnium are, but they didn’t do a great deal for me when I listened to them on Spotify. Then it was early 2020, I hadn’t been to a gig since Shakespears Sister in November, I fancied a night out and Insomnium were playing in Norwich. So I took a chance…. From the off they were great live and I really enjoyed it. I came to the conclusion that I must like some of their older stuff as it was the new album which hadn’t done much for me. There were lots of things I like, like widdly guitars, metal riffs and blast beats, but wh...

.Net Core in Action by Dustin Metzgar ISBN-13: 978-1617294273 I still get a fair amount of flack for buying and reading technical books in the 21st Century - almost as much as I get for still buying and listening to CDs. If I was a vinyl loving hipster, it would be different of course…. However, books like .Net Core in Action are a perfect example of why I do it.  I needed to learn what .Net Core was and get a feel for it very quickly and that is what this book allowed me to do. I’ve been very sceptical of .Net development for a number of years, mostly due to how large I perceived the total cost of ownership and the startup cost to be and the fact that you have to use Windows.  While this was previously true, .Net Core is different and .Net Core in Action made me understand that within the first few pages of the first chapter. It also got me over my prejudice towards Docker by the end of the second chapter. The first two chapters are as you would expect, an introduct...

I was honoured and delighted to be asked to judge and present the overall DevelopHER award once again this year. Everyone says choosing a winner is difficult. It may be a cliche, but that doesn’t change the fact that it is. When the 13 category winners came across my desk I read through them all and reluctantly got it down to seven. Usually on a first pass I like to have it down to three or four and then all I need to agonise over is the order. Luckily on the second pass I was able to be ruthless and get it down to four. To make it even more difficult, three of my four fell into three categories I am passionate about: Technical excellence and diversity Automated Testing Practical, visual Agile And the fourth achieved results for her organisation which just couldn’t be ignored. So I read and reread and ordered and re-ordered. Made more tea, changed the CD and re-read and re-ordered some more. Eventually it became clear. Technical excellent and the ability for a softwa...

I was very surprised and excited and then immediately disappointed to see Shakespere Sister on the Graham Norton show. They performed Stay , which is their big hit (longest single at number in the UK be a female artist, 8 weeks), but Marcella wasn’t even trying to hit the high notes and it was awful. We decided to go and see them on tour anyway as it was potentially a once in a lifetime experience before they fell out again. The Ipswich Regent was half empty in the stalls and the circle was closed and oddly there were quite a few security guards - apparently at the request of the band. Encouragingly Shakespear Sister came on on time and they sounded good! As they ploughed through many of their well known songs, new songs and a few older more obscure songs, the vocals were strong from both Marcella and Siobhan. The rhythm section was incredible.  The drumming was tight, varied and interesting, but what really stood out was the bass. I think part of this was that the player ha...

I was pretty sure I had seen Borknagar support Cradle of Filth at the Astoria 2 in the ‘90s. It turns out that was Opeth and Extreme Noise Terror, so I don’t really remember how I got into them now. Whatever the reason was, I really got into their 2000 album Quintessence. At the time I didn’t really enjoy their previous album, The Archaic Course, much so with the exception of the occasional relisten to Quintessence, Borknagar went by the wayside for me.  That was until ICS Vortex got himself kicked out of Dimmu Borgir for allegedly poor performances, produced a really rather bland and unlistenable solo album called Storm Seeker, and then got back properly with Borknagar.  That’s when things got interesting. ICS Vortex has an incredible voice. When he joined Dimmu Borgir as bassist and second vocalist in time for Spiritual Black Dimensions, he brought a new dimension (pun intended) to an already amazing band. I’ve played Spiritual Black Dimensions to death since it came o...

At school I had this friend, Jamie, and he once said to me that he always preferred having a band’s live album to their studio album of the same songs. His example was Queen’s Live Magic. To me, then, this was madness. It didn’t have all the same songs as It’s a Kind of Magic and the production isn’t as good. Let’s face it, unless it’s Pink Floyd, the production of a live album is never as good as in the studio. I avoided live albums for years. Pink Floyd’s Pulse was the first live album I really got into and then there was nothing until the teenies when live albums from Emperor, Immortal, Arch Enemy, Dimmu Borgir and Blind Guardian got me completely hooked. The latest live album I’ve bought is ‘The Siege Of Mercia: Live At Bloodstock 2017’ by Winterfylleth . It’s amazing for a number of reasons. I was at Bloodstock, watching the band, when it was recorded. It’s a fantastic performance of of some brilliant songs. It’s got a, atmospheric, synth version of an old track at the end. ...